WE WERE LIED TO About OFF GRID LIFE.

We believed something about off grid life that turned out to be a lie.
What was it? And why did we leave the cabin?

Find out in the latest episode of the Alaska Off Grid Challenge

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PRACTICAL GUIDE TO LIVING OFF GRID IN ALASKA
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[Homesteadyshow]

🤗READ Before you comment: We only rented this cabin for the summer in Alaska. We wanted to learn about off grid systems and get a feel for how "normal on-grid people" would adjust to off-grid living. Many of your questions will be answered by Watching the Entire video. We're getting ready to release the next video, so we won't be able to moderate any more comments. If you have any questions, feel free to email!

[guy]

Why didn’t you just try off grid at home? Off grid doesn’t have to be in remote Alaska.

[kenbayard]

I'd say you heard what you wanted to hear... more than you were lied to.

[SasSaga]

Why do people think that their ancestors, in the old, black and white photos, looked so miserable? They WERE miserable; life without, is HARD WORK. Back in the day, they didn’t do it because it was “novel”, they did it because they had no choice.

[jazzylyn]

"We didn't expect life in the TINY cabin to be so hard." Really? All of you, in a tiny cabin, you didn't think that would be hard?
"We didn't expect the weather to be so bad." It's Alaska, not Cali or Florida. What did you expect?

[theresasteffen]

People have asked me about living off grid. I've heard people saying they want to leave the "on grid" to live similar to what I do. My advice is to just stay where you are and turn off something. Like the TV. Or the washing machine or the refrigerator. Some convenience that they think they could live without. Once they figure out how to deal with that, then pick the next convenience and establish how they would deal without it. It would be easier to get "stuff" like canning equipment and the knowledge to begin that, refrigeration or how will you take care of food, or washing clothes, or heating and cooking. It would make the "culture shock" much easier if one could ease into it, rather than just cold turkey the change. Especially with children. Wasn't but a few years ago that 2women and a teenager died from not knowing how to live off grid. They just packed up and went.

[realityaskew]

My wife and I live off-grid in Arizona. Closest utilities are 22 miles down a dirt (sand) from our house. We have solar for electricity, well for water, and propane for cooking, dryer, hot water heater, etc. This to me is what off-grid is. Honestly having lived there for 2 years now, I can't imagine moving back into a town.

[axelruntschke]

I mean, you set yourselves up for failure right from the get-go. A family as large as yours in a tiny cabin like that was only ever going to end up in tears.

[magicgemmaster]

Husband: went fishing, made smores, made a bad cup of coffee, strummed a guitar, had a visit with the neighbor, took a walk.
Wife: all the chores.
Yay! Sounds like a lot of fun.

[randihadfield]

It's really interesting that people idealize the little house books so much. I'm reading them to my young son right now and it's struggle after struggle. Just in the last book The grasshoppers ate everything, there was blizzard after blizzard and they couldn't go anywhere because a blizzard might start and they couldn't see. Pa gets stuck in a blizzard and only survived by falling into an area where he was protected by an overhang on the prairie and eating all the Christmas candy. The little girls get bullied, the family struggles to pay for their house, pa has to travel to another farm and work away from the family for months. Their coats are too small and their dresses are too small and pa has boots that are so worn out his feet show through. They have to live in a tiny dugout. They have to build their own house, ma is cooking and cleaning all the time. When they can't go to school in the blizzard she teaches the kids herself. They have to take care of a cow and cook with fires. The little girls do play outside and the family loves each other, but they're living a really difficult life. I think Pa in the books actually had some of the same things going on as in this video, he kept thinking they next place would be better, that the new land would make them happy, but the struggles of life continue. Our family is always talking about how nice it is we don't have to have it so hard! I guess it's like living in an older house. We live in a house that's more than 100 years old. People say they want to live in an old house, but I think they actually want to have the fun parts, without the work it takes for upkeep. They don't really know what is involved.

