Living off grid, building cabins, maximising being outdoors etc. [split topic]

[H-O-W-L]

It's like that mission on RD2

LEMME HAVE A RULE AND A SAW AND BOARD AND I'LL CUNT IT

[Noodle Lizard]

Cheers for that, watched ep 1 tonight. It's very different to Naked and Afraid, which by contrast has a lot of drama and some quite visceral suffering. Like you say it's amazing the tools they create out of bits of stone and wood. If they were out there six months I reckon they'd have some kind of functioning computer made from moss.

Yes, as far as I'm concerned it's leagues beyond Naked & Afraid - and almost any other reality show of that ilk, except maybe Survivorman. I can't think of a show in which you really get to know the bones of its participants, with zero influence from producers or other contestants (or more or less anything, for that matter). I like that it's pretty honestly edited as well - obviously it's impossible to tell the whole story when cutting down hundreds of hours of footage per contestant, but it never feels manipulative. Most of the contestants seem happy with the way they were depicted, in any event (some of them are pretty active on the subreddit).

Believe it or not, most of Season 1's participants are fairly amateur compared to some of the ones that appear on later seasons. I fully believe the winners of the most recent two seasons could have lived quite happily out there in the Arctic for twice as long as they did - the last one seemed almost ambivalent about leaving when told they'd won!

Can't recommend it highly enough.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Have you watched the History Channel show Alone yet? I know there are a couple of fans on here, but I'd recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone even slightly into this stuff (or who's just into good reality TV). It's astonishing what some of these people are able to do with what's around them, and how comfortable they're able to make themselves in incredibly harsh conditions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alone_(TV_series)

I like doomsday preppers, it's like the nutter paranoid fantastist version.

[Retinend]

Does your friend seem to like sending parcels to the local university by any chance?

[Neomod]

Been watching Alone Season 7[nb]haven't seen any of the others[/nb] and with a few eps to go we are down to four participants.

I hope he doesn't but I've got a feeling Roland aka Colonel Kurtz is going to win it. The guy's got too much of an infatuation with smearing himself with blood for my liking.

[Ray Travez]

Yes, as far as I'm concerned it's leagues beyond Naked & Afraid - and almost any other reality show of that ilk, except maybe Survivorman. I can't think of a show in which you really get to know the bones of its participants, with zero influence from producers or other contestants (or more or less anything, for that matter). I like that it's pretty honestly edited as well - obviously it's impossible to tell the whole story when cutting down hundreds of hours of footage per contestant, but it never feels manipulative. Most of the contestants seem happy with the way they were depicted, in any event (some of them are pretty active on the subreddit).

Believe it or not, most of Season 1's participants are fairly amateur compared to some of the ones that appear on later seasons. I fully believe the winners of the most recent two seasons could have lived quite happily out there in the Arctic for twice as long as they did - the last one seemed almost ambivalent about leaving when told they'd won!

Can't recommend it highly enough.

This is great, thankyou so much for recommending it. We started off watching the arctic beast one, less in-depth, just a half an hour for the full thirty days. The next series available was season five, Mongolia. Thought it was great. Beautiful scenery- ChrissieBrmc loved the shots of the silver birch trees standing majestic in the snow. I liked hearing the wolves howling in the distance. Like you say, you get to see what the contestants are made of, without interference. I like seeing the different strategies they use- fishing versus trapping, bow and arrow versus throwing stick. I thought

Spoiler alert

the guy who looked like Jesus

[close]

would win that one; his hut was amazing.

Just finished series six, now on to seven. Six was brutal. Can't imagine trying to survive in sub-zero with no food; the lake frozen over, wolverines nicking your stash!

I like Naked and Afraid, but it looks a bit like a soap opera by comparison.

[Noodle Lizard]

This is great, thankyou so much for recommending it. We started off watching the arctic beast one, less in-depth, just a half an hour for the full thirty days. The next series available was season five, Mongolia. Thought it was great. Beautiful scenery- ChrissieBrmc loved the shots of the silver birch trees standing majestic in the snow. I liked hearing the wolves howling in the distance. Like you say, you get to see what the contestants are made of, without interference. I like seeing the different strategies they use- fishing versus trapping, bow and arrow versus throwing stick. I thought

Spoiler alert

the guy who looked like Jesus

[close]

would win that one; his hut was amazing.

