Sustainable living in the 'wild'

TrainMan · Apr 21, 2009

OPEN DISCUSSION--

Say a group of talented, well rounded(in skills) individuals decided to live together in the 'wild'. Either off the grid property that they all buy or just going out into forest lands and making your own thing happen. This society isn't going to save them so they start to make the plans of their dreams..

How would ya do it? What can ya add?

Guerrilla farming for food would be a good start..shelter..what else?

you name it, we are already building!

cheers :smoker:

Kizzattack · Apr 21, 2009

I'm sure somebody will give you more information, but you should read about this guy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke). He successfully accomplished what you're talking about, and filmed a lot of it too. A true legend.

TrainMan · Apr 21, 2009

Kizzattack said:
I'm sure somebody will give you more information, but you should read about this guy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke). He successfully accomplished what you're talking about, and filmed a lot of it too. A true legend.

OH yes. I know all about him. Jack of all trades, very incredible. But what you do if it was just you and some very close friends that had something to bring to the table?

ROJO145 · Apr 21, 2009

LOL.....Its easy livin in the wild.......During Summer!!!Winter will take the glow off of that dream fast!I love the idea tho and have the same dream every spring!!Yukon got a thread goin around along these lines,lottsa info and sites.Good Luck :smoker:

iGro4Me · Apr 21, 2009

Kizzattack said:
I'm sure somebody will give you more information, but you should read about this guy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke). He successfully accomplished what you're talking about, and filmed a lot of it too. A true legend.

WHYY - Channel 12 showed his entire series not that long ago.....talk about never taking a break.

That guy was bad azzed :joint:

Molson · Apr 21, 2009

I believe there's groups who attempted this in the past. Living off the land in a sustainable manner. It's much harder than it seems though.

What are you doing about clean drinking water? Spring? Well? Will you be hunting? Raising your own food? What if someone gets sick? What do you do? I'm sure you've already thought of a bunch of questions, but there's always the 'what if', and living out in the middle of nowhere the boy scout adage 'be prepared' applies.

Yeah, Ole Dick did it, but he also endured -50F winters. When shit hits the fan, the romanticism of the wild, disappears real fast. Chris McCandless (Think, Into the Wild) found that out the hard way.

johnipedestran · Apr 21, 2009

a person needs woodcraft and carpentry skills to be able to live long term in any conditions other than those of hunter/gatherers.....

Dick did not go into the woods raw

peace
jip

TrainMan · Apr 21, 2009

all good points.

keep em coming,

still could get something going,

hard part is finding people willing to put in the work

Aeroguerilla · Apr 21, 2009

lol you guys are funny bc my circle of friends are planning on doing something of the sort in the Yukon territory bordering Alaska... so far i have the noahs arc seed collection a few seeds of every fruit and vegetable i can get my hands on! next im thinking lots of flint

humble1 · Apr 21, 2009

if you don't already know, you need to figure out how to preserve your food for the winter. this means canning, drying and pickling. Trying to figure it out up there without a few test runs under your belt could be disastrous. Also, 4H is a great resource for animal care and husbandry that you should take advantage of before you go. Finally a working knowledge of firearms, even if you never use them, could come in handy at a time of need. Good luck and don't break a leg unless you know how to reset and splint it.

BACKCOUNTRY · Apr 22, 2009

If you did it on land you bought, you would be establishing a commune, a well known and studied concept. If you did it unauthorized on public land you would be called squaters, and could never put down many roots cuz the man may run you off at any time.

Many communes have been established since the 60s, most die with in years, or loose most of their members due to incompatibility, since what you are establishing is a artificial family with no strong bonds to tie things together, it is important that everyone is on board with a good decision making structure established first before anything.

How easy this might be depends partly on where you decide to settle, I'd say living off the land(hunting and gathering) would be very difficult outside of northern Canada or Alaska(and not really easy there either), and those regions require some substantial skills to live in the outback regardless of how you do it.

