what vehicle would you want if/when society collapses?

strantor

strantor

100 W
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
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207
Location
Houston, TX USA
In the face of all I'm learning about the economy and the true state of things, I'm thinking that the doomsday scenario might just be likely. I have started taking steps to be able to put food on the table in a scenario that does not involve money. I'm looking for a piece of land so I can start farming & learning real skills, like skills that people used to have "back in the day"; everything that living off the land entails. How to get by with little or nothing.

Anyway, The thought has occurred to me that I might need to transport myself & my family through places that resemble war zones, only with no clear "sides". For that purpose, I want a vehicle that is diverse, rugged, and dependable. I will probably do some armorizing to it.

My first thought was a retired army truck, maybe a deuce & 1/2 because they can run on just about any type of fuel; diesel, gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, used motor oil, used cooking oil, ethanol, whiskey, whatever, and I already know how to make ethanol. But I think those trucks are all made from special parts that only the military has, so if it broke down I would be pretty well screwed.

I thought about a retired armored bank delivery truck, but again, I am unsure as to the availability of parts.

What I'm considering now is a school bus. School busses are everywhere & I should not have trouble finding parts for it (I think). Only problem with a school bus is that it is a huge canvas to cover with steel plate, which would make it very heavy. Maybe a shortbus.

What say you? I'm looking for something easily ruggedized (or already ruggedized), easy availability of parts, and as reliable as possible. Being able to run on multiple types of fuel is a huge plus. Needs to have a beefy suspension as I plan to add a heavy steel plate to it, and load it full of cargo. Something you could drive into (and out of) barrage of small arms fire with.
 
Dual suspension 4 wheeled velomobile :mrgreen:
Good luck finding gas or replacing your batteries. Motorized transport is gonna be difficult.

All those folks who keep horses are gonna be doin' well too... ;)
 
I do know how to make ethanol though. I've done it before, and ran small engines on it. if I got an E85 platform or carbureted, I could keep driving long after everybody else is fighting over kid's bicycles. Batteries poses a good point I hadn't thought of. However, by the time my batteries fail I bet the populace will be long out of bulletts. Horses, well that's plan b. Sure they'll work without fossil fuel, but they aren't very good at deflecting bulletts, nor are velomobiles. I guess I could armor one but it would be a bear to pedal, and no room for my family or cargo.
 
The only real means of reliable transport to you in the event of which you speak, will be your own feet. Nuclear war will kill most living things, biowar will kill all the people, abandoned vehicles will clog metro and freeway interchange areas, and in the event of anarchy, all business will take place at the point of a gun. Get comfortable walking long distances carrying a heavy pack, learn woodcraft, gunsmithing, and conflict resolution skills. In short, graduating from Army basic training, and taking their advanced survival course, should give you the tools needed to survive in the wild. Any real survivalist will tell you that the first rule of survival is to be self sufficient. The next rule is invisiblity, they can't take what they can't find. That precludes vehicular transport on main roads. Thus offroad bicyclists have a real leg up on everyone else. Motor vehicles require maintenance, fuel, and protection. They make noise, need room to travel, and are easy to spot. They are easily disabled with traps, and natural obstacles. I would solve your main question by checking out, http://www.midwesttransit.com
They have Shorty cutaway vans with bus body setups, diesel engines, and even 4WD on some. With proper armor, a snorkel, and a interior upgrade, one of those would do nicely, at getting you through the easier areas after armaghedon.
Brian L.
 
You mean when the icecaps melt and we're living in an oceanic society like "Waterworld"? Kitesurf. :lol:
 
motorino magnet said:
why would we even want to be here after society collapses?
Click to expand...

