View Full Version : off grid on grid
mweinstone
05-22-2009, 13:56
how many of you camp in your apt or house . do you have a tent set up? sleep in a bag? eat from ti?is more than most of your foodstuffs survival food? do you store up whiskey or chocolate or tobbacos for bartering if it comes to that? in these end times, my lifes work of becomeing the survivalist magyver ever, is beginning to show benefits. i cannot be turrned off , kicked out or run out of anything. i posess the hand tools to start again and the knowlage of how to make them. do you?
how many of you camp in your apt or house . do you have a tent set up? sleep in a bag? eat from ti?is more than most of your foodstuffs survival food? do you store up whiskey or chocolate or tobbacos for bartering if it comes to that? in these end times, my lifes work of becomeing the survivalist magyver ever, is beginning to show benefits. i cannot be turrned off , kicked out or run out of anything. i posess the hand tools to start again and the knowlage of how to make them. do you?
End times? Christ's disciples thought he would return in their lifetimes due to the horrid state of society at that time. The sky is not falling and fear mongering does no one any good. But, to answer your question in a manner much like others respond to the gun question, it's no ones business what I have stored away. :cool:
buff_jeff
05-22-2009, 15:43
I have a Brita filter so I'm good to go.
My backpack is pretty much packed all the time. Does that count?
I just cut out the bottom of my sleeping bag so I can put my legs thru and I never take the dang thang off.
Rockhound
05-22-2009, 16:57
Matty, you have seen my accommodations. Is it safe to say I'm off the grid?
daddytwosticks
05-22-2009, 18:50
I have a case of two-ply toilet tissue in pink packed in ziplock bags...am I good to go? - M.Smith
Hoop Time
05-22-2009, 22:58
Our air conditioning crapped out the other week when the temps hit the 90s. Camping gear became survival gear. I slept out on the porch on my thermarest until things cooled off a few days later. But that is nothing new, I like to do that almost year around when it rains because I love to all asleep with the sound of the rain, so unless it is too cold, I "camp" on the porch when we get a good rain.
Phoenixdadeadhead
05-22-2009, 23:04
Ok guess this post was aimed at me lol. I keep my bed made, and then pull out one of my sleeping bags and throw it on top and sleep in it lol. I also keep 2 packs ready, one small one large, but food wise I live on frozen pizza, cereal, fruit, and pickles lol. When I can't hike, I play video games like Oblivian while walking on the treadmill with my pack on lol.
TIDE-HSV
05-23-2009, 01:17
Hmmm... Well, I've been "off the grid" for extended periods owing to ice storms and tornadoes. But, having coped with a couple of generators, I guess that doesn't count... :D
mweinstone
05-24-2009, 06:37
seriously folks. ive been packed and ready to abandon ship since the age of 6 or 9. my brother can attest to this. under my bed were cans of food and in my 5 dollar camp trails pack was a tube tent and a pocket hammock. both 2 dollars at the army navy store here in philly witch still exists. its called i goldbergs and my great friend nanna owns it. i have had the pleasure of being their painting contractor for 20 plus years and i can tell you, these old army navy stores have crap in the basements and back rooms and attics that would frighten you that anyone ever even brought it into civilian commerce cultures to sell. like battalians worth of russian high altitude pressure suits for jet pilots. maby the village people danced in one once but other than that, i collect mundane crap like booze and chocolate to trade for hot ladys and fast rocketcars in the epocoliptic future. i also still have tuna under my bed so to speak. and as far as not telling others what you got/ those folks got the most and we'll pillage yall first. actually, come to think of it, pilliging orders should be posted publicly since we all know were commin!ooxoxooxmatthewski
I don't care if society collapses. I think it could be fun :p
Lemni Skate
05-24-2009, 09:10
I'm camping on the porch tonight with my kids since we're expecting rain all night and none of us were up for the swollen streams in the WMA near us tonight.
I am not preparing for the apocalypse. It's coming(I can name 15 plausible ways it's all over for us in the next year), but I'm just kinda like, good, it needs to come. To be so smart we're one dumb a** species and the Earth needs to start over with cockroaches or something.
When it happens I'm taking my dehydrated food and my water filter and hiking until whatever it is takes me. I just hope it gives me enough time to cover 2176.2 miles. My luck, my final breath will be 200 yards short of the peak of Katahdin.
