Can you really live off the grid in Florida keys

[49er12]

You no folks I’m beginning to understand what people mean when they say they had enough of the hustle and bustle of this everyday life and simply want to cut it loose, mentally drained etc. so all you Floridians r these YouTube videos all stupid or can you pull it off either for awhile or for good. Maybe sounds stupid subject but serious question, appreciate honest answers. Life to short folks Enjoy something, god bless

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

Living off grid means no electricity from local power company so unless you like sweating your butt off you would need some kind of power source, solar, windmill or generator.

 

[smokeythecat]

Well, I am not in Florida, but in Maryland where we get a drastic change of seasons, sometimes in the same day, here is what I have found out regarding living off the grid. First, I wouldn't want to.

I have a house that is paid in full on 3 acres. I have access to a natural clean spring and a creek with small fish in it. I have done extremely minor "prepping" since I was about 8 and we had to run, duck and cover in case of a nuclear blast. Yeah, that will work really well...not.

Anyway, since I do not like the idea of being "trapped" in the house in one of those winters where we have a 30" snow, yeah, that happens every decade or so, or an ice storm that's bad, which is more frequent, or tornadic winds, yeah, that's every year within a few miles or here or such, I have been negligent this year in getting ANYTHING ready except a flashlight and batteries.

Now that I'm an old toad I finally did some upgrades. I first went from a minivan to AWD Chevy Equinox. It likes the snow. It just happened to be one of the more reasonable vehicles out there when I went to look for a car 5 years ago this week!

So this year I watched way too many youtube videos and made some adjustments. Got some dried and canned food, I don't keep a lot here anyway so this was a big deal. Got a cot and sleeping bag in case the power went out for a week or more, that way I can sleep closer to my emergency heat source. It has done that in recent memory, fortunately it was in the month of September.

I have a whole house generator but it's only good for so long as you have fuel to run it. So I got a Mr. Heater portable heater (under $100) and some propane for it. I have enough to keep from freezing for at least a week. I have a kerosene heater but the fumes bother me these days. The propane heater is 100% clean. I tested it for the first time yesterday and it's a winner!

So...water, food, heat for a few weeks.

Add in a 100 watt solar panel system to recharge a humongous deep cycle battery and I have 10 years of light or fan or even computer or 12 volt refrigerator.

So, if it hits the fan? Living off the grid is not very workable. There are several things that will take a prepping plans to ruin almost immediately.

A fire. A big storm throwing a tree into your house. Crazies coming to take what you have, and as one guy pointed out, they have relatives who will come after they are gone. An illness. An injury. Any preexisting medical condition.

Chickens are very tasty, don't tell my elderly hens that. Plus you have to breed them as they don't lay eggs indefinitely. Which means a rooster who will let the entire world know where he and you are.

So...forget it long term. Best thing to plan for is a few week emergency situation. Like a hurricane in Florida. Or an ice storm in Maryland.

A couple toys I got for the 2 week emergency. They come every 20 years or so. The one week emergency about once in 10 years. The one day no power, at least twice a year, not including the times the power goes out for 4-8 hours, which is about 10 times a year, at a minimum.

 

[danloop]

Having lived in rural Florida I wouldn't consider it the best location to rough it. There's a lot of bugs, snakes, and alligators. Even if you never see an alligator while getting water from the creek or river, the bugs are relentless and loud.

 

[smokeythecat]

Yes, imagine the endless heat and mosquitos.

 

[RustyGold]

You’ll also need someone as clickbait so you can make an income off of YouTube.

 

[smokeythecat]

Correct Rusty Gold. A lot of what I see is plain garbage on youtube. Or regarding metal detecting, outright lies.

 

[Megalodon]

Good list Smokey. You are better prepared than most. You forgot to mention the frozen water bottles for short-term use after a summer power failure. Refrigerated or frozen items are not an issue in winter when they can be kept outside, if protected from animals, or in a car, truck etc. South of you we don't get as much snow, but do get the ice storms.

My only real freezer concern is for my stockpile of scallops and Patagonian red shrimp. More places sell dry ice nowadays, but who knows how long they would have some in stock in the event of a prolonged power failure or if you could even drive there. The longest power failure we had was about 10 days after an ice storm in the late 1990's. Up to half a day is common when the wind gusts exceed 40 to 50.

