Off Grid Survival: Cabin Rentals and RV Camping for a “Practice” Bug Out

Vacationing in a rented off the grid cabin or taking an RV into a primitive or “dispersed” camp site are just the way to get everyone used to seeing things differently and meeting a new life head on with no fear. This can be a bonding experience for families and a chance to learn and develop pioneering skills that made America into a strong and vibrant nation and an opportunity to wean you off the overwhelming technology and excess of much of our daily lives.

Practice making and or repairing necessary off grid items

You will have to learn to make and repair things. You will need to find ways to re-use things such as bags and wrappers, string, cloth items, and so on. You should have in your inventory of gear a set of basic guides for plant identification, animal tracks, how to make snares and traps and fish nets.

Take small steps — don’t bite off more than you can chew

Remember if you are newcomers to survival camping or off grid cabins, don’t get too far away from help if needed. Also, tell friends and family where you will be and when you will return.

What happens if your child stumbles into a patch of poison oak or poison ivy simply because you didn’t know that it was growing right outside the cabin you rented? Basic knowledge of the wilderness can go a long way to help prepare you and your family for a bug out one day.

Going Off Grid

Forget about tv and social media; ask the family to leave electronics behind for the weekend

Renting a cabin that is “off the grid” mean no Dish TV, Internet, Xbox or other electronics to occupy our minds and time Instead, watching and identifying birds, catching fish, seeing the open sky and learning about nature and how to live and prosper within it will fill the days. The night will fill our skies with the stars that city lights drown out. Preparing for relocation requires researching into how far you can go, what type of climate can you tolerate, what types of food and water sources are available and how safe will you be from hostile groups or environmental conditions.

Find a remote cabin for your imaginary “bug out”

Selecting a cabin to rent for a week or more could help you prepare for an eventual move to a similar site. There are certain criteria that need to be considered for survival cabins. Off the grid simply means “supply your own power source”. This can be solar, wind, and combinations of gas generators with battery banks, even steam power. But the previous unlimited electricity and the appliances of life before will be drastically altered.

Learn how to live with a lot less electricity

Leaning how to live with less electrical-powered devices will take time and an off the grid cabin rental will get everyone used to it. Water supply is essential. A cistern, well or nearby water source of clean water is an absolute must-have. Water filtration will make up for rivers and streams that may have issues such as pollution from upstream or other uncontrollable situations.

Remote countryside can help you escape the woes of the city

Thankfully, much of the non-urbanized country offers some type of refuge where urban gangs, panicked refugees or societal collapse can be avoided.

Courtesy of a “no need to name” vacation rental site, we have selected 10 places as examples where cabins can be rented for up to several days at a time with the necessities for non-technology dependent living. The cabins are in five geographic areas (we apologize if you live in a state not mentioned here; we can’t cover all of them; the properties we refer to here are only examples and if you do your homework, you’ll likely find something in your region you can consider renting for a few days as a practiced survival bug out).

This type of practice/experience will help you learn, prepare and plan for an eventual relocation when that time comes. Note that not all the cabins for rent listed are “off grid”. Most will have electrical power and other conveniences. Try limiting your use of things that you would not supply by yourself. Cook outside, build shelters and sleep outside, experiment to see how independent you can get. By going with a remote cabin, you can effectively put yourself in the wilderness and be able to drive right in with all your supplies.

By far, this beats going to any kind of public campground and the solitude you can find at a remote cabin rental can reflect the same kind of solitude you can find on a future bug out that one day takes you into a wilderness region.

Cabin Rentals in the Northeast States

This cabin, an A-frame, is located in Croghan, NY and is a very minimalist situation with no electrical hookup but has solar powered exterior lighting. A-frames are very suitable for splitting off snowfall in regions where wet, heavy snow is common in winter. There is no running water. Instead rain water is harvested and stored; it is next to a lake (water filters would increase access to potable water). Cooking is done outside. This would be a very real “off the grid”/survival experience and is within 2 miles of town.

This log cabin was built in the 1950’s close to Monson, Maine. It is secluded and on a lakefront. At some point it will be necessary to build your own home in a relocation scenario. Log cabins have been one of the most dependable and sturdy sources of housing for centuries. This would be an excellent location for the practice experience since its secluded location and available of water and other survival necessities are its main features.