I spent 21 days off the grid after Katrina, does that count?
As long as there's hiker boxes, hikers will be fine.
Chaco Taco
05-24-2009, 11:04
Ok guess this post was aimed at me lol. I keep my bed made, and then pull out one of my sleeping bags and throw it on top and sleep in it lol. I also keep 2 packs ready, one small one large, but food wise I live on frozen pizza, cereal, fruit, and pickles lol. When I can't hike, I play video games like Oblivian while walking on the treadmill with my pack on lol.
So where do you get that this is aimed at you??
Just a Hiker
05-24-2009, 11:22
There is a good article today on http://foxnews.com about a Yale Graduate student who built a 144 square foot sustainable house to reduce her impact on the environment. The article is entitled "College life in a Box".......Pretty interesting!
Just Jim
mweinstone
05-24-2009, 11:33
her imprint on earth started with adam and eves sin.crap was made perfect and to last. we make rust and moth.
well put me.
There is a good article today on http://foxnews.com about a Yale Graduate student who built a 144 square foot sustainable house to reduce her impact on the environment. The article is entitled "College life in a Box".......Pretty interesting!
Just Jim
I'm working on a set of plans to build this house @ 199 sq/ft. The bedroom is in the loft accessable via the small alternating tread starcase top left. Less than 200 sq/ft most places don't require building permits.
http://tinypic.com/ao8j0m.png
Just a Hiker
05-24-2009, 12:28
I'm working on a set of plans to build this house @ 199 sq/ft. The bedroom is in the loft accessable via the small alternating tread starcase top left. Less than 200 sq/ft most places don't require building permits.
http://tinypic.com/ao8j0m.png
Pretty Cool.....I wish I had the skills to build something like that!
I like your 199' square foot house! I hope you build it.
mweinstone
05-24-2009, 16:30
houses wont help you run faster. big comfy chairs wont pull the ticks swollen with blood from dogs to feed you. and cool mini things like that house wont fire a sustainable rate of cyclic fire needed to defend when fans go brown.
Hikes in Rain
05-24-2009, 17:51
I agree, that's kind of cool! I'd love to know more.
My home is already partially off grid, and if it came to it, I could run all the essentials indefinitely. I already produce a sizable portion of my food needs, and have learned the skills to preserve and bottle. If I was forced to abandone my home, I have a fully stocked 1980 Bolar trailer ready to go within minutes. If road travel was not possible, I have an atv with a trail off my property connected to a very large network of trails. If that is not an option, I can pull my sea kayaks off the rack and drop them in the Bay of Fundy in front of my property giving me access to the whole of the Atlantic Ocean. Finally, if all else fails, I can walk 15 minutes through the bush to the local community airport where i'm a member and checked out to fly the club plane.
So either by road, overland, sea or air, I have options!
Toolshed
05-25-2009, 08:31
Ready to go. I keep a machete the hall closet in case I need to get on the trail!!!!
I always keep 5 gallons of water, 5 gallons of Gas and plenty of diesel fuel in check. I usually stock up on a couple of dozen FD Mountain House meals when REI-Outlet has the big sale. I then go through them all year long.
We usually keep a pantry full of normal food and I fill the bathtub with water before serious thunderstorms in case we lose power for a day (we live in the country and if you need to flush the toilet without power, you simply scoop a gallon of water outta the tub.)
I am low on ammo though.....
I am low on ammo though.....
I forgot to add, I also load my own rounds.
I forgot to add, I also load my own rounds.
I have been unable to find many of the powders I normally use and brass is getting scarce locally as well. I'm curious if that is true in other parts of the country?
Can't say i've noticed a difference, however it's been some time since I've needed to puchase anything.
Can't say i've noticed a difference, however it's been some time since I've needed to puchase anything.
Sorry DAJA, didn't notice your local when I posted earlier. It probably doesn't exist as a problem in Canada as I thik the shortage is due to a knee jerk reaction to Obama's election. Lots of folks ran out and purchased weapons and reloading supplies in the fear he would find a way to restrict their ability to get access to them. It seems to have created an artificial supply shortage, but I feel it is all driven by demand. Hopefully it will die down soon.
