Bug Out Vehicle

[MicroOverland]

My wife and I play that game sometimes while driving.."o.k. - emp hits NOW, what would you do?...". We still have not decided whether bugging out, or bugging in would be best, but I think it will actually be affected by whatever happened that required us to "bug"anywhere. Either way we are sort of prepared (can you really ever be totally prepared for the unknown?). The biggest worry for us is clean water since we live in the desert (and of course zombies and bandits, which we are prepared for!). We also need to plan for for medical training. If it really is a SHTF situation, medical needs will have to be taken care of by ourselves I think.
I am also finding that rotating our fuel storage is more of a hassle than I origninally thought it would be.
Fun things to think about though, and great justification for that new piece of gear!

[HillbillyfromAL]

If you were seriously considering a bug out vehicle it should be a horse. Then you don't have to worry about gas stations or roads. A bug out vehicle in a real situation like a natural disaster, or War is what a lot of people on here have. A vehicle that doesn't need a road to get you where your going. One important thing to make sure you have is a way to clear large debris from the road. In natural disasters that's one of the largest problems of getting things restored. If you and a few buddies have well equipped rigs volunteer at your local Fire Dept/Sherriffs office to help clear roads the next time around. You'll learn some tricks to get stuff out of the way and it's the best way to prepare for that kinda stuff.
If your in a big city unless your the first one out (don't count on it) leaving with all the panicked hoards will just get you in a deeper pile of $!*+ than your shovel will be able to dig out. If you wanted to be the first then being a HAM is definitely a necessity. If not wait for the roads to clear out a bit.
If a war were to break out and you planned on bugging out to somewhere more remote you'd better know the area your going to and be prepared to stay there for a long time unassisted. The same system that makes our lives so flow so easily is also one of our biggest vulnerabilities. Our infrastructure is like a fine Swiss watch one gear breaks a tooth all the others stop dead in their tracks. Look how long it takes to restore services after a big natural disaster, not long a couple of weeks for some pretty bad ones. Now imagine that same disaster with only local assets to handle it no outside help. Those couple weeks turn into months.
If you really start to think about it you'll start noticing little things that would help you get to where needed to be. There may be an open field that if you had to you could drive through to stay off the road till you got home. Always keeping the truck full instead of half. A large collection of topomaps, and knowing how to use them.


What do call the paranoid when it turns out they were right? Prepared

[HillbillyfromAL]

MicroOverland water is a good point. Getting water in the desert is a process with little reward so your best bet is carrying enough with you to get out of the desert. Other than you desert folks, a simple solution for clean is a good quality filter and a MIOX pen from MSR. If it can kill VX I think it's good. The USMC issues them as the IWPS kits and it's just a ceramic inline filter for a camel back. The aftertaste isn't bad either, and I've used it on some very horrible water after I got one from some Marines that stayed with us in Ramadi, Iraq.

[keezer37]

After Mt. Pinatubo blew up, it wasn't long before I was on my bicycle. I drove the car for awhile but the four inches of ash+rain=mud quickly formed hellacious potholes. I broke a weld at the lower control arm. So it was bicycle and backpack after that. The good thing about living in a poor country is the population is good at adapting and improvising. The majority of the populous owns little, so there is little desire to steal from each other. Emergency services consists of your brain and your back. We pitched in. Worked together. No guns. No marauding bandits. With no electricity to fill the gravity tanks, I humped water from the navy base for drinking for the folks in the compound (about a dozen people) at the end of Murphy St. The landlady's son went on a two day trek for a hand operated water pump for the capped well for other use water. Food became available soon enough in this type of economy where individuals sell a few select food items at open air markets. Not everything was there immediately but fruits and fish were. And who doesn't keep a sack of rice at home? Now if your waiting for Walmart's shipment of HotPockets from whatever planet HotPockets come from... I don't know. It might be awhile.
Things got going eventually. It took about two months for the electricity to come back on. Seems volcanic ash is conductive.

I never did a mental comparison of the P.I. to the states in these regards before. The less locally grown food you have, the more screwed you are. Everyone have a vegetable garden? I hear humans can actually live off vegetables.

Where would you bug to? What areas of the country/continent are lease susceptible to natural disasters? Most defensible? Have a source of water and no brutal winters to deal with?
I know where I'd go. Ride my bike to, that is.

Or maybe a Jeepney. Simple, stout and for the most part, homemade. Leafs/I-beam suspension up front and an Isuzu diesel. That'll get you there.

[Lynn]

Assuming a 'bug in' plan, and a 'bug out' destination, I'm considering a BOV to get from one to the other several days or weeks after the Fan has stopped spraying.

Given that, and in keeping with the OP, I would like to see some discussion on the Multifuel M35.

Reason I ask is the episode of Doomsday Preppers where the guy was talking it up. His points:

1. Multifuel engine will burn used transmission fluid, which he was stocking up for free (shelf life?)
2. 6x6 rough terrain high capacity platform
3. Big enough to push abandoned vehicles out of the way, if necessary.

[GJMcManus]

You have to remain flexible and adapt to ever changing situations/conditions/enviroments.. The ones that are not able to adapt will not survive.. Putting all your eggs in one basket (only bug in or bug out) is a plan for failure..

-Greg

[BurbanAZ]

ive been into the survivalist thing for a while, im on another site for that topic also. Basically any of the vehicles we have for expo vehicles would be perfect bug out vehicles. We have 2 vehicles we would bug out with if we needed to but backup plan are the horses.

[LaOutbackTrail]

This is a rather reoccurring theme isn't it? In the 50s-70s it was commie A-bombs.... then Y2K.... then Islamic terrorists..... now-a-days its zombie apocalypse (dumb).
A) I'd not worry about a foreign entity invading the U.S. with soldiers.... that'd be bloody stupid on their part.
B) Natural disasters are usually, in the grand scheme of things, relatively geographically isolated.... know your area and what you are up against and prepare yourself. The only locations I'd consider a bug out vehicle might be necessary are: 1) hurricane prone regions and 2) areas of potential volcanic activity.
C) Be part of the solution, not a part of the problem. Stay well informed and get out ahead of the masses (the masses are incredibly stupid) or stay and wait it out. Assist others when you can.

For my family and I, we are prepared to survive without access to food or water for 2-3 weeks, not including our thriving vegetable garden. In a SHTF scenario and it's truly every man for himself and I deplete our supplies... I guarantee you I will be pillaging stores and unoccupied structures for food/water. And if the survival of my family is threatened, yes, I will rob and steal. Its called survival. Would I rather work with others? Sure. But all that stored ammo won't be used just for defense... sorry.

The best question to ask yourself is: how likely is it that something that catastrophic will happen?? There is a difference between being prepared and paranoid.

[LONEBRAVE]

announcing your plans is a good way to make god laugh; Al Swearengen DEADWOOD, as someone who stayed in new orleans through hurricanes katrina and rita your plan A better have a plan B, C, D ect.....

[LONEBRAVE]

I just noticed where your from LAoutback, the u of north texes one oclock lab big band played at the jazz club I GM in NOLA www.snugjazz.com they are incredible.