How to survive off the natural environment
I fantasize about living in my own little cabin out in the woods, isolated from society. Not because I'm antisocial, quite the opposite, because being surrounded by life in the middle of the forest would help me feel far more connected to the world than living in civilization does.
In this vision, most everything I need to stock my home and survive is acquired from the natural environment. Going back to the basics of my distant native ancestors is the plan, where fishing was achieved by tossing a rope with a boomerang shaped bone hook in to snag a fish when retrieved, and all necessities were ingeniously fashioned out of bones, sinew, furs, rocks, trees, and plants.
Studies have shown camping resets the body's internal clock because we respond to the blue light of the sky. By living indoors most of our time, we fall out of sync with the natural rhythms and offerings of the world. Modern societies have solved countless problems with the advent of agriculture, industrialization, and e-trade. But individuals are realizing their over-dependency on systems and infrastructure that could collapse and leave them helpless. Knowing how to be self-sufficient in and out of the civilized world is a set of lessons worth exploring. What we lack is the experience and oral tradition (passed down knowledge) to solve everyday problems with basic ingredients. Those skills have to be rediscovered, or at least collated.
There are certain skills most doomsday preppers, naturalists, and hippies agree are essential for self-sustainability in a natural environment. Learn what you can before hand.
- Basic first aid - suturing, disinfecting wounds, treating burns and frostbite, snakebite venom removal, pain relief, inducing vomiting, recognizing and treating signs of hypothermia and heat exhaustion, splinting and distinguishing fractures and sprains
- Foraging - familiarity with local plant life identification, seasonal harvest, and uses
- Food Preservation - canning, drying, smoking, brining, or pickling
- Mending/Repair - clothing, tools, furnishings, equipment
- Field Dressing and Butchering - small game, large game, fish
- Woodworking - (most items can be constructed out of wood and plant materials if you know how) containers, utensils (think chopsticks if nothing else), weapons, tools, furnishings
- Defense - choice weapon usage, protection against predators and intruders, confidence
Step by Step Requirements
I believe everyone has some advantageous trait or inclination that will come in handy in the wild, so I'm not about to say what you should or shouldn't have as far as personality goes. Many of the traits necessary may come about as you are immersed in the experience of living sustainably. However, I will highlight a few things to think about that may make your experience more manageable.
Perseverance to try and fail and try again. As much as you are entering into a survivalist situation, you must forgive yourself for the learning curve that comes with the territory, because mother nature will not. You can study (and should) all you want about surviving in a particular region, but the truth of the matter is some of us learn best by doing. Only by seeing and feeling the land can you know the intricacies of the seasons for a particular climate and elevation and landscape. Certain nuts grow here, certain areas here are prone to flooding, certain trees attract nesting birds in the winter that consume all the berries but produce eggs to harvest. Keep at it. You're learning more than you realize and it takes time.
Now, these are the true requirements:
Land - BLM, Forest Service, and other state or nationally held land is not habitable on a whim. In other words, you can't just decide to go live in the first patch of forest you see. Staking your claim isn't what it used to be. You must purchase land in the modern age. With that said, plots and cabins are available for leasing in many protected or federally owned lands. Around a lake, for instance, you can pay annual dues for the land use where you build a cabin upon. You own the cabin, but not the land. Visit the National Forest Homeowners Cabin Program website and the USDA Forest Service's PDF list for Special Use Authorization for more information. Be aware that these are considered 'recreational residences', not meant for year-round usage. If you wish to live in your forest home without such stipulations, consider purchasing plots of land outright via Zillow or other real estate marketplaces.
Choose a region with the right terrain you wish to live off of (desert, mountain, forest, ocean, urban) and buy enough property to allow for foraging, hunting, fishing, and/or gardening. Because I come from the forests of the PNW, I wouldn't know how to fish the ocean like an islander or coastal worker would. Make sure it is suited to you.
Shelter - Either purchase land with a shelter already erected on it, or with the kind of space you need to build your own.
Many architectural design options exist nowadays because there is a strong push for affordable, off-grid, manageable, eco-friendly housing in today's market. Consider tiny houses, earthship homes, modern treehouses, communal houses, yurts, or classic cabins.
