1st Time Living Off Grid. In the Mountains. During winter. Almost died LOL

[ADDvanced]

Sharing a video I just dropped today; this was the first week of adventure living in my shortie school bus, in the rocky mountains during winter. The diesel heater tried to kill us, my batteries failed, and my solar system quit charging during 5 days of snow without any sunlight. Good times, but learned a lot from this experience and things are a lot easier now.

[varmint]

when i saw the bus my first thought was chris mccandless.



congratulations on having an "adventure wife".

by the way, that iPhone weather app is a POS. the people behind it should be ashamed.

[ADDvanced]

Originally Posted by varmint

when i saw the bus my first thought was chris mccandless.

Ha, I keep trying to get her to watch that movie, but nope. We did watch Aspen Extreme where they live in a caboose, while living in a bus.

[creaturecat]

that’s scary. oh my, you folks coulda died from that heater.’

[Arizona_928]

Yeah. There’s a reason why i stick with kerosene… might want to get a small wood stove….

[masraum]

You, Sarah, and Lexi are awesome! Great adventure, great video, and thanks for sharing. I subscribed and gave it a like. Good luck in your adventures to come!

Keep us apprised about your solar setup and hopefully, getting everything working so you aren't as screwed in a similar situation again.

[Rot 911]

That was fun to watch! And, like has been mentioned above, that carbon monoxide tester could’ve ended up, killing you!

[Jeff Higgins]

I guess "roughing it" and "almost died" have changed a bit since I was a young man.

I don't think I could even begin to add up the time I have spent in wilderness hunting camps from high in the Rocky Mountains to inside the Arctic Circle, and some somewhat "underdeveloped" foreign lands to boot. The kind in which there are only two ways to get there - pack string or bush plane. Living in wall tents heated by the firewood we gathered. Eating largely what we shot, although we did pack in "staples", like flour and coffee.

No electronics. No communication with the outside world. Truly on our own, in the wilderness. Nearest help a week or more journey away. It's a rather disconcerting feeling, watching that bush plane fly away, knowing he won't be back for two, three weeks. Did we forget anything?...

From the description on the video: Our heater tried to poison us in our sleep, our Kidde Carbon Monoxide detector was ambivalent about our lives, our lithium batteries stopped charging, and our solar system quit working.

Roughing it. Off grid. Gimme a freakin' break. Fking lithium batteries stopped charging...

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I guess "roughing it" and "almost died" have changed a bit since I was a young man.

From the description on the video: Our heater tried to poison us in our sleep, our Kidde Carbon Monoxide detector was ambivalent about our lives, our lithium batteries stopped charging, and our solar system quit working.

OK Grumpy McGrumperson. Maybe skip the next cup of coffee.

[ckcarr]

Not sure why this reminds me of these people. When I lived in Gunnison it would get -30 f. or worse.

3 found dead at remote Gunnison area campsite were trying to escape society, stepsister says

The three deceased individuals found at Gold Creek Campground earlier this month are thought to have tried to live there through the winter, according to Gunnison County Coroner Michael Barnes. As of press time, their identities had still not been released.

On Sunday, July 9, the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by a hiker near Gold Creek Campground who had discovered a remote campsite with a heavily decomposed individual within the camp. Gold Creek is located on U.S. Forest Service land about 7 miles north of Ohio City near the southeast corner of the Fossil Ridge Wilderness.

The following morning, the sheriff’s office discovered two more individuals within the campsite. It appeared the individuals had been deceased for a substantial period of time. Members of the Western Mountain Rescue Team assisted with the recovery.

The deceased are not locals, although Barnes told the Times that he thinks the three individuals are related. He suspects they died of “malnutrition and/or exposure sometime during the winter.” A conversation with some of those believed to be the relatives of the deceased helped him speculate about how long they had been camping.

“At this point it appears that these three individuals began long-term camping at the location near Gold Creek Campground in approximately mid-late July last summer (2022) and attempted to stay through the winter,” he wrote in an email on July 13. “Evidence suggests that the group may have intended to live there permanently.”

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by masraum

OK Grumpy McGrumperson. Maybe skip the next cup of coffee.

Get off my lawn...

Yeah, I know, pretty curmudgeonly response. Believe me, though, I absolutely encourage everyone to "go outside". Go into the wilderness and enjoy it any way you like. If that means living out of a back pack for a month (I've done that) or driving your camper up some Forest Service road (I've done that as well), just do it! Have fun!

But please, please spare us the drama. Far too much of that emanating from the on-line set as they vie for views, likes, and subscribers. They can make something as innocuous as going out for ice cream into some sort of overly dramatized adventure. Hell, I bet we could find someone who "almost died" doing just that. Enough already.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by masraum

OK Grumpy McGrumperson. Maybe skip the next cup of coffee.

No. He has a point, but this is on the OP.

I wouldn’t trust my life to a Chinese made diesel heater, solar panels or lithium ion batteries for a main source of heat.... Maybe, as it should have been an auxiliary method... I would trust my life on a fire (non epa model wood stove), or a kero heater with an extra wick and plenty of fuel.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Get off my lawn...

