Building an Off Grid Cabin using Free Pallet Wood: A Wilderness Project

Building an Off Grid Cabin using Free Pallet Wood: A Wilderness Project

We built this small off grid log cabin using recycled pallet wood that we collected for free. The aim of the diy project was to try and save money by building a cabin in the forest on the cheap. Living off grid is something we have always admired, being able to forage and gather food from the land, much like the primitive hunter-gatherer did. This off the grid cabin, although small, is an ideal one-man bug out camp in a survival situation. Slowly, we are turning this off grid cabin in the forest into a wilderness homestead.

So far, this tiny hobbit home has no electricity or solar power, but it does have a window, roof, front porch, folding table, raised bed, chair, bench, shelves, bookcase and a woodstove to keep the cabin warm during the cold winter months.

To build the pallet wood cabin we have used a mixture of hand tools and power tools. We filmed and documented the building of this log cabin in a playlist on our channel called “The Off Grid Pallet Wood Cabin” which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxnadpeGdTxDMYqxhMnVMPHzgIuUOKB54

We started the cabin build by breaking the pallets down into useable pieces of timber. We then cleared a site in the forest to build the foundations of the cabin using larger pallets. The second stage of the build was the side walls, and then the roof, which we used a piece of recycled tin from an old barn. We then fitted a small window from a garden shed, and started to work on building the front porch. Once the main structure of the cabin was complete, we focused on making rustic pallet wood furniture for the inside of the small house. We bolted together a raised bed, and made a small chair and foldaway table to save space inside. We then needed to heat the cabin, for this we opted for the G Stove Heat View which has a stove pipe oven attachment so that we can bake food in it, plus a water container to boil water for fresh coffee and tea.

In many of the episodes we cooked food in cast iron frying pans on the woodstove. In the warmer months we cooked on an open camp fire using a cast iron grill on a Bushcraft style tripod which we lashed together. We have cooked fresh fish, pie, bacon, eggs, soup and much more on the woodstove.

Hopefully, we can use this former Bushcraft Camp as an area to practice developing our wilderness survival skills, learning primitive technology and how to forage for wild edibles and catch and cook our food. At the end of the day, this project was more about a father and son spending time in the outdoors working on free diy projects and learning how to become self reliant and save money for a happier lifestyle. We hope you enjoy the adventure!

Follow me on Instagram for behind the scenes: https://www.instagram.com/taoutdoorofficial/

My Facebook Page for short videos and updates:
https://www.facebook.com/totallyawesomeoutdoors

If you wish to send me stuff:
Mike Pullen
PO Box 7466
HOOK
RG27 7NA

Subscribe to our other Fishing YouTube Channel “TAFishing” here: https://www.youtube.com/tafishing

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Comments

TA Outdoors says:

It's not perfect, but it's time well spent with my Dad! Hope you enjoy this longer video of the whole build. We're so grateful for all the feedback you guys have given us on this series. There will be a video soon on how many pallets we used, the dimensions of the cabin etc. We have tried to recycle as much as possible, re-using the nails, scavenging for free materials in skips and refuse sites (all with permission). Completely different video next week! – Mike

Stevie D says:

Hi Mike,
Crickey that's quicker building than many house builders take to build a home and that's saying something Ha Ha.
Reckon yourself and Graeme's Cabin will last longer than theirs and more thought and practicality has gone into it too.
This might seem a bit bonkers but i reckon a village built like this with bigger cabins and Solar Power would solve a lot of problems for younger people trying to get on the Housing Market. It's sustainable, costs very little and it would promote a sense of community with people helping each other out.
I really believe there is something in this you know !
Steve in Fife.

Brandyn Fraize says:

Is this a commercial for a stove?

