How primitive could you live?

Yes, at least this woman would live that way. As far as keeping clean. You can put a black barrel on your roof if it able to hold up the weight and is flat or build a support system. With a ladder so it can be filled. The tank absorbs solar energy and you got hot water and if it is cold you can heat water outside or inside to boiling and fill it partway and add cold water to make it the right temp. Run a pipe through the wall to gravity feed the water to your shower head. You can shower with very little water. When I camp I use a douche bag. I fill it with water part hot and part cold or just let it warm in the sun. I hang it up and I got a shower. Of course I don't use the pipe attachement then. Or use an old fashioned tub. Get up earlier to heat the water if you got a job. Or put a big pot of water on the night before and let it warm up as you gotta feed the woodstove anyhow if it is cold. As far as going out in the dark to pee in a outhouse.... ain't you guys ever heard of a chamber pot? That is a big kettle or a five gallon bucket these days that was used to do your business in at night. A chamber pot was either a earthenware pot made with a wide rim and the right hieght for sitting on or a enamelware pot with a curved top like a bedpan and used to do ones business in the days before indoor plumbing. My auntie had one and I used it plenty when I was a kid. I have used a five gallon plastic bucket aplenty in recent times. Outhouses are fine and not stinky if you add a bit of wood ashes or lime after each use. My auntie had "indoor plumbing" as she called it.....a hand pump by the sink. Sears and Roebuck catalogs and corncobs in the outhouse for hygiene.

I am not currently living on the land and it bugs me every time I flush. Every time I fire up the electric stove and not a wood stove or campfire.

Yes, a phone line and internet is nice but not necessary. Lots of stuff is nice but not necessary. Heck, when I was young a lot of country folk did not have all this modern technology. But they did have a different sort of technology. They had ways of doing things and of living much closer to the earth. Hand washing ain't that bad. I washed clothes for three adults and four children (two in diapers) by hand. A bathtub and a washboard are all you need or a bucket or a big galvanized washtub or whatever. Yes it is more work than using a machine but our clothes lasted longer and got just as clean. Back then it was cloth diapers not the plastic and fiber things they wear nowadays.

You take a bath and you wash the clothes in the bathwater and take a bar of Octagon or Fels Naptha and rub on the grimy spots and rub the spots on the washboard. Then you wring em out and put them in the basket. Then you refill the tub and give em a second rinse and wringing and hang em out to dry. Simple.

A washboard is a piece of country technology. There are lots of others.
To get closer to the earth and do things more primitive start investigating retro technology. Start using it and soon you will find it ain't that bad.

Peace, Cricket

 

Whille you are saying, "I can't live with out," just remember the people of the Gulf Coast after Katrina, or the victims of any war or natural desaster. We all can survive almost anything as long as we put our intent into the project.


My grandfather survived the trenched of WWI, one of my uncles was at the Guata Cannal in WWII. My Father was in Korea and I spent two years in Viet Nam,... So as you can see, we humans can survive if we choose to.

Good luck on your choice.

 

true man. we just don't want to have to put with anything, thats why civilisation developed right?

since theres so many people that want to do this kind of thing, according to the replis on this anyway, why dont you establish some kind of.... (i dread to use the word but) Commune with a group of like minded people. that way you could communicate with like minded people. then make a few simple rules "thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not establish an unsustainable government and economical system" the basics - pool the money together and purchase a large tract of farm land or whatever and wahey you gota your own permaculture-anarcho-primitivist-hippie *shudders* commune.

 

having been homeless (in new york state, in winter, brrr!~) i know how primitive i can go. as uncomfortable as that winter was, I MISS IT. regular life is soooo not for me. sure, i like the internet (as a poster said earlier, i haven't got very many like-minded folks where i am now and having the internet to bounce these ideas off eachoter for me keeps me sane!) but when i was homeless i used the computer at the college in town (for free). but just as far as day-to-day STUFF, i sure don't need much!

