We need an Off the Grid forum. I propose hybrid with Survival

Ya know.. it sucks when you have a topic that really doesn't fit in any ATS categories. Right now I have a off the grid thread I put in the science and technology forum because it does encompass science and technology but I'd have rather put it into an off the grid forum if we had one.

ATS has tons of off the grid related posts. I think survival and off the grid living goes hand in hand and it makes sense to turn the survival forum into a "Survival and Off The Grid" forum. These technologies cross over well from one to the other. Many people have or plan to build bug out shelters that off the grid living technology also uses.

Your thoughts?

Well,you should have put it in the survival forum.

Off the grid as in now when we have power and surveillance monitoring our every move,or after the SHTF ?

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


Although you make some valued arguments, John, I think the Three Amigos would prefer not to make the overall ATS site become overwhelmed by increasing an infinite hierarchy of branched forums.

An off-the-grid series of threads, I believe, would fit quite logically within the Survival forum. Why not just post there?

In any event, the topic is of interest to me and others, I'm sure. But I would expect to continue finding such threads within Survival as a natural home for them...

Wherever they end up, please don't hesitate on sharing your thoughts and ideas. We'll find you and join in, of that you can be certain.

Good luck!

Originally posted by kdog1982
Well,you should have put it in the survival forum.

Off the grid as in now when we have power and surveillance monitoring our every move,or after the SHTF ?

edit on 13-10-2012 by kdog1982 because: (no reason given)

Perhaps I should have but I didn't think of it at the time.

I'm talking off the grid NOW for the most part but many people cant or wont do that if they have big families or obligations that require them to stay inside a city. Still I suppose you can do it inside a city if you do it right - have enough land and resources, space for solar panels etc.

I have been wanting to do this for a while but rely on the city too much now. I've talked it over with the wife and she's good with the idea. In a few years I'll have the finances to do this. I'm talking off the grid in the respects of having no bills to pay, no bills to the electric company, water, gas and no mortgage or rent fees. I can still see paying for a cell phone and or satellite dish for internet. You still have to have a way to contact people for recreation and emergency.

Oh,so off the grid as in being self-sufficient.
I thought your were talking about hiding from everyone off the grid.

Go find you a patch of land that is either pretty isolated,or not,depending on how serious you are about it.
Start camping out there and discover what you new surroundings would be like.
Do you have access to water?
How is the game,you know,like deer,rabbits and so on.
How good is the ground for growing crops?

A start.

ETA; Ditch the power idea,phones,all that and learn how to live off the land.

Originally posted by kdog1982

Go find you a patch of land that is either pretty isolated,or not,depending on how serious you are about it.
Start camping out there and discover what you new surroundings would be like.
Do you have access to water?
How is the game,you know,like deer,rabbits and so on.
How good is the ground for growing crops?

A start.

ETA; Ditch the power idea,phones,all that and learn how to live off the land.

Living off the grid does not mean living without any power. To most, living off the grid means to live off the commercial grids that have us tied to the system in such a way as to take over our lives or require us to pay into them the rest of our lives Rent, Mortgage, Electricity, Natural Gas and Water. It's not about being so isolated that you cannot communicate or have things like internet for pleasure if you choose - provided you can supply the power without relying on an outside source. Not having a way to communicate with the outside world in case of emergencies is simply stupid IMO.

I'd prefer to live close enough to a city in case of emergencies. My water would be both rain water and well water both heavily filtered. I'd use solar and wind together as well as propane gas. I would not hunt a lot but fish and buy some items from the store as well as have a garden. There are people who want to go Grizzly Adams and that's fine but even he had a ham radio. Not for me. How can anyone live without ATS?

Here are 3 good websites for the info I'm looking at, the second and third links are all about getting off the grid for cheap with DIY projects.
www.simplesolarhomesteading.com...
theoffgridproject.com...
thediyworld.com...

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix


I'd prefer to live close enough to a city in case of emergencies.

edit on 14-10-2012 by JohnPhoenix because: sp

John, with all due respect, and as much as I am in agreement with you on wanting to do this, the above is counter-intuitive to what you want to accomplish.

There is no such thing as "part-time" off the grid. You either are, or you aren't. To be so, means you handle all emergencies, no matter their severity.

With respect to having yet another forum where there are already dozens detailing how to accomplish this? I honestly just don't see the need quite sincerely.

Originally posted by alphabetaone

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix


I'd prefer to live close enough to a city in case of emergencies.

edit on 14-10-2012 by JohnPhoenix because: sp

John, with all due respect, and as much as I am in agreement with you on wanting to do this, the above is counter-intuitive to what you want to accomplish.

There is no such thing as "part-time" off the grid. You either are, or you aren't. To be so, means you handle all emergencies, no matter their severity.

With respect to having yet another forum where there are already dozens detailing how to accomplish this? I honestly just don't see the need quite sincerely.

Handle all emergencies no matter the severity? That's the second craziest thing I've heard in this thread. What about for heart attacks or strokes, or in need of an appendectomy? Calling for emergency help doesn't mean your heart isn't into this getting off the grid thing full time. I have no idea where people get these strange notions.

Besides, we have to live to infect others with these ideas of freedom and being self sufficient.

Not proposing another forum - just an addition to an existing forum. I looked over the forum list and I didn't realize at the time how well off the grid and survival fit together. I didn't think of it until after my post was made. I suppose I had getting the post out on my mind and wasn't thinking clearly. But If I had seen the survival forum listed as Survival and Off The Grid, it would have made perfect sense from the start. It would have acted as a guidepost.