LocoCoyote
World Citizen
You are right...I have never been caught unprepared. Been in the ******** often enough though.
Prepare for a natural disaster? Certainly. Prepare for a emp bomb...ridiculous.
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Bug out challenge
- Thread starter Dirt Rider
- Start date
You are right...I have never been caught unprepared. Been in the ******** often enough though.
Prepare for a natural disaster? Certainly. Prepare for a emp bomb...ridiculous.
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shade
Well-known member
You'll sing a different tune when the EMP zombies come for you.
gatorgrizz27
Well-known member
Yeah, it’s not exactly a fine line between the folks that can’t change a spare tire and are SOL if their credit card is declined, and the ones that are prepared to live underground in a bunker eating MRE’s and drinking recycled urine for the next 25 years.
It’s wise to be prepared for forest fires, hurricanes, etc, and having a bag ready to go, enough fuel on hand, and some self-reliance skills is a good idea. It’s not that hard to have some canned goods that you normally eat and cycle through before they go bad, a generator and gas stove. We could easily stay at home for several months with no power or money.
A buddy of mine from south Florida decided to head up to the panhandle last year when hurricane Michael was hitting. Then it moved up this way instead, so he went on to Birmingham where his brother lives. Most gas stations were out of fuel, but he made the 1,500 mile trip up and back by using a diesel transfer tank.
“Bugging out” is a bit different, IMO, you really need somewhere to go to, rather than planning to live in the National forests for months surviving by hunting and gathering. It could be family, friends, or a vacation cabin/hunting camp. It’s never made sense to me to invest tens of thousands of a dollars for something that’s only useful in a scenario that’s unlikely to happen.
A lot of the guys that go off the deep end with prepping seem to be living paycheck to paycheck, saving up for the next piece of gear for their doomsday scenario, like a reverse osmosis system for their basement. Families are far more likely to suffer from an injury that disables them, or getting fired, etc.
So based on that, I’d go with any SUV or truck with a relatively stock appearance, rather than a military vehicle or bright yellow “zombie response team” Jeep. Fuel range is a priority, as are durable tires to not get flats from debris in the road. Radio for communication is also a big plus, and a winch and chainsaw to deal with fallen trees.
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Bojak
Adventurer
Soooooo, bug out vehicles are cool. Actually kind of optimistic. Better off using those financial resources for lead dispensing machines and lots of training and pellets. If we r going to get our minds around what it's really going to be like I would recommend the movie "the road" versus mad max or walking dead. Just my .02.
Doesn't mean bugout vehicles aren't cool. Just not super realistic.
Realistic bugout vehicles are boots, maybe bicycles.
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Doesn't mean bugout vehicles aren't cool. Just not super realistic.
Realistic bugout vehicles are boots, maybe bicycles.
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shade
Well-known member
Scoff at your peril. The U.N. has already released a composite image of a likely survivor of a civilisation ending event, and it isn't pretty.
Meet your new Overlord of the Wasteland.
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Matt.H
Adventurer
Bug in where your supplies are. You can't carry them all.
One of these for errands, helping, and scavenging.
One of these for errands, helping, and scavenging.
givemethewillys
Jonathan Chouinard
I've always admired and lusted after a rokon. I just wish they would modernize them to the point that they have the rideability of even a '70's enduro bike.
I love it in theory, but I just can't see using it for real world things like trail rides with buddies or dirt road exploring. Especially with a 35mph top speed!
I love it in theory, but I just can't see using it for real world things like trail rides with buddies or dirt road exploring. Especially with a 35mph top speed!
CampStewart
Observer
I have been intrigued with them since I was a kid in the 60's. The front drive looks so complicated that I would suspect that it is best to just plod along just above idle lest something explode. They look so cumbersome that other than a bog or sand or snow at low speed a small dirt bike would go anywhere it can at 3x the speed. If one came up near me cheap I would still probably buy it
givemethewillys
Jonathan Chouinard
You read my mind, exactly what I was thinking. There's been a lot of innovation in off-road motorcycles in the last 50 years, and there have been a few 2wd motorcycles that have been substantially faster and more maneuverable. But, they didnt have atv tires and couldn't hold fuel in their wheels.
I'd buy one too if it popped up for the right price. But I think something like a tw250 has almost as much utility while also being street legal .
I had a Rokon Trailbreaker for years...bought it new in 1987. For the money, there are many better options such as a 250 cc enduro or dualsport bike if you're going to use it as a bug out vehicle or support vehicle to the bug out vehicle. The Rokon is stoppable as I found out when on a off road run in Knoxville outside of Napa Calif. It was pouring rain and everything was going great. Then the soil changed from brown to this red clay crap. It stuck to the tires and loaded up against the frame of the Rokon and stopped it in its tracks. Very embarrassing as my buddy on his Yamaha Big Bear Quad just drove circles around me since his tires were outside the frame and the mud would sluff off. It is cool, it gets attention but it is not worth the money in my opinion. It is slow, is not safe at top speeds on rough roads (lack of suspension and gets skittish) and is fatiguing to drive for long distances since the footpegs are at a very odd width due to the centrifugal clutch sticking out wide. It was not natural to stand on the foot pegs during maneuvers like a real motorcycle....the were too far forward.
