Things I've Learned

Gary—I could never live like you, but would like to try. My wife wouldn’t last a week, so I have to go it alone. I think I could do it short term, but I am too domesticated today to go long term living off the grid, especially if I have to provide my own food by means of hunting and gathering berries and such. I haven’t hunted for about 8 years now. Lost the interest and desire.

I had a lot of survival training in the military, but not in freezing weather. The weather changes everything. I would rather live in freezing cold and not in the the tropics. I think the hunting and other food supplies would be more readily accessible in the cold environment. I hunted a lot of years and knew pretty much what berries snd greens we can eat snd those that we need to take s pass on.

I was actually a real hunter. I didn’t sit in a tree stand for hours waiting on a deer to walk by so I could kill it. I hunted on the ground by following the tracks or a wounded deer that left a blood trail. I like fishing out of half frozen lakes and making mountain tea, if you know what that is. I know how to make a lean to for temporary shelter. Like I said, I could get by in the short term, but I definitely would need to get back to today’s world.

I still remember camping during a November month. It was cold and even though we had small tents, it didn’t help much. I was acting as a fill-in for a Boy Scout leader who couldn’t make it that weekend because his wife went into labor. Yes, I was a last minute replacement. It was 2 of us adults and 4 Boy Scouts trying to earn enough merit badges to become an Eagle Scout. I hadn’t done anything like that in years since my son was in Scouts. Part of the weekend included taking a 5 mile hike. As we were hiking that Saturday afternoon, we came upon a Mama bear and 2 cubs. Black bears usually are not aggressive, but a Mama bear will protect what’s hers, so we stayed our distance.

After it was all over and done with and we could sit back and remind each other of some of the things we had to do to live, like digging a whole to go to the bathroom, it brought about some good laughs. These were urban kids and had very little, if any skills of living without a microwave. I still think about it and it brings smiles to my face.
 
911 said:
Gary—I could never live like you, but would like to try. My wife wouldn’t last a week, so I have to go it alone. I think I could do it short term, but I am too domesticated today to go long term living off the grid
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Well Sir
You could grab a parcel in the mountains, and peck away at building a small cabin a few days at a time
Once finished, you could just be there a few days when the spirit urges
Yer wife may enjoy that

The fun part, after a week or two off grid, getting back to town
and flipping a light switch never felt so good
and.....a proper bath

I'll write more on this in a bit
 
Ive learned: I dont like being alone. People like for you to listen. Children are the best and honest. Many people that look miserable or angry will open up quickly if you start a conversation. Most people will respond nicely if you say something nice.
Even scary looking people. I like women better than men. Women are stronger than men. I have learned that in the last year. And that your life can change in an instant. The only problem is I have learned most of this the last 10 yrs. But the one thing I believe (i guess I learned it) is that people are basically decent and nice if you treat them that way.
 
stephenPE said:
Ive learned: I dont like being alone. People like for you to listen. Children are the best and honest. Many people that look miserable or angry will open up quickly if you start a conversation. Most people will respond nicely if you say something nice.
Even scary looking people. I like women better than men. Women are stronger than men. I have learned that in the last year. And that your life can change in an instant. The only problem is I have learned most of this the last 10 yrs. But the one thing I believe (i guess I learned it) is that people are basically decent and nice if you treat them that way.
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You sound like a wise and caring man. :)
 
Gary O' said:
Well Sir
You could grab a parcel in the mountains, and peck away at building a small cabin a few days at a time
Once finished, you could just be there a few days when the spirit urges
Yer wife may enjoy that

The fun part, after a week or two off grid, getting back to town
and flipping a light switch never felt so good
and.....a proper bath

I'll write more on this in a bit
Click to expand...
I didn’t think you were off grid. I thought you had electricity but not much of it.
 
Gary O' said:
We had generators for power
and a little, essential, thing called a Jet Pack that got us internet and phone
The cell tower on the mountain was only a couple miles away
Had to use Verizon.. no option
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I guess that’IS off grid. When our electricity goes off for more than a certain amount of time we use our generator which is hooked to a pony panel and wifi but even if we lost wifi we still get cell reception. We’d have to change it though. Living like that would seem off grid to me. You must use a lot of gas.
 
Gary O' said:
We used the little Honda 2000 for the cabins
Quite economical
About a gallon a week, if I recall right
I kept it topped off every day (no moisture buildup)
In the shop, I ran the big genny (7000 watt) for the saws, but shut it down between cuts
It was a gas hog
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A gallon a week? That’s not much at all. What would you run? If we only used a gallon a week we’d go off grid and just pay for gas. lol.
I figure you must have a bigger generator to run saws and power tools for making things.

Are you starting to like your new home more now that you’ve gotten used to it? Those raised beds look like a lot of work but rewarding work.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
A gallon a week? That’s not much at all. What would you run? If we only used a gallon a week we’d go off grid and just pay for gas. lol.
I figure you must have a bigger generator to run saws and power tools for making things.
Click to expand...
The little bit of 110 we needed for the cabins just ran lights, DVD player, phones and web
The fridge was propane
We cooked on the wood stove in winter
and cooked/baked in the BBQ in summer (again, propane)

Love my lady's baked bread
Asked her if she could bake some in the BBQ
'All I need is a hot box and a thermometer'

True 'nough

homebaked bread.jpg
 


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