Yeah, I know, pretty curmudgeonly response. Believe me, though, I absolutely encourage everyone to "go outside". Go into the wilderness and enjoy it any way you like. If that means living out of a back pack for a month (I've done that) or driving your camper up some Forest Service road (I've done that as well), just do it! Have fun!

But please, please spare us the drama. Far too much of that emanating from the on-line set as they vie for views, likes, and subscribers. They can make something as innocuous as going out for ice cream into some sort of overly dramatized adventure. Hell, I bet we could find someone who "almost died" doing just that. Enough already.

He’s trying to break into the YouTube/social media influencer game.
Gotta have those catchy hooks for clicks…

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

But please, please spare us the drama.

I'm OK with the drama. One of the things I like about this place is the variety of experiences and outlooks Pelicans have shown. And, yes, I like the scroll function too.

Lord knows I've introduced my share of drama here, and I'm sure not all of it was appreciated. I'm as grateful to those who thought, "I'm tired of his 5hit" and scrolled on past without comment as I am to those who made thoughtful and supportive comments.

[MMARSH]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I'm OK with the drama. One of the things I like about this place is the variety of experiences and outlooks Pelicans have shown. And, yes, I like the scroll function too.

Lord knows I've introduced my share of drama here, and I'm sure not all of it was appreciated. I'm as grateful to those who thought, "I'm tired of his 5hit" and scrolled on past without comment as I am to those who made thoughtful and supportive comments.

Give him a break, Higgins is just trying to raise his PPD....

[ADDvanced]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I guess "roughing it" and "almost died" have changed a bit since I was a young man.

I don't think I could even begin to add up the time I have spent in wilderness hunting camps from high in the Rocky Mountains to inside the Arctic Circle, and some somewhat "underdeveloped" foreign lands to boot. The kind in which there are only two ways to get there - pack string or bush plane. Living in wall tents heated by the firewood we gathered. Eating largely what we shot, although we did pack in "staples", like flour and coffee.

No electronics. No communication with the outside world. Truly on our own, in the wilderness. Nearest help a week or more journey away. It's a rather disconcerting feeling, watching that bush plane fly away, knowing he won't be back for two, three weeks. Did we forget anything?...

From the description on the video: Our heater tried to poison us in our sleep, our Kidde Carbon Monoxide detector was ambivalent about our lives, our lithium batteries stopped charging, and our solar system quit working.

Roughing it. Off grid. Gimme a freakin' break. Fking lithium batteries stopped charging...

The heater malfunctioned and tried to kill us while we were sleeping.

The CO alarm failed to go off FOR I STILL HAVE NO IDEA but this thing should have protected us!

We ran out of power and had to use headlamps for 5 days of darkness in order to conserve the battery power to run the heater.

If you want to whip them out to measure them, statistically you're going to lose.

[ADDvanced]

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

No. He has a point, but this is on the OP.

I wouldn’t trust my life in the middle of where to a Chinese made diesel heater, solar panels or lithium ion batteries for this guy’s main heat , as it should have been an auxiliary method... I would trust my life on a fire (non epa model wood stove), or a kero heater with an extra wick and plenty of fuel.

I had an auxiliary method for heat (Propane heater, but vapor is an issue), and one for power (generator).

A wood stove is 'comfy' but doesn't work well in a bus; the fireboxes are so small that you have to refill them every 2-3 hours, which is almost constant. They also require a LOT of space for clearance to combustibles. If this were a cabin with more space, I would agree with you, but it's very small inside.

And since I adjusted for elevation and stopped running on low, it's been fine for a long time, been efficient to run, no problems since. The problem was learning about high altitude and running it low. Don't do that. Run her hot.

[ADDvanced]

Thanks guys. If you don't want to watch this, idgaf, don't then. I was just sharing because I thought it was an interesting experience. And KIDDE CO alarms are a ****ing joke.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Believe me, though, I absolutely encourage everyone to "go outside". Go into the wilderness and enjoy it any way you like.

I'm done with that. I enjoy it now by driving past any wilderness point of interest.

Too many camping, hunting, hiking trips.

Last year in Alaska (1990) I just paid for charter's and guides. No DIY stuff.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by ADDvanced

Thanks guys. If you don't want to watch this, idgaf, don't then. I was just sharing because I thought it was an interesting experience. And KIDDE CO alarms are a ****ing joke.

No. Using a diesel heater is your issue... How complete the fuel was burned is the second. One will get more CO2 from a good burn of diesel fuel. Less CO. The CO is more of a gasoline thanggg. Different fuels have different products after combustion and one must seriously consider these issues (buying a second alarm) when utilizing these specific heat boxes...

Third issue, was you just ran out of the go-go juice.


Either way, props for posting how much of an idiot you are to the internet for views. I certainly wouldn't... The only person that can look out for your safety and life, is you... Not to red pill you or anything. You could be dead in an old school bus and no one would care. be more resourceful and use the knowledge here or elsewhere.

Might want to seriously consider the small wood stove if you're doing this for more than clicks. The small sail boat ones have garnished a premium now...