You can go much faster over the same terrain with an enduro type bike since it actually has a real suspension. In real life survival situations, speed actually matters if the road conditions allow for it. Look at any Presidential motorcade or VIP vehicles traveling in convey. They are traveling 60 to 80 mph on the open road. Fast targets are hard to hit targets.
Biggest issue you'd have in a real emergency scenario is lack of drinking water. If the power goes out, the water pumps that pump the water to your faucet stop (well or city water). People can last a long time without food. If you want to see society lose their s%*t, don't let them drink water for about three days and see how crazy humans can get. If there ever is a major failure of the electrical grid, major cities will be terrifying. We just had PG&E purposely shut off our power a couple of weeks ago to avoid high winds knocking trees into power lines and causing fires. For those effected, it lasted 1 to 2 days....some areas longer. People were so pissed. Biggest issue was a lot of the internet carriers appear to have gone down too. Talk about a bunch of millennial's losing their minds when they couldn't log on for a couple of days, lol.
You can go much faster over the same terrain with an enduro type bike since it actually has a real suspension. In real life survival situations, speed actually matters if the road conditions allow for it. Look at any Presidential motorcade or VIP vehicles traveling in convey. They are traveling 60 to 80 mph on the open road. Fast targets are hard to hit targets.
Biggest issue you'd have in a real emergency scenario is lack of drinking water. If the power goes out, the water pumps that pump the water to your faucet stop (well or city water). People can last a long time without food. If you want to see society lose their s%*t, don't let them drink water for about three days and see how crazy humans can get. If there ever is a major failure of the electrical grid, major cities will be terrifying. We just had PG&E purposely shut off our power a couple of weeks ago to avoid high winds knocking trees into power lines and causing fires. For those effected, it lasted 1 to 2 days....some areas longer. People were so pissed. Biggest issue was a lot of the internet carriers appear to have gone down too. Talk about a bunch of millennial's losing their minds when they couldn't log on for a couple of days, lol.
Matt.H
Adventurer
Good post and valid points, for you. This is where knowing your area is worth it. The NEWer generation and street legal ROKON would work well in my area.
rayra
Expedition Leader
That's my Sub build. From outside little is noticeable. Bunch of gear in it. Some budget-friendly upgrades, the storage platform / drawers are basically invisible while peeking thru the windows, but give me 13cu' of storage for all sorts of roadside emergency and recovery gear and my BOB and other stuff. I have a few businesses that I support with IT work, some with parking garages I have to fit in. So I kept the height reasonable and went as low-profile as possible with my rooftop solar panel mount.
As for bugging out, I keep 50gal of both gas and water at home, in 20L jugs. And I try not to let my tank run below 1/4-1/3, so I'm good for about 600mi with just what I'll have on hand.
For a while we had two GMT800s, but the missus finally sold off her Tahoe as it approached 200k mi. (far as I know an ExPo member is still driving it)
plainjaneFJC
Deplorable
I'd take an ex mil humvee like a m996.
The one thing to think about when planning a bug out vehicle and escape plan is the amount of small bridges you have to cross to get to your destination. I'm not even talking about large bridges over rivers. Think about all the small creeks and drainage ditches you have to cross to get to the other side. Maybe 30' wide and only 10' deep. Most are way too steep and extreme to drive even in a capable vehicle into and out of. Most you can walk into and out of, probably even humping a mounting bike. But no way to feasibly get a motorcycle down and up something that steep let alone a vehicle.
If there was a massive earthquake that would damage these little mini bridges to the point of failure (unlikely but possible) you'd be stuck. A more probable scenario is either the police or military road blocking the bridge or just plain old "bad guys" blocking bridge passage for a variety of self gain reasons. Look at a google satellite map of your area and you'll notice that most communities have some sort of creek or drainage ditch system surrounding nearly the entire area or splitting the town from one side to the other.
Depending on who you're transporting (alone, you and your spouse, multiple kids) in your bug out vehicle, a mountain bike makes a lot of sense to use as a scout vehicle or escape vehicle if you have to ditch your main ride and get away from that situation if you get trapped in. There is no perfect plan when you don't know what you're planning for. But I do know this, I can cover a lot of miles very quickly, climb over fences, cross ditches, etc humping a mountain bike. It's near silent and doesn't need gas/electricity. Just a very viable option to give you an extra layer of options in uncertain conditions.
If there was a massive earthquake that would damage these little mini bridges to the point of failure (unlikely but possible) you'd be stuck. A more probable scenario is either the police or military road blocking the bridge or just plain old "bad guys" blocking bridge passage for a variety of self gain reasons. Look at a google satellite map of your area and you'll notice that most communities have some sort of creek or drainage ditch system surrounding nearly the entire area or splitting the town from one side to the other.
Depending on who you're transporting (alone, you and your spouse, multiple kids) in your bug out vehicle, a mountain bike makes a lot of sense to use as a scout vehicle or escape vehicle if you have to ditch your main ride and get away from that situation if you get trapped in. There is no perfect plan when you don't know what you're planning for. But I do know this, I can cover a lot of miles very quickly, climb over fences, cross ditches, etc humping a mountain bike. It's near silent and doesn't need gas/electricity. Just a very viable option to give you an extra layer of options in uncertain conditions.
Dirt Rider
Well-known member
Not an issue (Creek crossing) living in the high desert, but a good point, I would say know your environment and the potential issues like that were you live. Idealy you would want to shelter in place, but sometimes you need to run to the boonies.