Just finished series six, now on to seven. Six was brutal. Can't imagine trying to survive in sub-zero with no food; the lake frozen over, wolverines nicking your stash!

I like Naked and Afraid, but it looks a bit like a soap opera by comparison.

So glad you're enjoying it! Actually, you arguably started with two of the worst ones! The Beast was a weird spinoff which I don't think even aired in its entirety, and Season 5 was a "redemption" season for failed past contestants, which was fine enough but nowhere near as interesting as each of their initial attempts. It'll probably be quite interesting to see those now that you've seen their retry. You can see Larry's slow descent into pure madmanship (that he leant into on his retry), and Dave Nessia from Season 3 is just a joy to watch.

Season 6 is great, probably one of the best. I think I said it before, but I fully believe the winners of Season 6 and 7 could have stayed out there indefinitely. They were leagues ahead of their competition, almost superhuman. I can't wait until you reach a certain musk ox episode in 7.

I'd really recommend starting from the beginning, though. I know it's all available on Amazon or Hulu or something.

[ZoyzaSorris]

I feel this drive massively. 50% of every day is spent wondering how I can somehow be somewhere with very few humans as soon as possible, with little headway made thus far.

I am quite lucky though for a Londoner in that my mother-in-law inherited her old family house in northern scotland and we go up there for a week or so now and again to geta way from it all. Though even those distant shores are being increasingly clogged up by hordes of tarquins in their ridiculously oversized camper vans, which is a bit upsetting (I feel I can escape hypocrisy by us actually having familial roots there by proxy) as the rise seem to be exponential year on year. One of these fucking thing was so big it had an actual car mounted on the back, like a mothership. Seems like getting away from other people in the UK will soon be a doomed venture and that makes me somewhat ill.

Secondly my dad bought a 15 acre bit of woodland about 20 years ago when it was a lot more affordable (about 30k at the time I think which admittedly is not peanuts) and his dad died and left him a bit of cash (my dad also did alright for himself financially in the end after a bit of a drift around odd jobs through his younger years, getting into computer programming in the financial industry which he hated but it paid pretty well - I just saw an email he wrote to a long-lost family relative describing himself as a '70 year old retired computer programmer' which just seems like such an outlandish concept but just shows how bloody old I myself am now...) - and we have all started going there a lot between May - September over the last few years for wild camping, and it has been a real mental life-saver I must admit. I guess I should feel pretty bloody privileged really.

We have talked about building a basic cabin numerous times but am worried about hooligans smashing it to bits. Obviously you aren't actually allowed to live there in a  permanent dwelling.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

There are still some relatively unfashionable isolated spots in the UK that remain fairly quiet even in the heights of summer. Forest of Bowland, North Pennines, North side of Northumberland National Park. Shropshire/Welsh Borders (subtracting 1 or 2 towns), Lincolnshire Wolds.

It's kind of depressing how such an enormous number of people congregate in the same few obvious honeypots on the same days every year. Near me, Bolton Abbey, the Cow & Calf, Malham Cove, very over-subscribed and best to visit in winter if you want any peace at all, but lots of other great stuff, if not quite as dramatic, then still fabulous, that is totally deserted outside of weekends in summer.

In my opinion Scotland has an added effect when you encounter Londoners etc as you've made the big effort to go so far away only to find the same people there when you arrive.

[Dex Sawash]

I'm watching ALONE now too.
Really like the

Spoiler alert

fuck me there's bears, send me home now plz

[close]

guy from ep1

[Twit 2]

Just watched episode 1. Proper nails bastards, eating mollusks to the howl of wolves. Should I start a thread in picture box? Might need its own discussion, this series.

[Noodle Lizard]

Just watched episode 1. Proper nails bastards, eating mollusks to the howl of wolves. Should I start a thread in picture box? Might need its own discussion, this series.

Just wait until you get to people eating freshly-slain bovids straight from the cadaver.

