How much thought have you put into your bug out vehicle? I ask because, in my experience, most preppers don’t give it near as much thought as they should. They think that as long as they have a four-wheel drive vehicle and plenty of gas, they’ll be about to escape to their bug out location.
The truth is, that might not be enough. You want to make sure your vehicle has great tires, that it doesn’t draw too much attention, that it has enough room for your family and supplies, etc. That’s just three tips. Reality Survival & Prepping came up with 18 bug out vehicle tips you should learn.
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Here they are:
1. Your daily driver can be your bug out vehicle.
2. Bug out vehicles could be a variety of different types of vehicles.
3. Look for a vehicle that is 7 to 15 years old.
4. Pick a subdued color if possible.
5. Keep the vehicle free from stickers or decals.
6. Have a minimum of 8 inches of ground clearance.
7. At a minimum have all-terrain tires – Mud terrain is best.
8. Add a toolbox or camper shell.
9. Choose a 4 wheel drive vehicle.
10. Choose an engine that uses gasoline.
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11. Choose a vehicle with an automatic transmission.
12. Choose a vehicle with front and rear passenger seats.
13. Choose a vehicle with at least 300 Hp/Ft Lbs of torque.
14. Be sure to carry a variety of extrication equipment and tools.
15. Ensure the vehicle has a receiver hitch for towing.
16. Have a small trailer to bring with you so you can haul more gear and supplies.
17. Travel in a 2 vehicle convoy in case one vehicle breaks down & to better negotiate checkpoints.
18. Consider layering vehicles. A truck carries an ATV, or a mini bike, or bicycles, etc.
Watch the video below to hear his commentary on these tips.
There is one other tip he didn’t mention. In case of an EMP, you should look for a vehicle without an electronic ignition. You’ll have to do your research, but most vehicles before 1990 should work.
There are a lot of suggestions of his that I would argue with. First of all not everybody requires a 4wd vehicle. Diesel is widely available and if you’re concerned about having fuel then you should pack some gas cans or attach them to your vehicle or put some on your roof. Even cars can have roof racks or car top carriers for extra cargo.
People are often being very short sighted on bug out vehicles when they fall back to the idea that everyone should have a truck, SUV or Land Rover. A car can be a very good bug out vehicle. The point really is to get from one place to another, not to climb mountains or go 4-wheeling. If you want to be in the wilderness then you can and might have to use motorcycles and ATV’s or snowmobiles because cars or trucks can’t get there.
Your vehicle, be it a car, truck, bus, plane, etc., should be in good running shape and well maintained by the owner, which means getting a manual and learning how to keep it running when you can’t find a mechanic. And having parts for it means less chance of having to abandon it due to a minor problem. Familiarity is advantageous. If the driver is comfortable with it and you can carry your people and make it cozy it’s all good.
People should plan their bug out trip and maximize a vehicles advantages, and make improvements to your vehicle or your plans rather than waste time or opportunity to get prepared because you are fantasizing about apocalyptic dream vehicles or allowing yourself to be paralyzed because you “:think” your vehicle is inadequate. Make the best of what you have.
Listen folks PLEASE quit using initials for words. Many of us new preppers need to learn from you, we are doing the best we can,not all women are real mechanical savvy. I don’t have a clue what ICU’s stands for? Can you clue me in? JR CME’s either. JR
ICU = Intensive care unit. I would think that is such a common abbreviation that it shouldn’t need explanation. Unfortunately in today’s world it is almost in daily ordinary conversation. CME = coronal mass ejection. That is a complicated sun phenomenon that occurs more frequently than most folks realize. Go too spaceweather.com and sign up for their notifications. You will be amazed. CME is not to be confused with EMP which is a man-made electronic event generated by a high altitude atomic explosion. Too complicated to explain here. SHTF means fecal matter impacts a rotary device for moving air. EOTW= end of the world. EOTWAWKT = end of the world as we know it. . Both of those should be self-explanatory. WROL= without rule of law. EOTW has happened and it’s every man or woman for themselves.
Hope that short list helps you in plowing through prepper articles. There are more but they don’t come to mind right off hand.
I hadn’t seen the post that JR referenced. In the case of Paul’s post ICU stands for the the engine controller that manages the computer. I don’t know what exactly the letters stand for but if your ICU is dead, so is your auto. OEM stand for original equipment put in by the manufacturer. There is always a distinction when replacing parts with OEM parts or secondary supplier parts which are generally cheaper than OEM parts. In some cases the secondary supplier parts are superior to OEM parts and in other cases the secondary parts are highly inferior to OEM parts. It is always a Hobson’s choice whether to stick with OEM or to go secondary supplier.
