Off the Grid TV show

[Teg]

Anyone catch the "Off the Grid" tv show with Les Stroud (the guy from Survivorman), pretty interesting show, would make a decent series. *Apparently it was originally shot in 2006 so some stuff might seem out of date, but still a good show.

http://quicksilverscreen.com/watch?video=47860

[mikeo]

I saw it as well. It would be interesting to see if the struggles and the joys his family of four in the Canadian wilds match up with any of us.

[offroaddiesel]

could be good if they put out another one. he did bring up some good points if any one out there is thinking of living in the bush.he did have many advantages that some would not have. for example money didnt seem to be an issue. we did it but waited until the kids were grown ,we are so far into the woods that it would have been a little hard for them growing up . so what we did once we bought our land, in 76 was to buy some more closer and built there until they were out of school and used our land to camp etc. living in the woods is something you want to put alot of thought into, also you need alot of skills , something ,i think les was lacking well anyway thats my 2 cents, oh yeah we have been on our land now since 91 and would not move for anything. offroaddiesel

[flatwater]

Good show but I had to laugh when he was saying about his modest means. Then I see a helocopter , work crews . tractors , cranes state of the art solar etc; etc; and the last thing was them enjoying a camp fire out side with all the lights on in the house. That's hollywood for you.

[Teg]

Apparently they still live out there so it wasn't total Hollywood, but yah his idea of modest is a tad different than most folks. :)

[12vman]

Yea.. Let 'um come out here and spend a month! Carla Emery and her hubby wouldn't stay here the second time they were here.. LOL

[rantinraven]

Flatwater Ia m glad I wasn't the only person to notice his"means". Hubby and I imagine something similar however we are on a budget about 1/20th the size of theirs. My husband said well dang we could afford ANYTHING if we had money to pay a helicopter to bring things in!

It was a great show to watch, but we see a lot of people with $$$$ doing similar.

[bewarner]

Is this show on the oln or ?????

[rantinraven]

I watched it through you tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg7EaLIJrBw&feature=PlayList&p=ED7F86004BD C8D25&index=36

I think that link will play every part but the OP has the videos numbered.

[reedb66]

I liked the show but kinda laughed a couple of times with their "struggles" .I used to live in far northern wis and the difference in winter is not much.They made some things a lot harder than they had to be,and the spot were he talked about their well ($9,000) dollars to drill through bedrock to have a well was too much???....northern wis is granite shelves ,now thats money!!!But over all I enjoyed the show.

[seriessearcher]

I saw it a while ago and have always wanted a follow up or a lessons learned session.

[Southerngirl]

I saw the show as well on tv, and yes there were some good ideas, but I have to admit, there was a lot of upfront money there to work with. If I remember they were trying to sell their old house in town?
I'm sure there will be more on tv like this, the use of $$$ to start up a homestead, but we all know it can be done without all the glitz. It was interesting, but not realistic here on our piece of land. Glad it's working for them though.
Southerngirl

[johnjmw]

Just finished watching the show. He has a lot of good points and does show a lot of the problems someone could run into trying to build a homestead. He just had the backing to do it an easier way.
One real weak spot I think I saw. The road was so bad but he would not use his equipment to put in better drainage. If I was going to be using the road continuously that is one of the early fixes I'd be doing even if I didn't put gravel down.
John

[MotherCharlotte]

My husband and I just watched this on Youtube about a month ago. Overall, we were pretty disappointed. We wanted to see Les Stroud and his family work hard together to make their home, but instead not only did he hire contractors to do everything, but he seemed to have a limitless budget for fancy machinery. When the helicopter showed up we just rolled our eyes. Come on now, how many people use helicopters in the building of their homestead?

Then just when their house was finished, the show ended. Personally, I would have been much more interested in a program showing us how he and his family adjusted to living in the backwoods in an off grid home. I was especially interested to see how they would manage to raise food but that wasn't even mentioned at all.

Also on Youtube is his first documentary, Snowshoes and Solitude, where he and his wife as newlyweds spend an entire year living in the remote northern Ontario wilderness, with Stone Age technology. That show I found to be more interesting and realistic.

[Teg]

I think the helicopter was from the company building the cabin for him, but not positive and as others said I would have definitely improved the road to the property.

I saw an interview recently where he said that he planned on doing a follow-up to the first, should have the time now that his SurvivorMan show is done, hated to see that because I always though he gave decent advice worlds better than the British guy on Man Vs Wild anyway (actually seen some of the worst survival advice ever on that show).

[NCLee]

I saw the show a while back. I'd enjoy seeing a follow up, too. Hope he'll be doing one soon.

I, too, wondered about some of the choices made, especially with the buildings, water, and the driveway. I'm to the age where I can't do things I used to be able to do. That sometimes makes me wonder how other people will handle circumstances when they find themselves in the same boat. That driveway is a good example, if it isn't improved.

Just 2-cents.
Lee

[Prairie]

I watched it and enjoyed it, but took it as entertainment. Thanks for the link.