Living "Off the Grid"

[Wade Lippman]

I'm not a super social person, but I couldn't imagine living out in the boonies where you might not see another person for days or weeks. The outhouse I could do without. When I go up to the Boy Scout summer camp to help I will generally not use the latrines and instead walk to one of several places with a flush toilet. Most of the time when I am up at camp helping out I stay in a beautiful log cabin with kitchen, full bathroom, and central heat/air conditioning. (Really roughing it.)

I am trying to downsize my living situation. I just sold my 2,650 square foot house and am looking for a smaller house.

When I went to Boy Scout Camp with my sons I slept in a tent and cooked outside; that was fine. But I absolutely refused to use the latrines and would walk any distance to find a flush toilet. 30 years ago I didn't care all that much, but not now.

I also downsized from 2,900sf to 2,400sf. Of course, the new place cost 4x as much as the old; so I am not sure downsizing is the right word. (5 flush toilets).

But back to the OP; if your friend didn't have a well, what does he do for water?

[Rich Riddle]

Wade,

He uses another person's water once a week. He gets about fifteen gallons of water for the week and also bathes that day. Not the way I would want to live. It pretty much ensures he stays a bachelor to say the least.

[Pat Barry]

All I know is that when the power goes out things get real very quickly.
How to keep your food cold,
no water - if you run off a well
where to get drinking water
where to get water for cooking
how to flush the toilet,
where are the flashlights,
what other lighting do you have (I like those little solar walkway lights - they do a nice job inside at night),
how to cook your food - electric oven anyone?,
what to do - no TV, no internet, no cell phone for long - how do you charge it?

I'm sure we all hope for the power to come back on quickly.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I've heard it said that people in our modern society are only three hot meals from the stone age.

From all the goofiness I've seen at intersections where stoplights are out, I'd say that statement is pretty optimistic .

[Brian Elfert]

When I went to Boy Scout Camp with my sons I slept in a tent and cooked outside; that was fine. But I absolutely refused to use the latrines and would walk any distance to find a flush toilet. 30 years ago I didn't care all that much, but not now.

I camped in a tent for summer camp one week a year for about a decade as an adult leader. I would walk to a flush toilet most of the time. These days I don't camp with the boys at the summer camp, but instead my dad and I spend a week up at camp helping do construction projects a few weeks before camp opens for the summer. We could stay in a tent if we wanted, but we are there to work, not camp. A cabin with real beds and all the amenities makes it easier to work the 10 to 12 hour days.

[Ole Anderson]

In the early 50's when I was a young kid we would visit my grandparent's small farm in northern Michigan. By then my dad had graduated from college, left the military as a lieutenant colonel and had his own engineering business. But when we visited the farm, grandma would cook on a wood stove, the house was heated by two other wood stoves, they still used an outhouse, and only recently had gotten a well so they could have running water in the kitchen. They did have electricity and a phone. I remember getting up in the middle of the night and using the pot under the bed to pee into. Of course they went to the grocery store on occasion, but all the bread was baked in the wood fired oven, all the eggs were gathered each day and I remember her catching a chicken, chopping off its head and watching it run in circles. They had 4-6 cows and I remember every day they would take fresh milk to the separator room to separate the cream from the milk. Oh, and they had a real woodshed. By the end of that decade they had one regular bathroom and a furnace and things were never the same. Fond memories I am thankful for, but glad I don't have to live like that today.

[David Weaver]

using the pot under the bed to pee into

To this day, my mother (the daughter of the chicken jogger) still says "they don't have a pot to pee in" when she is describing someone who is broke. She never says they're broke, poor or anything like that, but always uses that line instead.

[Rich Riddle]

To this day, my mother (the daughter of the chicken jogger) still says "they don't have a pot to pee in" when she is describing someone who is broke. She never says they're broke, poor or anything like that, but always uses that line instead.

My grandmother and mother always used this expression but the meaning eluded me until this thread. The amazing things one learns in the Creek. They used to also add, "or a window to throw it out of."

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Folks.....please don't take this thread in to a discussion or start making comments about religion. It would violate the TOSs.

[John Pratt]

Wow! maybe I need to rethink my contributer status on this site.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John,

To think the volunteer staff here reads every post would be a mistake. There are too many posts and too few Moderators to do that. We have lives outside of SMC.


