Don&#x27;t underestimate how much effort and devotion to the lifestyle it takes. Most of us just want a &quot;turnkey&quot; lifestyle, buying whatever on a whim and expecting it to just work (plug-in gadgets, packaged foods), with even our &quot;staples&quot; coming in such perfect condition (box of nails from Home Depot, beautiful fruits at Whole Foods, etc.). To the contrary, off-the-grid requires devotion to the act of surviving from basics, and integrating technology therein takes additional effort&#x2F;patience&#x2F;tolerance. It can certainly be internalized to the point of being &quot;normal&quot; and &quot;comfortable&quot;, but still requires that focus - not sleeping in, driving to work, then grabbing a frozen pizza on the way home &#x27;cuz you didn&#x27;t have time to maintain the garden.<p>I rant on this because of a taste this weekend, trying with mixed-to-poor results to get my BioLite Camp Stove (otherwise highly recommended) burning a good fire suitable for charging electronics via its built-in thermocouple generator (using the compact solar panels was pointless given cloud cover), and even now a separate solar self-charging battery is sitting on top of my car recouping from the draining usage on the trip (oops, left something on).<p>I grew up in a semi-self-sufficient family, growing food and heating with wood et al. Seemed easyish then, but in retrospect my folks put a LOT of work into making it work smoothly. Going completely off-grid and still staying connected does seem a desirable state (a la &quot;first world amusement&quot; and &quot;TEOTWAKI prepared&quot;), but <i>yikes</i> it&#x27;s a lot of work - moreso if your immediate companions aren&#x27;t wholly devoted as well.