My initial off grid plan

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by gridless_om, Sep 18, 2016.


  1. gridless_om

    gridless_om Monkey

    As I go along planning & researching all the requirements or needs that someone needs to survive off the grid, I find that it's very arbitrary as to who's opinion you are reading. One of the main factors I have to take into account is my recently diagnosed Type II diabetes. 18 months ago just prior to retirement I was floored by the fact that I had very unhealthy eating habits, coupled with my limited physical requirements of my career. I vowed when released from the hospital that I was going to reverse the diagnosis as much as I could. I dropped enough weight the produce a healthy pre-teen. I changed all my eating habits with goals to lower my glucose (A1C) count (currently 5.0%). I have succeeded in my endeavors to the point that my PC was astonished with my results. His only comment was 'Awesome'.

    That being said, I have quit eating pastas, breads, anything canned or processed. Limited my fruit intake to berries, cherries & have consumed a more limited diet of fish, poultry & pork. Red meats are an occasional treat but since it is harder to process I have to eat it in moderation. I eat an assortment of beans, no potatoes (have steamed cauliflower ground up to resemble mashed potatoes), most fresh vegetables are ok. Eat oats, nuts, hemp hearts & flaxseed for breakfast. Actually I wasn't planning on it but I've adopted a somewhat gluten free diet as a result. Eggs are my mainstay, very nutritious, loaded with B12, protein & the 7 nutrients needed to sustain life. Cottage cheese is another constant serving on my plate but considering the protein & whole milk products (another great BS controller) I eat an abundance of it. Coffee is my drink of choice, never was an alcohol drinker, I gave up the diet sodas 3 years ago & never looked back. No fruit juices, too many carbs!

    So compiling a list of foods that can be stored, raised or purchased fresh has it's limitations. I raised all manner of livestock on my former gentleman's farm years ago, pigs, goats, turkeys, chickens, rabbits, beef cattle & even fed a few horses until they became too expensive to keep. Rabbits & chickens are my animals of choice for survival, I remember a figure a few years back that 1 buck & two doe rabbits can produce more meat than one beef cattle can in a year, for less than 1/5 the cost to raise the beef. Less area to house without the need for irrigated acreage to sustain the beef. No fences, need to have hutches & a decent coop, but can be bought online. I want the chickens for eggs with a few for meat or stews,

    I can honestly say that I was somewhat impressed with the taste of rabbit meat after butchering 15-20 for the freezer. So it looks like my animal/food supplies will be limited to rabbits, fish, & chicken. I will acquire an occasional pork roast for a treat along with fresh vegetables & fruits. Oats, nuts, hemp hearts, flaxseed & cinnamon for breakfast. Sitting by my fire pit, drinking coffee with only a short 2 mile drive to one of the premier trout fishing waters in the western states. Deer-quail hunting in the fall should keep me well stocked. The winters are the only downside I can see, but that can be alleviated by pitching a tent in or pulling a smaller travel trailer to the desert of Quartzite, Arizona during the 4 bad months.
     
    Ganado likes this.
  2. Altoidfishfins

    Altoidfishfins Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    On the advice of my Dr. I've pretty much confined meat intake to salmon and chicken breast. Occasionally 3 times a year maybe pork sausage or bacon and a t-bone now and then.

    No problem with weight or diabetes. But high blood pressure has been a constant companion since age 25 (62 now, not retired yet). No heart disease as of yet. Having been diagnosed with hypertension at such a young age I got lots of advice on eating healthy, or somewhat so, and have maintained that habit most of the time over the years. As with diabetes, weight is a concern when controlling hypertension. So I've always kept an eye on it. Some exercise is also on the menu.

    Eat nuts / seeds, vegetable salad is dinner. Oats in one form or another for breakfast with dried cranberries and cinnamon for a little flavor. (Oats are boring).

    Interesting you mention Quartzite. I have property about 60 miles from Kingman with a bit of elevation to it. Eventually will get set up there. It's definitely an off-grid situation.
     
  3. Cruisin Sloth

    Cruisin Sloth Special & Slow

    If you grow your own meat , YOU know , if you buy it , YUR in a gamble .
    My Beef / Pork come from farms I know & spend time at . Chicken /ducks done here . Beef is Black Angus all grass pastured & are friendly (rough tongue's ) but hormone free , same as Hogs are welsh , hormone free, Milk is Jersey hormone free in standard .. Basics covered . It's all the crap they feed to cut corners & fast fatten (drugs cost as much as I heard ) Big Pharma !!Corps
     
  4. oil pan 4

    oil pan 4 Monkey+++

    You did good. A lot of people don't listen to their doctor. They just want to get a pill or shot and keep doing what they have been doing and not change a thing.
     
