Using some pm profits to get off the grid

timrutnat · April 8, 2011 11:20PM

Jim Sinclair has recently been reminding us that in the future there will be shortages of goods, electricity, etc as hyper-inflation comes and he is recommending that everyone not rely on the grid. I'm currently looking for a property that can be somewhat off the grid and am curious how many others are doing the same or have already done so.

carew4me · April 8, 2011 11:26PM

Yes, I have also been looking for a parcel of raw land that has water shed, timber, proper elevation etc. Not so much to move the family to but simply
to have it and begin prepping it for use if needed.

OPA · April 9, 2011 12:41AM

<< Jim Sinclair has recently been reminding us that in the future there will be shortages of goods, electricity, etc as hyper-inflation comes and he is recommending that everyone not rely on the grid. I'm currently looking for a property that can be somewhat off the grid and am curious how many others are doing the same or have already done so. >>

Just make sure it's not Ocean Front property, property located near any fault lines, close to major rivers, nuke plants, dormant volcanoes & people. Central Antarctica may just be the place

Higashiyama · April 9, 2011 1:00AM

A friend of mine is off the grid in New England. My observation -- it is essential to be tech savvy and good with tools; his system combines solar on good days, supported by fossil fuels and a massive battery backup. It requires a bit of tinkering from time to time ...

derryb · April 9, 2011 1:26AM

Australia.

OPA · April 9, 2011 1:35AM

<< Australia. >>

Yup..I understand the Aborigines are great teachers on how to survive of the land.

gimli89 · April 9, 2011 2:49AM

<< Australia. >>

Didn't Lex Luthor already gobble up Australia?

Baley · April 9, 2011 2:58AM

if yer "off the grid" for electricity, are you also off the natural gas, tap water, garbage collection, cable tv and internet, access to groceries and medical care, friend and neighbor, and other grids, too?

has anyone here ever lived "off the grid" for any length of time, we'd like to hear about your experiences in honest detail

57loaded · April 9, 2011 3:08AM

a fantasy of mine has been a single-wide somewhere near Taos, NM.

an intersting movie one should check out "off-the-map" not really about living off the grid, but a soul-searcher of values.

streeter · April 9, 2011 3:33AM

A windmill and a wringer washer powered by a bicycle and a propane refrigerator and a horse and buggy.

I like the Amish but I only like to visit.

InYHWHWeTrust · April 9, 2011 3:35AM

<< A windmill and a wringer washer powered by a bicycle and a propane refrigerator and a horse and buggy.

I like the Amish but I only like to visit. >>

Yeah I was thinking we didn't have any Amish posters here.

goingbroke · April 9, 2011 3:40AM

Could be this well known person can give you the tips you are looking for!-

CaptMorgan · April 9, 2011 4:48AM

I have done this recently.
Got rid of the place near the city. Now out in the boondocks with several acres and 2 stocked ponds. (Our road is not on any map either)
On the electrical grid for now, but have generators when the lights go off.
Nice stack of PM's and the usual fiat currency.
Nice size garden going.
1500lbs of stocked rice and beans. 6-8months of other food stuffs stored.
Water filtration system in place for collecting rain water.
Then you have to provide 'protection' for you and yours.

Its easy once you start moving to do all this.

chumley · April 9, 2011 5:21AM

I'm already off the grid....I live in Maine

CyStater · April 9, 2011 5:38AM

If you haven't already, Google "homesteading" to find some good forums and sources. Even becoming a little self-sufficient is a good thing I think.

jmski52 · April 9, 2011 5:38AM

I live about 10 miles outside of a smaller city, and I have some idea of what to do but I'm not self-sufficient by any means.

fastrudy · April 9, 2011 5:45AM

Some MIT scientists recently made a cheap 70% efficient 'artificial leaf' which can supply energy to a small home. I suggest you google it.

yellowkid · April 9, 2011 7:12AM

<< I have done this recently.
Got rid of the place near the city. Now out in the boondocks with several acres and 2 stocked ponds. (Our road is not on any map either)
On the electrical grid for now, but have generators when the lights go off.
Nice stack of PM's and the usual fiat currency.
Nice size garden going.
1500lbs of stocked rice and beans. 6-8months of other food stuffs stored.
Water filtration system in place for collecting rain water.
Then you have to provide 'protection' for you and yours.

Its easy once you start moving to do all this. >>

Protection from what? Someone after your rice and beans?

THISISME · April 9, 2011 8:46AM

My parents have lived off rain water all their lives.

Dad says when he was young, the only things he really needed was his rifle and his knife.
Everything else he could get if he had those two items.

Baley · April 9, 2011 9:08AM

Dad says when he was young, the only things he really needed was his rifle and his knife.
Everything else he could get if he had those two items. .

really? how did he get a date with a pretty girl?

THISISME · April 9, 2011 9:13AM

The girl got him.
I call her Mom.

<< Dad says when he was young, the only things he really needed was his rifle and his knife.
Everything else he could get if he had those two items. .

really? how did he get a date with a pretty girl? >>

Bochiman · April 9, 2011 12:31PM

<< My parents have lived off rain water all their lives.

