The Vikings would launch flaming arrows at their funeral boats as they drifted out with the tide (or you can place it in the earth with a lot less fanfare).
Maybe they'll think about the woodwork, and not so much about everything else. I honestly have no clue how to go down this road. I have to say, i'd rather build it myself. What do you say?
~W
I helped my aunt build hers out of white kiln dried pine.
I know an old rancher who made one from an old barn on his place. He hasn’t used it yet.
Me, I’m donating my carcass to Southwestern Med School. They cremate for free. Then I go to the compost pile.
Reconciling the inevitability of death is one of the more spiritually difficult tasks a person can take on, but it is also vital for inner peace. Living in mortal fear of death is no way to go through life.
So if this is what satisfies you, then I say go for it with gusto. If those who survive you want to memoralize and pay respect, having your corpse on hand is not a requirement.
I don’t find it morbid or anything like that. Problem is that you’ve got to store it somewhere until it’s needed. I’m surprised IKEA hasn’t come out with an assemble it yourself coffin yet (have they?)...
I think I remember seeing somewhere where you can help save the earth by buying a biodegradable coffin made from recycled cardboard.
I plan to be cremated. I don’t care what they do with the ashes. I was mailed a vase of ashes when my dad died, five years later, I have never opened that box. I have no inclination to either. For my own death, I would like some sort of headstone, that the remaining family could visit if they wished to.
When my mother died back in Michigan, I used to wish I could find an open piece of land out here in California, and simply plant a low maintenance, fast growing tree in her memory. That would be enough for me. I could stop at the tree and say a prayer once in a while. Still have not found the right place that is affordable.
Burial plots can be very expensive. Some think we are running out of room to continue the traditional way. There are more people on earth than anytime in known history. It’s not a surprise when housing needs or highway needs clash with the requirements of an established burial site. Not far from me is a place called
Daly City, a few miles from Hayward, California. In Daly City, there are scores of manicured acres of land that cannot be built upon. Meanwhile, we keep taking in more immigrants from outside the state.
If you want to craft your own coffin, go for it. Such a deed may serve to keep your spirit at peace once you have crossed over. Stop worrying about everyone agreeing with you on this. Which means you may want to just stop discussing it with certain people. I have discovered, the more hard headed (bossy) people are about the proper way to show respect for the dead, that usually means they are very uncomfortable with the topic and wish to end that sort of conversation as quickly as possible.
Don’t hammer the last nail.
I think that building your own casket will give your loved ones a tangible symbol showing them that you don’t fear death and that it will be a source of comfort to them.
May need to research it a little bit.
The coffin is likely the lessor cost expense. Before being planted in the ground, lots of design has to be completed and inspected, permitted, and documented.
The box has to be water tight and not leak in both directions, and there are other criterion, which aren’t so easy to procure.
If it was, there would be lessor cost alternatives in the business.
You might want to check with the Cemetery or Health Department for the location You want to be Interred for Regulations like do they require anything like a Vault or Hermetically Sealed Caskets or something else.
I know in Texas that Internment on Private Property is OK.
I like Your idea of building Your Own Box. Maybe You could start a BYOB Website for Plans and/or Kits ?
Just a brain fart;)
My Late Father would never tell me what he wanted when he died, Burial or Cremation. He always joked that the “Authorities’ would just find his dead body and take care of it so he didn’t stink up the place.
My Mother was Cremated and her Ashes were spread in the Pacific Ocean off Dana Point as she wished.
One day I’m driving down PCH with my Dad on our way to eat. He looks at the Ocean and says, someday I’ll be out there with (my Mother) Ginny.
The decision was made without me even having to ask.
Looks like a good and considerate way to do it and not morbid at all.
I wonder what Elon’s plan is.
Hopefully, a better orbit than Starman’s.
Wow, I couldn’t even get through that first sentence before I opted out of this discussion.
I agree with your thinking. I made a Walnut box for my mother’s cremated remains. The wood and plans are in my shop for my father’s box which will likely be made in the next year. I will follow it with one for me and one for my wife.
Just cremate me, put the ashes in a brown paper bag and dump me in the Pacific. Carlsbad or Monterey California.
I’m not saying my sister is cheap, but she bought my Mom’s casket from Costco.
I think it’s a beautiful idea to build your own eternal resting bed. It may be a bit of a mordid thought right now, but I could just see people admiring your work... later. Your family will be grateful when the time comes.
I have a friend who bought hers on sale. She keeps it on her front porch as a sitting place and storage. Great fun on Halloween.
You can make yours to stand upright, install slip in shelves and have an unusual book case :) You might as well read while you wait! Don’t forget the handles! Might as well add a bell (ha ha ha) Be creative, have fun. Make it a fun piece of furniture.
If you want you could be buried in a cardboard box. The secret to a good burial is to buy the best vault. People usually skimp on this. We didn’t and I’m glad. When grandma passed away, we moved grandpa from Chicago to NY so they could rest together after being separated for 35 years. When we first approached about having grandpa moved, the cemetery peeps said we would have to buy a new vault because it would be in bad shape. When he was exhumed they said we didn’t need to buy a new one. His was in perfect condition. We did go cheap on the coffin.
If God moves you to build your own, do it. If you have the ability, then do it :)
The Vikings would launch flaming arrows at their funeral boats as they drifted out with the tide (or you can place it in the earth with a lot less fanfare).
Now those same remaining plots will not accommodate a modern coffin so the rest of us will have to be cremated to be with the rest of the family. On the bright side, each individual plot can accommodate two cremation urns so my late DH and I will one day share a plot.
The funeral industry is a total rip off. I bought an urn for myself to match my husband's and I paid one third of what the funeral home charged me by buying mine online (and free shipping!). I also found out after the fact that I could have worked directly with the crematorium and saved a lot of money. Funeral homes make their money off of the fact that most people are totally unprepared for death.
I never thought of building my own box for my ashes - wish I had thought of that before I lost my DH...but you don't think about those things when you are young. I think it's a great idea.