 

hi im having the same thoughts trying to work out what i can live without a nd so far ive got it dowm to my stero and lights run of a wind turbine. washing by hand would be no problems and washing from a bowl suites my down to the ground. as i want to build with straw the need for heating will be minimal and when required a open fire with a extra jumper will be more then enough. cant wait to live my dream too keep at it it be worth it

 

If ever you do live like this one day, i would live with you if you fancied it Me and my fiancé. Were the only two people on the planet i personally know who feel this way, and your posts make me smile. I dream of a life like this almost daily

I hope you get to live so close to nature one day

 

An insulated dome the size of a large masterbedroom. with a bathrom, solarpower, And dirt floor, not to forget a window on the top. a bed, firepit (with chimney) and bed.

 

I have seriously considered forming an "intentional community" or ecovillage. Yeah, it would be a commune of sorts, but I have a few ideas of my own.

First, I believe that one person should own all of the land, therefore no financial problems should arise when people leave.

I believe that yurts would be quite suitable for this type of village. Members could take their yurts with them if they decide to leave, and yurts require very little distubance of the ground. Wall tents or tipis are similiar options.

I'd prefer that it be a TRIBE. I really admire the natural way that paleolithic people lived over thousands upon thousands of years, including the Native Americans of years past.

Fortunately, I currently have such an income that will allow me to purchase land in the future, if I remain employed in the same line of work, and the economy does not change. Since I have to pay for land by their money, I have to play by their game for now. So, I'm working a "JOB".

 

Well I admit fully that at least if I stayed in Florida I could never give up air conditioning. My heat tolerance is zero. I complain if it's over 70 degrees. But I could leave for a cooler climate

Things I absolutely cannot and will not give up:

Air Conditioning in any climate that is over 75 degrees more than a few days a year
Dogs
Internet
Van (ability to travel at will with all my dogs)

And if I gave up the dogs I could maybe travel without a vehicle of my own, but I would give up my life before I would give up dogs. The only way around this would be if I could move to some place more progressive than the USA, where dogs are allowed on public transportation (like most of Europe) then I could travel with my family without needing my own personal van.

 

BTW I do hand wash my clothes and hang dry them. I shower with my lover to conserve water (oh and it's fun), and I try to open the windows as much as possible, but it really is ungodly horrible here, we have our A/C on today, and it's mid December.

 

OMG!!!! what an eye opener... THERE IS PEOPLE LIKE ME OUT THERE!!! and I thought I was the only one. I have alwase wanted to go back to the land, live a tribal way of life, hunt and forage for food like we were ment to. one problem..... I CANT LIVE WITHOUT THE INTERNET!! I need it for truth news you wont get on the MSM. and I love music.. I used to live out in the middle of nowere, with no electricity, no running water, just a well and hand pump for water, we raised our own livestock, grew a garden.... IT WAS BLISS! I MISS IT SOOO BAD... now I have been spoiled by the modern destructive way of life... I currently dont have TV, TV is EVIL to the maxx... nothing but smut, lies, and propagenda. I do have cable internet and a computer thats long overdue for an upgrade. I want out of modern society so bad. all the poison in the water and in manufactured food, bad government polocies of spying, false flag attacks, and controling the sheeple.... it all just makes me so sick. unfortunately, the lifestyle I seek is illegal, need a hunting lisence, fishing lisence, cant camp anyewere without a permit??? and this is free country?? yet were denied the most BASIC RITES to survival if we cant make it or dont want to live in the modern world. Telling me I need a fishing lisence is like saying you need a lisence to EAT. I would like to be able to just live in a way that requires no money. money is evil and in most cases contributes to worse things than you want to contribute to. People are so greedy, they just want there $$$, tv and BIG ASS SUV's . and yet... when the economy goes to hell, witch it already has, they will not be able to sustain there lifestyle of consumption and consumerism. Every time I see a video on some1's tv of tribes that still live in harmony with nature, I want to cry because I was cursed to live in this goddamn techno/chemical hell that is the western world. and the I wonder how long the tribes are gonna last be4 they become assimilated into the techno culture.

I would like some suggestions on what to do, I feel trapped by the system and want out. I have verry little income, so getting survival suplies will be hard as I pay my bills and have nothing left when im done , on top of that everything is getting soo expensive that no1 can afford mutch anymore. (all the tools a hunter gatherer needs + laptop/wireless, shortwave reciever, and solar power pack, VERRY GOOD WATER FILTER is a absolute MUST have with all the crap in the water these days.) a small ham radio would be a plus too, especially in an emergancy. Any suggestions on what to do with little to no $$ for supplies?