Cabin Rentals in the Southern US States

Located in North Carolina on 25 acres on a lakefront, this large cabin offers the seclusion that will acquaint you with relocation and the opportunity to hike and practice woodland skills. Southern environments are usually more humid and with more precipitation. Shelter will be a necessity for survival and developing resources by fishing, planting and foraging could be a result of a rental here.

This cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia offers a chance to test your skills in an area where the environment is a radical change from city life. In a survival situation being near water, developing visibility opportunities to see what’s going on beyond the mountains and learning how to keep a low profile to questionable travelers can be learned here.

Cabin Rentals in the Midwest States

This lakefront cabin in Michigan offers Midwesterners a chance to test relocation skills near the waterfront and still experience the types of weather and woodland conditions that Michigan has to offer. Many of the cabins listed on this site do offer modern conveniences but turning off the luxuries and testing your new skills require an element of seclusion and locations such as these are the best place to learn new skills and ways to do things.

Cabin Rentals in the Southwest States

Utah offers a contrast in environments from mountain passes, to high desert to forests. This cabin is located in an area where hunting and observing game animals add to the experience. Learn to track and observe large animals as well as fish here. It offers a wooded environment where the multiple skills to survive can be learned.

Southern California offers cabin adventures away from the seacoast for which this area is best noted. This cabin is on a lakefront in a mountainous area and is far away enough yet close enough to populated areas to offer a safe experience for beginners. Log construction techniques can be studied firsthand at this location

Cabin Rentals in the Northwest States

The Northwest is a rugged area where there are still wilderness areas. Idaho has places where no one has ever actually been (or said they went there).Priest Lake in Northern Idaho is one of the many picturesque lakes in Idaho. The remoteness of this area and the overall expanse of the landscape will help you prepare for the post-Apocalyptic environment without any fear of the unknown. Yet small friendly communities are within a drive as you gain confidence. This rustic cabin will be your shelter while you learn.

Washington is best known for its Pacific Coast and islands locations and mild climate. You can experience a coastal environment and weather and still have a wooded lakefront retreat within a reasonable drive. Newcomers to learning survival skills need to exercise caution as you gain confidence. Having a cabin such as this at Kings Cove near Bremerton, offers a safety factor as well as the necessary seclusion.

RV Camping – a vacation, preparation drill and learning experience

Not everyone is going to be able to buy a cabin retreat for survival. Some will have to actually camp out until their situation stabilizes. RV’s, camp trailers and tents may be “home” indefinitely. All the comforts of what is familiar will have to be redefined and new habits acquired and learned.

What a better way to practice and explore than an RV rental and camping experience. Instead of heading to an RV campground with all the modern “necessities” of swimming pool, electricity hookups, showers and BBQ pits, how about finding a secluded, remote place to park your RV and now learn how to use the surroundings for living and thriving.

This is where your collection of maps (the paper kind) is important. Looking at your new environment, seeing how to find the new necessities of life such as food sources, fuel for heat, cover for weatherproofing, site security, and making things to use in daily life when the Wal-Mart is ancient history can be exciting and will someday be essential.

Where do you go for an RV rental?

12 months of the year, as far as we can tell, RV Share will let you browse rental listings for RVs and RV trailers (the kind you tow behind your pick up truck). It turns out that RV Share is giving multiple RV owners an easy way to earn money with their RVs and trailers, rather than just sit in storage. It’s too much to detail here but if you are hurting for income, read all about it here and how to start renting out your unit.

Time spent outdoors can be spent learning new skills

Learning new skills like the Pilgrims and pioneers, seeing the forests like the Native Peoples do, as storehouses of food and tools, and having a positive and creative attitude towards a new lifestyle will be the real reward. RV’s usually have propane powered appliances and heating. After a day of getting used to being away from your home, start using the RV as a shelter only. Start cooking outside and reduce any power usage. Propane, gasoline and other power sources will be hard to get if at all. Moving to a sunrise to sunset schedule will make use of natural light and heat.

Activities a Family Can Enjoy while at the cabin or RV camping

• Trap Setting / Small Game Hunting Hunting for large game will be counterproductive for many reasons. It is labor-intensive, takes the hunters away from the home site, and it eventually drives the game away. Small game is easier to hunt or trap, can be prepared more easily and requires less storage and preservation supplies such as salt. Depending on where you are and how serious your effort is, you can just set dummy traps, and then practice springing them yourself using a stick or other object. When you see that your traps work, such as a snare trap or deadfall, that’s a confidence boost right there.

