"Urban Danger" Video
 

This may have already been posted here...and I apologize if it is redundant, but I did not find it when I did a search, so here goes...

Not sure if you have seen this yet, but I 'discovered' it today for the first time when I was researching root cellars. A documentary titled "Urban Danger" that came out earlier this year.

http://www.urbandanger.com/Watch-It-Online.html

It is a full length movie -- about 2 hours long. (Some of it drags, but the topic is really interesting to me, so during the slow parts I kept it on in the background as I did other things and flipped back and forth when it got good again.) Lots of smiling folks making it look like it is all fun and games to be self-sufficient, but if you can weed through that aspect and can realize that it is really hard work -- rewarding, but hard work --there is some good info here.

The first 21 minutes talks about the dangers of living in the city as the SHTF. Interestingly, I found it on a root cellaring site and the folks at the site I linked to it from went on and on about the 'negativity' and 'gloom and doom' in the first 21 minutes. They pretty much said they would rather be blissfully naive than think about that sort of negativity.

The film features Roscoe Bartlett (R) of Maryland (the state's only Republican congressman). He is my former congressman from before I escaped from liberal Maryland. I must say that I was already impressed with him before I watched the movie. Back when the bailouts looked as though they were going to be inevitable, I contacted his office to express my concern. He was the ONLY one who got back in touch with me prior to the voting to assure me that he would NOT be voting for the bailout. The rest sent me 'form letters' months after the fact, in a bunch of political mumbo jumbo that said they had to do what was best for our country. Yeah...right.

Turns out that Roscoe's a prepper. No wonder I liked him. He is also part of the Republican Liberty Caucus and aligned with Ron Paul.

He is an advocate of living off the grid and, in fact, has built an off grid cabin of his own in western Maryland. Included in the documentary is a tour through his cabin. I gleaned some great ideas and will actually be writing to him to get details and ideas as to what he recommends. I liked his stove and his cistern pump, as well as a lot of his design ideas.

I found the first 40 min or so to be extremely interesting, then it slowed up until about 1:25 in when there was a family who was showing their solar power system, their spring house, their root cellar, pressure canning and a beautiful pantry. (In between was some canning and a few families talking about how great it is to live in the country.) From there on out, there were highs and lows. Some good examples of some solar and hydro stuff, too. I believe that this movie probably could have been about half as long and could have delivered the same message more effectively, but that's just my opinion.

Despite its length and the slow spots in the middle (and some toward the end), I really enjoyed seeing how a lot of these folks are living off the grid and got some great ideas for my own little cabin in the woods.

For those who are not Christians, I will 'warn' you that there is a very strong religious message throughout the film. At first I thought it was LDS, but I think it is Seventh Day Adventist. My advice...if you don't like it...don't look.