Paul interprets the EMP test results differently than I. It is my understanding that the only test ever reported anywhere used personally owned vehicles and the test was discontinued when vehicles started to fail. While a coronal mass ejection generally only affects long lines of metal such as long line electricity transmission lines, railroad tracks and the ambient overcharge can affect microcircuitry that is not protected against such ambient charges
An EMP is a man=made event designed specifically to destroy all electrical apparatus that is not protected.
While I have heard rumors of supposed government efforts to protect our electronics the problem is huge and the most reliable information I have about government efforts to date to protect our electrical systems is that government pooh-bahs are sitting with their eyes closed, their fingers crossed and their hands over their ears hoping that nothing bad ever happens.
In any event, it is my guess that any of the cars that are heavily electric starting with Prius and gong on to all electric cars such as the Tesla will be toast after either electrical event unless parked five levels down in an all concrete garage, not near any electric service panels. There appears to be at least one thousand differing opinions about what the effects of either event will have on electrical equipment.
The only thing that is an absolute certainty is that there will be an X category CME that will impact Earth. The only questions are” When? How long in duration? And, finally, where will the destructive waves impact?
Earlier studies of CME frequency of high intensity postulated that such events occurred on a 150 year cycle. The last one being in approximately 1853.. called the Carrington Event. You can research that on line.
Spaceweather.com just within the last month announced that more recent study has revealed that the cycle is more like every 50 years. Oh, happy day. We have had several CMEs that have impacted earth since 1853; one in the 1920s, one that impacted the North Atlantic region during WWII, knocking out communications between everybody, allies and Nazis alike. Another one in the 1990s knocked out electric power in the Nova Scotia-Quebec area for a short period of time. There was one other that occurred in a remote part of the globe that didn’t get generally reported because of the primitive state of development and the remoteness of the region impacted. And I don’t remember just where it was reputed to have impacted, sorry.
good ideas,BUT gas isn’t for long term survival . if economy breaks down like Venezuela you can’t find gas only fuel will be diesel. Have one of each. Automatic transmission bad idea way more likely to fail when there may be no parts.
Great discussion and excellent video. Thanks for all your suggestions and effort!
Will take note of those tips. I have a winch and other towing accessories at home. Bought it out of impulse but then I thought I could really use it for survival and prepping. Nice write up, by the way. Thanks for sharing the information.
Fun ideas. Vehicles manufactured AFTER 1990 are more likely to work after an EMP event (CMEs do not affect electronics at all) because the US government pressured manufacturers to begin hardening critical ignition components and ICUs in 1989. The EMP Commission tested a good number of randomly chosen light vehicles. The conclusion of the Commission was that only 6% of the light vehicle fleet would be disabled. Take a look at your ICUs….they’re all in a metal box. There’s a reason for that. While there are unshielded wire bundles, they are short, and will not harvest a great deal of RF energy from the pulse……and, they’re usually protected by a lot of body metal. Vehicles that stall might be re-started by disconnecting the battery cables for a few minutes and re-connecting and attempting a re-start. The vehicles that did fail, and were re-booted, failed to operate after several insults on the simulator. Hint: Ford has its own EMP simulator.
I ran my 1999 Ford 7.3L diesel on 14 year old diesel for a year without a single problem. Try that with gas. My pickup has a 600 mile range with the OEM tank. Throw a drum in the bed, and that soars to 1500 miles. It’s easy to stockpile diesel safely. Gasoline, in quantity, scares the snot out of me. OH…I have 437,000 miles on my 7.3L and it still runs like the day I bought it 19 years ago. Replaced the OEM trans at 434,000. A 2,000 mile trip burns a half cup of oil. I’ll think about selling at a million miles.
Why is gasoline preferred over diesel? Is it because there are potentially more fuel sources at gas stations and elsewhere? It would seem that diesel fuel would be preferred because the fuel is more stable and that diesel engines would be better because they can burn fuel oil if need be and with some minor tweaking.
You make a good point about diesel, but I think he recommends gasoline because it would be easier to find.
Remember that not all marauders are not people in the south we have large feral hogs coyotes and packs of wild dogs and they all will come to the scent of food and garbage including soiled diapers. Thank you