Mobile Archives - Page 6 of 26 - Living Off the Grid: Free Yourself

Community

School teacher’s tiny home build

When I was a little girl, my dad had converted our single car wide garage in our home into a dining room on one end and my bedroom on the other end. He built in a small closet, I remember taking everything out of the closet and pretending that space was my home, my hideaway. I would climb into the top shelf of the closet, that was the best spot, it felt safe and it was all mine.

I get that same feeling when I look at these tiny homes, of course they have lots more room than my little closet, but the sentiment is the same, it’s safe and it’s yours.

This tiny home is a real custom job, created over a period of years using about 80% recycled, repurposed material, working on weekends and summers, Ian and Jessie put together a really interesting home. I love the kitchen since they used full sized equipment, I could really cook there.

The one place where they deviated from most tiny homes is the toilet, many prefer using composting toilets, theirs is a plumbed flush toilet, I suppose you have to draw the line somewhere, and that was their line (grin).

I like the use of windows, light and the high ceiling to give the feel of more space than is actually there. Watch the video and enjoy this tiny home.

https://youtu.be/ODNKhV5qL2A

Auto Amazon Links: No products found.

…

January 5, 2016 No Comments

Mobile

Handy gadgets for your bug-out bag

Its vacation time – and here we are – on the road again…and wanting to travel light.
We thought we would share with you a few items that fit in a small rucksack and will improve your life and increase your chances of making friends along the way.
One thing is for sure – clean people are more socially acceptable – especially when arriving in a strange area for the first time. The Scrubba Wash Bag – $45 from Amazon.com is a great way to make up for the fact that you are secretly sleeping in your car.

This magic bag promises to help you stay cleaner and therefore more welcome. You simply push the sweaty and smelly clothes you slept in, into the bag, add some warm water and detergent, lock the bag and rub it for 15 minutes and tada! clean clothes for the road. Check it out.

Offering a cup of quality coffee is a great way to break the ice – but it can set you back $3 a pop – or more in cities.The MiniPresso GR Espresso Maker is a compact travel mate for the coffee-lover on the move. The tiny device fits in the pocket and does not need electricity or battery (let alone a Wi-Fi connection). It relies on the user pumping it to brew a strong cup.

Fancy ingratiating yourself with something stronger? Tabletop Moonshine Still allows you to practise the science of booze-making anywhere. It will bulk up your bug-out bag but at $180 its a great deal – included is a half-gallon still, piping, an ice bucket , all made of the non-reactive Type 304 stainless steel that’s used in premium cookware , as well as a packet of turbo yeast and instructions. It’s straightforward to set up, requires no running water or complicated cooling systems, and yields roughly 7 to 12 ounces of hard alcohol per batch of low strength solution.

With all those new friends you will be wanting to take some selfies to email them later and/or upload to your social media. But carrying a fancy DSLR camera around is both a magnet for thieves and an extra heavyweight item. A pair of Photojojo’s magnetic lenses for only $30 can turn a smartphone into a fancy camera. The collection has six lenses, but we recommend the wide angle/macro lens and the telephoto (2x), and each is crafted out of solid aluminium and outfitted with thick, high-clarity glass.

Happy Travels. Happy Holidays!

Auto Amazon Links: No products found.

…

December 16, 2015 No Comments

5 Cool things for your Bug-out Bag (or off-grid stocking)

What do YOU think should be in the best bug-out bags this year? Please let us know by commenting on this article. Send us videos unboxing YOUR bug out bag to news@off-grid.net.

Meanwhile, here are some ideas in the $10-25 price bracket:

Equip yourself: with a Survivor HK-106320 Series Fixed Blade Outdoor Knife/strong

The Survivor HK-106320 is an ergonomic and durable blade designed for the outdoors. The cord-wrapped handles provides firm grip as well as a handy bit of cord if you’re every in a bind. Crucially, it comes with a magnesium fire starter so you don’t need to worry about carrying matches or a lighter, which can be unreliable in poor weather conditions. The knife has a safe nylon sheath so you can take it with you around your land or further afield safe in the knowledge that with the right technique it will cut through pretty much anything.