Dad says when he was young, the only things he really needed was his rifle and his knife.
Everything else he could get if he had those two items. >>

So, how is Daniel Boone doing these days anyway?

yellowkid · April 9, 2011 1:55PM

<< My parents have lived off rain water all their lives.

Dad says when he was young, the only things he really needed was his rifle and his knife.
Everything else he could get if he had those two items. >>

Did he rob people?

Justacommeman · April 9, 2011 2:19PM

<< has anyone here ever lived "off the grid" for any length of time, we'd like to hear about your experiences in honest detail >>

Yes, I went camping once for six days. Everything about living off the grid sucked (except for drinking of way to many beers by the campfire part) MJ

fastrudy · April 10, 2011 1:13AM

^+1

roadrunner · April 10, 2011 1:25AM

<< if yer "off the grid" for electricity, are you also off the natural gas, tap water, garbage collection, cable tv and internet, access to groceries and medical care, friend and neighbor, and other grids, too? has anyone here ever lived "off the grid" for any length of time, we'd like to hear about your experiences in honest detail >>

The seems to describe the majority of people living on the planet. And one can be off the grid and have friends, neighbors, etc. nearby.

roadrunner

topstuf · April 10, 2011 2:57AM

The "boonies" are the first place the mob heads for. I and 2 associates could shoot anyone out of any rural location in far less than a day.

Preparations for TSHTF scenario should be more toward how BRUTAL you will be willing to be.

Cuz that's what would happen.

The old myth of the rural location with chickens and a stash of ammo is just that.

I could manage far better in a brutal METRO location where I could out-loot the unorganized and burn the walls for heat before moving on.

Look to history. Success in REALLY bad times is dependent on what you are prepared to DO rather than where you are.

Sad but true.

Baley · April 10, 2011 8:23AM

and/or, buying your way to somewhere "nicer"

AUandAG · April 10, 2011 1:45PM

Being off the grid has it's advantages (less utility bills for one).

I am off the grid right now and am having internet connection problems so will discuss this issue when I r
return to town tomorrow or Tuesday.

bob

derryb · April 10, 2011 2:17PM

Belize

storm888 · April 10, 2011 2:40PM

As noted above, your brutality quotient will have MUCH more
influence on your ability to survive than will your location.

Military service/training is a large plus. Some militia training is a
plus, but much of it is academic until you try to actually employ it.

Single folks can do well in the cities; folks with kids can likely do
better in distant rural areas.

Lots of good/decent folks think in terms of "protecting what they
have." In any disaster, "taking what you need" will, at some point,
likely dictate how well you fare.

The notion that guns and knives will get you thru times of no food
and gold better than food and gold will get you thru times of no
guns and knives is certainly true. But, if your brutality quotient is
stuck on "civilized," neither set of commodities is likely to save you.

ANACONDA · April 10, 2011 4:14PM

I've been to all 50 states and 47 different countries including all the Central American countries. I chose Costa Rica because of several reasons......few cops, high on the happiness planet index, no income tax, warm weather year round and an educated population. It's also in the middle of Asia, Europe, North and South America making property there high demand for second homes and resale.

I do think that we, as in all humans on the planet, especially Americans, are headed for some really rough waters, and it is a really good idea to prepare for the worst to protect your family.

I see TS hitting the fan in late 2012 with really dark days peaking in 2014 with relief coming slowly after that. Maybe some of you remember my comments about "Anaconda's Lair". Boy did I get called nutso for that, but like many things, it just takes time to really show whether or not I am nuts.

AUandAG · April 11, 2011 10:42AM

Pic to start you out:

Okay, here's the deal. 50 miles north of Las Vegas in the Charleston Mountains. In a subdivision
of about 200 homes. No power and no phone for 13 miles. Totally off grid. This is my son and
his wife's home. Two grandboys and a dog, two cats, chickens and a great lifestyle. The home
as you can see, was an A frame that was added on to. It's now about 3,500 sq ft of living space.
Two solar arrays, had a wind generator that blew away in a 100+ mph wind!. Propane for cooking
and hot water heating and generator. Wood stove for space heating.
Propane cost is about $800 per year. Wood is about 6 cords a year (so far free from the BLM when
they thin the forests but that ended this winter as the thinning is done.) So, figure $200 per cord
delivered.
The subdivision has a well and that is pumped to homes via gravity. Well house and well pump run
on diesel. Cost is $30 per month per lot. Road maintenance and fire protection cost an additional
$40 per month per lot. Monthly is $70.
Even though the water for drinking and bathing is from two wells there also is a free flowing artesian
spring that flows year around. It is pure and recently the Feds tested and said that there is no water
as pure anywhere in the state as this artesian spring. When the spring comes up out of the ground
there is enough water to start a trout stream! Flows through the subdivision into three lakes and
then out into the desert where it disappears.

