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Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best
Picture of 92fstech
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I've considered it. If I had the financial means to sustain myself, I'd buy land somewhere in the middle of nowhere and avoid as much human contact as possible.

While I have no desire to live in a tarpaper shack, I could handle off-grid living in a simple home. We could make do with solar and wind power with a battery bank to supply basic lighting requirements, refrigeration, and water flow from a well. Cutting and splitting wood for heat is well within my capacity and that of my sons.

I can garden and butcher an animal. I'm not world class at either, but I can get by. We know how to hunt and fish, and could care for livestock. My wife has processed deer meat into hamburger, and canned plenty of vegetables and fruit. I think we could survive, but the problem would be having enough income to pay taxes and other inevitable expenses. And once you have to put time into cash flow, it takes away time from the chores necessary for subsistence.

I think it would be a harder life physically than what we have now, but probably healthier spiritually and emotionally than modern life, especially considering all the BS in the world these days.
 
Posts: 8417 | Location: In the Cornfields | Registered: May 25, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Edge seeking
Sharp blade!
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Indicators of readiness for ability for roughing it may not be what one thinks they are, but I'll say they are mostly an attitude.

I will brag though about an event that indicates my ability to endure, whatever that says about if I can escape from New York.

I'm 66 now and ice skate almost every day, and when the weather improves will ride my fixed gear bicycle 18 miles 5 days per week. Two years ago, I paddled 350 miles on the Missouri river in 62 hours with about 2.5 hours of sleep.

All this proves is I can endure those specific things, maybe will last a few hours longer than a typical American my age in a hunger games scenario, for whatever that's worth.
 
Posts: 7437 | Location: Over the hills and far away | Registered: January 20, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of mcrimm
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Not for me, but did you read this thread?

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...0601935/m/3280048974

Polebridge is just a short drive from where we summer.



I'm sorry if I hurt you feelings when I called you stupid - I thought you already knew - Unknown
...................................
When you have no future, you live in the past. " Sycamore Row" by John Grisham
 
Posts: 4214 | Location: Saddlebrooke, Arizona | Registered: December 24, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
hello darkness
my old friend
Picture of gw3971
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I like long hot showers everyday. I have no desire to carry that water and to then heat it. God bless water heaters.
 
Posts: 7721 | Location: West Jordan, Utah | Registered: June 19, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of FlyingScot
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We can and do live simpler, and each year we get even more so. That said, no subsistence is not on our agenda - but fully respect those that live Uber simple.

My parents live on a sailboat - 78 and 76. I have done this solar and energy planning twice for them and well was design an build of of their power system. They live in less than a 1,000 sqft but have the entire keys as their backyard. Got my dad a small 19 sailboat he sails most days. So yes can appreciate and moving towards that - for us it is progress as the kids get older.





“Forigive your enemy, but remember the bastard’s name.”

-Scottish proverb
 
Posts: 1999 | Location: South Florida | Registered: December 24, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
7.62mm Crusader
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quote:
Originally posted by Flashlightboy:
I scream at the microwave, "Hurry, Hurry!"

So, no.
That had me rollin.. Big Grin
 
Posts: 17891 | Location: The Bluegrass State! | Registered: December 23, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
delicately calloused
Picture of darthfuster
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Mrs DF and I are preparing to live 'off grid' should services and supply chains collapse. We are able to live primitively but don't want to if we don't have to. Instead we are preparing in advance so the landing will be softer if the fit hits the shan.

For example, I just spent the last 6 weekends loading lump coal into a dump trailer and moving it out to our ranch. Why? Because one day we might need it to survive. It was free to anyone who would exert themselves. So I loaded the mini-ex into the dump trailer, drove down to the wrecking yard where the pile was, scoop by scoop filled the trailer and hauled it out to the ranch. It was coal spilled from a double side dumper that rolled in an accident. It was loaded up and dump in the wrecking yard.

Anyway, I could have spend those days entertaining myself or whatever but I would rather prepare for what may come. We have been busy beavers, Mrs DF and I. Big Grin



You’re a lying dog-faced pony soldier
 
Posts: 29607 | Location: Highland, Ut. | Registered: May 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I'm done for shortly after the meds run out. I could fade away over a few weeks but that would take resources away from people who could better use them towards longer term survival.
 
Posts: 4273 | Location: Peoples Republic of Berkeley | Registered: June 12, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Simple answer, probably not.
I sure as hell wouldn't want to have to find out. I like electricity and running hot water.




 
Posts: 10045 | Registered: October 15, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Simple answer - yes. I am old now (77), but lived a childhood that was poor and in a large family. I have gone thru the trials and tribulations of hunting and fishing for food rather than entertainment. I have helped raise, slaughter and butcher most farm-type animals. I have endured the outdoor plumbing and the heating and cooking with wood. I have lived the process of make-do or do without.

Having endured all of the above, I managed to get thru college with advanced degrees and now have a comfortable and easy living with most of the nicer amenities. I can honestly say that I was just as happy in the poor environment as I am today, just not as comfortable. I have always considered life a gift that I have enjoyed and been thankful for. If I need to live the hard way of my youth, I will still live the gift until I am gone. My happiness and satisfaction has never depended on "things" or interaction with people other than my family ties. I can enjoy both, but a bologna sandwich and a steak are not that far apart in sustenance. (But I do understand that the "old ways" would pretty much wear this old body out in a short time, but I never planned to live forever and am only a short-time visitor to this earth anyway!)