Jeez Us says:

Very enjoyable

Sierra says:

Shoulda made it a bunk bed, your dad can sleep on top lol

Parents and Pennies says:

Great video, Mike and Dad! We have enjoyed the separate videos, and this is a nice compilation. Really liking the family dynamic here..

jason B says:

Mike i don’t know if you’ve seen any of the air G,n channels. They are systematically shutting them down re inappropriate content. I would suggest that you make private any that have the rotex on as I would hate for the same to happen here. Just a heads up mate. Ps love both the outdoor and fishing channel and want to keep watching them so act on this. Cheers

OM Outdoors says:

what kind of hatchet/axe do you use

Elena Boada says:

I like it !

Michael Tiplady says:

hope its next to a good fishing spot.another awesome job

R Montena says:

this takes me way back to my childhood age 10. My Dad had died the year before. an only kid I spent many hours with a neighbor who was building a housea broken arm in a cast. the many nails he dropped over the side were given to me. An Uncle brought a load of subflooring removed from his house. I built two or three tree-houses and a "club house" (for a non-existant club) with those same scraps, repurposing them several times. Good times and experience 🙂 Tx for reminding me! Rich (upstate NY)

BlackBullitt says:

Awesome videos of your cabin build with your Dad. I wanted to wait until I watched all the way through to the end before commenting on a slight modification to your table setup that I would make, to make things a bit easier. I noticed you have to fiddle with the two prop legs for your table. What about making the prop legs into a "H" fashion and adding hinges at the bottom on the wall side, that way both prop legs move simultaneously? You may have to add a handle that sticks out further than the width of the table (the prop legs look to stick in a few inches from the edges of the table), so that you can lift up on the table to release the leg props and push it against the wall with the extended handle and then lower your table to stow it. And of course vice versa to raise the table. Thoughts? All in all I enjoyed watching the progress and have inspired me to want to build my own with my kids in my backyard. Cheers!

Saimonas Banelis says:

I haven’t seen a better channel related to outdoors than this, keep going!

Simon Hopkins says:

brilliant work guys. and saved me a s😎😎😎 load of money on a new storage space for my mum. aka firewood storage I'm not putting mum in a shed. 😉

Bush Ninja says:

I wouldn't go that way. If you're living in a bush, use the trees on your property. You're probably thinking, "oh but I would be using resources." Those trees need to be thinned out several times before they are harvestable. I would also consider using fired clay and maybe a rocket mass heater.

johann rüstmann says:

Question ? I understood Euro pallets had a Deposit required on them. These most not have been any of those ? Still liked your project. Great working with your Father. Oh I do miss doing things with mine.

johann rüstmann says:

Pallet wood is mostly made of Oak Wood which is hard and almost impossible to nail through, drill first. One yard wider would of been better. A job well done.

johann rüstmann says:

Disappointed, no mention of the great little stove. So practical but no brand name given

TheMeta6 says:

This is the exact same layout as the shed i have in my wood, even down to the corner shelf!

The Carp Tackle Reviewer says:

Cant believe I just found this channel… 🙌

Finlay Sutherland says:

Weird question. What is your favourite scent? I'm going to guess ground coffee but I might be wrong.

Marcos Nava says:

Hey Mike, I'm from Brazil and love to watch your videos! This cabin is a dream!!! I have just one question: is this forest in a private or public area? In Brazil we have some environment laws that make it very difficult to have a project like this in the wildernes. Congratulations for your and your father's work.

Phil Clark says:

Very clever your old man, you can tell he buzzes off it, well done 👍

Gorbag Goes Camping says:

Best hour plus with no spoken English I have enjoyed, since I saw "Quest for Fire" great stuff. I truly enjoy your videos, thank you for sharing,

Cheers,
Gorbag

Christopher Trapani says:

Weather sealing?

John Di Francisco says:

I liked watching the whole series but this is nice too.

Latrice Little says:

wow that's sweet

whitemannativemind says:

I hope you guys are planning on adding a room or two here, at some point, as this is awful small. Plus, how are you going to keep it heated with all the openings everywhere? Just wondering.

My Best. Out.

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