Rocket Mass Heater 2015 Pics From Wheaton Labs

Here are some of the pics I captured during my time at the pyronauts workshop and a I write about my experience there. What an amazing workshop - thanks Paul and Jocelyn for being amazing hosts.

http://www.fairscape.ca/#!Ode-to-Paul-Wheatons-Empire/c1m6j/5628e97a0cf2f4d93f145da3

20151016_185319.jpgFairscape.ca

- A Great start ! Please keep them coming ! Big AL

part 3

part 4

part 5

Part 6

For those of you who want a glimpse into the open source empire that Paul Wheaton built, I highly recommend attending a workshop on his farm in Missoula, Montana.
This man is established and willing to mentor others on their permanent agriculture path. Not only did he conceptualize and execute the 'pyronaut' workshop I attended last week,
he also extended his home and farm to all of the innovators and participants http://richsoil.com/rmh-innovators.jsp. It takes a pretty open and patient person to let twenty
odd people invade your space for two solid weeks. Not to mention the handful of ants or natural builders that are experimenting on his land (more on that later).

Paul is someone who doesn't mince words when it comes to his vision and plans for his land. He has clarity and he is willing to fight for it.
His approach is not for the faint of heart and I can deeply respect that. He is able to be open with people because he has establishes clear boundaries on the values he is not willing to compromise on.
A mundane example of this is that when you are at Wheaton Labs you eat what Paul eats (no exceptions). No one had a problem with as he had an amazing 'kitchen commander' that served up well
thought out, homemade, local meals. Further to this you are only allowed to eat organic (or better) food if you want access to the pooper. To him only top notch nutrients will touch his soil as
he wants everything on his farm to thrive.

People who are givers are sometimes disappointed (I personally witnessed this when it was discovered that a contractor had taken short cuts costing Paul both time and money). Paul is pushing a big
agenda through his off grid Experimentation Lab and it that has a big wake. A lot of people haven't caught up to speed with him. He sees patterns that others aren't prepared to accept just yet and that is
ok because that is what leaders do. He is playing the long game and I hope others join him.

He nurtures his vision through his colony of ants. Under the mantra of “be the ant the first year- you can be the grasshopper the rest of your life”, he was made space for up to 12 people of his farm.
Leasing them 1 acre of land to experiment how they see fit. The rules are quite simple but grounded in solid contractual clauses like,” this agreement can be terminated by either of us at any time.”

I can relate to his vision and the effort it takes to achieve on a personal level from my years playing rugby. One of the hardest things is to get 15 guys to working together (to the point of sacrificing their bodies)
to achieve a stretch goal. Paul is asking the same of the ants. He has set an elite standard and wants people to rise to the challenge with a little coaching and space to grow. He is a uncompromising mentor
and brave as in the end he is the shouldering the risk of all the experimentation on his land.

Paul is perfectly complimented by Jocelyn, his down to earth plus one, who is just so damn nice she makes you believe in human kind (this coming from not a touchy feely person). She's the administrative base to
Paul's creativity and they have built something truly foundational that I hope becomes the standard. Huge shout out to Paul and Jocelyn who have reaffirmed my belief in the permaculture movement.

Great stuff Big fella! It was a privilege working and innovating with you. Great Pictures Too. It was a shame you had to scoot early on the last night, later in the evening we pretty easily got the oven up to 780o F with just three 1 1/2 sticks in the feed tube. A thought occured regarding the displacement hot water system and that is it will always have to be limited to single use system where your hot water is only going to one outlet. Thats because if you have multiple outlets they will all activate when you open the cold supply tap and of course putting taps on the outlet lines spells disaster! Still for single use purposes its cheap and easy.

I was fortunate to be allowed into the Pyronaut event to photograph. Thank you Paul and Jocelyn for your hospitality.

I hope to share images of the stoves and the people, places and things of permaculture here. I share an image captured on one of last evenings of the Glass Dome Rocket Heater by Ernie and Erica. The photo was lit by the heater, stars and a flashlight. Hope it shows up as the preview doesn't seem to reveal it and I've never posted before.

Good to here from you Tim, glad Oz let you back in. I thanks for the update on the oven, will use it in my presentation later next month. i think the hot water heater is a big step in the right direction.

Thanks for the photo coverage. Lasse Holmes with mudded brick in hand?; top photo of Part-2. Nice looking brick cook stove heater with a nifty heated bench. Looking forward to more info on that design.

I look like one of the coneheads from that show in the welding helmet. Ha

What i got of Lasses

randall gabriell wrote:I look like one of the coneheads from that show in the welding helmet. Ha

The first thing I thought of when I saw that picture was Dilbert's Elbonians:

i don't mean to be a pain steve, but could you maybe do another post where you post the best pic of each person's project that you got with the title above it. i'm just trying to figure out what is what.

here are a few more that steven took

Evan's pic of the rocket mass heater with the quartz bell (barrel):