Have You Ever Lived Off the Grid?

[FunInTheSunParticipant 8283]

What I mean by “off the grid:” living independent from what your society provides for you. That includes doing stuff like: farming, hunting, using solar energy, using a well or stream for water, purifying water, chopping wood, using a wood stove, etc.

Sometimes I think it would be great to get away from this rat race. I’d like to buy some land, dig a well, get a wood cabin with a fireplace, plant a garden, and live a simple life without utility bills, traffic jams, and noisy neighbors.

"I saw that there comes a point, in the defeat of any man of virtue, when his own consent is needed for evil to win-and that no manner of injury done to him by others can succeed if he chooses to withhold his consent. I saw that I could put an end to your outrages by pronouncing a single word in my mind. I pronounced it. The word was ‘No.’" (Atlas Shrugged)

[Mr. ManParticipant 2916]

The closest I’ve come to living off grid was a six month stint monitoring nesting bald eagles in the Sonoran Desert.

My co-worker and I lived at an observation point and took shifts monitoring the nest from sun up to sun down. We camped. We cooked by campfire. We had to go collect water. We lived by the rhythm of the desert.

Those were the best six months out of the 54 years I’ve spent walking this earth.

Hope that helps.

[RusskyParticipant 13503]

S~~~, I would seriously consider going Amish if they had electricity and Internet
I haven’t lived without electricity, no. I do know how to do things and farm and s~~~, but I’m not considering a scenario when there will be no electricity or any trade/food delivery. Even in the darkest crises around the world, somehow electricity and food stay put.
I would like to go more into prepping, but smartly. This is something you can get carried away with.
Serious disruptions usually last for several days. People find ways to fix s~~~.
If/When serious decline happens – it will happen overtime, things will go south gradually.

proud carrier of the 'why?' chromosome

[Mr. ManParticipant 2916]

Russky wrote:

If/When serious decline happens – it will happen overtime, things will go south gradually.

James Howard Kunstler calls it “The Long Emergency.” And I have to agree with him.

[HitmanParticipant]

[RusskyParticipant 13503]

Mr. Man wrote:

Russky wrote:

If/When serious decline happens – it will happen overtime, things will go south gradually.

James Howard Kunstler calls it “The Long Emergency.” And I have to agree with him.

I lived through regime changes, martial law, food shortages, currency changes, full scale governmental failures, countries splitting, so I have a unique perspective on real crises and how they happen and get resolved.

proud carrier of the 'why?' chromosome

[HitmanParticipant]

Russky wrote:

I lived through regime changes, martial law, food shortages, currency changes, full scale governmental failures, countries splitting, so I have a unique perspective on real crises and how they happen and get resolved.

russky, i’m so glad to see you back here bro..
the above is part of why we need men like you here.
the value of those experiences is gold to us.

[Anonymous 54]

Lived for a year with out water or electricity during the depression.lived like a blind Man at night,rode a bicycle 10 miles round trip to get a couple of gallons of water at the ex C~~~s house.Not fun

[Anonymous 54]

FunInTheSun wrote:

What I mean by “off the grid:” living independent from what your society provides for you. That includes doing stuff like: farming, hunting, using solar energy, using a well or stream for water, purifying water, chopping wood, using a wood stove, etc.

Sometimes I think it would be great to get away from this rat race. I’d like to buy some land, dig a well, get a wood cabin with a fireplace, plant a garden, and live a simple life without utility bills, traffic jams, and noisy neighbors.

This however would be hevean.

[RennieParticipant]

The closest I’ve been to living off the grid was camping for a week in the summer of 2010 and 2011. Of course we had a small generator and plenty of store bought food. The generator was mainly used by the people who decided to bring a trailer for themselves.

But at night it was completely dark aside from flashlights. It was so clear you could see the cosmos in its full glory. Unforgettable.

Keeping clean involved jumping in the lake and shaving was done on the dock, when done you dunked your head in the water to get all the leftover stuff off.

[GrumpyParticipant]

Does going “camping” for 3-6 months at a time count?
I was usually away from the main camps, under canvas/plastic. Normally we had no electricity outside of the vehicle batteries, and definitely no t.v radio or newspapers.
Food was always supplemented by what ever animal was available.
I think I spent too much time in the bush, I actually miss it

There was a time in my life when I gave a fuck. Now you have to pay ME for it

[FrostByteParticipant 19005]

When I was entertaining the idea of getting self-sufficient I came across the “Freegans”. This is extreme off the gird living, and doing it in the center of civilization. I would not live this way, but it was fun looking at because it demonstrates how far you can take this. In a society where almost everything is disposable, you can survive on the abundance waste. It’s sorta gross but I was intrigued in a macabre way.
Also, search repurposing. It’s a big fad now and I have found lots of cool ideas from that.

If you rescue a damsel in distress, all you will get is a distressed damsel.

[UintatheriumParticipant 1861]

Is should do that in the future. It’s apparently hard work but it’s worth it.

MGTOW: because you can (and should) say anything about a woman as long as she isn't within earshot

[TuneoutParticipant]

Not completely,yet,I try to limit the amount of out side

resources though and have systems in place where I can

survive with out it.

Camping is a good way to practice as is gardening,

hunting/fishing and learning how to build and

maintain structures.

Lot of good sites on the web with forums and how to

articles.It doesn’t take much money either to start.

Lifes a bitch,but you don't have to marry one!

[vargpajParticipant 244]

one afternoon i took a walk in the mountains with no particular direction in mind…. got home 90 days later. wish i never came down.

[FunInTheSunParticipant 8283]

One time I was driving through Wyoming, and I stopped my car to look at this vast expanse of bare land with gullies. I’ll bet I could travel deep in that wilderness with building materials and build a small wood cabin. I doubt any government official would stop me from doing it ’cause the land is pretty much useless and untouched. Nobody would want to live there, so I might just claim it one day, ha ha. There was no visible water source, though. I’d have to travel to the nearest convenience store to get supplies.

Anonymous wrote:

rode a bicycle 10 miles round trip to get a couple of gallons of water at the ex C~~~s house.

And I thought MY life was hard.

"I saw that there comes a point, in the defeat of any man of virtue, when his own consent is needed for evil to win-and that no manner of injury done to him by others can succeed if he chooses to withhold his consent. I saw that I could put an end to your outrages by pronouncing a single word in my mind. I pronounced it. The word was ‘No.’" (Atlas Shrugged)

[RusskyParticipant 13503]

vargpaj wrote:

one afternoon i took a walk in the mountains with no particular direction in mind…. got home 90 days later. wish i never came down.

How is this even possible?

proud carrier of the 'why?' chromosome

[CuCucksCantParticipant 24]

I will live off grid someday,but with all the modern s~~~.

I’ll find a place where I can shoot off the back porch and not see another human being except for the slut I got in the shipping container man.

[Dr. SableParticipant 1064]

In January and February 1994 as a two man team team with 1 week of army rations while on the job. It lasted 38 days so we had to fend for ourselves the rest of the 4 weeks. This was during Croatia’s war of indenpendence.
Did it another 32 times during the four years but never as long as 4 weeks.
Now it’s not like living off the grid but it comes close in many respects, so specialist training or at least some survivalist training can be of great benefit to non military people.
The only mod con we had was radio back to base and our wits.
Living off grid takes a lot of thought and planing and back up planing so you don’t get stuck in s~~~ situation that can arise even from simplest things.

Zero Tolerance

[Ash NrahkParticipant 199]

Working towards it.

[Author]

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