The skill caliber of contestants has gone up astronomically since the first season, but Alan in Season 1 is one of my all-time favourites. Absolutely someone I'd want with me in a crisis. Another one called Joe Robinet has a pretty good YouTube channel in which he basically documents his own Alones in the Canadian wilderness: https://www.youtube.com/c/josephallen19/videos

[phes]

Good to see some Alone discussion. I think I've started a few  threads in the past, but they've barely made it past a page. It is legitimately one of the very best reality television programmes ever made IMO and bares little comparison to programmes of its ilk. The absence of a cameraman or of anyone at all except for the occasional medical drop (and couples season) is what sets it apart. If anyone has started mid run then do go back to season 1 and watch what you've missed. The quality has remained fairly high, but I do feel the best seasons and best moments fall in the first three or four seasons. The show really was so groundbreaking that most people didn't really understand what it would be like, or know how to approach it. Those early seasons became essential viewing for contestants on later seasons, who realised they could learn more about very human aspects of survival from watching the footage than any survival guide or course could teach. I guess it has also taken on a greater relevance now that we are in the middle of a pandemic and so many people are trying to come to terms with being alone for long periods of time.

Also, you need to see the first The Mouse season to fully appreciate the second.

If log cabins and solitude is your thing then of course you must watch Dick Proenneke's Alone in the Wilderness.   

[Pinball]

Insulation?

[Ray Travez]

I'd really recommend starting from the beginning, though. I know it's all available on Amazon or Hulu or something.

Yep, definitely getting Hulu to watch the first four when we've finished 7. Heard a lot of talk about Vancouver Island, so I'm excited to see that one.

[Twit 2]

Moving discussion to: https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,85943.msg4501899.html#msg4501899

[gib]

I'm concerned about that roof.

[Twit 2]

Coving, skirting and lino floor next, then internal doors.

[Noodle Lizard]

Coming along very nicely! Sorry if you've already answered this, but how far away is it from "civilization"? Walkable or a drive?

[Twit 2]

Few miles outside of Norwich, so it's a drive. It's accessed from a track off a narrow country lane. It's not Vancouver Island, but certainly isolated enough to feel you've "got away from it all."

[Replies From View]

Looking forward to the day you finally put down all your loyalty cards on the desk and leave them there, as the final gesture that you are living off the grid.

[Noodle Lizard]

Few miles outside of Norwich, so it's a drive. It's accessed from a track off a narrow country lane. It's not Vancouver Island, but certainly isolated enough to feel you've "got away from it all."

That's lovely. And no particularly extreme weather to worry about there either.

I'd love to do something like this someday (or at least watch my wife do it, she's far more DIY-adept than I am). Sadly anything even within a 100 mile radius of here is so costly and over-regulated, and a project like your mate's would actually be illegal. Maybe if remote work becomes a sustainable thing year-round we'll be able to bugger off somewhere and do it properly.

[Ray Travez]

that's a beaut, love it

[Twit 2]

Coving, skirting, lino:

[Twit 2]

I'd love to do something like this someday (or at least watch my wife do it, she's far more DIY-adept than I am).

I'm by no means Mr DIY either, just the "labourer" to my mate's "builder" (he's an amateur too, chef by trade) but a lot of this stuff is a lot easier than you might think. It's mostly logic + graft. I think I've cooked dishes in a kitchen that require more skill and finesse than some of this cabin stuff. The roof trusses I would have struggled to do on my own, but the majority of it can be reduced to a few gerunds: measuring, sawing, banging, screwing[nb]ooh er etc[/nb]. I certainly surprised myself with how much I could do and enjoy doing, so I think it's a mindset more than anything. I think half the problem is doing DIY at home is often dull and a chore. Make the project cool and the place you're doing it in cool and that all goes away.

[Neomod]

I like these shelters that the students build (and stay in) at the Frank Lloyd Wright architectural school in Arizona.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STpvcR13_ok&ab_channel=KirstenDirksen

That's lovely. And no particularly extreme weather to worry about there either.

I'd love to do something like this someday. Sadly anything even within a 100 mile radius of here is so costly and over-regulated, and a project like your mate's would actually be illegal.

Isn't this partly why the small house phenomenon took off. They got around the regs because if it fits on a trailer it's allowed. Or something.

[Twit 2]

Yes, "temporary structure" covers a multitude of sins.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Yes, "temporary structure" covers a multitude of sins.

Gluttony, sloth and paedophilia, as it happens.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Yes, "temporary structure" covers a multitude of sins.

Yeah my uncle has a few acres as they own a plant nursery and my cousin ended up living in a log cabin 'kit', I think they were made for holiday sites in wooded areas - a less grotty static caravan really. Theirs was deemed temporary but they'd have needed planning permission if it was plummed in.