Forward Operating Base In-a-Can

Another project I'd like to get started... As the thread title suggests, I'm looking to build a Forward Operating Base In-a-Can (FOBIC pronounced like "phobic" ).

This should be a trailer contained base camp, included tents, generator, latrine w/shower(s), and beds/bunks - it should be able to comfortably billet up to 16 people, and support 32 people during social events in "less than ideal" weather:



Planned components:

• 2x Base-X 305 tents (one with stove-pipe pass-through in the roof
  • Retrofit to 24VDC dimmable all-LED lighting (<1W-480Watts per 305)
    • Each 5' section of tent (305/203) will have 4x ~4' strips of adjustable white-point LED strip
    • At the center of each 4' strip 1x NVIS-A green LED will be placed
    • Serial controlled three channel PWM will be implemented for each 4' section of lighting (NVIS, Warm white, Cool White)
  • One set up as four 10'x8' sleeping berths (private) with either cots, or cot-bunks
    • Sleeping berths convertible to first-aid berths, basic medical support
  • One set up as communal space - cooking, eating, sitting, entertaining
    • Sink with hot water available in cooking area
    • Eating/sitting/entertaining space convertible to working space (similar to command layout: tables + chairs + computers)
• 1x Base-X 203 tent (with stove-pipe pass-through in the roof)
  • Retrofit to 24VDC dimmable all-LED lighting (<1W-288Watts)
    • Each 5' section of tent (305/203) will have 4x ~4' strips of adjustable white-point LED strip
    • At the center of each 4' strip 1x NVIS-A green LED will be placed
    • Serial controlled three channel PWM will be implemented for each 4' section of lighting (NVIS, Warm white, Cool White)
  • 2x port-o-potty stalls
  • 2x shower stalls
  • 2x sink with hot-water available
  • storage space
• Shade canopy to cover whole camp
  • four sections of 40'x50' lightweight netting, total 80'x100' coverage (roughly)
• Trailer with generator for transportation
  • 40-gallons diesel tank
  • 24VDC generator, auto-start
  • >350Ah battery bank
  • 5kW Pure-Sine-Wave inverter/UPS ("shore power" input)
  • 6.4kW portable solar array (20x 320Watt 5'x4' panels)
• 3x tent heaters (SHC-35/60?)
  • 3x 5-gallon scepter fuel cans each (extra 45 gallons of storage)
• Water Filtration Equipment
  • Something more compact than a LWP - but about the same throughput (1,600gallons/day - assumes ~100Gallons/person/day)
  • 200 gallon flexible storage tank
• IT equipment - Hardigg 9U shock-mount case containing:
  • 4kWh 24VDC UPS
  • Cellular router/server (Panasonic CF-30 ToughBook + vehicle mount bolted to sliding rack drawer)
    • External Video Card for driving large-format displays.
    • VoIP server (Asterisk)
    • provision for future VSAT satellite up-link as option - using the compact GATR VSAT 2.4M "Beachball"
    • additional future provision for mesh-type fielded-network like Broadband-HAMNET
  • L3 Managed 24-port PoE switch (10/100) 4x 1Gbe fiber up-links (Moxa)
  • 802.11ac dual-band outdoor AP (Ubiquity)
  • 8x simple wired VoIP phones (Grandstream)
    • Cell phones can use VoIP SW/app over WiFi to be "roamers"
  • 4x Panasonic CF-30 ToughBook "workstations"
  • 2x 1280x720 ultra short throw LCD projectors
    • 2x 100"-diagonal roll-up rear projection screens - these setups will fit in the angled side wall of the tent, taking as little floor space as possible.
  • 4x pair of DC self-powered speakers

The thinking behind this is, with kids that will be in Boy Scouts in a few years, I always wanted this type of setup at summer camp myself . In an emergency, we'd be able to move out of our 1930's masonry building (in the S.F. Bay Area, four blocks from the Hayward Fault, 20 miles from the San Andreas Fault) - having been through the 1989 quake my family donated a tent shelter to the Red Cross, which we later saw in-use on the news as a food service shelter (very distinct color canvas - blue and yellow with red repair thread), I understand and appreciate having available a camp setup that is as some would call "overkill". For a disaster where we are okay housing wise, it would have use that can be offered to house local EMS - triage, SAR outpost, R&R shack, etc... as long as they need.

With our larger family gatherings (both my parents and in-laws are from large families, makes the family reunions VERY big - 100+ people including great grand kids), this will get used a lot I'm guessing...


Inspiration for this collection of gear comes in the form of a picture from an friend in the 129th ANG who "gets it":

Badass....What trailer would hold all this>?

This is the SUS...Small Unit Shower

Nothing actual mil surplus - probably the bed-cut-off from my XM1027 stretch project (1.5ton Chevy dually crew cab "CUCV", not a real CUCV either ).

[EDIT:] Both donor trucks are 1.5-Ton Dually Camper edition, the trailer will be made out of the bed, rear frame and dually axle of the "spare" half of what's left over - in general it should look like this, but without the cab:


Being a full-sized bed, I should be able to put troop seats and a cargo cover over it too - the idea is to have something to slide the S-250 into from the bed of the XM1027, but it can also carry stuff.
[/EDIT]

That shower system you have posted is a bit smaller than the Base-X 203 tent., probably by about 5' end-door-to-end-door.

Believe me, if I could convince the wife to let me buy a LVSR, trailer, and a few Morehouse M75i expandable shelters, I'd be all over that!!