Tiny houses are space-saving, affordable, sometimes mobile buildings with bare essentials of living spaces. Usually under 500 square feet, tiny houses are popular for those who don't need/want as much time spent indoors as larger homes encourage.
Earthship homes are designed for self-sustainability in desert environments where little rain or resources exist. They are constructed out of upcycled materials, and set in a man-made hill (though they could be set in an existing hill). The appeal of these homes is their ability to regulate temperature year round, no matter the season, and the four stage use and filtration of the water (sink, plants, washing appliances, toilet). Visit the original architecture's site at Earthship Global.
Modern treehouses have many designs for adult and family living. Some are built in large branch-y trees, while others are established around multiple thinner ones. They can be as off-grid as you want, as simple or as complex as you want.
Communal houses in the context of forest living can take many forms, but what I mean by it is a series of small structures that break down the rooms of living to be potentially used by a group of couples to a small community. There is a set of showers, a communal kitchen house, a communal garden, and multiple little private living spaces or rooms. Setups such as this are best when guests are regularly expected such as with camps and bnb's. But it could be just right for you and your large family.
Yurts and Tipis - Who says you have to live in a wood and metal structure? Why not go simple with a series of yurts or tipis, and build the other amenities outside the sleeping space. It might be colder at night, and long-term considerations like protection and comfort might be sacrificed. So consider this option carefully. I think these work better as side structures or temporary guest houses. Their seasonality make them limited, but only insofar as you're able to tolerate, I suppose.
Water - Setting up water retrieval and dispensing system when you don't have underground plumbing or access to city utilities is a must. I like the idea of having various rain captures that run the water into large storage pots or tanks. Rain capture is still the best source of fresh clean water, if the system is prepared properly. [Note: There are rain water collection regulations in some counties. Make sure to check what yours are].
Then again, I'm also very minimalist in that every bit of water I used was hand filled from a stream, filtered and treated when I backpack. But if you don't want to hand carry your water in buckets every day from a stream (who does?), than consider other options.
Wells tap into ground water known as aquifers that has been naturally filtered by traveling through the ground.
Natural filtration cycle of water on earth.
Digging a well can be costly up front, unless you happen to know how to do it yourself. If you don't want to dig a well (or can't), funneling water from a flowing body is doable with some hosing and treatment.
To make potable drinking water from say a stream (avoid stagnant water), you should filter and treat the water. Most simple, natural filters use layers of rock, pebbles, coarse and fine sand, and charcoal to filter out debris and neutralize some pathogens (but not all). The layers must be replaced regularly, but if you have a ready supply of them in your natural environment, it can be a great system.
When backpacking, I treat small amounts of water with drops of bleach and UV bathing (sun) when I can't boil. Iodine tablets are also effective. But on a large scale, you need a renewable way of processing a continuous supply of water. I'm used to emergency methods, so I've had to do some research to discover sustainable methods for large quantities of water.
Cabin Freedom goes in-depth on How to get clean drinking water at your off-grid cabin.
"We have a small stream on our property that runs all spring and about half the summer before it dries up. The simplest way to collect water is to use a small pump and just let it run.The key to an off-grid water collection and filtration system is to use gravity whenever possible.
We dug out a little hole in the stream and placed a bucket in it so we always have a place deep enough to drop in a small submersible pump like this one on Amazon. Then we just pump the water from the stream up to a 275-gallon water storage tank on the property. Once that’s full, or even as it’s filling, we pump the water from that tank to another that’s further uphill using this pump that can get it farther uphill than the submersible pump. This cascading of water tanks allows us to get the water a ways uphill, which gives us better water pressure down where we use the water. And having multiple tanks allows us to store over 1,000 gallons of water at a time. As long as these tanks are full before the stream runs dry, we don’t run out of water before winter."
My base recommendation is to setup a closed filtration system, then boil or reverse osmosis all water meant for direct consumption. All other uses (showering/bathing, washing, etc.) can be done using the basic filtered water from a flowing source. The thing to remember about pumps is they use electricity (which means having energy source on property), and have limited warranties so they need replacing after a few years. So we'll talk about energy usage and powering your homestead next. First, understand there are hand powered pumps, but they tend to be labor intensive. Everyone's needs and tolerances and abilities are different. You must figure out which system works best for you.