Every day a dream about living like the indians did.... I want to make it true. im just not quite yet willing to give up contact with the cyber world (find out whats going on around you and if you may need to move on or stay put due to possible war, bio/chem/nuke attack, pandemic, riots, bad weather/storms, etc.) Shortwave radio is an awsome source of info too.

I want to go on the road and live my nomadic dream, only have what I can carry in my backpack/on my bike, I just need help figuring out how to do it with my very limited resources. However I still want to be able to know whats going on in the world so I can make wiser decisions on where my travels go.

can ay1 recomend any survival books/videos, links, websites plz?

thanks

 

It's good having your principles, but I have accepted that the modern world isn't going away anytime soon - I therefore now look upon the modern world as a resource in the same way I might do a field full of wheat.

The Internet is a great modern resource, in previous years on here people have said it's hypocritical to go off living in a wigwam or whatever and still have an Internet connection! But to me it's about living an alternative lifestyle, not turning my back on the real world altogether.

Change your diet to stuff that doesn't require refrigaration and you could get away without a fridge. However, I feel I really need some fresh fruit and veg knocking about which doesn't have to be eaten within a day or so in the summer months. And milk is healthy too. I'd rather not see my health decline through alternative living when I envisaged good health was going to be a positive effect! A well insulated fridge can be rather efficient - more so if kept in a cool area. You could certainly power one through a modest off-grid system.

I'm not sure you could do without lights. At least not here when it's only light for barely 8 hours a day in the winter - I can't sleep for 16 hours, or sitting in the dark for 16 hours! It does highlight how difficult things must have been hundreds of years ago.

All of the stuff you mention (electric stuff aside) is hardly materialistic. Some primitive handbooks talk about making ALL of that stuff by hand from wood and stuff, and I'm sure it's pleasurable to do so - in fact I would love to, but I just dont seem to have the time amongst all my other tasks. Again, it comes back to picking stuff from the modern world and accepting that as a resource - though it's all up to you. I think most of us who think this way would happily avoid the modern world's offerings, but again many of us simply may not have the time to spend weeks on end making basics.

Laptops are freely available and ten a penny so don't feel guilty about owning one. You can have a smaller solar panel by finding a low energy laptop... though these are often very expensive. A low energy laptop is often the 12" screen models with a ULV processor and more recently the new solid state hard drives - mine consumes just 20 watts which meants I was able to reduce my solar panel needs by half compared to my old laptop which used almost double the power.

You forgot to mention batteries - you will need batteries + solar panel(s) + laptop. You *could* get away without batteries, since a laptop has it's own battery - but that's likely to only give you 3 hours use when the sun goes down so not great if you intend on using your computer much beyond just e-mail (and if that's the case you might as well just get a PDA + ultra portable solar panel!). Furthermore, your solar panel voltage will need regulating before going into a 12v cigarrette socket for your laptop, and the best way to do this with a solar regulator + batteries anyway. An alternative is to have lots of laptop batteries, but this is uneconomical and less environmentally friendly - lithium ion recycling facilities are not that well established whereas the batteries used in solar systems are just a derivative of car battery lead acid technology - which though toxic are easy to recycle simply because of the prevelance of car batteries all over the world.

Heating air or water is always a bit of a problem, or at least in this climate. You *could* wash clothes of course in cold water, by hand. Remember if you change them regulary they're not going to be needing as much washing anyway. And I don't mind too much mud stains on the bottom few inches of my trousers not perfectly washing out. They never used to wash out perfectly with a warm machine wash anyway!

You can generate hot water for bathing from the sun, and if you REALLY need a wash - you'll could resort to burning wood, which isn't entirely disastrous. A cold shower is fun too, but only in the right frame of mind.

I tend to plan my sweaty activities when I know getting wash is going to be easy - it's no good slaving all day working hard outside, only to come in and realise you can't really have a wash! Of course you don't have to have a full shower or bath, you can still clean yourself with a small bucket of warm water - and it's a lot easier to heat a small volume of water (a passive solar system designed for dimmer light conditions and heating a small volume of water is ideal here).

