Anyone living off the grid?

[rokytnji]

Loved your post greengeek.

What I pack on my motorcycle trips. I used to do months and thousands of miles. Now I have slowed down to a few weeks or a weekend and hundreds of miles.

Tent. Any kind a idiot can erect and is small and compact to pack on a scooter.
Small 1 liter propane tank. Coleman tanks sold by Walmart.
Zippo Lighter. I am old fashioned. Besides. The can of fuel comes in handy in a pinch. Better than gasoline.



That screws onto the end of the propane bottle as a cook stove and packs well on the bike.

http://r1.coleman.com/ProductImages/Ful ... 51_500.jpg

This other piece screws on the end of the propane bottle and supplies the tent furnace. Also packs well on the bikes, Of course I have a small toolkit, but for a tire/air pump
http://lghttp.26404.nexcesscdn.net/80B7 ... 3570li.jpg
. Small = good on scooter trips. It uses my spark plug hole as a pump.
Sleeping Bag and small lightweight pad for small rocks.
Mine is self inflating.
http://cdn.homedecor.pics/images/www.ea ... ping-0.jpg

Also. I keep a Navy Sea Bag that serves as a all in one conatainer for stuff like I am posting when the bike has no saddle bags and I just need to bungy something quick like to the back seat.
Looks like
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3y1ai769sMc/T ... +green.jpg
Everything from tent to sleeping bags go in there.
Just another toy I carry

http://www.focushacks.com/photo/ultraflate1.jpg

C02 cartridges are easy to find here. Bicyclists love these,

A good knife is always handy., Mine looks like
http://wiki.multitool.org/show_image.php?id=793
Double AA mag lite sits next to it on my belt.

I won't get into personal protection too much because I have a checkered past. Common sense should rule. If it comes down to though.
Payback has been a medi-vac.

Anyhows, loved your post. Hope and wish darry the best. I am getting itchy reading this stuff lately. I may have a Mississippi trip in my future.

Edit: Forgot to mention the Military Canteen kit.
Cup and cooking bowl all in one survival kit.
http://www.rusmilitary.com/images/messtin_combo.jpg

[amigo]

Geoffrey, the picture showed by rokytnji is called Grass Burs or Sand Burs. The second one shown by you is called Goat Heads, and your third pic seems to be another Grass Bur. These are the names in use around where rokytnji calls Home.

[darry1966]

Got another question guys which is this while we were on our trip we met lots of people who had gone on the road full time and there were 2 camps.
1. Those that believed you needed to retain a base somewhere.
Their logic is something happens to one of you or you get too old to travel. eg. Rent house out while you travel or have a small base somewhere.
2. Those that had no base and travelled from town to town - had typically sold their lifestyle block etc. Wanted get a way from mortgage and other costs rates etc.

Which camp do you guys think is right or can both be true?

[mikeb]

Well if there is a convenient base you can keep somewhere that does not drain your resources then take advantage of that otherwise enjoy the freedom.... the advantages of bricks and mortar are often overrated ...your prize investment can become a painful liability ...plus the standing charges associated can sometimes build up to the point where you lose it anyway should life go a little pear shaped. I certainly would not be traveling while keeping a mortgage going..that's just pointless.
Renting out... feasible with a decent broker handling things but again can turn quite nasty...once again can mess up your desired freedom.
Consider the options if you have no place in reserve and you need somewhere...how easy to get a place either buy or rent in such a circumstance.
Don't over think this as life has a habit of negating the best laid plans of mice and men...and your mobile abode is relatively cheap and cheerful and easy to replace.

If you are 'too old' to travel you probably would have difficulty running a house/flat anyway. Chances are you would simply travel less and have a cosy spot or three to hang around discovered in yer travels.

Here there is a company that can give you a permanent address for a small fee...they will also forward mail to you on demand or regularly to and address of your choice which can include a post office.... handy if you need a permanent address for any pain in the neck stuff...eg driving license..you may have similar...otherwise if a friend or relative can help out then do it that way.

mike

[rokytnji]

One can be true, depending on fitness, age, and lifestyle.

