Island living and survival

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elkhound

elkhound

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so all this talk about living in southern hemisphere and island living in that thread,well i have to ask how many have lived on an island or do live on one and what things can you say that are different than living on mainland. the good,bad and ugly.

the smaller the island as a norm it will have less resources unless it been developed more.

an island is a vague term to me and can be a large area or a small area and even those terms can mean different things to different people.

so you were able to hop a ship with limited supplies. what stands out as must have taking them with you or getting afterwards once getting there.
 
elkhound said:
so all this talk about living in southern hemisphere and island living in that thread,well i have to ask how many have lived on an island or do live on one and what things can you say that are different than living on mainland. the good,bad and ugly.

the smaller the island as a norm it will have less resources unless it been developed more.

an island is a vague term to me and can be a large area or a small area and even those terms can mean different things to different people.

so you were able to hop a ship with limited supplies. what stands out as must have taking them with you or getting afterwards once getting there.
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I think this is a great thread, and a great topic for discussion. I will really have to think about this. Personally, I love the beach and the ocean. If you don't like either of those you need not apply. I will be back.
 
I have lived 10 years off my life on an island. The main distractor of being on an island when SHTF is the size of the population. Typically the populations are way to large for the islands resources to support. But there are many large islands with no (or very few) human inhabitants. The inside passage has many of these that have abundant food and fresh water is full of these islands. Weather might be an issue for many, as this area is a temperate rainforest, and navigating between the islands takes an experienced boatsman. But if you can handle these things, no better place to do well when things go bad.
 
I've been to a few islands that couldn't keep the sand fleas alive. Lush, green, no fresh water. No food other than a few coconuts and seafood.

I suggest choosing an island before sailing. And since I have no desire to ever put to sea again... I wish you Fair winds and Following Seas!
 
Amish Heart said:
Okey Dokey.

Now, Swiss Family Robinson...they had it going. They made island living look fabulous. I doubt it would be that way.
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I loved that movie (still do) and it was one of my favorite attractions at Disneyland (in California). It was many years later that I realized they had animals from about four different continents on that island. :dunno:

Water would be my biggest concern on an island. If there was no fresh source you better have a great catchment system and a method of deslination that didn't defoliate the island.

Second I think would be arable soil. You have yo grow some kinds of fruit and vegetables. I don't think you could live on fish and coconuts if you even had them on the island. Bananas would be a good food source.

I would want some type of boat, so you could escape if need be. Inclement weather or tsunami would be a real concern.

Communication? How far away from civilization are you? It would be nice to know what was going on, or to have some entity to contact in a dire emergency.

Security? Not that you would have much to steal, but what if you have a Swiss Family Robinson situation? Maybe some drug runners think your island would be an ideal spot for their operation?

Medical Care? If you get sick, or have a serious mechanical injury? Party's over.

IMHO there are more downsides than upsides.
 
If Hollywood provides any sort of bench mark then you would also need a volleyball to talk to.........


In very severe crises, other people constitute the main threat to survival.

Getting away from people can be described as like water getting through a series of filters. The more filters you can pass that others cannot, the less of a threat other people will become.

Yes there are many challenges that go along with surviving on a island - that is why there are so few inhabited islands.

But those challenges are all addressed by key survival capabilities that every survivalist should have already prepared.

One of the few "island specific" capabilities is water desalination.

Reverse Osmosis or RO "water makers" are a key part of the cruising yacht scene. They can be built for a couple of thousand dollars - and can produce enough water to not only drink but also to grow a small garden. They are typically solar powered.

Solar stills are also an option (and indeed a good backup to RO).

Most life boats have a handpump desalinator. When those get past their use by date, they remain functional (as most have never been used), but some can be purchased on ebay for a fraction of the new price.
 
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I grew up on an island. I lived here for 35 years, visited most years at least once and I've been here for over 2 1/2 years now taking care of Mom.

The advantage to an island is good fishing. We have a few cold storages and canneries. Dad was a commercial fisherman so we could get fresh fish from the cold storage he fished for, at least as long as Mom lives. We have hydro power so if diesel and gas barges quit coming we have electricity.