Keep the kids occupied and educated with Gadgets and Gizmos

LittleBits Gadgets & Gizmos Building Kit – buy it on Amazon US
For children 8 and up — or even adults—who’ve dreamed of building their own machines, magnetic building bricks from LittleBits help make it happen. You don’t have to understand electronic engineering, you just have to appreciate cause and effect. Press this button, that fan turns on; when light hits a sensor, the motor spins—the more light, the faster. The latest LittleBits kit comes with extras to provide these imaginative constructions with shape and style. For a hefty $200, at least the Gizmos & Gadgets kit doesn’t skimp on electronic building blocks. You get two motors, two dimmers, two power sources, a wireless transmitter and receiver and much more. littlebits.com

Ultra-bright LED Lantern – buy it on Amazon.com

You won’t have to hold a torch in your mouth any longer! This ultra-bright LED lantern is built with military grade, water resistant plastic and is easily collapsible to take around your land. It will illuminate a wide surrounding areas cleanly. The light is made up of 30 individual LEDs making it one of the brightest lights on the market – especially for less than $15.

Task Tools T77250 Weekend Warrior Apron with Polyweb Belt – Buy it on Amazon

This split leather tool belt is perfect for carrying all your tools around when you’re fixing your generator, roof, or most likely, your toilet. It has a quick release buckle if you want to put it down in a hurry, but sits on all sizes perfectly like an apron. Very reasonably priced considering you’ll never have to buy a tool belt again — 5 different pocket sizes and 2 hammer holders.

https://www.amazon.com/Task-Tools-T77250-Weekend-5-Pocket – buy it on Amazon/dp/B00A479C76/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1448302203&sr=8-2&keywords=Tool+belt

And another one for the kids……

LA SIESTA – Hanging Nest – Buy it on Amazon US

This hanging crow’s nest is a pod/hammock made from 100% tear-proof double cotton, with …

November 25, 2015 No Comments

Tiny home documentary

I really appreciate how tiny homes are becoming more and more mainstream as well as legal, though many still have to “get around” codes and rules by making their tiny homes on wheels, to make them mobile or portable. I worry that some more restrictive locations might catch on and create even more rules or laws against tiny homes.

Meanwhile, Kirsten Dirksen, a filmmaker has traveled around all over the world shooting videos old and new tiny homes, showing us the way different folk live. This documentary is a wonderful eye opening look into just how tiny some people have gone, one lady lives in a 90 square foot apartment and has gotten quite a lot of attention from the press, but there is a man who lives in an even smaller footprint, measuring in at 78 square feet, his apartment in Manhattan is not much more than a space for a couch and bed that folds up behind the couch, most of us have larger closets.

Watch and enjoy.

https://youtu.be/lDcVrVA4bSQ

Auto Amazon Links: No products found.

…

November 6, 2015 No Comments

Community

Dry flush toilet

No matter how you choose to live, off-grid, in a tent, a tiny house, a dome, everyone has to go to the bathroom. That is a central issue for those of us who choose to turn away from city living and utilities.

We chose to go with a DIY composting system, we looked at the various commercial composting units that are available, but ultimately decided it was too expensive up front, with the average unit going for over $1000, and honestly the reviews from people using them were OK at best. I have a friend who had an expensive commercial composting unit and hated it from day one, I watched her push it out the back door, I would have taken it but it had been left outside for a few years and the plastic had broken down…

While watching one of the tiny home reality shows over the weekend, they talked about a dry flush toilet, this one looked quite different from the other small, portable toilets I’ve seen in the past. I looked it up and discovered it has a simple design that works. It basically uses a plastic liner that encloses your liquid and solid waste, that is then contained in a larger plastic bag. It is said to have no smell and you don’t have to handle anything, which are the biggest negatives to nearly all the other toilet designs.

This uses a cartridge system that appears easy enough to install and remove, each cartridge is good for 15-17 flushes before it needs to be replaced. You buy the cartridges in 3’s, they run $50-$60 for 3 of them. I suspect if you really ran out of cartridges and were in a desperate situation, you could place a regular plastic bag in it and use that.

I wondered how heavy the bag would be when removing it, it would need to be easily handled, that’s probably why the cartridges are the size they are and not any larger. I also wonder how loud it really is, the plastic bag (inner and outer) seem very crinkly, and from what I have seen online, when you “flush” the toilet, the sound of the unit seems loud, so between the mechanical and plastic crinkle, you would not be doing your business in silence.