Yes. I can brew my own beer. :D
 
Sounds like you've been watching too much doomsday preppers :roll: :lol:

We'll be OK man
the plan is to collapse the dollar
It is a strategic move planned by a think tank full of prodigies years ago

The worst thing you can do is panic
Wealth is not money

"Wealth consists of physical energy (as matter or radiation) combined with metaphysical know-what and know-how." Critical Path

"Wealth is our organised capability to cope effectively with the environment to sustain our healthy regeneration and decreasing both the physical and metaphysical restrictions of the forward days of our lives."
Operating manual for Spaceship Earth
 
strantor said:
Anyway, The thought has occurred to me that I might need to transport myself & my family through places that resemble war zones, only with no clear "sides".
Click to expand...
800px-RitaHoustonEvacuation.jpg
Were you in Houston during the Rita Evacuation? Four (or more) wheeled vehicles were totally useless. Two wheeled vehicles ruled. Motorcycles were the best, assuming you have gasoline. I was in The Woodlands and did not have to evacuate. I rode my bicycle (non-electric) out to I-45 and headed north just for the fun of it. Traffic on the 6 lanes (the south bound was used for north bound traffic as well) highway is less than 4mph, with hundred of cars stranded because of overheating, out-of-gas and other problems. I was leisurely pedaling at 13mph.

Anyway, I have 3 motorcycles and 5 bicycles at home. In an emergency evacuation, I think I'm NOT going to use my cars. Instead I will get on my regular non-electrified bicycle.
 
strantor said:
What I'm considering now is a school bus. School busses are everywhere & I should not have trouble finding parts for it (I think). Only problem with a school bus is that it is a huge canvas to cover with steel plate, which would make it very heavy. Maybe a shortbus.
Click to expand...

NOW you find the school buses everywhere... But when you do absolutely need one and your life depends on it, your not going to find it

Happens to me all the time with the TV remote, when something uninteresting is on I can easily find it to change the channel. But when Im scrambling last minute to watch a show that I have been waiting all week to see, its gone without a trace.

Hope this helps! :D
 
I want one of these! Don't know what it needs for fuel, but I want one :twisted:

SWSpeederBike.gif


Cheers, KF
 
RallySTX said:
Any real survivalist will tell you that the first rule of survival is to be self sufficient. The next rule is invisiblity, they can't take what they can't find. That precludes vehicular transport on main roads. Thus offroad bicyclists have a real leg up on everyone else. Motor vehicles require maintenance, fuel, and protection. They make noise, need room to travel, and are easy to spot. They are easily disabled with traps, and natural obstacles.
Click to expand...

thanks, you gave me food for thought , AND a suggestion I asked for. i think you & samtexas are onto something about the vehicles.

samtexas, No, I wasn't here for katrina. I was a submarine school in Connecticut. I saw the images on TV but I didn't live through it so I guess that's why it didn't stick in my mind. Thanks for the perspective.
 
Plan A is a Motorcycle. Because you'll want to be mobile right after what ever disastor happens. The best bet for survival is to get to someplace where there are few people and you can live off the land. you'll want to get there before society breaks down. you might have a day at best before people realize they can kill each other for food and supplies. After I get there, I'll have to hide the bike. Its just too likely that I could be killed for it. Gas will oxidize to a state of uselessness within a year or two anyway

Plan B is a good pair of shoes. It may be the last pair I own. Something with ankle support and good tread. A turned ankle might mean starvation.

After that, survival depends on the same laws as apply to walking in the slums of New York. Don't ever look like you might have something worth taking.
 
Honda 90 trail bike for the win. Moped like gas mileage, a quart from that abandoned 4x4 will do ya. Hi lo tranny for going where there never has been a road.

The rub, almost impossible to find nowdays even broken. A trials bike would be a good second pick, or decent small quad. You'd need a gallon of gas for the bigger bikes though.

This is assuming you are in a keep moving to survive society. If you needed to forage or hunt from a home base, then solar panels and a dirt ebike.

