i've lived in the woods, gardened and slaughtered my own food, and survived without running water or electricity at times. i have no problem surviving. working the earth is such a good feeling, but it's hard to build a life out of it.
Being both a student and teacher of primitive survival skills, I could walk into the forest today empty handed and survive in comfort for the next 10 - 30 years.
I think I would do alright. I mean I still use a 'pay as you go' telephone and presently do not own an Ipod I know, how do I do it? For the life of me, I do not know
I think more people say "I need" to things they want. If massive storms blew out the internet connections and wouldn't have it for some time, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't die. You would probably be slightly (i hope) more concerned about your immediate welfare. With that said.. how primitive? I myself didn't get a computer until 6 years ago, so I know that if need be, living without the net/computer wouldn't be hard. I don't have TV now, and have been both TV and carfree for 5 years. I could build an one room cob home and rainwater harvest and plant a forest garden. I've lived without running water and plumbing and when I did, the actual thought of not having it didn't really cross my mind. I was just used to it. I would probably be better off if I live a distance away from town and if needed to use the internet, walk into town and go to the library. That way I wouldn't spend so much time just idling away on it.
If I had a knife or multitool I could make it work no problem, or a hatchet. If I were planning to live off the land all Id need is: spear mask flippers ukulele or pan-flute and my Eno hammock The rest Id make from findings
You probably won't meet a woman that wants to live with you in those conditions. I'm one of the rare women that would be perfectly happy living like that and I can assure you there aren't too many of us out there haha
I have no phone at all..niether any type of cell phone or a land line. I have not had owned a TV for 4 years, and don't want one. I have gone without electricity at different times in the past...but I do like having running water now.
Water, an axe, flints, blankets and a knife. One can easily live without internet, warm water and a woman.
well I can live without internet, running HOT water & indoor plumbing...but I wouldn't call it easy living.
I could personally live really primitively. Have a dwelling, not worry about gas, electricity, knives forks etc. My partner on the other hand..... Oh well
I grew up in the middle of the bush from the age of 5 til about 15, and was in the country for most of the time before 5. We had no electricity of any type until when I was around 12 we built a small windmill to keep a car battery charged to watch a small black and white tv an hour or so a night... Our water was from a well that we hand pumped... for most of the time literally with an old fashioned style pump, in the later years we had a tank upstairs that we pumped full and used gravity to distribute it through the house. Our bathroom until we had the water system set up was simply a tub we poured heated water into and had sponge baths. The toilet was a pail that had to be taken out once a day and dumped. We raised almost all our own food, both plants and animals and did all of our own butchering. Our main lighting was kerosene lanterns and candles for a long time until they were replaced with propane lights for the main parts of the house. Since that time, I have lived in similar situations as well as in most of the larger cities in canada and towns of every size.... 11 years ago, I left town life and spent a few years being a hermit without electricity (although the house was set up for it), without running water or any other modernizations... Then I went back to flipping real estate which meant living in towns again, until I had the money to buy this place... 40 acres, the middle of nowhere, nearest neighbor is about a mile away... maybe a few dozen people within 10 miles... Here, we are set up to be off grid, although we aren't at the moment. Our windmill will be up and running next spring which will supply all our power needs (80 foot tower with 20 foot blades). We raise goats and chickens right now, with pigs coming next year. The gardens will have their first real start next spring. We heat with wood, one woodstove in the back and a wood cookstove in the front. Our water is heated by propane for now but will shortly be preheated by solar and wood with it being topped up at the point of use by on demand electric water heaters. Once the windmill is set up, any excess power will be converted to preheating the water as well. We have running water and flushing toilets... pressurized when we have power, gravity fed when there isn't any. We also have high speed internet, wireless network and satellite tv (including a projector tv that shows can display on a 20 foot screen (no, we don't have a 20' screen... lol) Shunning modern conveniences and tools is just about the most insane thing I have ever heard of... Do you ignore a shovel sitting beside you and dig a trench with your hands? Responsible use of technology allows us to live in the country without being slaves to survival... If you have to spend all your waking hours devoted to nothing but surviving, you are not living... Oh, and I also share this with my partner, Nicole... who is most assuredly, a girl... Within 10 years, we will be 100% self sufficient here... To forestall any comments about that... to me, that means we will produce everything we need here and generate an income from the property that will purchase those things we can't produce here (think toilet paper, and no, I don't want to discuss alternatives). Within the next 5 years, 90% of all of our food will be grown, raised, butchered and stored here... So, is it possible to live more naturally without giving up modern conveniences? Without a doubt... yes...
I could live in a tent in the middle of the wilderness. Go hunting and fishing. and use a water purification kit to clean the local lake and creek waters. Squirrels are everywhere so food is easy to find. Sometimes I do wanna live the outdoor wild life style but I also wanna have kids and a family so chances are that I am gonna be a normal working man that goes camping and hiking a lot.
I'm still unsettled and not happy with the way that I live. I'm most fascinated by people that live a radically simple life, but I don't see how it could work for me. I'm not giving up though. I'm still trying to figure something out. I just purchased a cheap horse trailer this weekend though. Owning horses isn't simple, that's for sure. Argh... I'm pulled in different directions.
it is very personal what we need, can give up or not..if we do not work in babylon mad world, we may have some time to do things the machines do, as wash,etc..living in the nature is necessary, we can have space, trees, gardens..but certain things as computer, tv, cd players, dvd players, will be necessary cause we grew up with them and we do not have no more storytellers in our society.. this is very wise to reduce our material needs to what we really need, but without big frustrations..i hope one day the production system will produce only recyclable stuff , so that i do not feel guilty to buy a computer.. myself i do not have no fridge nor washing machine, and i have a lot of trees.. since i live in a tropical place no warm water is necessary and no heating system..to live in a commune also can help to reduce our material needs cause we share certain things or can borrow them.. it is nice to see how many people nowadays have this kind of way of thinking, and each we try to find our way to it in our own personal style..and it is really heart-warming..