Any takers after this? I'll pass

I was thinking about this today. No, I'd rather not. Have such an appreciation for those who lived back in the 1800's. No matter the weather, they felled tree's, hand hewn log's, and built their structures. All by hand. Used whatever they could find for insulation. I'm sure a bunch of those one room log cabin's housed large families.

I can't fathom it. MN or WI back then. -40 in the winter. Our ancestors were some damn tough people.

I've come to really like running water, hot water and electricity. Those days of the past when people didn't have those luxuries were good in some ways but most will tell you they weren't the good old days

They were tough...and they died at 45. They were tough because they didn't have a choice. I'm not putting them down, just saying that they would have accepted and enjoyed electricity, running water, medications, etc, if they had been available.

We aren't all a bunch of puzzies. We just have access to technology that our ancestors couldn't dream of. Hell, my kids are all of driving age...they don't have any idea how hard it was to keep the 1985 Jeep running during cold weather. I had to go "warm it up" on cold mornings. It would take a good 5 minutes or so of feathering the throttle to keep it going until it would idle on it's own. My son's 2015 Toyota Corolla just starts, no matter what the conditions are. That's just a span of 30 years, but it is a huge jump in technology.

Sorry, got on a soapbox there. Carry on...

Hard pass.

My Grandmother lived in a shack with an outhouse up until 1994. She was around 75 when she passed and a tougher human being I have never met. She lived the old Native way and she always had rabbit, chicken, pork, eggs and a garden. She was a crackshot with a 22 single shot. Deer and squirrels alike fell to that old gun. She taught us a lot.

Heck I thought it was kinda nice no water unless I go get it
Burn some wood heat the house
Warm some water clean up
The electric is kinda nice though

Off the grid today is not the same as over a 125 years ago. Today the most off grid people have either solar or wind power systems. Flip a switch and they have lights, maybe even a radio and a TV. Most have running water with a pump powered by electricity. When the system fails, the fix it. Still hard work, the shelter, usually hand built, with utilitarian services in mind.

One of the guys I served with had 300 acres in the middle of nowhere. Disabled veteran, so money was not a big issue, but his life style for years was a small cabin heated with wood stove, lights were by Coleman lantern. Water was provided by a windmill and a storage tank. As the civilized world encroached on his secluded area, he could have acquired electricity, but he didn't. he did finally get a solar system and a few luxury items. Up until his death. his modern day convenience was an old pickup and groceries from the grocery store. He would occasionally take trips to see parts of the rest of the world, but would soon be home, living in the "fast" lane of his 300 acres. Most people would go batchit crazy living that life.

No thanks. That said, I will be better prepared for situations like this going forward. I’ll have some water barrels outside for flushing, keep more firewood on hand, more propane and a few more heaters at the house. I’ll also setup a system to plug my new generator into a small breaker box that can run my furnace/AC, fridge, and some outlets.

This completely makes me want to go off grid. Solar. Backup generator for the bad times. Rainwater collection and a well for backup. I’m working on it now.

I think back in the day people were better prepared. We are so used to having power and gas heat that we dont have cords stacked up with wood burning stoves inside. My grandfather used to have a good sized stove inside and it would heat the whole back of his house. I will probably be better prepared next time.

I’d love to go off grid, and this only makes me want it more so. I fail to see why this event would discourage anyone from it.

Age?