If you find a post you feel is offensive or violates the TOSs, simply report the offending post by clicking the triangle with the exclamation point in the lower left area of the post. You remain anonymous but it starts a thread in the Moderators Forum. Moderators assigned to that forum will be emailed to handle the situation. Often, the next moderator to come on line will go to the Moderator's Forum, see the thread and handle the situation even if it's not the forum to which they may be assigned.

[Trevor Howard]

I grew up in England (born 1970) and was raised around my grandparents and parents who used that saying. (Pot to piss in)

Although I don't remember any of my family being off the grid, my Grandparents had an outhouse until around 1978. Purely refusing to spend the money on an inside toilet. This was a deluxe model outhouse though, as it had water and was flushable.

[David Weaver]

I grew up in England (born 1970) and was raised around my grandparents and parents who used that saying. (Pot to piss in)

Although I don't remember any of my family being off the grid, my Grandparents had an outhouse until around 1978. Purely refusing to spend the money on an inside toilet. This was a deluxe model outhouse though, as it had water and was flushable.

Our perception in the US is that the population density in the UK would make "off grid" mean that you could only see 100 other people at any given time rather than 100,000 if you were standing at a point of land and looking around

[Kev Williams]

I know a few people... Some people's needs are small...

A friend of many years ago used to live in a 20x24 storage unit. He had a "hut" built with a kerosene heater, TV and a sofa bed. He had a bucket for bodily functions and a storm drain right outside the door to throw it in. He had a small fridge to keep food and beer cold. He had a water dispenser for his water. Not exactly "off the grid" but he lived cheap. After that ended (not of his choice) he moved into a 2 bedroom townhouse apartment. He lived in the bedroom, coffee pot was in the bathroom next door. He never used the living room or kitchen.

My older brother has lived in the same apartment for over 20 years, which is just an old hotel room, about half the size of most Motel6 rooms. There's a bathroom, a fold-down bed, and enough shelf, floor and closet space for his clothes and AV equipment. Doesn't have a car either. Has had no desire to "upgrade".

As for off the grid and who-cares-about-power-for-tools, down in Southern Utah there is (was?) a mountain man who lives in the hills, and during warm months he brings down his covered wagon and the cedar chests he's built or is building, and parks on an off ramp so he can sell the chests. He buys wood and some hardware, and builds them from scratch using only hand tools. I haven't been down that way in a few years so I'm sure if he's still down there or not...

[Val Kosmider]

In a previous life I had a family member who was sort of a prepper/back to the land/live off the grid sort of person. Was always going to make it big growing a little pot or some ginseng or some other crazy scheme to get a lot of money for doing very little.

His version of 'living off the grid' meant paying no taxes (got reported and paid a BIG fine), doing as little as was humanly possible, and overall being a leech on society--not the least of which through the medical system where, due to living in squalor, he consumed a great deal. Unhealthy, improperly nutritioned, and grossly overweight. Some life, but he fancied himself a real pioneer.

In my mind, a live off the gridder means no external services. No elec, gas, water etc., you grow your own except for dry goods staples hauled in once or twice a year, and you are basically self sufficient. It seems to be a VERY hard life and few seem to do it successfully. A lot more seem to see it as a way to escape doing any work (basically being lazy) and have a fancy name for their underperformance as basic human beings. One who did it well, and correctly, is here: http://www.nps.gov/lacl/historycultu...ekes-cabin.htm But he had a NAVY Pension on which to provide for himself.

Finally, I will end my ramble by sort of chuckling at the prepper world. These guys have figured out that they can 'bug out/disappear' if the SHTF. There is a whole industry of people who are willing to sell them billions of dollars worth of stuff to feed their paranoia. It really is quite a juxtaposition. That survival food doesn't survive so long, it turns out.

Watching a prepper show a few months back, this guy decided he could hide out in tree house for a few months until the 'storm' blew over. He further concluded that he could wrap the tree house in aluminum foil and it would mirror the surrounding forest, and thus he would really be hidden. Well, when the sun came out, it looked like a giant reflector which was visible for miles around. Not to be deterred, he pushed ahead, and held a little practice drill. Scramble the car/kids/family, and head to the recluse......except the wife was afraid of heights and not about to have anything to do with living 20 feet off the ground!