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Originally posted by bsbray11
I can't believe you seriously think living in nature would cost $100k or more.
Originally posted by D.E.M.
Oh my dear, dear poster. Trust me, once you've considered the costs of the tools and material needed to construct a habitable standard of living with no connection to society for more than 1 person, the costs are higher than that.
Sure, you could go live like a caveman, but you would DIE.
It's a simple fact, if you want a standard of living that is comfortable
Solar panels are not cheap. Batteries are not cheap.
Tools, simple tools, are not cheap. Etc etc etc. If you are starting this from scratch, 100K is the minimum you can expect to put down.
It's not rebuilding civilization, it's making sure you don't poison yourself and can eat through the winter.
Originally posted by hawkiye
Good luck living on one of those especially middle of winter. Used to eating everyday are you? Have fresh water to everyday? It takes time and preparation to have a sustainable life style year after year.
The Op is not talking about recreating the same lifestyle of modern society just maintaining the necessities of life.
You can read all the crap you want on the internet but you don't have a clue till you have lived off grid for a year or two. Anyone can camp in a tent for a little bit and say gee this isn't so bad but to live that way permanently is something very few will tolerate.
And why would I want to live like a homeless person? They depend on handouts from those who work in society and most have given up on life period and live a miserable existence.
Where you going to get food and water and heat and etc? What if you get a tooth ache do you know how to take care of it? What of you get sick do you know what local herbs may heal it? What if your water source is frozen? What of your saw or axe is broken? etc etc etc. it takes preparation not some internet BS about an electrical conduit geodesic dome and some tarps.
Originally posted by hawkiye
Did it ever dawn on you that I just might be speaking from experience of living off grid and a self sufficient lifestyle and not regurgitating some internet BS?
Originally posted by D.E.M.
Bsbray, I'm going to let you in on a secret. I graduated high school years ago. I've visited several communities over the past few years. Some very close friends of mine grew up in a commune. I've numerous books on the topic, real, hardcover books. Hell, I've even taken courses on the subject.
In short, take your mightier than thou attitude and go elsewhere.
This thread wasn't created for the individual hermit who wants to go live alone. That's an entirely different style of life that requires considerably less investment to maintain.
This thread was created to point out the problems associated with building a living, sustainable community off the grid. That situation requires a hell of a lot more preparation than $100 worth of electrical conduit.
I notice that you still haven't addressed Hawkeye's point, nor mine, that maintaining the community requires a continuous investment in new tools and other material. Without a forge, you aren't going to be making a new plow next year, you have to buy it. What if your Woodstove Cracks or Explodes? They do that, you know.
So, in short, while your experience may very well be suited to a nomadic lifestyle that is somewhat dependent on the handouts of society whether you want to admit it or not, it is NOT applicable to the topic at hand.
Before I go, electricity is a highly useful convenience that only a fool would give up.
The ability to preserve food in a small cooler/freezer (which is about the maximum I could expect to power with only 1 or 2 cheap and small solar panels) and thus prevent bacterial buildup and food wastage, however, is a benefit that cannot be measured.
Are all of those 20 settlers going to have everything they need before they set out? No, they are going to have to buy a great many things, which is where that $100K comes in. $100K for the basic requirements to sustain 20 people for the first 3 years is a very low ball. That's just over $1500 a YEAR per person in material. Really, that's an insanely low amount considering that you will be starting from nothing and have no income. Really.