Jayboflavin04
05-26-2009, 11:28
I don't care if society collapses. I think it could be fun :p
We almost need it. Too much excess in the US. We as a society need to get back to simpler times. I am not talking horse and buggy! I was kinda hoping the banks wouldnt get bailed out. Many dont know how to survive without their credit cards,.....MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE......
Phoenix7
05-26-2009, 12:04
I'm working on a set of plans to build this house @ 199 sq/ft. The bedroom is in the loft accessable via the small alternating tread starcase top left. Less than 200 sq/ft most places don't require building permits.
http://tinypic.com/ao8j0m.png Looks like a Manhatten apartment.
Phoenix7
05-26-2009, 12:07
My sunglasses block out UVA/B&C light. Maybe I won't get cataracts after a big war.
We almost need it. Too much excess in the US. We as a society need to get back to simpler times. I am not talking horse and buggy! I was kinda hoping the banks wouldnt get bailed out. Many dont know how to survive without their credit cards,.....MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE......
Agreed... Lets see those who preach economic/social darwinism survive without the comforts provided by their bank accounts... The majority of our culture lives in an artifical world, one that cannot be sustained indefinitely..
Specialization will be our undoing...
le loupe
05-26-2009, 13:53
I'm working on a set of plans to build this house @ 199 sq/ft. The bedroom is in the loft accessable via the small alternating tread starcase top left. Less than 200 sq/ft most places don't require building permits.
A quick critique of your plans by an architect and yours truly- There are a lot of good books out there on this subject.
Buildings for habitation are always governed by the building code. Small, temporary structures for which no permit is required are usually accessory or agricultural structures. Even in Georgia... :D
Get rid of the shower stall- you'll have a much more comfortable room without it. Tile the walls and put a drain in the floor to shower in the room proper.
Alternating tread stairs are not usually permitted in residential uses.
Keep working at it. It something I'd love to do myself.
Buildings for habitation are always governed by the building code. Small, temporary structures for which no permit is required are usually accessory or agricultural structures. Even in Georgia... :D
If someone is sleeping in it I knew nothing! :p
Buildings for habitation are always governed by the building code. Small, temporary structures for which no permit is required are usually accessory or agricultural structures.
Here's a fun little exemption in PA: see b(11) on this link (http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/034/chapter403/s403.1.html)
mkmangold
05-28-2009, 02:16
I dip my blood-swollen ticks in chocolate.
mweinstone
05-28-2009, 06:49
mkmangolds the only one im lettin in. all yall beggers git locked without with the whoremongers and polititions. now, lets reveiw. non of you seem to understand the need to ween ourselves from sociaty and release ourselves into the wilds. untill you forget your names sound and the taste of pond scum is wonder in your nostrals, untill the blood of a rabbit is your morning joe, untill your feet walk on snow, their can be no rest. we are solely owned and opperated by a frikkin bic lighter and the dow monsanta corporation and boeing and the v22 and bombs. apeman is rolling over in his grave laughing at us trying to have fun on a vacation and crying a tear for our lack of understanding of the beauty and solice of a warm maggot brunch while hunting or the smooth fell of mud on cuts. we lack folks. and we have no clue at all. stores wont help you. plus ppppp pressure loads wont.
I think its good practice to go 1 week each season with the electricity shut off and no shopping or driving the car, and another week each season in the woods. My wife doesn't seem to agree. Still I think rather that preparing to live, better to just start living.
Let each one examine his thoughts, and he will find them all occupied with the past and the future. We scarcely ever think of the present; and if we think of it, it is only to take light from it to arrange the future. The present is never our end. The past and the present are our means; the future alone is our end. So we never live, but we hope to live; and, as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable we should never be so.
- Blaise Pascal, Pensees
Blue Jay
05-29-2009, 09:59
crying a tear for our lack of understanding of the beauty and solice of a warm maggot brunch
You had me until that bit:eek:.
That bit actually kind of won me over. :)
We are the Little Folk -- we!
Too little to love or to hate.
Leave us alone and you'll see
How we can drag down the State!
We are the worm in the wood!
We are the rot at the root!
We are the taint in the blood!
We are the thorn in the foot!
Between the temple and the cave
The boundary lies tissue thin:
The yearlings still the altars crave
As satisfaction for a sin.