None of that prepper stuff is going to do you much good though even if the shit really hits the fan. I just read an amazing book last week about what it took for a woman to survive the fall of Berlin. Food hoarding was tried, but then the hoard got bombed. It was lots of scavenging, work for a meal, and instead of a lot of selfish hoarding survival depended on each building pulling together and pooling resources. One has found a potato, another has an onion, viola! tonights stew. Owning a gun at that point got you hung from the lamppost. You couldn't keep the Russian army away with guns by then. So guns aren't always the answer. Brains and adaptability was the key.

BTW the vehicle in Berlin in 45 was a bicycle that was ridden with no tires at all. Makes you start thinking about some kind of wooden rim you can nail old tire rubber to.
 
^^^ :lol:



"San Francisco’s saving grace may be its DIY resourcefulness. Within a few days of the collapse of society, someone will probably have an open-source 3D printable weapon that not only kills zombies, but also offers a much lower carbon footprint than your average bullet."

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/04/zombie-survival-maps-show-danger-zones-armories-and-food-sources-for-entire-u-s/
 
Everyone has their own take on this which is what makes this post so interesting.

I for one would not want to live in a bunker or behind steel plate. I think it is possible to still have a reasonably decent life style even with societies collapse. " Back to the landers" have been advocating a self-sufficient lifestyle for decades. At the root of all this- for many- has been the basic belief that society in its current course was unsustainable and headed for an inevitable collapse. I agree.

Their focus was/is on getting a piece of property away from it all and being as self-reliant as possible. This still can be done, but it takes perserverance, hard work and being extremely adaptable. It also helps if you are more than easy driving distance-more than a tankful- from a major metro city. Maine sounds good. Or how about Alaska? :?

AS far as transport goes, yes the basic bike. And in my view, old technology which has less to break and can easily be fixed. Yes the Honda 90. My 35 year old Datsun has a carb and points. Bread and butter. If it has spark, gas and a point gap, it should run. And can easily be worked on and trouble shooted.

Modern vehicles, even our electric bikes, are prone to electronic failure. No parts. No luck. One good solar flare, and all our gizmos with their electronic black boxes-including our solar panels- are dead. But on the bright side, some experiments in the third world have offfered alternatives. For years, India has been running vehicles off of cow power-methane gas. These are small scale, local independent farmers who have an abundance of manure. After the gas is captured, it needs to be compressed, so I guess a small compressor running off an inverter would do. Same as a basic propane conversion. You could also hook up a propane fridge, stove and lights.

"Gun Digest" or "Mother Earth News"? I personally would rather embrace a more optomistic approach to our future-even if it does mean living back in with some funcky "backwards" technology. I lived for 10 years "back in" without electricity or a modern bathroom. A hand pump on the well, a battery powering the TV/stereo, and propane appliances. It can be done.

Right now, I'd rather spend my thoughts and energy towards building a better world for our kids rather than thinking about guns, bunkers, and steel plate.

But the main thread and the previous posters are right. What happens when millions of people hit the road in a panic heading out from the city...self sufficient folks with stockpiles of food and independent forms of transport would be on the endangered list...Make sure you are way back in!
 
Kent said:
Their focus was/is on getting a piece of property away from it all and being as self-reliant as possible. This still can be done, but it takes perserverance, hard work and being extremely adaptable. It also helps if you are more than easy driving distance-more than a tankful- from a major metro city. Maine sounds good. Or how about Alaska? :?

AS far as transport goes, yes the basic bike. And in my view, old technology which has less to break and can easily be fixed. Yes the Honda 90. My 35 year old Datsun has a carb and points. Bread and butter. If it has spark, gas and a point gap, it should run. And can easily be worked on and trouble shooted.

But the main thread and the previous posters are right. What happens when millions of people hit the road in a panic heading out from the city...self sufficient folks with stockpiles of food and independent forms of transport would be on the endangered list...Make sure you are way back in!
Click to expand...

So how successful to you REALLY think these self reliant people are becoming? You know how much of this there is in my family? They're not as away from it all as they were 14 years ago when they got started. There's a fence, a gate, a dirt road. Invisible???? Their basements are full of food from 12-14 years ago. Feeling hungry? 500 gallon gravity feed gas cans that keep getting the locks cut off and used by --- whomever. Inside job, right? Gee, they must be so disappointed when they remember they were far more ready in 1999 when they thought the Y2K bug was going to destroy society as we knew it.