Don't skimp on your water knowledge. It is far too precious to do wrong. From metals, chemicals, bacteria, and minerals, research your filters, your piping, your drums, and anything else with a role to play in the process of getting clean water to your body efficiently and safely.
Energy - It's no secret the world is in an energy crisis, but the reality is there are so many methods of sustainably powering a small home. Wood is the cheapest, most common renewable resource available. Honestly I won't even discuss natural gas, propane, or petrol products because they are expensive and not sustainable. Duh. You want sustainability, right? Wood can be used to heat your home, cook your food, boil your water, AND power your home with a wood powered generator. In a wood power generator the wood heats up water to produce steam which moves a turbine that charges a battery. Like anything, there is maintenance to consider, and cost. Frankly, any energy producing system will require maintenance know-how and up-front cost.
Water powered generators like the PowerSpout have limited warranties, but can be cost effective as a back-up power source if you're not running it constantly. This one is placed in a stream and uses gravity to turn a turbine, like an old water wheel without the need for a dam. Here's an article about old water wheel powered generators from Askaprepper.com.
Wind power necessitates a high point where there is ample wind to turn a windmill. I haven't looked too much into this because there's not enough wind in the trees when you have a forest to filter through. However, HERE is a great article from the Department of Energy on installing and maintaining a wind turbine for home use.
Solar power is very hip right now, despite the efforts by our current administration to tax it. If it goes untaxed, having a solar panel on your land for emergency power may be a good thing to have. THIS homesteader explains how hers was setup, what she bought, and how it performs on her off-grid themed website.
Candles and Lanterns - Don't underestimate the ambiance and simplicity of wax candles and oil lanterns, or oil candles and candle lanterns for everyday lighting needs.
Food - Yes, food is less important than water, but it's still an essential to survival. As an extremist when it comes to food, I want to be able to forage, hunt, fish, or grow all I need to survive in any length of time. To do this, I spend most of my time familiarizing and testing myself and my family on local edibles. I grew up in a hunter/gatherer tradition, so I'm already ahead of the game on mushrooms, berries, and wildlife. But if I had to live entirely off of what I could catch and gather, I might starve. So, I bought this book as a training tool and reference:
I use it religiously. Learning to spot edible plants, distinguish them from poisonous cousins, know when to forage, how to cook, what part to cook, how to prepare, and how to cultivate continued wild growth for future harvest are ongoing challenges, and perhaps the most rewarding experience of all of this venture. Many weeds are nutritious and edible and we take them for granted. Funny thing is, what commonly grows in one's back yard may not grow wild as abundantly because many plants require the upturned, disturbed soil conditions of civilization to thrive, oddly enough. So familiarizing myself with edible wild plants has taken two distinctive categories: those that occur in and around civilization in vast quantities, and those that only grow in the deep wilderness.
A few common edibles often overlooked are dandelions (all parts, including root), ripe acorns (from oak trees), blackberry shoots (early spring), cattails (yup, the tall hotdogs on sticks), and mallow (grows wild and crazy in spring). My son and I have become familiar with all these.
I have a list of edibles I'm still trying to find examples of in the wild, such as burdock, and purslane. There are so many variations of poison oak and ivy in my area, that I have to be especially selective with what I forage. Camas is another oddball with a history of growing near its evil cousin which has been responsible for various accounts of settlers succumbing to illness (stomach pains) after mistaking blue camas for what the natives told them to harvest. So know your stuff, play it safe.
How hard can it be to survive off the land? Considering most store bought produce is hybridized to be plumper and less potent/nutritious than their wild cousins, are usually imported from other areas and countries for seamless availability regardless of seasonality, and modern society has agricultural in place to mass produce staples like flour and sugar, quite difficult. Or rather, quite an adjustment. Redefine your staple foods and you'll have a head start. Rather than wheat flour (which doesn't grow en masse enough with large kernals to harvest reliably in the wild for flour), natives used acorn flour in my region. Rather than potatoes, maybe the native staple is hopniss (a tuber similar to a small potato). Rather than commercially cultivated white rice, natives probably harvested wild rices. On island communities, rather than relying on white rice (an anomaly when you think about it), you utilize yucca and taro (root vegetables). Redefining your staple food to better suit your environmental availability will significantly improve your chances of survival. Next is your produce (veggies, fruits, roots, nuts), then your meats (if you're not vegetarian).