I have a small stainless steel bowl with a plastic lid and just enough of a flat bottom that I've been eyeing for use as a bowl/wok. Weighs about 2-3 oz. Not sure it packs well enough because of the shape, or how well the lid would stay on. I use it to and from work though. Good for oatmeal and salads and soups. It would be fun to wok with it over a small wood fire but I don't want to burn the **** out of it until I find another.
It's also a fairly nice shape for drinking coffee or tea out of, but too big to fit in a bottle pouch while on the go. I want to give it some more thought though. I should look at Ti bowls also I suppose. I haven't seen aluminum ones.
If anybody was interested in the original article posted on foxnews and doesn't feel like rooting through the partisan bullspit and self proclaimed "news source," it's here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,521433,00.html
I've always been fasinated with the houses they make out of old shipping containers. People talk about recycling, well this is a great recycle idea.
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_green_news/8/twelve-amazing-shipping-container-houses.html
More wee homes:
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses/
http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/tiny_houses.html
I like the small caravan idea, built on a utility trailer, then move to your site and offload the caravan and add a few outbuildings. Get the land productive first, worry about a more permament dwelling later. Ah. Some other life maybe.
FOX News....We distort,you decide.
rootball
05-30-2009, 20:36
Can you survive weapons grade smallpox? That's how they will thin the population, you know. Vaccines for the chosen - slow death for the rest.
This thread has really become a source of joy. :)
mweinstone
05-31-2009, 07:11
the armor and wepons and support witch the matthewski unit has intrusted his soul with , cannot be defeated.my father is god.go ahead . ban me.
Can you survive weapons grade smallpox? That's how they will thin the population, you know. Vaccines for the chosen - slow death for the rest.
They'd never do that, there's too much profit in overpopulation.
FOX News....We distort,you decide.
Have you ever seen MSNBC and CNN? Fox must be too American these days.
Have you ever seen MSNBC and CNN? Fox must be too American these days.
It's not the America I served 26 year in the Army to defend. FOX,MSNBC and CNN are in insult to my intelligence.
It's not the America I served 26 year in the Army to defend. FOX,MSNBC and CNN are in insult to my intelligence.
I don't watch news either. But there is a case of guilty man says he's innocent when everyone cries Fox news.
Wise Old Owl
05-31-2009, 11:01
Y2k again?
Shadowmoss
05-31-2009, 11:01
The Fox news article, from just what it says, doesn't describe anything sustainable. She was given free materials, given a free place to build it,and is allowed to use a bathroom in the house of the property owner. Basically, she seems to have built a shed with help from a lot of folks who think she's cute. Not a lot to learn there, not a lot of innovation. Other than if you are a cute female you get headlines for just showing up.
Oh, and I used to be a cute female. I know. That was a lifetime ago...
East Coast Alex
05-23-2010, 17:02
I'm working on a set of plans to build this house @ 199 sq/ft. The bedroom is in the loft accessable via the small alternating tread starcase top left. Less than 200 sq/ft most places don't require building permits.
http://tinypic.com/ao8j0m.png
I'm looking to build an off-the-grid place in the middle of nowhere, as well. I decided some time ago that I'm not even going to bother informing local officials. They simply don't need to know about my 300 square foot palatial estate, so I'm not even going to bother with building permits or codes (it's going to be over-spec'd anyway, because I like to build solid).
Unfortunately, my design just keeps getting larger and larger with each subsequent revision. :(
I started out with a really modest 350 - 400'ish square feet... and I then proceeded to add a second small room for a kitchen which tacked on another 100 square feet. Then I decided to make a slightlybigger bathroom (again, add another 100 square feet). And if that were not enought, I decided I wanted a work-out room.. [sigh], and that added another 150'ish square feet.... :p It's still pretty small as the design is (about 700 square-feet, or less), compared to how large houses tend to be today.... but I really need to consider getting back to my original small design.
I'm guessing you've stumbled across the "tiny house" movement, and have skimmed all the websites with the tiny / small homes. That movement is becoming quite popular. Lots of people had the same idea, and now numerous websites are devoted to just that, and lots of people have built pretty creative small homes (less than 500 square feet, down to as little as 64 square feet).