Forgot about indoor plumbing. What are you saving? Just having to faff about with taking water from A to B. Just get going to start with, the time to introduce a fully plumbed in system is when you say "I can't be bothered shuffling water about anymore!".

I started with simple needs, then like you added more and more as I realised what I actually needed. Then... after quite a while... realised that I was NEVER going to start this project until I scaled down. Start with humble aspirations and needs first - perhaps live a dual modern/alternative lifestyle for a while before finally making the switch. You can always add some of your modern trappings later.

Well, having issues with the opposite sex is a whole different can of worms - but I think in the very least you will find lot's of enquisitive interest form individuals to see how you exist with your primitive ways. In fact, a perfect response to "but how do you live with no electricity or plumbing???" is simply "well, why dont you visit for a few days and see for yourself".

TV? Well, no TV is no great loss, though I do like to watch native language TV and also local news and programs about environment issues. If you have a laptop, you can have a TV USB thingy.

 

I'm pretty sure I could live in a tepee year round as long as I had access to a phone and a computer every once in awhile. Dried foods keep alot longer and I know how to build a solar food dryer. Actually on the commune I'm living at I've been considering building a tree house to live in... it'll happen eventually.

 

I've seen at least one site on the Internet offering freeze dried food in large quantities - such as a years supply. Why do I mention this? Well - it was incredibly cheap on a cost per day basis. That said, I'm unsure about the health aspects of living off freeze dried food all your life, even if it only made up part of your diet. And it doesn't taste so great, though that's less important some might argue.

Regarding tree houses...! For a long time, I've thought that living in a mushroom house has to be pretty eco-friendly. You have a very small footprint, but then higher up of course you could then have pretty much full sized accommodation. A tower structure strong enough would probably be less than environmentally friendly to manufacture mind you (though less damaging overall than the life of the structure).

But of course... tree houses already provide you with natures own perfectly strong tree structure!

 

i feel compelled to urge anyone desiring this 'sustainable' lifestyle to consider being alone in the wilderness. i have the land, have design/built a self reliant home and am successfully living in harmony with my natural surroundings. throughout the early struggles there was no time for loneliness, but as winter set in and the routine became necessary for any sort of quality of life, the lack of human relationships became a great strain. dont get me wrong, i have 2 dogs (kona and moon) that i love dearly, but they tend to lack in the conversation department. i have been told for years now that i will find an earthy lady to spend my days with....but to no avail yet. so if you have the drive to withstand the struggles of starting from nothing, try to have someone special to share these upcoming peaks and valleys with.

 

I have to agree with you rogueoform, I am somewhat earlier on in my journey, and though I used to be lonely in the past I'm so busy there isn't any time for lonliness - though I do wonder at what point this will become a factor again. I do hope with optimism perhaps it won't because I have a lifetime of projects lined up even after I'm settled into my humble abode on a more permanent basis. I'm not entirely fussed about meeting anybody at the moment though, not least because until I have settled in my new life I don't really know who I am myself let alone what I might need or want from a companion. I have found that people are generally quite inquisitive and so I have had some attention from others - but it's more curiosity and it would be quite a big deal for them to give up their modern day trappings.

 

you dont need to isolate in the woods to live sustainably. you need land and a good community working together towards sustainability. i see it all around me. its here in vermont, its happenin here. the vermont hill folk slept through the industrial revolution. when i came here for the first time it felt like stepping into a time warp.

 

sure, i could live like stone age... but, i can't live without computer stuffs... *LOL*

 

Everybody seems to assume it's all or nothing. I have a slightly cold wigwam, but I also have a laptop (and Internet via mobile phone). People assume you're wearing loin cloths and butchering wild deer, when in reality I've just bought some milk and vegetables from the shop. Picking what you want from each lifestyle is entirely up to the individual. Eventually I want my primitive accommodation to border on luxury accommodation (without compromising the green credentials of course).

 

i currently collect mass amount of rain water
so i get my waater from the skies and grow herbs to eat
although im anarexic sort of i get by