Disclaimer: My views do not mean that others would and should feel the same way as I do.
 
Posts: 1625 | Registered: February 15, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Smarter than the
average bear
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Mentally yes, physically maybe. I am in good health, requiring no medications to live. But, I am very near-sighted, and mostly wear contacts. If those run out, I am dependent on eyeglasses, and if they are lost or destroyed my hunting days are over.

I’m sure this book has been mentioned here at some point, but “One Second After” paints an interesting picture of what life would be like in America if we suddenly lost the grid. I enjoyed the book and recommend it if you haven’t read it. Link to Amazon:


https://www.amazon.com/Second-...0765327252/ref=nodl_
 
Posts: 3424 | Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana | Registered: June 20, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Political Cynic
Picture of nhtagmember
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Simpler may be as easy as simply turning off social media in all forms.
 
Posts: 53086 | Location: Tucson Arizona | Registered: January 16, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of Prefontaine
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If it means the masked singer gets pulled off the air, sure!



What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone
 
Posts: 12569 | Location: Down South | Registered: January 16, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Could I yes,would I want to hell no.

That is primitive, or pioneer living and a hard way to live.

I like modern conveniences.

I don't want to haul water, raise and butcher my own animals. Grow my own vegetables.

I would rather just go to the store and buy it with my hard earned money.

Farming is hard, ranching is hard.

Going to the store and getting my groceries is easy.

I like heat and air conditioning.

Lights when it gets dark.

Doctor reachable and meds when I need them.

Each to their own
 
Posts: 4743 | Registered: February 15, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Not as lean, not as mean,
Still a Marine
Picture of Gibb
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In the short term, yes I could survive in a "primitive" lifestyle, counting on myself. My wife is a great assistant, but doesn't have the current skill set to survive this way alone.

But, as others mentioned, would I want to? I do not survive for the betterment of society. I survive for the enjoyment of life. If life becomes unenjoyable, would I want to survive that way? Probably not.

If we lost society, and it's benefits (power, food chain) I would adapt. If it looked like society and those benefits would not return in my lifetime, I would probably stop paying the game (sometimes it's the only way to win).

My wife and I have had this discussion, and she feels the same way.

I feel this was a honest question, and this is my honest answer.




I shall respect you until you open your mouth, from that point on, you must earn it yourself.
 
Posts: 3352 | Location: Southern Maine | Registered: February 10, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I’m not sure I would describe what you’re saying is “simple” living. Primitive?, basic?, yes. But not simple. What you’re describing is a heck of a lot of work. It’s simple to turn a knob and have water flowing in your kitchen sink. Not as simple to have to go outside and draw water from a well.

Having said that, I’m always trying to simplify my life and surroundings. Just not so sure I want to give up certain modern conveniences our forefathers worked so hard to create.


Made in Texas, in the good ole' U.S. of A.
 
Posts: 241 | Location: Western North Carolina | Registered: May 11, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
delicately calloused
Picture of darthfuster
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I guess everything is relative. Which of us is willing to live in a cave on a cliff like the Anasazi? Big Grin



You’re a lying dog-faced pony soldier
 
Posts: 29607 | Location: Highland, Ut. | Registered: May 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Spread the Disease
Picture of flesheatingvirus
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I need refrigeration for insulin, so I would eventually die. Smile

Other than that, it sounds wonderful.


________________________________________

-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --
 
Posts: 17246 | Location: New Mexico | Registered: October 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Ammoholic
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Not sure the exact situation you envision. Live on a ranch, have goats (four legged brushhogs) that could provide easy protein in a pinch. Have plentiful deer that are not (currently) shy. Have never butchered a goat, but have done steers and deer. It’s a toss up whether the wife would eat either the goats or deer to avoid starving, but I wouldn’t hesitate. Keep 400,000 gallons in the water tank, but if the grid goes out that won’t keep the orchards going long at all. Might have to end up fighting the neighbors to keep that water anyway. Do a whole lot of work every day here on the ranch, but much of it involves equipment. It wouldn’t take long for the chainsaws to go silent in the absence of the ability to buy fuel. Ditto for the irrigation booster pump for the orchard, the excavator, dozer, skip and drag, etc. The house is off-grid solar for electricity, but many appliances are propane powered, including the backup generator. Sure, if I have diesel, I could fork up the welder with the skippy and haul it up the hill as a backup to the backup, but diesel is finite too...

Like a lot of things, it would come down to reading the situation correctly and prioritizing accordingly. For a short term bump, letting the orchards die to preserve water would be dumb. In a longer term outage, not doing it early on might be a fatal mistake.

In terms of physical shape, I’d say mediocre. In terms of ability to be stubborn and hardheaded and just keep beating through things, pretty comfortable. In terms of ability to read the situation correctly, it’s anybody’s guess. I could be spot on or a million miles off.

Am used to being my own water company, electric company, septic company. It is a nice feeling to be “self-sufficient”, but it is a pain in the neck from time to time, and even then you really aren’t because sooner or later you need parts, supplies, fuel, or something.

ETA: Case in point, after fifteen years, am cycling through the vented inverters, sending them back for service. With 20-20 hindsight, sealed inverters would have been a better choice in our dusty environment. It is also about time to replace the batteries. No man is an island...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: slosig,
 
Posts: 6872 | Location: Lost, but making time. | Registered: February 23, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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