Howdy gentlemen. Been lurking here a little while to get a feel for the place. Seems pretty alright. Not as active as that other site in its heyday, but I guess I can't expect that to change unless I post more, heh. My name is Lee. I live in rural West Virginia. Education was in computer science, which I did for a while, then did electrical work and eventually got into programmable controls, but then came back to the family farm until things turned into a huge mess inheritance-wise with the older generation and I decided to just walk away rather than making a big stink and/or whupping someone's butt, lol. Went back to doing some systems administrations, remote work type stuff, as well as various electrical odd jobs here and there. Anyway, I am getting off-track. Point is, I always wanted to try going clear off-grid and just holing up back innawoods and see if I could make it work. A little while back I decided that unless I just up and did it, I never would. So I have finally started that project. The new compound is going to be on top of a mountain in an undisclosed location in rural WV. I'm more interested in documenting the process and the ups and downs of all this, than I am about OPSEC, so I've decided to document all of this as a vlog. I am kind of a private person, but I think that if we focus too much on OPSEC, it just separates us more from the general public. Instead, I believe that we should be more visible about all that stuff, so as to normalize self-reliance, self-defense, etc to the public as a counterpoint to all the propaganda. This vlog is mirrored on Rumble, Odysee, and YouTube, except that the detailed gun content and spicy political rants won't be on YouTube. Please join me on the video platform of your choice, point out the mistakes I make, lol when I break things, and offer any ideas you might have. Links to the different platforms can be found through my crappy website at Off-Grid Vlog [Polecat in a Poke] . For the moment, I have pushed out a road and dragged a cargo container up there. I had to get some help dragging the container the rest of the way up the road, but now that that's done I can finally move all my tools and stuff up there and get to it for real. I intend to store my tools in the one container while I clear and level the site, and then hook some more containers together for a workshop, put a roof over that to collect rain water into a cistern, and fix up an 8x16 enclosed trailer into a camper to live in. I'll be installing a bunch of solar, converting an old pot-type fuel oil heater to burn used motor oil, and fooling around with whatever else comes up. At some point I may start a garden, but not this year and probably not next year. Anyway, please join me on the platform of your choice. I'll also post the back-log of videos in this thread as well as new ones as I make them, if the moderators here wouldn't consider that to be too spammy. Nice meeting you all. Happy Easter, and God bless.
kill=a=watt loads ?? and use a good meter that has logs !!! Post true info IM THERE since B4 outback and Midnite , run both and Snider / xantrax 5 systems
@Polecat "...I'm more interested in documenting the process and the ups and downs of all this..." This is an extremely worthwhile and interesting project! I REALLY look forward to hearing about the trials and tribulations, the failures and successes, and the problems and solutions. Our backgrounds are much alike, in many ways, so I think you'll definitely be ahead of the game however experience in what works and why is a learning curve on its own. The good thing is we have a lot of members with a lot of experience in many things which relate and can advise and maybe keep the learning curve from spiking. Post here and we'll lap it up or, at least, let us know where to find your postings. Best of luck and really looking forward to hearing from you in the future. EDIT: I suppose the first phase is how did you push the road, how long was it , did you gravel it, and cost and what was used to get container in place, was it a 40 footer....details, details, details.
Hey Polecat, you might consider looking up the You Tube channel called PrepperNurse1. I used to watch videos of his on & off, but have wandered away to other sites. He made a move from rural NY state down to a hilltop somewhere possibly in W. VA., and has already done much of what you are getting ready to do. I suspect he would be an excellent source of info for power source set up, etc. either from watching the videos, or messaging him directly.
Well, none of the mods have replied and told me it would be too spammy to post the previous vids up here, so here they are. If this isn't an appropriate use of the site (me shilling my dumb videos I mean), please accept my apologies and delete this post, heh. Link to part 2 of the above video: Troubleshooting a FRT-15L3 in an AR-15, Pt. 2 (cannot embed Odysee video here, but I can't put gun content on YouTube.) I got the container dragged up there, but didn't get much video of that. My little 55hp 1969 Ford 4400 wasn't man enough to drag it alone, so I got a buddy to bring a newer 4x4 New Holland (heavier but still only around 60 hp), and he got it a little farther before the front came off the ground and the back started digging in. So I chained my tractor to his front end loader and between the two of them we finally got it up there. I don't like to film stuff when other people are around though. Seems weird. Re: The Container. It's a 20' used container. Has some rust but the door seal and floor is not too bad. Re: The Road. My road is probably 200 yds from the county maintained dirt road, up to the top of the ridge where I am planning to set up all this junk. Maybe a little less. I haven't put any gravel on it yet, but it's going to need some. Pretty rocky some places but it's just clay in other places and I 'spect the first time it gets a good rain on it those spots will turn into a big slop pit. Currently trying to get reverse working in an old K3500 dually so I can get a dump insert for it and have something to haul and spread that kind of stuff with. I have an F800 dump truck, but it's tied up in all the old folks farm inheritance BS so I don't wanna use it until all that crap is settled. Also getting a free utility trailer sometime in the next 2 weeks, so depending on what the axles are rated for I might just put a dump bed on that instead, that I can run off the tractor remotes or something. That dually isn't worth putting much money or time into, pretty much ready for the junkyard. They say that those 454s don't last long past 200k, and it's got 210k of hard miles on it and the body is trash. Anyway, been busy with family visiting over Easter, but now with that container up there I can finally move a bunch of stuff up there and get to it for real. I think the first order of business will be to see if I can get the hang of the chainsaw mill by making some blocks to level up the container with.
You're a real person, you've got original content, and it's a great topic. You can post here as much as you like. You can create new threads and talk about your channel and whatever you like. And welcome to the SM Forum.
Got busy with family time over Easter, but getting back to work on this finally. Just kind of piddling until the wheels for the cargo container get here on Friday. I don't want to put too much into it before I get it moved to where I want it for now. Just got done using the chainsaw mill for the first time. Mistakes were made, lol. But that's for the next vid.
King Tut is you're friend moving conex buildings, Get to a soft spot and loosing traction? Throw a 3 or 4 inch log under the front of that conex and book and cook, Repeat if necessary.