Now you’re only one step away from actually going out and trapping small game, when that’s your intention one day.

• Slingshot practice / Small Game Hunting Slingshots and .22 caliber pellet rifles eliminate the need to buy ammunition and reload. They are also quieter than firearms and will not frighten off other game or disclose your location. Where your RV is parked, you can set up a target range with some home made targets, such as a few blocks of spray painted Styrofoam (if firing pellets, you’ll see where your pellets hit and may see some small dents from using that sling shot as well.)

• Rainwater Harvesting (traps / rope) You can never have enough water, and wells can run dry and streams dry up. You can build an awning right from your RV with tarp, designed to catch rainwater and that can then be directed into a rainbarrel (plastic food grade 55 gallon drum) you have brought along for the rehearsal.

• Wood Cutting / Gathering Wood is fuel, building material and has many other uses. Learn how to select good, dry and sturdy wood.

• Shelter Building You may acquire more possession from neighbors with barter, you should also have small domestic animals such as milk goats for dairy and hair harvesting for making clothing. Winter and summer shelters are important for their health.

• Depending on the area, target shooting (archery / rifle) For your cabin/RV adventure is sure to know local firearms regulations. Airsoft and bb and pellet guns will be excellent practice sources without legal and safety issues.

• Fishing / Fish Trapping Being near water sources is essential for survival. Be sure to have nets and other large volume catching tools. Rod and reel are for recreation, you are concerned with eating and the more fish you can catch preserve and prepare the better you will eat.

• RV Camouflage – Assemble by hand large screens of brush / foliage and hoist into place using rope. From a distance, this “screen” of brush can reduce the chances of some hostile force spotting your easy to recognize RV and then making its way to your location. Know your environment. Look like a tree and disappear from sight. An enemy can be on foot, use drones or even satellites to find you.

• Compass / Navigation Forget your phone’s GPS. Basic compasses are easily available. Be sure to have recent and reliable paper maps as well. You need to know where you are, and when you go off to forage how to get back.

• Plant and poison plant and berry identification (a “good guide book can be a great way to start, but we encourage real training and practice when it comes to edible plants and knowing what’s poisonous”)

• Fire building and oven building; using your Rocket Stove

• Water purification using multiple methods

• Site security – Creating noisemakers and various “trip lines” that can alert you if someone is approaching camp and at a specific distance and or direction.  For example, 8 different sized bells that each has a different pitch can be used to surround a campsite and hung from fishing line. It would be a bit of work, but if an “intruder” trips a line at the NW corner, then (for example) a fishing line that yanks on bell 7 would alert you to the direction that intruder was coming from. Experienced hunters might consider staging “Game cameras” that feed video to an external screen where they may be resting in an RV, cabin, or tent.

This spring, summer, fall or winter — rent a cabin or RV and “bug out” for a week

Cabin rental, RV camping and careful planning all adds up to being prepared and aware when an emergency comes that requires relocating in short order. Your lives and survival will depend on the lessons learned in your off the grid practice camping experience. Whether you use a site like RV Share to rent that RV or RV trailer, or another site to find an off grid cabin rental, you can find yourself in a remote area, and get a small taste of what it would be like to actually have to bug out one day from a widespread disaster or catastrophic event.

Our grandfathers had more knowledge than any of us today and thrived even when modern conveniences were not available. They were able to produce and store their food for long periods of time. The Lost Ways is the most comprehensive book available. All the knowledge our grandfathers had, in one place.Here’s just a glimpse of what you’ll find in the book:

The Lost Ways is a far–reaching book with chapters ranging from simple things like making tasty bark-bread-like people did when there was no food-to building a traditional backyard smokehouse… and many, many, many more!

Books can be your best pre-collapse investment.

The Lost Ways (Learn the long forgotten secrets that helped our forefathers survive famines,wars,economic crisis and anything else life threw at them)

Survival MD (Best Post Collapse First Aid Survival Guide Ever)

Conquering the coming collapse (Financial advice and preparedness )

Liberty Generator (Build and make your own energy source)

Backyard Liberty (Easy and cheap DIY Aquaponic system to grow your organic and living food bank)

Bullet Proof Home (A Prepper’s Guide in Safeguarding a Home )

Family Self Defense (Best Self Defense Strategies For You And Your Family)

 Survive Any Crisis (Best  Items To Hoard For A Long Term Crisis)

Survive The End Days (Biggest Cover Up Of Our President)