Posts from — December 2011

Across America, people living off the grid are finding a local or State thug in their future.  The entire off-grid movement needs to come together to fight this threat.   Please send reports of Nuisance Abatement Teams in your area to news@off-grid.net.  The move first surfaced in September 2011, but has intensified since then. (more…)

test

While US stalls, they're eating our lunch

Beijing  - After a rash of wind turbine malfunctions, China is to “revise” (ie raise) its standards for wind turbine production.

China’s wind power capacity surpassed that of the U.S. in 2009 and the country is planning to further raise the proportion of renewables in the nation’s fast-growing energy consumption, according to Shi Lishan, deputy director of the New and Renewable Energy Department of the National Energy Administration (NEA).

Chinese wind power has long been half the price of Western competitors, but also less reliable.  However, even the best Western small turbines are relatively unreliable, so if China raises its standards, it will become competitive.

China currently has more than 2 billion kilowatts of inland wind power resources and more than 500 million kilowatts offshore.

However “a rising trend of wind turbine breakdowns has been witnessed since 2010,” says a State report.  There were 193  accidents in wind farms in the first 8 months of 2011, according to the report released last week by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC). It also announced decision to double the solar subsidy forthwith. (more…)

Its really easy to upload video to this site, and we need your help building a global portrait of off-grid living. Please send us your Christmas off-grid family snaps or phone-videos.

PLEASE send us any video footage, whether its shot on a phone or a camcorder or a film camera.  Its really easy,so there will be no hassle with snail-mailing a DVD or fiddling with YouSendIt.  We have our own uploader that sends the footage to our YouTube channel.

As the housing crisis continues to inflict havoc on families across the USA and Europe, the option of living in a vehicle is sometimes the only one available.

For a good, reliable intro, check out Roll Your Own: The Complete Guide to Living in a Truck, Bus, Van, or Camper.

Matt Howe’s web guide to Van living is refreshingly practical.

His key advice: stay organized. “Nothing is more frustrating than trying to find something you desperately need and not being able to because your van is a mess.”

A YouTube film features a guy who lives in a Walmart parking lot going over the details of his van conversion, from carpets to extra lights.

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Hello,

I am looking for any and all information about how to live off grid and completely independent from current society.

Specifically looking for local resources for surviving in the wilderness.

I want to have a home where I can live self-sufficiently so I can concentrate on living my life.

I have zero experience and little money so any help would be much appreciated.

I am always looking for people to talk to and bounce my ideas off of so feel free to get in touch with me.

Food prices out of control

Worldwide food shortages and higher gas prices continue to drive food prices up, up, up. And yet there are still massive savings to be had that most people aren’t even aware of.  Please send us your stories of how to cope with food inflation (mail to news@off-grid.net).

One book promises to slash your grocery bills in half.  Supermarket Survival is an expert guide to juicing supermarkets – follow its rules or THEY will JUICE YOU.

Yes, you could say “don’t even use supermarkets!”  But that is not realistic.

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LaMar's off grid cabin

I just love learning how other people live off grid, especially when they are doing it in a very similar way to how I live. LaMar Alexander has done all of this and more, we may be in different places, but we both started out with small and simple systems, cobbling together this and that, building an independent life one piece at a time.
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Its in the bag....

Even when your cell is switched off, it is still a mobile tracking device in your pocket. Now a new invention promises to give you back control over who can call you, or track you.

The MIAmobi SilentPocket is a simple bag, with a special lining,  into which you drop your cell phone, router, pager or any other wireless device.

It blocks all comms signals — in or out. through its “99% Nano-Silver lining.” (more…)