Carburetor and points are more likely to break down than the newer cars. Points and condenser, hope you stocked a LOT of those, they don't last long.

1) Learn to live without electricity. The solar power on the family land breaks down, the batteries have to be replaced periodically, when there's not enough power that (Every) day the propane generator kicks in.

2) Freewilder = Hunter/gatherer. They can't take from you what you don't already have. You can do some growing, but horiculture doesn't bring nearly the yield of agriculture.

3) As the military teaches in Officer Candidate School: "No plan survives execution." Surviving this disaster will work a lot differently than you expected it to.

biohazard.jpg


4) Invisibility is good, irrational fear/rumors is better. I always figured if I won the lottery or whatever I'd like to run whatever business enterprise from a suburban mall. In a riot/looting situation my security would be well drilled in a sketch comedy of hauling out a machine with toxic warnings, wearing hazmat costumes, maybe even acting out an accidental exposure of one of their number in front of the crowd. Watch them run from what's getting blown at them. Actually it would be a large Hollywood smoke machine spraying strawberry flavored smoke. (People seem to expect poison to have a 'Sweet' smell.) Maybe also a 'Pain Generator,' such as used by ships to chase away pirates with. http://www.amazing1.com/ultra.htm Getting a little urban legend going in advance that I have such a death gas thingee at my mall might help. If you saw 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind,' you might remember they got everyone out of the area with a story of a radioactive material accident. . . .

hazardDiamond.jpg


So hey, let me end with a classic short story that really inspired a particular 12 year old who read it on the subject of just not giving up, as well as created a myth that people STILL believe is true. From time to time some TV crew thinks they'll get an interesting story getting primitive people in South America and Africa to tell stories of survival the last time the ants marched and ate everything in their path. The natives laugh, (How many times have they heard this nonsense) say that never happens, the crew goes and looks for another story. Prior to 1938, no one ever imagined trillions of ants picking anything and everything clean as though on a mission. That was when Carl Stephenson published 'Leiningen versus the Ants. . . .'

http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lvta.html

Oh, LEARN from this. http://www.dsusd.k12.ca.us/users/christopherg/leiningenvstheants.html

What OTHER scary nonsense to you think is in the offing?

horizontalants.gif


If we give an award for responses, my vote goes to RallySTX.

RallySTX said:
The only real means of reliable transport to you in the event of which you speak, will be your own feet. Nuclear war will kill most living things, biowar will kill all the people. . .

. . . .in the event of anarchy, all business will take place at the point of a gun.

Get comfortable walking long distances carrying a heavy pack, learn woodcraft, gunsmithing, and conflict resolution skills. In short,

. . . .graduating from Army basic training, and taking their advanced survival course, should give you the tools needed to survive in the wild.

Any real survivalist will tell you that the first rule of survival is to be self sufficient. The next rule is invisiblity, they can't take what they can't find.

I would solve your main question by checking out. . . the easier areas after armaghedon.
Brian L.
Click to expand...
 
flathill said:
[youtube]hh2nLWYnxkM[/youtube]
Click to expand...

:lol: Fun toy.

Only way you're going to survive is to disappear as deep as possible... find a secluded mountain lake fed by glaciers in a very harsh, cold mountainous range... unlimited fresh water, fish and berries etc... grow mad food during the summer and preserve it during the winter. Grow dope and make booze for sanity. Make music and babies and embrace the commune lifestyle with good friends. Hope to head to warmer climes when the dust settles from the city anarchy. Kill all who encroach on said utopia. 8)

Here's a good vehicle to start the whole shebang.. fix with duct tape and super glue and tree sap :lol: :

DSCN9391.JPG
 
A tardis so I could go back to the good old days.
 
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