Forth to Basics: A Guide to Goin' Off-Grid (and living more with less)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

— Chapter 1 —

Are You Ready?

Take Stock

Resources and Skills

Pull Together

Plan Like Ben

Do the Math

— Chapter 2 —

What Do You Really Need?

Air

Water

Bottled Water

Rainwater and Snow

Well Water

Food

Gardening

Foraging

Universal Edibility Test

Lambsquarter (Wild Spinach)

Ramps

Seasonal Foraging

Shopping

Basic Kitchenware Kit

Preparation and Preservation

Refrigeration

Clothing (Portable Shelter)

Layering

Natural Materials

Synthetic Materials

Socks, Boots and Shoes

Shelter

Start Small, Add-On Later

Tap the Sun and Earth’s Energy

Thinking Outside the Box

Lay a Firm Foundation

Focus on Roof

Seal, Insulate, Ventilate

Fire Safety

Fuel

Wood

Firewood Basics

Cutting, Prepping and Chopping Wood

Tire Pie (Log Splitting)

Building a Fire (like a Norwegian)

How Much Wood?

What’s a Cord?

Propane

Gasoline

Seasonal Fuel

Sanitation

Septic System

Flush with Ash!

Loo Build

Food Waste and Trash Control

Bathing

Sauna

Laundering

Doin’ Dishes

Natural Cleaning Products

Finding Balance

Sleep and Rest

Built with Balance

— Chapter 3 —

Wants or Needs? You Decide

Beyond the Basics

Tools

Basic Hand Tools

Electric Tools

Snow Removal

Labor Saving Devices

Off-Grid Electric Power

Solar Power (Slow and Clean)

Simple Solar Lighting

Know Your Load

Cup-O-Sun

Generator Power (Quick and Dirty)

Transportation

Communications

Phone (Smart or Dumb)

Personal Computer

Wi-Fi

Medical Care

Income

Domesticated Animals

Dogs and Cats

Guns.

Everything Else

— Chapter 4 —

Why Go Off?

Plan

Financial Freedom and Security

Health Benefits

Solitude v. Isolation

Shinrin Yoku (Japanese For Forest Bathing)

Environmental Benefits

Will You Save the World?

— Chapter 5 —

Brain Basics

Streamline and Simplify

Limit Your Sh*t

Limit Your Stuff Too

Limit Air Space

Organize Your Tools

Determine to be Determined

Don’t Waste Your Time

Start and Finish

Perfect v. Good Enough

Second Opinions

Avoid the Con

Think Like a (Good) Juror

Matter v. Don’t Matter

Rolling with Punches

Releasing Negative Emotions

Talking Back to Negative Self-Talk

Basics of Contentment

Take the Contentment Quiz

Spokes Make the Wheel

— Chapter 6 —

More Off Grid Tips

Research Everything

Become a Search Engineer

YouTube It

Wikipedia for Primer

Keep an Eye on Fred

Become a Scrounge-Master

Free Building Materials

Cheap Building Materials

Online - Used Stuff

Online - New Stuff

Searching For Land

Where to Search

Look at Lots (of Lots)

Look From Space

Look at GIS

Look Above and Below Ground

Look for Clean Title

Balance Price with Everything

Pay in Cash

Meet Your Wild Neighbors

Say Hello to Our Little Friends

The Pollinators

Give Bees a Chance

Nurture the Natives

Pesky Pests

Bug Repellents

Tick Checks

Being Neighborly

References and Recommended Reading

References

Acknowledgments

My A-Team

My Mighty Proofers

Appendix

A. Checklist for Goin’ Off-Grid

B. Looking for Land in Wisconsin

Notes

Outroduction

Author’s Bio

INTRODUCTION

If you love to camp, hike, explore and do-it-yourself (DIY), then you’re a fellow Outsider. A simpler, off-grid lifestyle could be just the thing you’re dreaming of. The lower cost of living and added health benefits far outweigh the occasional discomfort and inconvenience of living off-grid. Well, at least some of us think so!

I first got the off-grid bug while watching Dick Proenneke build his small cabin in remote Alaska. I’m referring to the documentary TV program Alone in The Wilderness which has been aired on PBS television for years. Dick single-handedly built his cabin in the late 1960s and filmed the whole process with a hand-held movie camera. As a young fort-builder living in the rural Midwest, I thought to myself Whoah, Coool… I wonder if I could do that? I wonder no more. Thanks Dick!

I admit, at the outset, not everyone can seamlessly transition to off-grid living without some loss of comfort and convenience. After all, many of us grew up in climatically-controlled environments with only brief excursions outside of our homes, cars, workplaces, etc. Modern heating and cooling systems have made life much more comfortable, but at what cost? More about that later.

Of course, if everyone left the cities and moved to nature, there would be consequences. If you prefer city life, there are other ways to reduce your individual environmental footprint and cost of living. At the same time, if a few more people could live within nature as stewards of the natural world, then we’d all be better off.

Despite significant reductions in air and water pollution over 50 years and the return of many wild species, it still feels like we’re more of an invasive species than stewards of nature. Reduced biodiversity and fossil fuel use are major contributors to our global strife. Whether we like it or not, these problems are not going away anytime soon. My goal is to show others how to reduce their impacts on nature by thinking globally and acting locally.

Let me briefly mention the term "off-grid," which has caught on in recent years. Technically, it means disconnecting from the North American electrical supply grid. For us, it also involves disconnecting from most paid services provided by others. This means:

• No natural gas lines

• No indoor plumbing

• No public water supply system

• No public sewage disposal system

• No waste collection service

Yes this lifestyle involves a bit more daily labor but with a little modern technology, you don’t have to sacrifice much of your comfort, convenience and income earning potential. This ain’t your Little House on the Prairie lifestyle.

You may also need or want to keep connected with others and access useful information on the internet. Therefore, cell phones, a computer and satellite internet connection may be necessary, even key to your success. You can certainly transition all the way back to a 19th-century lifestyle and skip the phone and internet altogether (our Amish neighbors do), but these tools make it easier to maintain an income, pay bills and stay connected.

In the following pages, I will demonstrate how going off-grid can reduce your overall cost of living in monetary terms. The electric grid and its many conveniences have been around for less than a hundred years. Yeah, it’s been nice but it ain’t been free. Some of us find that the old ways offer practical and inexpensive options.

The off-grid concept might seem daunting at first, but realize that the vast majority of all humans who have ever lived, did so without instantly-accessible electric power. You too, can rough it in style with this tried-n-true way of life.

By showing how we did it (HWDI), my goal is to provide you with some basics concepts and important details so you can do it yourself (DIY).

By combining old-school knowledge with modern technology, I hope to demonstrate that you can live and work in relative comfort while using (and wasting) less of the planet’s finite natural resources, including fossil fuels. My hope is to inspire others to go forth and live simply, sustainably and peacefully… living OF the land rather than OFF the land.

No matter whether you’re ready to go off-grid tomorrow or never intend to, I hope to provide some golden nuggets o’ knowledge to shed some warm light on your path forward.

CHAPTER 1

ARE YOU READY?

Do we continue with our current paycheck to paycheck situation?

— or —

Do we pull up roots and make a big change to a simpler existence?

This is the quandary Veronica and I faced a few years ago. We persevered a long time with the first option but never seemed to save much for retirement. Bills, fees, cons and emergency expenditures ate it all up. Sound familiar? Well, we made the jump, built a new life together and never looked back. Wasn’t easy but ahh the rewards!

The following are some things to consider before making that big decision.