All of Alaska is at the end of the food distribution system. We import 95% of all our food. If you want vegetables you had better grow it. Everybody here thinks they are going to eat deer. My grandfather fed his seven children during the depression with hunting and fishing. They didn't eat a lot of venison and when Grandpa got one the game warden was all over him. One time Grandpa had a deer under the front deck of his skiff. The warden was there when he landed the skiff. The dog wouldn't let the warden near the boat. Old Buck ate well that night. So did the family. Twenty thousand people can't live off of venison. There were far fewer people here back then and hunting was hard.

As Alaskajohn mentioned, this is a rainforest. Water isn't a problem
 
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There is usually a good reason why an uninhabited island is uninhabited. I don't think there are any "Ready for move-in" uninhabited islands that haven't been discovered yet. Even the 10 foot diameter ones with a max elevation of 6 inches have probably already been discovered, and are part of some larger country that probably won't welcome you to set up your homestead there.

Larger islands can make their own weather, so you can get fresh water (rain) that way. Larger islands are more likely to have a varied food source as well. And larger islands will probably have people on them too. Maybe not if they have a highly active volcano in their center. Or if it's "Snake Island" off of the Brazil coast (estimated to house one lancehead pit viper per square meter - that's a LOT of venomous snakes!)

As far as building a homestead and living on an island, you will no doubt be dependent on many things being shipped in. Not just as you're getting set up, but over your entire lifetime there. Moving to an island and avoiding civilization is probably not going to work for most people. You will be dependent on other people for a lot of stuff, even if they're not sitting right there in your back yard.
 
Haertig said:
There is usually a good reason why an uninhabited island is uninhabited. I don't think there are any "Ready for move-in" uninhabited islands that haven't been discovered yet. Even the 10 foot diameter ones with a max elevation of 6 inches have probably already been discovered, and are part of some larger country that probably won't welcome you to set up your homestead there.

Larger islands can make their own weather, so you can get fresh water (rain) that way. Larger islands are more likely to have a varied food source as well. And larger islands will probably have people on them too. Maybe not if they have a highly active volcano in their center. Or if it's "Snake Island" off of the Brazil coast (estimated to house one lancehead pit viper per square meter - that's a LOT of venomous snakes!)

As far as building a homestead and living on an island, you will no doubt be dependent on many things being shipped in. Not just as you're getting set up, but over your entire lifetime there. Moving to an island and avoiding civilization is probably not going to work for most people. You will be dependent on other people for a lot of stuff, even if they're not sitting right there in your back yard.
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I know many uninhabited islands or inaccessible portions of islands, or stretches of mainland N. America that are not accessible by road and might as well be on an island with fresh water, game, and flat land to build on. If the government found it they would burn it down. Some places even have a little gold so you might be able to find something to barter with.
 
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many years ago i lived on an island for a couple years. back then i really loved it, loved the culture and people and customs and language. i truly enjoyed that time. but considering what we know is coming id not move to any island with the idea of riding things out.

even living there in a time of relative peace and security- sometimes felt this sense of feeling 'trapped'. too many limitations and dangers. heck even if you own the island, stock it fully and invite the best trusted skilled people to join you---the limitations i believe would end up being worse in the long run for multiple reasons as mentioned above by others..

and islands can be over run by waves, storms and pirates.
yup pirates are real and that are nothing like capt jack and pirates of the Caribbean.

ill stay in my mountains. but the safest place in the whole world is being where God wants you to be.
 
Caribou said:
As Alaskajohn mentioned, this is a rainforest. Water isn't a problem
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For those who don't know, "Part of Alaska is desert".
 
Caribou said:
I seem to remember watching a series about living there and farming during WWII. It could get that bad again.
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"Wartime Farm" series probably.
the population (of Britain) prior to WW2 was around 46 million, its now 68 million, so 50% more people here now than in 1939.
the land mass hasnt got any bigger, if fact its less because of all the new houses built for the increased population.
 
I would absolutely hate living on a small island. No way. One of my best friends is from a small island of about 2000 people in the middle of the ocean near Cuba ( one of the small Caymans). They have to have everything just about shipped in. They don't even have enough water there. Hurricanes can wipe everything out every so often. Plus it's hot all the time. She happened to be there when covid started and was stuck for months because no plane would leave, because no plane was allowed to land there from the US.
I will stay in the mountains here, at least we are not lacking water and food and livestock grow well here, no cockroaches or mosquitos either
 
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