Hardcore self sufficiency

[jp1]

I struggle with where to put this thread so if Alan or anyone else thinks it would be better elsewhere please feel free to move it.

But wow. This family. It has taken them many years, but they have made for themselves a life that is truly almost totally self sufficient. I'm not sure I want the same life but I am super impressed with what they have done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJq44GVNvxQ

[LDAHL]

I’m always struck by how many manufactured items it takes to be self-sufficient.

[happystuff]

I’m always struck by how many manufactured items it takes to be self-sufficient.

Personally I think self-sufficiency is a process and I think manufactured items can certainly be part of that process.

[Tybee]

I am going to buy a Weber grill as part of my self-sufficiency winter plan, and I am making an emergency toilet. I bought the seat and we will construct a wooden box with an open back, then insert 5 gallon bucket full of pine shavings. Hopefully, we will never need to use it, but why not have it out in the barn just in case. We bought a kerosene heater last winter.

[catherine]

When I think of self-sufficiency I think of the Nearings and also William Coperthwaite, who is certainly a model of self-reliance that I would aspire to. I agree with happystuff that self-reliance is a continuum. And I also do struggle with the concept of interdependence vs self-reliance--where do they overlap? I don't think there's any inconsistency in knowing that we are all essentially interdependent on those close to us and Nature, but that we can also unplug from the dominant culture in a way that is consistent with our values. IOW, we can be self-reliant to an extent, but we can detach from the culture that courts reliance on whatever it is they have to sell.

[jp1]

When I think of self sufficiency I am most amazed by the fact that the people who mock it are oftentimes the same people who downplay or ignore the concerns of others about attempts to overthrow our government and then proudly vote for the ugly traitors who participated in the attempted overthrow because they want another ****ing tax cut.

[iris lilies]

When I think of self sufficiency I am most amazed by the fact that the people who mock it are oftentimes the same people who downplay or ignore the concerns of others about attempts to overthrow our government and then proudly vote for the ugly traitors who participated in the attempted overthrow because they want another ****ing tax cut.
That is sone twisty logic there, jp.

[Simone]

Thanks for sharing that video, jp.
What a remarkable family! Would like to revisit them, and, especially, to see how their lives - all three of them - change over time.

[LDAHL]

When I think of self sufficiency I am most amazed by the fact that the people who mock it are oftentimes the same people who downplay or ignore the concerns of others about attempts to overthrow our government and then proudly vote for the ugly traitors who participated in the attempted overthrow because they want another ****ing tax cut.

What does the one have to do with the other?

[dado potato]

I was impressed by the root cellar and the smoke house in their second cabin. With 11 sled dogs and 8 320W solar panels and the wood stoves, these folks have power to spare. I wonder if they built a sauna hut.

[frugal-one]

Interestingly on the way down to TX we saw an RV with solar panels. Would never have thought of that??

[Alan]

Interestingly on the way down to TX we saw an RV with solar panels. Would never have thought of that??
That's become fairly common over the past 10 years or so and is very popular with hard core boondockers. Our camper came direct from the factory set up for solar panels although we haven't added any yet.

[littlebittybobby]

OIkay---if they send men into space in a space capsule for days or even weeks on end, hundreds of thousands of miles away from any other earthlings or life as they have known it, are they self-sufficient? Because yeah---if you buy every tricked-out consumer gadget there is to be "self-sufficient", it doesn't seem very self-sufficient. You are just choosing less-conventional alternatives to live, for the present time. Yup. Hope that helps you some.