My ranch bailed me out when a ford taurus ran a stop sign and I had to
heal for a year after that. 300+ staples and many broken bones later I was back on the road again.

It split my front mag wheel in 1/2 and bent forks and frame back onto me.
I flew 80 feet through the air after bouncing off the car.

Nobody but Mom could have put up with me bed ridden. Good thing I had a good partner as good as Mom. Without the ranch. Oooozing puss and blood in a tent can be painful, and stinky. Makes you heal funny also.

A few bikers I know who went through the same troubles. Well, they are all dead. Or wish they were. One committed suicide, Another is a wheelchair biker with a colostomy bag. So that is why I say one can be true.

It does not hurt to have a warm,clean,comfy cave to crawl into when a animal gets hurt and must heal it's wounds. While another will lick its wounds.

That is my take, any ways.

You may not be biker and get hit by a car. But hiking off a cliff.
Running your camper off a cliff.
Getting smashed between the boat dock and boat.
Well, I think you get the idea.

[tlchost]

Anyone have experience and/or links to information on Edison Cells?

Thanks

[rokytnji]

Anyone have experience and/or links to information on Edison Cells?

Thanks

Just a video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K84PywMwjZg

No experience myself.

Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Vasilescu-Karpen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_Uv2oINpX0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAixQ276YKo

[tlchost]

Anyone have experience and/or links to information on Edison Cells?

Thanks

Just a video

thanks...we have a bunch of them at the Streetcar Museum...some cells are bad and I looking to rebuild them.

[darry1966]

Thanks Rokytnji and Mikeb for the answers.

By the way if anyone has info on ideas for prepping or going off grid then feel free to share or if anyone has questions that need answering go for it.
@Battleshooter Hi mate your old town is awesome, they have just opened a new bridge over the town basin which has turntable to allow very tall Yachts to sail through as an extension of the walkway around that area. Yeah I know what you mean by calling it offgrid.

However on a serious note the term seems very expansive and includes amongst many things Preppers, Alternative energy sources.Smaller DIY homes that use alternative energy etc, and the mobile lifestyle which I and my better half wish to pursuit.

I want to be able to still use my laptops and charge them from the solar and access internet at libraries as I want to cancel our internet as vodafone our provider is _____________ and we don't need our home phone.

[greengeek]

greengeek, I'd love to see pictures of your Holden camper sometime

Ok. Glad someone else is a Holden fan.
Dunno who the lady is inside - she's the one who keeps sayin' she prefers civilisation so I'm not sure why she comes travelling with me... Shes a good cook though, so I'll keep her on. Seems partial to the red wine...

The interior decor is somewhat dated. And we always have a lot of trouble stringing up a TV aerial that gets any signal at all. We usually end up strangling ourselves with it.

The purple door is the only part of the camper that has a decent paint job so I kept it as is

Here's my baby:

[greengeek]

darry - have you been around Palliser Bay and Martinborough areas?

Here's a sample of the scenery we would be missing out on by staying home:

[mikeb]

I would say start to live the life you want...should happen naturally....take extended trips out so you get used to that way of living and to will gather what you need and discard what you don't...one day you simply won't go back. Remember if it all seems too simple its supposed to be.

A slight aside... our boat moorings are £20 a week...half of that is for the council who decided they now own the tidal mud so anyone who sits on a mud mooring has to pay them... anywhere that never dries out is still free and and though in theory you can keep moving you have to stop sometimes..food..fuel etc..and many casual stopvers charge but you might get anchorage elsewhere and play dingies.
There are many liveaboards where we are...they do tend to not sail out much and use their craft as floating homes. Being a water gypsy on the canals now carries a large penalty in terms of a new tax (even if not static anywhere) and threat of confiscation and destruction if you don't pay up so not as attractive as it used to be so tidal is the last freedom ..just.
Not sure on the current europe situation since going their is relatively easy and commonly done though a passport is needed for random checks that happen regardless of what happens on the land borders.

mike

[starhawk]

That's quite a camper! Heh, I was expecting something built into a truck...