Because fishing and hunting is seasonal and highly regulated in some areas, many naturalists swear by having livestock roaming the property, particularly chickens and bees that can rely on the natural environment to resupply themselves and produce renewable foods (eggs and honey). The main concern with chickens is protecting them from predators, and the concern with bees is having enough floral and fauna nearby for them to gather pollen from. Eggs are priceless in baked goods when you don't have a steady supply of thickening, sticking, and rising agents (like gluten and baking powder). Honey has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that make it highly prized in a naturopath's kitchen. Personally, I plan to fish and hunt/trap small game when I can.
Whatever sources you utilize, preservation is a must for surviving the summer months because fish run at certain times, and chickens don't lay as often in the winter.
Medicinals is a sub-category to food and medical, but as important as knowing how to suture and having the supplies to suture is knowing how to initiate pain relief, anti-inflammation, stomach settling, astringent, and sedative effects with everyday plants. Most common pharmaceutical drugs were inspired by and designed with natural medicinals in mind.
Native American knowledge of these plants and their uses has been not so desperately preserved and recovered enough. Some of it I've only been able to find at local museums as old diagrams made by pioneers upon observation and communication with native tribes. This is precious knowledge. To find localized knowledge, I came across a pamphlet that listed dozens of plants and their medical uses, but the pictures were selective sketches. Many plants change season to season and can become difficult to identify in winter. Willow bark, for instance, is a commonly recognized plant in Alaska to brew as a tea for pain relief, but I have yet to identify it where I live further south. This is why nothing beats getting out and seeing with your own eyes what's out there. Fortunately, there is a well done guide to PNW medicinals by Scott Kloos on Amazon, similar to the edibles book. Make sure whatever guide(s) you choose have many colored pictures. You can never do enough scouting and researching and careful experimentation when it comes to plant life.
Gardening - Many off-griders swear by growing your own food as a primary source with foraging supplementing what you can produce and preserve yourself. However, there are many philosophies about the best way to garden. One approach is to rotate livestock and crops to fertilize the soil. Another is 'wild farming' where you plant native plants or attract native animals to balance pest populations instead of using pesticides. "Wild farming consists of planting crops that are highly associated and supportive to the natural ecosystem." (Wikipedia) Also check out the Wild Farm Alliance.
The approach I personally plan to use is the no-maintenance survival garden featured on Doomsday Castle. In this layout, the foliage are intermingling, growing in and around each other. Some of the most productive plants I've seen were ones that had neighbors which either shielded them, retained moisture via shading, attracted pollenators, or provided vertical or horizontal holds instead of trellis. They grew as volunteers, wildly. The basic design is this: start with a center fruit tree, then plant vine and bush plants around that, then herbs around that as the third circle, and finally creeping edible ground cover (like mallow, or clover). When you look at this garden from afar or walk through it, you wouldn't know you're seeing a garden. Plants don't always grow best in a vacuum. Some need companions, and in fact do better that way.
The 'intermingling survival garden' requires very little maintenance once established, but establishing it can take some years if you're planting your trees young. Start with one plant and build out from there.
Regardless which approach or variation you use, here's a few tips to help you along:
- Only grow what you know you'll eat
- Choose native seedlings when possible
- Choose plants that grow easily in your climate
- Dry spare seeds
- Don't be afraid to experiment
- Grow quantities that will sustain you
- Have a balance of nutrients represented
When in the wild, I try to follow wild rules, meaning I live according to nature. Many modern vegetables did not exist or existed in different forms a few hundred years ago (Read article by Independent News). Almost every fruit and vegetable in a chain grocer looks smaller in the wild, but packs far more punch and/or sweetness. For instance, wild onions and garlic are very small, but potent. Strawberries tend to be overly plump and pulpy with only mild sweetness versus their wild cousins. That is because most produce you get at the store is a man-made hybridized version of a wild plant.
