September 3, 2005: More introduction infos, link sorting.
Russian: Yurta, Mongolian: Ger - which means dwelling or house.
While preparing my wintertime (2005/2006) living in nature, or close to nature, either tipi or another shelter form, I discovered the Yurt, a highly transportable shelter which can be put up and taken down within a few hours, and possibility to thermal insulate fully for whole year habitat in colder regions - ideal for nomadic living.
One must pay close attention that "original" mongolian yurts come with felt which leaks rain water, and in more wet climate zones (such as central Europe) it requires a 100% waterproof rain cover.
The yurt is very light in weight, and in particular when bamboo for the wall and roof poles is used. The thermal insulation can be felt, or quilted blankets filled with straw, hemp or shredded treebark, or for low-budget bubble wrap does it as well til -5°C only (4 layers), and keeps the interior of the yurt daylight bright.
Simplicity
Portability
Comfort
Size Flexibility
Overall
(3.5)
The yurt is rather simple in the construction, but in the planing some calculations are required unless you go for predefined and precalculated numbers (see my yurt notes with calculator). The portability is excellent, e.g. 20m long lattice wall can be compressed to 1m width, and then still be rolled - indeed the highest rating. The comfort is great as well, with suitable thermal insulation suitable as four season habitat.
6 pictures
2006/11/26 16:01
Roof poles a bit too long (need to cut for the final version), cord hole at 2.90m position (2.88m calculated roof pole length) 2005/10/07 15:34
2005/11/15 12:57
Yurt interior: cloth shelf & paintings 2006/03/06 13:21
Yurt interior: overview from entry 2006/03/06 13:22
All 13 segments put up ... 2006/11/25 12:59
In order to get to know yurts I visited a yurt village here in Switzerland in 2005, and met other people who built their own yurt.
The past years since I built my own yurt (fall 2005) I wrote down some notes and started a diary, both are listed below.
My Yurt / Ger Notes, Calculator & Diary
My 6.4m yurt I built for winter time 2005/2006
Yurt Notes, yurt math and online calculator to calc the yurt geometry, and details on various parts of the yurt:
Yurt Math: some math definitions and expressions
Yurt Calculator: interactively calculate all parts (poles, canvas, etc)
Crown Wheel / Toono
Wall / Khana
Door / Khaalga
Insulation
Floor / Shal
How to develop a standard
How to pitch / erect / put-up a yurt
My 6.4m yurt in winter 2006/2007 with upgrades
Yurt Diary, my personal endevour building a yurt according the notes I collected:
Starting building my first yurt (6.4m diameter)
Going through winter 2005/2006
Extensions, considerations, heating, wind
Spring 2006, warmth; Summer 2006 with heat
Starting building more bigger yurts, and a few wonderful photos
Moving to new place for 2006/2007, nearby
Adding new straw filled jute blankets as winter insulation
Building a small 4m travel yurt
In case you plan to build your own yurt, check the "How To Manuals" before you study my notes more in-depth.
How To Manuals
Overview of Yurt/Ger Construction
Following handbooks (some in PDF format) I collected from the net:
