Free Republic

The mummified remains of three people discovered at a remote camping site in the Colorado wilderness were identified on Tuesday as two sisters and a teen boy who were planning to “live off the grid,” a report said. Christine Vance, 41, Rebecca Vance, 42, and Rebecca’s 14-year-old son were identified as the bodies discovered earlier this month about 1,000 feet from a site near the Gold Creek Campground, according to the Colorado Sun. The trio are believed to have started hiking in July 2022, about a year before they were discovered dead. A family member told the coroner that they...

Last summer, Rebecca Vance talked with her family about a dream she’d had: She wanted to live in a land disconnected from the world, which she viewed as chaotic and dangerous. She told her stepsister, Trevala Jara, that she could grow and gather her own food in a remote place, that she and her teenage son could be happy and safe away from the news, the viruses, the politics of modern-day America. “I’m going to worry about you,” Jara told her stepsister. But Vance was resolute. “I’m going to live off the land,” she replied. Her decision proved to be...

For those who are looking to get away from the cares of the World, you will find these cabins and houses very alluring. They all give you the feeling they would be a great place to get away from the crazy cities, and even from some small towns where too many people know too much about everyones business. Some just homes nestled a perfect out of the way place, some are elaborate cabins, and some are no bigger than a one room cabin. There is one or two old run down shacks no one lives in any more. But who...

I got an e-mail that had one of those, "I'm just a regular guy but I've discovered the secret ... " type message ...

A former EPA official tied to a controversy over allegations of federal overreach at an Alaska mine project has mysteriously gone off the grid, sources tell FoxNews.com, complicating lawmakers' efforts to question him. Emails from Phillip North, a now-retired Environmental Protection Agency employee, recently surfaced that seem to show the Alaska-based biologist tried to get the Pebble Mine project killed as far back as 2008. Those emails -- and memos indicating government officials worked early on with tribal leaders and environmental groups to oppose the venture -- raised questions about the agency's claims that when it ultimately vetoed the gold-and-copper...

A disturbing story out of the Sooner State this week, noted by Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway. Under the terms of a recently passed bill, expected to be signed by Governor Mary Fallin, homeowners who install their own private solar or wind turbine energy resources and sell some of the juice back to energy companies will be paying a fee for the privilege.

What would you do if the Internet or the power grid went down for over a year? Our key infrastructure, including the Internet and the power grid, is far more vulnerable than most people would dare to imagine. These days, most people simply take for granted that the lights will always be on and that the Internet will always function properly. But what if all that changed someday in the blink of an eye? According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's latest report, all it would take to plunge the entire nation into darkness for more than a year...

Cape Coral woman Robin Speronis has been relying on solar panels and treated rain water to survive.A Florida woman who has been living off the grid for about a year and a half was told that she has one month to "plug in" or deal with the authorities. Cape Coral woman Robin Speronis doesn’t have any city power or water running into her house and relies on solar panels and treated rain water to survive. "I'm choosing to live without being dependent on the system," she told NBC-2. Officials from Cape Coral Code Compliance met with Speronis and her attorney...

Confidential to U.S. drone operators: If you’re looking for Jesse Ventura’s remote Mexican hideaway, it can be found at 23° 30' 57.08" N 109° 28' 41.17" W. During an appearance Tuesday on CNBC, the former Minnesota governor claimed that he was living “off the grid” in Mexico “so that the drones can’t find me.”

Former wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura says he has gone “off the grid” in Mexico to avoid drones knowing where he is. The former third-party governor hosts a show called “Off the Grid” on Ora TV. Ventura said he could remain off the map “as long as we have solar power and we can reach the satellite.” “I view the United States, today, much like East Berlin. And I’m off the grid. I’ve tried for 20 years to warn the country about the Democrats and Republicans, and nobody’s listening.”

A UN push to provide electricity to more than one billion people who live off the grid is threatened by indecision at an important global development conference this week, despite robust support from EU leaders. Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, has called for a “global clean energy revolution” to provide electricity to the developing world by 2030 and he won commitments to the plan from the European Commission earlier this year. But negotiators meeting in New York ahead of the 20th anniversary Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro appeared to fall short of agreeing commitments to provide sustainable energy in...

Concerned that the economy could collapse? Or that a natural disaster could wipe out our infrastructure? So is Frank, and he is doing something about it! Believing that America has become too reliant on a crumbling foundation, Frank is preparing his family for life “off the grid,” admiring the way people lived in the 19th century. Like them, he longs to become completely independent. So he is embarking on one project at a time hoping to prepare his family for the worst, such as building a car that runs on wood in case gasoline supplies are interrupted, becoming expert hunters...

Some of the characters (including author Carolyn Chute) from my next book - OFF THE GRID - Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government and True Independence in Modern America, published by Penguin 1st August 2010 - "I traveled around America meeting these extraordinary people and writing about their lives. Above all I wanted to find out WHY they live off the grid." VIDEO

You like living out in the country. Living away from smog, noise, and crowded streets suits you just fine. But there's no reason to forgo some of the nicer things associated with civilization. This gadget guide for country folks offers some nifty items for off the grid living, or for those just outside the city limits. There's enough here to whet the gadget lust in any survivalist's heart. So let's take a look at some technology that will make that little cabin in the woods a lot more fun.

TAMPA -- The way Jake Plummer figures it, maybe the planets are aligning just right for his old team. His brother Brett told him the other day: "Can you believe it? We've got a black president, and the Cardinals are in the Super Bowl. Miracles do happen.'' "And,'' Plummer said Monday from his beloved Idaho, "a pilot just made a perfect landing in the Hudson River. Maybe it's all an omen. Maybe it's good news for the Cardinals. I hope so.''Speaking from Sandpoint, Idaho, in a rare interview since he disappeared from football two years ago, the man the Cardinals...

We've never been under such intense scrutiny as we are today. So how do we evade the snoopers? Here, an 'off-grid' expert offers an insider's guide We live in the most watched-over society in Europe. Exposure, especially in The Observer, has done little to hold the state and private sector in check. Phone records have become police records, as Henry Porter pointed out in this paper last week, and CCTV camera records are now fed into the automatic registration number computer. Credit and store-card records have become marketing records and our email addresses are points of entry for all sorts...

Inventor Goes Off The Grid With Solar-Hydrogen House By JENNIFER WEISS   Mike Strizki with a bank of portable solar panels at his home in East Amwell Township, N.J. (Photo by Frank H. Conlon)     EAST AMWELL TOWNSHIP, N.J. _ Mike Strizki's two-story Colonial home in the Sourland Mountains is equipped with a hot tub, big-screen television and power plant that turns a mix of renewable materials _ mostly sunlight and hydrogen _ into all the energy he and his family need.Strizki, a 50-year-old inventor who works as a director at Advanced Solar Products, a solar installation company, has...