Broccoli is a great example UC Berkeley uses to explain 'artificial selective evolution'. Broccoli does not grow wildly anywhere in the world. Vegetables like kale, cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli are bred cousins away from the wild mustard plant.
If you're like me, refer to Dr. Sebi's native cell food list for what plants are naturally occurring.
So what we think is organic and local, might very well not be native at all. The only way to really know is to research what native tribes sustained themselves on.
Placards at Fishing Museum in Oakridge, Oregon about Molala tribes living according to the seasons
This isn't to say that what we're buying from stores is an elaborate lie. Mankind has selectively evolved native species for millennia, even before globalization. Environments evolve on their own as well. We can't ignore the interaction between humans, animals, and ecosystems. Many berry plants in North America are not native to their regions, they were brought over from Asia. This doesn't mean you shouldn't eat them. In actuality, you should! Enjoy the bounty of what nature provides. Just know where you stand and what you want to practice when you decide to live off-grid.
Waste Disposal seems a fairly obvious answer to me because there aren't many options if you're not hooked up to a sewer and water network. Compost toilets seem to be the way to go for truly minimalist, off-grid, eco-friendly naturalists. The basic idea is this: put a common toilet seat on a frame with a catch bucket of a little starter bark (cedar bedding works great, or you can use a combination of found, crumbled leaves and twigs), then add a scoop to cover the excrement after each use. Empty and stir into outdoor compost pile with dirt for eventual use as fertilizer. Rinse bucket and repeat. You can make it as fancy or as simple as you want.
Think 'outhouse' or 'portapotty' without the smell or chemicals. Depending on the tank size, you may need to change out the mixture (urine and feces plus wood chips and toilet paper or TP equivalent, such as moss, plus other natural smell neutralizers like lavender oil) every couple weeks to every few months. Check out this tiny home composter's guide HERE.
For food waste, there are a few approaches people tend to resort to. 1) Dump. 2) Bury off property. 3) Mix with soil in a composting bin for later use in garden. 4) Burn. Or a combination of them all. If you're eating with mostly organic materials, most of what you use can be burned or composted. Homecompostingmadeeasy.com has an in-depth tutorial on how to compost your food scraps, including what not to add to your compost food pile/bin.
Remember to safely dispose of and cover your food containers to avoid attracting predators and pests to your property. Animals are usually attracted to smells on your property. Ensure all foods are in containers or hung out of reach of bears and critters, and bury refuse miles away. Your state or province may have regulations about disposal of refuse.
Why compost your wastes? Because it returns the leftover elements back into the food you grow or that grows around you. Overharvest damages producing trees and beds. The soil must be rejuvenated (fertilized) to continue to sustain you. Carbon and nitrogen are depleted with harvest. In the natural cycle of the seasons, the soil is enriched with the falling of fruit and leaves each autumn. When we take away the fruit, nuts, and plants, we are taking it away from the soil or bed upon which it grew. Practice conservation with your harvesting habits. Take a little from everywhere, and leave some there. This is true for animal and fish populations as well. Over fishing one year can leave you hungry the next. Just be aware of it and you'll do fine.
Security is the last immediate requirement to cover. If you are planning to live out in the wild, even if you're a mile from town, you should be prepared to defend your home and body. What you choose to defend yourself with is up to you. Hunters usually carry .22 rifles and shotguns. City slickers might carry a compact handgun (many of which don't have the power to penetrate the hide of some larger animals). But there are also sharp-tipped hunting bows and arrows available at chain warehouses like Fred Meyers. Please please please take safety classes and practice shooting in a non-populated environment or designated shooting range if you are unfamiliar with using a gun.
Despite what many doomsday preppers say, you DO NOT need a gun to survive and thrive in the wild. You can accomplish what you need via traps, deterrents, fencing, warnings, and non-projectile weapons. This is the time to explore which weapon suits your physical abilities and aptitude. Machete? Morning star? Staff? Blowgun? You figure it out.
If the goal is to live WITH nature, it makes little sense to me to build a wall around your home (unless some other circumstance requires it). Laying repellent smells around the boundaries of your property can ward off animals. Bitter or citrus smells tend to be greatly unattractive to many animals. Ever held a lemon up to your cat's nose?
