Category: Vehicles

RVs and Camping Trailers Provide Multiple Backups on a Budget, by Judy C.

Thorough prepping is expensive. Many people are living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to put food on the table (plus a few extra cans for the pantry). Alternative power, water, sewage, and refrigeration are back-burnered to the ever-growing “wish list.” So what’s a prepper on a shoestring budget to do? Consider a used camping trailer or recreational vehicle (RV)! You can find a used trailer for as little as $500. We paid $1,200 for a 35-foot RV. Besides weekend camping, the RV offers the following in a self-contained package: fresh water holding tank water heater flush toilet shower gas stove and …


On the Road to Thunderdome, by H.F.

Our culture relies heavily on vehicles and this will likely result in a rude awakening in a TEOTWAWKI situation.  Depending on the circumstances, vehicles, fuel, and/or parts may become insanely scarce and expensive.  This reality has led many preppers to explore various options ranging from alternative energy vehicles to reverting to traditional forms of transportation/heavy machinery (horses for example).   Additionally, those preparing for the worst must consider abnormal conditions that vehicles need to withstand when TSHTF.  This article will discuss TEOTWAWKI vehicles, preparing, and special tactics/considerations in regard to operating them. There are several schools of thought on what is …


Letter Re: The Crown Victoria — an Unlikely Bugout Vehicle

Dear Editor: Here are some videos to ponder, for those guys who are building the “Ultimate Bug Out Vehicle.” Maybe this information should be filed under the general heading of “It isn’t the gun, it is the shooter”, or more precisely, “It isn’t the car, it is the driver.” Watch these videos. (I think the driver is just taking his dog out for a walk.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=KFwPXEeJ3aI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFwPXEeJ3aI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYIJpzo2RVY&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHvXi_HejnI&feature=related – K.B.S. in Way North Illinois


My Once in a Lifetime Accident: SUV vs. Puma Concolor

I try not to bore my readers with the minutiae of our day-to-day life here at the Rawles Ranch. It is largely a fairly mundane annual rhythm of planting, harvesting, calving and lambing, wood cutting, huckleberry picking, hay hauling, and so forth. But I recently had driving mishap that was noteworthy: I was driving our SUV and hit a mountain lion, in broad daylight. I must first mention that deer collisions are all too common here in The Unnamed Western State (TUWS), and that elk or big horn sheep collisions are quite a bit less frequent. Even more rare are …


Can You Take to the Sky?, by Greg G.

Airplanes Aircraft are expensive, fragile, very dependent on the weather and, unfortunately, on other people such as Air Traffic Control and airport operators. Airports can be blocked, aircraft can be seized and it only takes a pea shooter to put them out of commission.  Given all that, they are still by far the best devices to quickly put hundreds of miles between you and a problem. If you wanted an airplane as a survival tool, you would be looking at something simple that relies on the least possible support and can operate outside of airports: a bush plane. A bush plane is …


Two Letters Re: Dan Fong Vindicated: The Toyota 4×4 That Wouldn’t Die

JWR: I have to concur with Mike Q. I have a Toyota pickup (22RE) with 310,000 miles that doesn’t burn any oil and runs perfectly. You cannot kill these trucks. For a bug out vehicle (BOV) you can’t beat these trucks. – Larry   Captain Rawles. I have owned two Toyota trucks since 1995. I thought I would share some knowledge I have gained on Toyota truck platform with your readers if any are interested in owning a Toyota truck. First, the most reliable and maintenance free Toyota truck model is the 1989-1995 22 RE 4-cylinder engine with five speed (manual) …


Letter Re: Dan Fong Vindicated: The Toyota 4×4 That Wouldn’t Die

JWR, I know that you advocate American made cars and trucks for BOV purposes based on availability of parts, but I would like to share with you a three-part video series demonstrating the abuse that a Toyota 4×4 pickup truck can take and still be driven. All with only a mechanic using no specialty tools and no replacement parts. This truck was driven down stairs, lost in the Bristol Channel at high tide, driven through a shed, had a camping trailer dropped on it, hit with a wrecking ball, set on fire, and put on the top of a high …


Letter Re: Armoring an SUV?

