Given the current mideast crisis, could you "live off the grid"?
 

Yea, most people in their 70's will do just that!

Living off the grid means to be self sustaining in all aspects. No gas heat, no oil heat, only wood stoves. No shopping with credit or debit cards. Eating only what you raise or kill. No public utilities like water or flush toilets.

Basically, if this is your choice - go live in some of those militia compounds in Idaho with the anti-governent kooks who look like refugees from Duck Dynasty or Cliven Bundy's ranch. :oops:

"go live in some of those militia compounds in Idaho with the anti-governent kooks who look like refugees from Duck Dynasty or Cliven Bundy's ranch.


Again buggy your outrageous view is WAAAAAAAAAY off topic in view of you Anti-gun ideology . :oops:

Buggy - Sounds like you are not familiar with the rural way of life that many folks enjoy in the New England area where Senior Citizen and I have homes! Kerosene lamps, wood stove, well from which we drew water a block away from the house and an outhouse is how I used to spend one month of every summer with friends in Maine! Our friends have passed now - but lived well into their 90s - and Charlie worked every day fixing things around his 20 summer camps [cabins to you] or his house until the day he died! Folks up our way do buy their meat from the bison farm or eat the venison from the deer they shot during the season or they shop at the market where the pig farmer sells his pork products. The folks who shoot a moose usually have it slaughtered and throw a party where they roast a hunk for the party and then parcel out small pkgs of the kill for those attending the roast! And there are the ladies who are still using their wood stoves to make bread a couple of times a week and to put up the fruits and vegetables they harvest during the season. And they wouldn't have it any other way! They think we are soft for spendng the winter in Florida. And they are right about that, too! But it is a joy to visit them every Fall when they are canning and getting ready to go hunting. They are beautiful people with a beautiful and simple way of life - pretty tasty, too!

The term off-the-grid (OTG) can refer to living in a self-sufficient manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. Off-the-grid homes are autonomous; they do not rely on municipal water supply, sewer, natural gas, electrical power grid, or similar utility services.

There is quite a large community of people like this that live in Pennsylvania. They are called the Amish. Along with the list you mentioned above, they also do not own cars, only relying on horse and buggies.

We had a home in Ohio where we could easily live off the grid. I miss it, for the fact it did have what we needed to survive. I traded living styles with trepidation. I try to live " In the now" instead of what could/ will happen in the near future. Guess we will just have to endure/ survive with our decision.
Have made friends who are prepared, just hope we can get where they live!

Florida is a great state for solar panels
 

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This is not a new concept. Our son's family purchased a "fixer upper" on over 2 acres of land. Last winter when they began ripping down the paneling to drywall, they found 100's of pounds of #10 cans of dehydrated food. Add water and you could have corn, beans, and a variety of other taste treats. The expiration date is 3/1981. Along with food, there were multiple boxes of matches, and playing cards in the walls. There are multiple heating sources and trees from the acreage could be cut down to heat the house. There's a well and the landscaping includes berry bushes and fruit trees. The previous owner was also the one that built the house. In an emergency all they would have had to do is remove the paneling to get to their food.

We'll never know what the previous owner was preparing for, but do know it was prior to 1981.

And luckily, it never came
 

For those of you who want more OFG items,look at the Amish store "Lehman Bros. " in Ohio. Google to see their neat items and hard to locate things like;washboard, scythes , oil lanterns and all the needed parts. I found out that Hawaiians are familiar with the store ( by mail order) due to lack of power due hurricanes. You can order the catalogue about the size of our phone book!

We have lived "partially" off the grid for many years. A very large wood stove in the middle of the home. Usually go through about 7 full cords of wood a winter. Propane for cooking and hot water. Lots of berries to can and venison every fall. Its a very work intense way of living but satisfying - yes. We used the trees on our property to build buildings....really great. But with age comes aches & pains and wisdom. For us "been there, done it". Now in our later years we are enjoying an easier way of living in TV. Having said that, I really wouldn't have traded that harder way of living for an easier life. I believe it shaped me and my family into the people we are today.