[GiffysChannel]

Even bigfoot would say you're setup was crap.

[wadesfarmstead]

What did you expect having an 8 person family in a cabin built for two? I’ve been living off grid in Tennessee in a small camper for a year and a half it gets difficult but doable. Of course I’m only 8 miles from a small city and I bought a solar system for my electric. You shouldn’t try being off grid with such a large family in Alaska so far away from civilization.

[MissouriCrookedBarnHomestead]

This is why you have to get all the facts prior to making such a move. It is possible to live entirely off grid without being completely uncomfortable. You can have a washing machine off grid, you just need the infrastructure to be able to have it. You also need to embrace the realities, realize it is going to be rough, sometimes for years, before you get into the groove. It's also a reality that if you have kids, those kids have to join in on the responsibilities, such as laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc. Most of all, take the rose colored glasses off.

[dianthaturner]

I’m really enjoying this series! I lived off grid for 5 years, with three children under the age of 10. One thing I learned - don’t go into it with the same mindset you had when on grid. No matter what you’ve been used to, you don’t HAVE to do laundry every day, you can actually let the kids put the same clothes on for a week and it won’t kill them…they don’t need a bath every day, etc. the standards we are used to, are actually a luxury. Not everyone is ok with this, I get it. But if you want to make your life a little easier, maybe let those standards ease a bit, in whatever ways you feel comfortable 😊

[ryane.]

This is what happens when hipsters try to live in the woods.

[archangel]

It seems the entire problem was a lack of due-diligence.
It seems like they bought a "shed sized" "Tiny Home" sight unseen that was way too small, and failed to verify it was a s advertised, meaning the kitchen, wood stove and toilet was good to go.
Living in an area like that means you need interior living space!

[miken]

ADAPT. Bring the toilet seat inside to keep it warm, take it with you when you go to outhouse. Make an indoor chamber pot out of bucket and plastic trash bag, use a shower curtain for privacy, have a separate pee bottle, put dried leaves or sawdust over each poop to compost it, never mix pee & poop because that ferments and stinks. I have an induction stovetop cooker & microwave that runs on 1200W sine wave power inverter. Indoor stove ain't that hard, solve it. Get some lumber and make a real porch cover with screens for mosquitos. Learn to make food that only needs heating (canned soups/meats) or add boiling water Dehydrated(Ramen, Mash Potatoes, Rice, Pasta, Refried Beans). You need to spend your time WORKING, put a project list together, set priorities. That many people you have to do laundry everyday. You have a lot going for you at that homestead, handle it. When you go to town bring 2000 pounds of supplies back with you.

[joerudnik]

If you look at the PBS series’ where families lived according to standards of living that existed at that far-off time, you learn that it was truly brutal and exhausting.

[jojoihrke]

You need to give each of your children chores so its not all on you. To live off grid EVERYONE HAS TO PITCH IN. From a 2 yrold to 100 yr old everyone needs tk have a job and to make this work for your family. Have been off grid for 8 years with me my spouse and 1 child. Teamwork and everyone has a jobs tk do.

[NoPixelLive]

Things you should understand before going off grid:

Basic carpentry - You don't have to know a lot but the basics of how to cut and fit wood together effectively and safely

Basic understanding of thermodynamics - learn how to keep heat in and what could sap heat from the environment.

Food storage - in cold environments like Alaska you can very easily dig a hold in the ground about 1-2 feet and place food wrapped in a tarp or in an ice chest and this will work just as well as a fridge. Also salting/smoking meats will extend the life by months and you can build smokers out of stones you find around.

First aid - you should all have an understanding of first aid, the closest Hospital can be hours away.

Lastly you should install solar panels and get a large enough solar battery to last a couple days in the event of large storms. Gas is expensive and you cant rely on a generator holding out for days on end of continuous use, they require much more maintenance and you have to change the oil every couple days to keep the efficiency at 100%.