Sometimes, when people consider doing-it-yourself, the first thing that comes to mind is; “how cheap can I build it?” “I’m on a budget, I want to save money or I can’t afford the ready made one I want.”
What reasons are driving your interest in a DIY project?
When I think about DIY, here are some of the things that come to mind for me:
- The pride and joy of building something with my own two hands.
- Creating something unique.
- Customizing / tailoring something to the way I plan on using it.
- An opportunity to expand my brain and learn new skills.
- The tinkering process and understanding how things work.
- No one makes what I’m looking for.
- Expanding on or improving an existing design.
- The excitement of converting an idea into something tangible and useful.
I don’t want to discourage anyone, but my philosophy is – if the financial aspect is someone’s primary motivation for a DIY project, you may not have the most rewarding experience. Now combine a mechanical aptitude with the some of the motivations above and that’s a recipe for success.
This is not to say, there isn’t cost saving to be had. A basic Explorer Box can normally be built for half the price of compact production tent trailers. What I do find is when I’m tailoring something to my specs, I might spend as much or even more than a comparable off the shelf product and I end up with exactly what I want.
Happy Building!