Unfortunately, even with bad smells, a predator may still wander into your area. Check your state/provincial government's laws on the use of deadly force against wild animals to protect your property. Some may ask you call wildlife protection to tranquilize and retrieve, if possible. If you're in your home, you may be able to scare the animal away with a loud noise (whistle, banging, shouting). In my experience, wild animals are usually just as afraid of you (the unfamiliar), as you are of them. They'll run off at the first sign of your presence. But the outlier stories are what we tend to cling to: a jogger chased down by two mountain lions, or the bear that destroyed a campsite, or the buffalo that charged a vehicle. Have an emergency, quick-draw defense, like bear mace, on hand when you wander, and always carry a knife, both for protection and utility.
Instead of a wall, string noisy containers to warn you of intruders, and potentially scare them away. My rule is only kill if you intend to use it or eat it or it poses an immediate threat to your safety. Living with nature means finding compromises to coexist.
Don't let this scare you. In two decades of wandering the forests both with others and alone, I have yet to come across a predator willing to pick a fight with me. Animals are skittish. The things to watch for are 1) groups/numbers, because they get more daring when they have companions, and 2) young. Predators and prey alike are more likely to attack if you pose a threat to their young than if they're alone. Don't mess with mama bear. Be smart. Read their situation, and only engage if you must.
Connect - As important as anything else on this list, learn to see the beauty and struggle of the wilderness. Mother nature is violent and calm, nurturing and unforgiving. It will keep you humble and thankful for all you do and receive. There is nothing like eating the fruit that is both gifted and earned.
My son asked his father this morning if we could go to an outdoor church sometime to pray to a goddess statue for an answer to his most pressing question: are dragons real? 😇😘 What my son is seeking isn't found in some synagogue. He thinks these spiritual statues just haven't been found yet somewhere deep in the forest or high on a mountain. And the only thing I can think to do to accommodate his wish is to build a natural altar at a special place in the forest where he can go to say his prayers, and think about as his sacred space. Some people erect stone towers as a symbol of human presence and connection to the environment, highlighting our ability to add symmetry to an already symmetrical tendency in nature. We'll probably do something like that.
THANK YOU for reading! Feel free to leave me comments below.
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Tips and Tricks
1. Make sure you aren't violating any local or state laws when you go off grid. It sounds silly, but it often crumbles a naturalist's plans when they realize they didn't acquire the proper building permit, or their county doesn't allow you to disconnect from utilities services. This article from offgridworld.com outlines the common mistakes people make and where the problems lie in zoning and building ordinances.
2. One unexpected challenge a new off-grid survivalist might experience is temperature regulation. When you're treading about all day in the elements, staying cool, dry, or warm can be far more difficult than in civilized living. If your home doesn't have modern inventions like a thermostat, central air, or a furnace, you may find yourself struggling to stay warm in winter, dry in fall, and cool in summer. We still wrestle with the weather, despite all the innovations of modern society. To avoid such situations, be mindful of your body's condition, plan ahead, and wear layers. Fur, fleece, and wool are the warmest materials you can find. Sweat can dampen your clothing and lead to hypothermia at night or in the cold. Wear only what you need.
3. Your mind and body is the only thing you truly have in this world. You must maintain your health. Because the survivalist lifestyle can be rigorous, one's health is the most game changing aspect of whether a person succeeds in their venture of outdoor living or not. Condition. Train. Take careful steps. Have situational awareness. That means be mindful of your surroundings and your place in them, locating potential dangers and going slower when possible.
4. Carry guidebooks, references, charts, whatever will help you feel more secure, and USE THEM!
5. Keep it simple and work up from there. Don't over-complicate survival.
6. Be comfortable with less.
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Note: 'Off-grid' does not imply eco-friendly and self-sustainable systems are in place. How and what you use for resources influences your output. Not all off-grid homes practice self-sustainability in all aspects of their life. You can own an off-grid home and shop at a grocery store for the propane that helps to power your appliances. Just be aware of these buzz words. Not all natural sounding words are synonymous.
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