Hello, I’m wondering what the best method is to bulletproof my inherited Jeep Grand Cherokee. I’m 16 years old and I have inherited a Jeep Grand Cherokee and I’m planning on bulletproofing it for the coming apocalypse. I was wondering what the best materials and method would be to do so and approximately how much it would cost to do so if you have any guesses. Sincerely,  – Noland JWR Replies: The proper term is “bullet resistant.” The cost of effectively armoring a car is fairly high. To have it be effective, it is not a do-it-yourself job. Either  you have …


Maintaining Posture as a Hard Target, by A.K.

As a former Sergeant of Marines, terrorism awareness was second nature.  It was not until I transitioned to civilian life that I realized the average guy doesn’t have a clue what a “Hard Target” is.   A Hard Target is a target that presents the lowest probability of being destroyed or overtaken.  I am breaking it down to three basic sections: 1. You’re self, 2. you’re vehicle and 3. you’re Home.  To start you need to rethink your wardrobe.  You should purchase clothing that helps you blend in. This means no wild colors or clothes that sport expensive name brands or …


Letter Re: Vehicle Radiator Ballistic Protection

James: In your novel Patriots, you describe a 1968 Ford Bronco getting its radiator shot out. The only reason that the radiator was put in the front of early cars was because they did not have effective water pumps in the beginning, water flowed through and was cooled. 90% of the air that cools the radiator comes from under the bumper. You can totally block off the upper portion without any overheating issues. So a series of slats if you do not trust it, could be welded behind the grill if you wanted to. If you are still afraid of …


The Bug Out Trailer, by  Allen A.

If things go bad do you bug in or do you bug out.  This decision will probably be made at the time depending on the expectations of what the emergency will be and just how bad you expect conditions to become.  Are you expecting a hurricane or other disaster sizable enough to worry about?  Will you be gone for a week then return and open the house back up?  Are you expecting a Katrina size event or might it unexpectedly turn into a long term emergency where the only things you have will be those things you take with you. …


Letter Re: Effective Small Team Tactics for the Coming Collapse

Mr Rawles, I have a few comments after reading the guest article by Max Velocity on small team tactics. I realize the author’s perspective is colored by his time in Afghanistan and Iraq, but there are some issues I have with his article. The first is the Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP) is not the same IED he described in the Off-route section. The EFP is formed by the Miznay-Chardin effect, not the Munroe effect. The EFP (Miznay-Chardin) is a solid slug or can be fragmented by various means, but is not a molten jet of metal (Munroe). The Munroe effect, …


Guest Article: Effective Small Team Tactics for the Coming Collapse, by Max Velocity

I have been a soldier for all my adult life: infantry, special operations and as a civilian security contractor. More recently, I have got into prepping for the survival of my family. I have been working slowly at it, and reading and researching a lot of the publications and related blogs. Given my background, I have a head start in the security area, but many have huge head starts over me in the other desired and required skills that will be essential to survival. I have a lot to learn and a lot to catch up on. However, I would …


Letter Re: National Forest Road Closures in Arizona

Jim, My wife and I were heading back from cabin in the Northern Arizona mountains Saturday (July 7) afternoon and were stopped by a nice elderly lady who worked for the Forest service (vehicle parked across from her) on a forest road. She handed me a new Coconino National Forest map and said “if the roads are not shown on this map then it is closed and that each year they will come out with a new MVUM (motor vehicle use map) and the same applies. So, if the road is not shown, then it is consider closed. I said …


Letter Re: Avoid Becoming a Refugee

Dear Editor: The “off-road” gear carriers described in Avoid Becoming a Refugee are neat, but check out this fascinating article about the Chinese wheelbarrow. Its wheel is dead center (instead of at the end like European barrows) enabling it to carry three to six times more weight. Frequently passengers with luggage would be transported by just one person. These were the primary freight movers of their day (much like tractor trailers are used today) but had the advantage of being able to negotiate extremely narrow “roads.” I really enjoyed reading this history and have tucked this knowledge in the back …