  5. gridless_om

    gridless_om Monkey

    I wasn't necessarily into survival as such until the last few years. I was planning to make my mark in other areas, but like most plans, they never panned out. I spent my life letting others take the lead, I was an adequate worker but a follower with lofty unrealistic goals. I bought houses, sold them, spending on things I never wanted or needed in the long run. After retirement we downsized, moved to a new location with better weather, expected things to be more rosy on the other side of the fence. Reality set in, fighting traffic, watching my taxes, cost of housing (rent), food & other necessities starting to erode what I had coming in. I gave my children all my stored worldly possessions or stuff as I have now come to view my purchases. What were we thinking buying this or that? When it comes down to it, TV, the Web, Madison Avenue hucksters or society demanded that I need their product to survive.

    Which brings me to the next phase of my life. One of my neighbors was over the other day, we were talking about his situation. He loves fishing, we live near the ocean. He has his 5th wheel set up at an RV park which he pays by the month. He is going blind with Macular Degeneration & can't drive himself but he still hitches a ride when he can to the coast & spends upwards of a week to 10 days fishing & camping while his wife stays home, pittles in her flowers & spends her spare time surfing the web. My wife has a like existence, except for marathon surfing she enjoys the occasional visits from her new friends, she can't see my vision or need to avoid the redundancy of our day to day activities. My career was based in technology, I've spent far too much time staring at a monitor, enough it fact to last me a second lifetime.

    I worry about where our society is heading, what our children are developing into. What the world is becoming. Overcrowding, terrorism, pollution, GMO's, homelessness, chemical additives in our food chain, drugs & drug abuse, corruption, I read everyday about some previously trusted source taking advantage of society. I have become somewhat jaded in my beliefs that there is some good in everyone. I don't trust many big brothers anymore & I have to do something to protect me & mine. My wife may never leave the comfort of our current situation but I want to have a workable backup plan, so with the resources I have I'm preparing for the worst but hoping for the best. My 'bugout' location is in an adjacent state that will require driving to it when 'Armageddon' hits. Less than one tank of gas gets me there. As for right now I plan to spend upwards of 7-8 days each month testing my resolve & setup without the need for my wife's unwilling companionship around the fire.

    My trailer of course has a water heater, toilet & shower but I want to forgo hooking up to a dumping station. I'm interested in a composting toilet, what downside is there with those? I have space to dig a trench & possibly bury the waste, or should I use it to fertilize my planned grow boxes? If need be I guess I could dig a small drain field for the gray water, I also plan to get a portable clothes washing machine, (I researched several on Amazon). I want to set up a free standing shower using the sun to warm the water. I have almost unlimited access to UN-sterelized river water for washing, waste disposal, but will use bottled water for cooking & coffee.

    I was going to buy cast iron cookware, but changed my mind because of my diabetic diet & I plan to buy a propane Coleman stove for cooking outdoors along with the trailer stove & oven for the occasional rainy day meals. I will get a set of metal dish ware from Amazon, used to have a metal coffee cup red with white dots that was the butt of many jokes. I figure I'll need a steamer (easiest way to cook healthy vegetables), a sauce pan for oatmeal, one 10 inch skillet for eggs, everything else can be cooked over the fire pit. I'm getting a P.O. Box for mail deliveries, the P.O. is 13 miles away.

    I have very, very few bills, food, propane & gas for the truck plus tags & insurance, no payments other than the utilities & space rent I pay now, those will be eliminated once I get fully established at my camp. I pay county property taxes, currently less than $40 annually. As long as you don't place something on a permanent foundation there is no tax. I also pay an annual HOA fee of $300 for road maintenance,,,etc. Other than those mentioned I will be replacing my clothing as they wear out.

    My location is the where most of the property owners come to use their cell phones so I will probably keep mine for emergencies. My son lives 60 miles away, my grandson is only 35 miles away but that will change when he graduates from college I'm sure. Because of my relocation I will need to establish a new health care location & primary care professional. I will get a rifle (probably a .243 for varmints), a sidearm for creepy crawly things (rattlers), a shotgun (20 gauge) for the quail & if need be a more powerful rifle for larger game. I will need to purchase new angling 'stuff' since I gave all my gear to my son when I retired & moved into a much smaller home.
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2016
    Motomom34 likes this.
  6. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    .243 Winchester should be big enough for any Big Game in your area.... You just have to select the appropriate Projectile, for the Target.... 20 Ga 00Buck or Slugs will take anything inside 100 Yds, as well... A nice .22LR/.22Mag Convertible Revolver with 3 rounds of SnakeShot, and three Rounds of Lead Projectiles should be GOOD to Go, for Creepy Crawler Death....
     
  7. gridless_om

    gridless_om Monkey

    Thanks, I figured a .243 was good enough but as I remember the hunting laws in my state required a higher cal. than a .243 for deer/elk/moose. Good enough for me, I probably won't do much big game hunting - more meat than I want to process or handle. I wanted a side-by-side 20 for quail/grouse/pheasant, never liked the taste of duck/goose that much. SnakeShot, that's a new one on me since my hunting days. Again thanks. Just googled 'snakeshot' I do remember those, we called them 'birdshot'. Will be buying some.
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2016
    Motomom34 likes this.
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