I'm going to have between 400 - 600 Watts worth of solar cells, a small water cistern of maybe 300 - 500 gallons, which will do rainwater collection, which will have a nice filter system attached to it, and a composting toilet. I think this should serve all my needs quite well.
I could probably even live without the solar cells and electricity, if it were not for the fact that:
(a) I really want my computer and Internet, and
(b) I have not quite figured out how to handle food storage without refrigeration.
I looked into doing food the "old fashioned" way, without refrigeration.... doing extensive canning and pickling smoking of meats, but that particular method really was not to my taste. I hate vinegar and the thought of pickling all my food in vinegar and canning it I find quite gross. I'm just going to get a chest freezer (which are very energy efficient) which only uses 150 kWh/year, modify it by adding some extra insulation, and adding a Danfoss compressor so it uses even less electricity, and keeping it below grade (which drastically increases its efficiency), and I should be good to go.
Bear Cables
05-23-2010, 17:23
I spent 21 days off the grid after Katrina, does that count?
Got ya beat! Spent 31 days no electricity living in our pop up camper after Katrina. Weird times right?
TwoStepsForward
05-23-2010, 18:40
while i suscribe to the when it comes it comes theroy... i do know a few folks who have gone into survival mode for reason of economics, severe downshifting, to the conspiricy theroists... most who do this build a similar structure as posted but do it in the form of a barn...small living upstairs... built to go un-noticed...downstairs appears to me a barn that has been deserted or not used...shower and bathroom was outside as one would use in camping...i think that "stelth mode" was the trick to most of their structures...
a few years ago i started to get in to stockpiling items "just in case"... the dog food was recalled... the peanut butter was recalled... then i passed on the idea... while i would do anything to provide and shelter my family and am not that much of a religious man... i still to this day fall back to the "when it comes it comes" theroy... i dont know that one could prolong life for much longer than it is possible to do so...
learning to live within our means, becoming sustainable, reducing our footprint, and enjoying my life more has become my focus... for me it has to be a healthy mental balance... i would not want to live in constant fear mode... always what if mode... i still have a good way to go towards reduction of things i never needed... but, i think that if the fan turned brown and the world went into a crazy spin out of hope of regaining itself...i would just throw on my pack, and walk with my family into what ever was ahead and face it the best i could into the sunset... kinda like a bad movie or the ending theme for the old incredible hulk series... minus the musical score...:-?
http://cheaprvliving.com/
For those of us without land or money.
I spent 21 days off the grid after Katrina, does that count?
I was in New Orleans for nearly eight weeks following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Talk about--being "off the grid"!
Got ya beat! Spent 31 days no electricity living in our pop up camper after Katrina. Weird times right?Definite weird times. Brought out the best and worst in people. I moved away from the coast and can't bring myself to visit again.
fredmugs
05-25-2010, 09:43
It's not the America I served 26 year in the Army to defend. FOX,MSNBC and CNN are in insult to my intelligence.
Could not agree with you more.
A more realistic slogan for Fox is: We preach - you comply.
fredmugs
05-25-2010, 09:44
how many of you camp in your apt or house . do you have a tent set up? sleep in a bag? eat from ti?is more than most of your foodstuffs survival food? do you store up whiskey or chocolate or tobbacos for bartering if it comes to that? in these end times, my lifes work of becomeing the survivalist magyver ever, is beginning to show benefits. i cannot be turrned off , kicked out or run out of anything. i posess the hand tools to start again and the knowlage of how to make them. do you?
As a trained killer I will live very well off the paranoid planning of others.
Pedaling Fool
05-25-2010, 09:46
Could not agree with you more.
A more realistic slogan for Fox is: We preach - you comply.
I'm not going to defend Fox, to some degree that's correct, but is it just a simple mistake that you did not include MSNBC & CNN?
fredmugs
05-25-2010, 10:08
They are all agenda based and I do not watch any of them. However, FoxNews is on 24/7 at work so I know they do nothing but stir up *****. MSNBC has Blowberman and someone even worse after that.
For me the difference between CNN and Fox is if something doesn't fit CNN's ideology they will ignore it like it never happened. Fox will report it and then get up on their soapbox.
Pedaling Fool
05-25-2010, 10:30
I watch them all in moderation, but with all there are some programs I stay far, far away from; my time is just too valuable to listen to someone that is blinded by an agenda.