Planning a conventional commune based on sustainable farming would be a more realistic goal. If you have enough money to get established on good land, and won't be working anywhere else, you could locate in a isolated region in the lower 48.
The easiest place to find inexpensive land will be in the desert(Nevada especially), but you may find the season for growing is short(cold winters if you are in a northern desert) and it may also be hard to get water if wells can't be drilled or a river doesn't flow nearby.

Going to a more temperate area(plains states, west coast) would give you better climatic conditions for farming, but property prices go up the more livable it is, and depending on the region, winters may be nearly as harsh as Alaska or northern Canada, like the Dakotas, and the Rocky mountain states.

At any rate, make sure you form a plan that you can see from beginning to end before you commit your life to it. Many have attempted things like this only to find themselves dead or back exactly where they started.

ben ttech · Apr 22, 2009

during the 50's and 60's...
children of the white aristocracies abandoned their tutilages and seeing NO PLACE to lend their weight social... abandoned interface and reatreated to all manner of communes...

statistically... less that 5% of these communities survived past 5 years....

and THAT has to be seen in light of the day... those days...

when the cost of living in north america was DIRT cheap...

i mean to say THOSE FLEEING AMERICANS were privileged to purchase the components of survival for pennys on the dollar... a function of their market place at the top of a monetary system dependant on racism and slavery...

which anyone living domestically american was privy too...

now... please dont think im dispariaging those malcontents involved in these endeavors...
far from it...

im trying to explain to you the previous generations battlefield...
and the lines of subsidy they wernt able to leverage...

their parents were statically UNapologetic racists... the cream of the CHURCH version of why why the KKK was right crop by todays standards...

and they were programmed to shove these VIOLENT RACISMs down their childrens throats... AFTER their children, these newly reasonable humans, had come in contact with the FACTS of western investment overseas...

which differed wildly from the advertisements used to fund them....

we are not being represented in government...
until the ZERO GROWTH contingency...
is offering the OPPOSITE position...

ON THE TELEVISION...

you BETCHA its time to run...

Hash Zeppelin · Apr 22, 2009

same as the U.S. but,
-It is on a very fertile Island
-I would make it 100 % capitolism.
-Flat tax,
-no social programs except a few.
-No Religion, In government what so ever.
-No government in business, and no business in government.
-Freedom of religion, but they pay taxes just like everyone else.
-Freedom to grow any plant.
-No political parties, everyone runs on a private platform.
-No laws against science, unless it is harming people. And not in a moral or spiritual standard. I'm talking serious physical damage.
-recycling is mandatory.

Here is kicker.
-have a job, and be a productive member of society or you get deported. No dead beats allowed. The cops come to your house, and and give you your paddles to your new boat. So you can get the fuck off the island. Better hope its not hurricane season.

-exceptions. Pregnant woman get up to 2 year optional baby work pass. No money though. They just dont have to work. It also applys to only 2 kids. Mentally chalenged kids get all medical bills covered.

-the Island can only hold so many people, so once it is full, no more imigrants. Also you can have only 2 kids.

bongasaurus · Apr 22, 2009

cool thread. some good opinions

i bet you guys will love this guy. i know i do. especially nokuy

http://www.youtube.com/user/JMEMantzel

bluntdoc · Apr 22, 2009

Lots and lots of marijuana to be used for:
-food
-clothing
-shelter
-entertainment!

AndreNicky · Apr 22, 2009

One word, Hawaii! My brother and I are planning to go out there next month and do basically what u described. The cool thing about hawaii is they have alot of workshares so you can get free organic food and shelter for around 20-30 hours of work a week

edit- Also wanted to add a ton of different fruits grow wild in hawaii so gathering food probally wouldn't be a problem

Stoner4Life · Apr 22, 2009

you can get dialed in for shelter with this ingenious setup
you're gonna like this link trainman, you'll dig it da most

~SAFE YOUTUBE LINK~

shelter or instant grow room, cover w/enough insulation
and avoid being targeted by infrared radar detection.......

lockehead · Apr 22, 2009

watch out for the bears

chubbynugs · Apr 22, 2009

Women. Make sure there are enough women for the men. Or your lil group will turn into some homosexual psychopathic cult.

NOKUY · Apr 22, 2009

have you read the book or watched the movie "the beach"?

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