Don't really care about Holden one way or the other (I'm Stateside, we don't have them here) -- but I was curious as to what it looked like. I love looking at oddball vehicles.

[Galbi]

Reading this post, I've remembered that I have one of this, it's called 'parri-gas' (something like gas-bbq)

It's fantastic, whatever you can cook at the oven, it can be done in it. Chicken, meat, pig, vegetables and even pizza [1]
Without smoke, no bad smell, less fat in the food, less heat in the room and with better use of the heat (less spend of gas), no matter if it's raining ouside...
It's for use over the stove, but I bet that with some kind of tripod it can be used with firewood.
And it's a cheap gadget.

In these images you can get the idea
https://www.google.com/search?q=parriga ... d=0CDUQsAQ

[1]http://campamento.foroactivo.com/t1577- ... l-parrigas

You can buy one that I sell calling 1-800.... no, it's a joke

[starhawk]

Galbi, that looks very interesting -- I wonder if it's available in the US?

[darry1966]

darry - have you been around Palliser Bay and Martinborough areas?

Here's a sample of the scenery we would be missing out on by staying home:

No unfortunately not this time we will on our next trip. Looks beautiful though. Love your camper it is awesome.

[Ibidem]

Spent a few years barely on the grid. When we were building a new house, we lived in a trailer on the property. For a while, that meant plugging it into a generator once a week; the stove and fridge were propane.
Other than the trailer, we've pretty much always used wood heat. Splitting firewood is great fun.

If you use solar (or anything else, but especially solar) with lead-acid batteries, be sure to check the battery fluid regularly.

My grandfather had a small pickup set up for the occasional camping trip; I inherited it when he passed on last winter. Plywood toolbox runs down one side; it's large enough to serve as a bed (or at least bedstead). On the other side, there's a 9" wood shelf.
On either side of the truckbed there's a bit of old livestock panel; the theory is that it holds up a large tarp that gets stowed in the toolbox.
As far as cooking dinner goes, there's a small two-burner propane stove (and, of course, the lighter and 1-liter propane bottles; I guess that's the size, but they only say "1.02 lb").
The rest of it is ropes, various tools, a 12-volt air compressor, and horse tack.

[darry1966]

If you use solar (or anything else, but especially solar) with lead-acid batteries, be sure to check the battery fluid regularly.

.

Thanks good advice.

[mikeb]

Boat has deep discharge leisure batteries... better choice for living off them than standard car ones....can handle that sort of use better....less gas..deep discharge.

Heathrow uses (or did) wet alkali cells for their system backups.... I believe they were more efficient than lead acid altogether but not sure what there is around for the public when it comes to more efficient cells compared to lead acid (lead acid have a standing amount of power wasted when charging mainly due to gassing). Perhaps decent LI-ion types as used in electric cars...the laptop variety are crap.

Fixed magnet alternators (think motorcycles) are more efficient as there is no field coil to energise but the regulators are often crap simply shunting excess output...needs a decent switching method (I made a thyristor version which worked well).
Note one idea on a boat was a water wheel to use the tide turning an alternator.

Cooking...a multi tiered steamer is a must and a dutch oven is a recipe for tasty food...and handles open fires just fine too.

Feather down quilts... soo much warmer and longer lasting that hollow shit fibre.... you can get sleeping bags in the same but expensive...might as well quilt it. Plan b...layers of blankets.

Heat lamps... neat low consumption heating for small areas if mains is available.(or generator) ..sometimes all you need is a couple of hundred watts....will certainly keep the damp away.
Solar powered vent fans can help too but make yer own!

Everything must have at least 2 uses lol
I made rectangular boxes.... worked as storage/beds/seats/tables.

Dangle things...use yer roof space... hang up utensils...make hanging bags for clothes...think of coaches but less painful.

mike

[greengeek]

Two more things to put in your survival box:
1) Flyspray
2) CRC or WD40