Worst Mistakes To Avoid When Going Off Grid: “We Wish We’d Known”

SHTF Plan ^ | 1/8/16 | Mac Slavo

[Kartographer]

Want to build your own life back on the land, instead of keeping pace in this insane society headed for implosion?

There are lots of things that you’ll have to learn the hard way in order to go off grid.

The path is not easy, but that’s no reason not to get started, and move forward on your ultimate plan to live more independently.

This off-grid couple, at Fouch-o-matic Off Grid, had to relearn some of the basics to figure out how to live an alternative lifestyle without losing their minds, or facing impossible, labor intensive tasks.

[NorthstarMom]

I agree-I wish we had wood heat.

[MosesKnows]

Wiped with Sears & Roebuck catalog pages!

That catalog sure beat corn cobs.

[mad_as_he$$]

Slogging through a blizzard to feed the cow isn’t all that much fun either. Keep the outhouse seat near the fire. Get one filled with fluid that stays warm for a time makes it a better experience.

[kearnyirish2]

I hike in areas along the NY/NJ border that had been farming & mining communities (and since has become state parkland); what a rough living! Definitely hardy people...

[mad_as_he$$]

Nice!

[Axenolith]

You could always set up a trust and have it pay the taxes out of the interest it earns. That takes “the man” knowing your details out of the equation.

My spread in the high desert is ~$35/year, about $0.055/acre and it covers stuff like getting to use the county dump.

[disndat]

I have oft wondered betwixt the xxxxtreme of minne a polis and S Pall

aka

My sister put her lipstick in my carry to Rome and hence to Aegypt... the haggling....need I say more?

[disndat]

When it hits -30F, the line forms quickly (no one wants to be first, and everyone wants a warm seat...)

Lucifer claimed He would be First... and got that warm seat.

JESUS CHRIST said "I will go first...And the Glory goes to GOD"

And when it hits -30 you best be for keepin your pipes clear (drip by drip).

[Jolla]

Yea - when they talk about off the grid and then expecting someone to deliver nice cut logs to your door - I kinda wanted to let them know there was a bit more work than just splitting logs

[GailA]

This might work for younger people, but not seniors with health issues. At 75 not many are going to chop wood. We did down size the housing. Got a smaller house with a big back yard. If communications goes out we have Ham Radio.

We live semi small town rural as it is, a car is a necessity not a luxury as are cell phones and a zip line for the computer. No land line.

Moles destroyed my strawberry patch this last summer, as we have 2 dogs poison was out and not much else works, and health did the rest of the number on my gardening. And living in the 100+ degree heat and humidity of the South is hard on a garden. Even tried big kiddie swimming pools on stands, heat got the green beans, despite adequate soil and water. Ditto for growing tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets. Only thing that thrived was the blackberries, but as they are only 1 year old canes no real production, that comes in yr 3.

You need a lot of land to produce a adequate for a family garden, and to know how to can.

[Blue Collar Christian]

I will be making one of those! Lifts the axe for you by storing some of your effort and gravity in a spring.

[digger48]

yup.

Not unusual to handle a piece of wood 8-10 times before it actually hits the wood stove.

[Covenantor]

Ingenious device!

Any text with that?

[caww]

....”the wood heat, I felt warmed your bones, thus you were much warmer”....

I found that true as well.....it’s simply a warmer heat.

[goodnesswins]

I loved watching the shows they did on him...and have read his diary....I’m a hermit deep down

[Twinkie]

Uh. No. I was a girl. All pages were good until the slick,
colored, unabsorbent pages came along. - At school, we had
that unbleached stiff toilet paper. Now you have to pay extra for that if you want it! - Daddy always dug our toilets, and built the little red house over the seat. He
threw in a good amount of lime. It was okay and well
constructed. (It cured me of ever wishing to be an underwear
model or any kind of model in the Sears & Roebuck catalog!)
%O/

[Twinkie]

Go somewheres else! Look around first and be very, very
sure. - Don’t move up north.

[Jotmo]

Realy?

Those things were all a surprise to them?

Did these people ever go camping...even once?

[4Liberty]

I just moved East to New Hampshire ....from CA. Too many 'rats in CA!!!

Dried (seasoned) firewood takes a year to fully dry out. You can't just "burn it" the day it's cut. People don't know that. Ash tree is the best wood. I was told it dries fast (low moisture) and can be burned sooner after cutting. I got 2 cords kiln-dried firewood stored away this fall. Costs more but it's super dry - burns great, with small amount.

I got a Masonry Heater built. Its a 'fireplace on steroids,' retains heat from wood fire, cooks, and does a great job heating a house (off grid, no propane or heating oil furnace needed). Centuries-old low tech, used in Europe and Russia, check them out -

[Jotmo]

Very nice...for soft wood with lovly straight grain.

Try using that with gnarly Oak, or for some me real fun, Osage Orange and see how far you get. LOL