I don't rely on a gas generator because I don't trust the low quality fuel and the nearest ethanol-free gas is about 40 miles away. Now if it was a diesel generator, that would be a different story.

I do miss the well water of our last place, but don't miss filling buckets when storms were forecast.

 

[Bum Luck]

Yes, imagine the endless heat and mosquitos.

I remember that. 95 degrees and just relentless mosquitoes, even in the middle of Tamiami Trail pavement, 40 or 50 at a time. Worse in the bush of course.

 

[49er12]

Yikes, would that include the keys to way down yonder, bugs, snakes, and gators not good, but the keys have that to bugs, snakes, gators

 

[islamoradamark]

gators are freshwater, we have saltwater crocodiles down here

 

[Flipperfla]

No-see-ums are going to give you a whole new outlook on life. Almost everything in the Keys is private property, campsites run around $50-150 a night. Your other living choice would be a boat or living under a bridge.. Pythons have worked their way down in the Keys. There are islands we visit in the backcountry between the Glades and the Keys.......EVERYTHING IS GONE....NO BIRDS, RACCOONS, CRABS...NOTHING...JUST SILENCE! Pythons have killed everything.

 

[Flipperfla]

Hells Bay. First place I ever saw a croc! He was a big boy. We boated the Wekiva River yesterday, loads of wildlife. Probably 2 dozen gators. Beautiful day!

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

“Living off the grid” means different things to different people. For some it could simply mean not being connected to a commercial power company. To others it means being entirely self sufficient.

I think it’s much more realistic to strive for a certain degree of living off the grid.

 

[ticndig]

People lived off grid in those swamps for hundreds of years . but that was then and it was all they knew .
without Electricity you're going to suffer for sure.

Electricity and the power company is not the enemy , keep searching . maybe you seek seclusion privacy and a slower pace . if so Fla is not the place to be .

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Sure. We used to do it all the time on Lake Ontario and the Chesapeake Bay. It's called "owning a sailboat".

You might have to spend a night at a pier (they accept cash) or run the engine to charge the batteries and fill the water tanks (usually free). And some locations frown on long term anchoring. Others don't care. Some places on the NY Canal System even offer free shore power and docking space. I'm sure they would notice if you stayed a month in one spot.

 

[smokeythecat]

Correct ticndig. In 1900, the average life span of a caucasian in the US was 48. Do the math.

 

[Blak bart]

A sailboat is the way to go if your in the keys looking to live cheap. Theres still a lot of rules and restrictions but many are doing it up and down the keys....part time and full time. It can be idealic at times and uncomfortable at times too. The boating lifestyle is not for everyone so being realistic with ones self is a must before attempting a move onto a boat. As far as living in the woods goes......well first everything is protected, a park, or private. The days of camping on the side of the road are over.....that was the 70s and it was possible to pitch a tent or park a camper at many dead ends and out of the way spots. Any spot you do find you'll run into me detecting or one of the local homeless that I often run into while i detect. One of my friends immigrated from Daytona and lived behind the publix in the woods for 6 months....then he moved onto a boat.....then he bought some other junk boats and fixed them up to rent. Eventually he sold them all and moved into a house. Off grid on one of the many undeveloped islands is well....brutal for anything more than a week or 2......you'll be dying of thirst ...you'll be ready for AC...and a fresh water shower. There is a multitude of mosquito born sicknesses including Zika and dengue fever. The homeless in keywest pay a brutal toll from the harsh bush conditions. The mangrove swamps and hardwood hammocks eat people up !! Dont camp under a machiniel tree and watch out for poison wood. Centipedes a foot long bite hard, so do the big black scorpions. Once adapted to a nice sailboat things can be quite nice.....but theres still alot of work to maintain it all !! And well....you have to know how to sail. If you know how to sail you go live off grid in the more beautiful and far less crowded bahama islands !!

 

[Mudflap]

Yes, imagine the endless heat and mosquitos.

Yea... and don't forget all the snow birds!

 

[smokeythecat]

Megalodon, I do have some bottles of frozen water (old plastic and water bottles) frozen in case the power goes out in the summer. My cat uses insulin.