Wildlife in the subdivision consists of deer, elk, mustangs, coyotes and bob cats. Elevation is 6,000'
to 6,800'. Lots of snow in the winter (feet deep at times) and nice and cool nights in the summer.
Quite a difference compared to us here in Las Vegas.
They love living this lifestyle and generally love the neighborhood. Very small and tight knit with lots
of get togethers and Easter egg hunts, Christmas sleigh rides and Halloween wagon rides for the kids
to go from house to house.
Negatives for me:
No school bus, get the kids to school yourself (18 miles one way).
No internet as you know it. Slow via satellite and no sniping possible! Internet comes and goes with
weather, usage and just anything else that can screw it up will!
Tending a wood stove all day and once a night. (actually don't mind the night one as I get up at least
once a night anyway!)
No garden as season is very restricted and short.
Go to bed when it gets dark and up at dawn. Up at dawn to get the fire re-stoked for the kids and US too!
Everything has to be watched that uses power. Refrigerator on a timer so that it goes OFF at 8pm and not
back on until 7am. No freezer for food storage as of yet. All appliances are on power strips so that they
can actually be turned off. Limited use of a microwave. No toaster (use the oven broiler). No electric
coffee pot (percolator over an oven burner).
Hospital or medical care is 50 miles away. Flight for life is available (we hear). Doctors and shopping is
also 50 miles away as is everything you ever want to do! There is NO commercial activity anywhere near
the area. Have to go to Las Vegas.
All lighting is compact florescent and 40watt or less.
Battery bank will run the necessaries for 3 full days of no sun. Any more and the automatic propane gen-
erator kicks in. Too much TV watching drops the reserves quickly.
Plusses: quiet. Hear the coyotes howl. Have seen two male bob cats go at it over a female. Herds of elk
in the yard. Mustangs mow the grass. Relaxed feeling but always something to do, just as there is in any
large home.
In summary, it's different. Great place for the Mrs and me to escape to for a day or two. Occasionally watch
the home-front for the kids when they go on vacation or travel. Better for the younger folks. Bucking a saw
and cutting wood and hauling it into the house everyday is the pits. I would not do it at my age of 65. We
like the convenience of the city but do like to have a place to go if and when the SHTF.
bob

Baley · May 30, 2015 5:20AM

It would be great to have a little place somewhere nice

trozau · May 30, 2015 8:45AM

This will be cool to have...

Text

TwoSides2aCoin · May 30, 2015 10:49AM

I used pms as an excuse to get away from the clutches of a pre-nup. Beats having to get a new kitchen.

LucyBop · May 31, 2015 12:46AM

the is why the Kitty lives in Hepcat City..... really off this so-called grid.....

everywhere else is SQUARESVILLE....

derryb · May 31, 2015 12:55AM

Ecocapsule

gsa1fan · May 31, 2015 1:24AM

<< Ecocapsule

>>

These really look cool. Now if they can make them affordable???

RedneckHB · May 31, 2015 3:17AM

<< Ecocapsule

>>

I hope they float. LOL

So one needs a truck and a trailer also?

Baley · May 31, 2015 4:28AM

Yeah, looks like the tide is coming in..

86 whole square feet of living space for only two adults?

derryb · May 31, 2015 5:59AM

and these are our two biggest critics of negativity.

Baley · May 31, 2015 6:44AM

Oh, you want the "bright side"?

As a career research scientist who has spent considerable time "in the field", this pod would be a boon if airlifted to remote locations. It or a derivative will ultimately be "a thing" and maybe someday, I will even use one.

For "everyman", not so much. There's a show on expanded cable called "tiny homes" or some such... and that's what they are.. tiny. Where ya gonna store all your ASE's?

TwoSides2aCoin · May 31, 2015 7:12AM

A cemetery plot is off the grid. About 4 ounces of gold will do it, when it's time to go.

RedneckHB · May 31, 2015 7:49AM

<< and these are our two biggest critics of negativity.

>>

Why not just get a little camper van. You can always add little wind and sun thingies . And it has wheels already so no need to be "stuck" off the grid when "they" come looking for you.

Unless of course you want to live on the top of a mountain or on some deserted island without knowing what is really going on across the country. Oh wait a minute, some on here already live like that. HAHAHA

bidask · May 31, 2015 9:16AM

I went and saw the movie San Andreas. I give it a 2 star.

perkdog · May 31, 2015 11:43AM

<< 

<< and these are our two biggest critics of negativity.

>>

Why not just get a little camper van. You can always add little wind and sun thingies . And it has wheels already so no need to be "stuck" off the grid when "they" come looking for you.

Unless of course you want to live on the top of a mountain or on some deserted island without knowing what is really going on across the country. Oh wait a minute, some on here already live like that. HAHAHA >>

TwoSides2aCoin · May 31, 2015 1:50PM

It's melting for a lot less now… Just saying.

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

there is a lesson here somewhere

ArizonaJack · May 31, 2015 3:00PM

I live fulltime in an 8x35' fifth wheel with a living room slide out. Rv is paid for. Lot rent in my old fogie park is $260 a month plus metered electric. Work full time as a journeyman machinist. Wouldn't change it for the world. When I go camping I bring along the comforts of home

Using some pm profits to get off the grid

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