When you remove a fully used cartridge, you toss it in the trash, I believe it would be sanitary enough, ie no leakage since it is double bagged. And for those who wonder, yes it is legal to dispose of human waste in the trash, otherwise it would be illegal to toss baby diapers or adult diapers in the trash.

If I had to start over, and didn’t have such a talented hubby, I would definitely look at this system, the cost of the toilet unit is around $500 and can be ordered through Home Depot …

November 4, 2015 No Comments

Would you live in a parking garage?

There is so much unused space, especially in the USA, space that was created for one purpose but with fresh eyes, can be used for living space. In many large cities, you will find parking garages, multilevel, covered enclosures meant for parking cars, how about taking the parking garages that are not being used and turn them into homes for people? That’s what this experiment is all about.

Combining tiny homes with a parking garage gives a wonderful space a new life, it lends protection from most of the weather, but it allows light and air to come in. There is space for the tiny homes as well as communal spaces for gardening, gathering, eating and the such.

Think of it as high rise apartments without the apartments, it’s much more people friendly, I think it’s a great concept, one that I hope takes off. Enjoy the 3 videos below.

https://youtu.be/v_dvbS0yaZQ

https://youtu.be/ryTpbXegbyU

https://youtu.be/6LlwsJvcQGE

https://www.scadpad.com/

Auto Amazon Links: No products found.

…

October 15, 2015 2 Comments

Tiny home on wheels in Chattanooga

More and more commercial businesses are getting into the small home or tiny home business, this company based out of Chattanooga, has gone above and beyond to show these mobile tiny homes.

I love their use of space, especially how they incorporate drawers at cubbies into the spaces like stairs, I like how they’ve done the shower, the Japanese soaking tub made out of stainless steel looks great, I bet it works even better. Personally I think I’d like more of a walk-in shower, a bathroom that incorporates shower/toilet everything all in one space, but that’s just me.

Enjoy this short but informative video about their latest tiny home on wheels.

https://youtu.be/oPQ0B0Oukn8

Auto Amazon Links: No products found.

…

September 20, 2015 2 Comments

How the Do It Yourself World came to be

Several years back, I found a YouTube channel featuring Troy and his Do It Yourself World, he posted videos about going off-grid on the smallest of budgets, I suspect his budget was even smaller than ours was, and that was pretty small.

Troy seemed to struggle quite a bit, he lived in a small, run down camper, things went wrong more often than they went right, winter was particularly hard on him. But he persevered, he kept trying, he didn’t give up, I think perhaps he didn’t really have anywhere else to go so he had to make it work, it’s amazing how motivating that situation can be.

He has come a long way since that time, he recently created a video explaining his history and how he got where he is now, it’s quite the interesting tale, I’m not sure most folk would have lasted as well as he has. One thing I do know for sure, he is extremely thankful and grateful for his followers on YouTube and on his website.

Watch and enjoy

https://youtu.be/SL2Fl7Sw8Io

Troy’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/techman2015
Troy’s websites https://www.thedoityourselfworld.com/ and https://www.theoffgridproject.com/

Auto Amazon Links: No products found.

…

September 16, 2015 1 Comment

Community

The Edge of Green tiny home

Another tiny home, I really like the layout of this one as well as the material it’s made of. I love how they incorporated the solar panels into the building, not only collecting sun rays, it is doubling as shade for windows and a deck. Much of the building materials were recycled, some from Craigslist, some from Habitat for Humanity and such.

I LOVE the kitchen, for a small space, they really made it best of it for the kitchen by making a U shaped kitchen. I have also been noting the marine heater that I keep seeing in the tiny homes lately, they have them for propane as well as wood burning, they are TINY but apparently put out a good amount of heat. I’ll be checking those out more.

I think their biggest problem they are having now is not living in such a small space, but finding a place to park their home, it would seem they have had to move more than a few times, once was because of a HOA, apparently they didn’t like having a tiny home or “mobile” home in their neighborhood. Another time was because they property they were on went on the market. There were other issues with other properties. I think it’s harder for them because they want to live in town or closer in to town because of jobs, that really limits where you can plant your tiny home. I hope they are able to find someplace where they can stay for a longer amount of time.