Then the issue becomes storing it... I would also do the GET 35KW trailer, but then I'm going to have half a truck after the XM1027 stretch that I have no idea what to do with or where to store it... I'm also going with the smaller tents, since I'm expecting to have limited adult help around most of the time for setup and tear down ('cause why not go for broke with a pair of Base-X 505's and an 8D36 otherwise right?).

I have the Dome 31 on the Get trailer....attached to a HMMWV....with the bed of that thing empty to load up any other crap...but, Have you considered a M-35 and or a M-900 series?
You could pull and store everything in that that is on this gear list. All of it.
M-925...its whats for dinner!

My thoughts are, you need more diesel, and you need some source of heat, maybe H82 or H83 or similar heater

tim292stro said:

Another project I'd like to get started... As the thread title suggests, I'm looking to build a Forward Operating Base In-a-Can (FOBIC pronounced like "phobic" ).

Click to expand...

Whoa! Ambitious project. But VERY cool idea.

I have considered an M939 series truck - but if I bought another truck right now my wife would leave me and take everything . I have a bus conversion project that will likely be a suitable substitute for a M939 - that's on hold until we get a house (yeah I'm doing all of this stuff while living in an apartment). That will be another thread some day when I have the time... 6x6 hybrid dual engine 40' bus, 3:1 expandable, with a full 25'x30' roof deck (enough space for another 305 up there - and that's the working plan ). The expectation there is to tow the XM1027 as a dinghy around the country, and leave the trailer at home (empty). Or tow the trailer with the XM1027 along with the bus for the REALLY big events.

Isaac-1 said:

My thoughts are, you need more diesel, and you need some source of heat, maybe H82 or H83 or similar heater

Click to expand...

The 40 gallons is just for the DC generator.

I'm looking at three SHC35's right now, I can afford them and have a place to store them. A simple overpressure blower with a Primary+HEPA filter on the tent with the sleeping partitions will keep the dust and crud out, venting out the stove-pipe fittings - thus the desire for the stove-pipe for the latrine tent as an exhaust (who wants to smell what Mr. CantHoldMyLunch dumped in the head...). Those will get their own 5-gallon Scepter fuel cans on stands (not listed above, will fix that now...). The trailer will be pulled by the XM1027, and that will be the primary fuel-mule and generator - the trailer will just be a short term stand-alone while I go find another fuel supply, it should limit it to one fuel trip a day max. I also notice I didn't mention the solar stuff I'm planning- I missed that (will fix too).

There is an overall grand vision to how my setups will interconnect - I'm deliberately restraining myself from going too public with that though

I guess it depends on your exact needs, those SHC35's sure are cute, light, and don't need external power, but an H82, H83,H140 etc outputs about 4 times as many BTU's plus can operate as a ventilator when heat is not needed, but do require and external power source.

Total weight is an actual issue, so is cabling, and other infrastructure - which all adds up quickly. I figure I'm going to be pushing around 1.5Tons just with the basics above, might be closer to 3500lbs. That will affect the fuel economy of the hauler a lot, and the off-road capabilities more. At ~300lbs the H82 is more than two people can safely handle without machinery and that is the design criteria for this FOB:

"Two person tool-less setup to operational 1 hour" is the target. I expect it's possible (barely), even in the rain. For tear down I'm hoping 2 hours.

Also, as you can see by the updated Bill-Of-Materials (BOM), most of the stuff I'm including is 24VDC so that I don't have to lug around a huge AC Genset (like for huge HVAC handlers).

tim292stro said:

That shower system you have posted is a bit smaller than the Base-X 203 tent., probably by about 5' end-door-to-end-door.

Click to expand...

That unit has a larger base than top height, and each shower does NOT have a full height showering area (IE, part of the shower wall (away from the middle) is only about 3 feet high because it intersects with the wall of the tent). If something happens to the 'air frame' you are without a working shower. I have the tent part which is missing the air frame and do not have the $2K+ to buy a replacement.

Not sure what you're talking about with "air frame," the Base-X shower systems attach directly to the inside of the tent frame (through the tent liner). The short side wall side of the roof is at 6'6" or there-about, with the tall center of the 203 at just a little over 8' - there is a more or less unusable portion of the tent along the side-edges, but I'll be using that for storage, plumbing, and equipment (to keep other parts of the floor clear)

This is roughly what I'm looking at (have to build my own shower/toilet modules to fit properly in a 20x size tent):

I was referring to the SUS in post #3. I have the tent part, less the air frame, and know where a complete one is.

As luck would have it I managed to obtain the first 305 for this project - I was exchanging messages with the seller about shipping while the e-place listing was ending - they were nice enough to complete the sale anyway. I am paying less than $450 to have it shipped cross-country (uship.com) - should make my total cost under $1500, not bad .





I had offered to buy a partial 305 from SS member MWMULES but I need to see if that is still available - my summer road trip to Ohio didn't happen as expected. Probably have to ship that if he still has it.

[EDIT2:] MWMULES has in formed me he already sold the other shelter at the GA rally, I need to find another source [/EDIT2]

I already have one side-to-end coupler kit in Tan, so that will give me some complexing options. I'll be looking for a side-to-side kit also just for giggles... Anyone have info on full-open end-to-end coupling of two 305's (18'x50' shelter config)? I haven't seen that in a manual anywhere, but I've seen it done.

[EDIT:] I answered my own question here... I need another kit for that [/EDIT]

Forgot to mention I'll also be looking for two entry vestibules - I didn't list that on the first post, but I realize now that I want them .