Watch and enjoy, I’ll include a link to their website below.

https://youtu.be/TRHcygdYjBw

https://edgeofgreencasitas.wordpress.com/

Auto Amazon Links: No products found.

…

August 27, 2015 No Comments

Community

Going tiny with a family

You take one ratty camper, tear it down to the frame, then rebuild it, now it’s transformed into a home, and not just for one or two, but a family with young but growing boys. As I watched the tear down stages, it didn’t look like it was going to really turn into anything useful, that’s what we call the “ugly” stage, and ugly it was, I couldn’t figure out why he even bothered. Then I saw the finished home, and this can truly be called a home, it is quite magnificent.

Here are two videos showing the beginning and finished stages. He did this with very little building knowledge, he just did it. Much of what he used was either free or near free, recycled, Craigslist and getting chummy with the manager at his local Lowes. Altogether, it cost less than $5000.

https://youtu.be/6XTPM5IQo2Y

https://youtu.be/70o4anfivRo

<br />

Auto Amazon Links: No products found.

…

July 9, 2015 No Comments

Community

Living in small camper vans

I am learning more and more about people who live nomadic lives, driving and living in smaller camper vans rather than buying into the larger campers and such. The nice thing about these smaller camper vans is they can park in more places, they have less problems with stealth camping in town, they are unobtrusive, low profile and fit in just about anywhere.

I think the hardest thing (for me at least) would be not having so much stuff, though honestly that would probably be a good thing. These 2 videos show a couple and a single guy, it probably wouldn’t work so well with kids, but for the singles or couples, younger and empty nesters, it would be a doable thing.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5u3thpouPM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRX9kRQy2P0

Could you live this way? Do you live this way? What do you think? Be sure to comment below :)

Auto Amazon Links: No products found.

…

May 30, 2015 No Comments

Big guy, tiny home

When Joel Fleck moved home to after college, he wanted his own place, but he didn’t want to pay the steep Sonoma County rents, so he decided to build his own tiny home on a trailer. Inspired by wee house pioneer Jay Shafer (also from Sebastopol), Fleck bought an abandoned trailer from a neighbor for $300 and began building without plans.

To make up for his lack of construction experience he “over-engineered” the build, though the entire build cost him just $25,000. He found a lot of salvaged material and this didn’t include the cost of his labor of two years. Many of the details are custom hacks, like the swinging ladder up to his loft crafted from steel cables, chunks of 2 by 4s and “in order to eliminate the swaying I made it so it clips into the floor on these little airline clips”.

Fleck is 6’4” so much of the home was custom-built for him. He gave himself just an inch or so clearance in his kitchen and a few inches while sitting in his lofted bedroom. His bathroom is a tighter fit: the shower is just 6’2” so he had to build a special box above it to fit his head. Fleck doesn’t see his 150-square-foot home as a sacrifice, but a right-sized home and study space.

Auto Amazon Links: No products found.

…

May 20, 2015 No Comments

Mobile

School teacher’s tiny home build

Handy gadgets for your bug-out bag

5 Cool things for your Bug-out Bag (or off-grid stocking)

Tiny home documentary

Dry flush toilet

Would you live in a parking garage?

Tiny home on wheels in Chattanooga

How the Do It Yourself World came to be

The Edge of Green tiny home

Going tiny with a family

Living in small camper vans

Big guy, tiny home

OFF-GRID.NET

PUBLICATIONS

CODE OF CONDUCT

REGISTER AND MANAGE ACCOUNT

ORDERING

PRIVACY POLICY

LINKS DIRECTORY

LANGUAGES

ADVERTISERS

POWER MANAGEMENT

POWER MANAGEMENT LANGUAGES

WORK FOR US

Sign-up to our newsletter

off-grid.net

Join the global off-grid community

Register for a better experiencE on this site!

Mobile

OFF-GRID.NET

For films about individuals and technologies for living off the grid

PUBLICATIONS

REGISTER AND MANAGE ACCOUNT

ORDERING

LANGUAGES

ADVERTISERS

POWER MANAGEMENT LANGUAGES

WORK FOR US

Sign-up to our newsletter

off-grid.net

Join the global off-grid community

Register for a better experiencE on this site!