Category: Vehicles

The Citroen 2CV as a Prepper Vehicle, by Steve W.

Many would consider the Citroen 2CV an unlikely vehicle for preparedness plans. But based on 40 years of personal experience with the car, I am suggesting that you consider the Citroen 2CV as a backup vehicle for your preparedness plans. While not a fancy car, my many kilometers and miles driving a 2CV in across Europe and North America have been easily the least costly road miles that I have logged, and they were a lot of fun. 25 years ago, I wrote: “A 2CV is the past, days spent going vineyard to vineyard, New Year’s Eve in Guernica Spain …


An Electric Car for TEOTWAWKI? – Part 3, by S.B.

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) When the Battery Dies, You are Getting a Flatbed Tow Speaking of your electric vehicle turning into an inert hunk of metal, I have run out of juice twice on my vehicle. Both times required a flatbed tow truck to bring my vehicle back home. [Editor’s Note: Never use a traditional tow truck, since there is no “neutral” gear position with electric cars, and damage will occur.] Fortunately, both times I was only a couple of miles from home, and just did not have that last bit of juice needed to get …


An Electric Car for TEOTWAWKI? – Part 1, by S.B.

I’ve been working on an article for SurvivalBlog on electric cars for quite some time…writing a little bit here and there then prioritizing other activities and halting work. With the recent Colonial Pipeline ransomware fiasco and associated fuel shortages on the east coast Report: U.S. Capital Nearly Out of Gas While NC, VA Also Endure Outages (breitbart.com), I thought this an opportune time to buckle down and finish up the article. Regardless of how you interpret U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s recent statement regarding the Colonial Pipeline shutdown where she said “if you drive an electric car, this would not …


Equipping Your Vehicle For Emergencies, by C.J.

A recent mechanical problem had me stranded beside the road for several hours and made me think about possible bad scenarios and what I would want to have in my car in order to survive these situations. My vehicle was stranded on the off-ramp of a major interstate, but the remoteness became apparent when I realized I only saw four cars get on or off this exit in three hours. One of those cars was a sheriff and he didn’t stop to see if I needed help. I was able to use my cell phone, but in many places, especially …


Avoiding Water Damage To Engines, by Michael Z. Williamson

I just blew up a car engine by driving through a puddle. Many of us remember our older vehicles tackling flood conditions.  My old 1983 station wagon and my full-size 1996 van drove through three feet of water, more than once. On many new vehicles, including the Chrysler minivans, Dodge Challenger, and the Minis, the intake tube for the air cleaner is actually down behind the fog lamp near the bottom of the air dam.  I drove through a puddle no more than 8″ deep, which threw up a bow wave, and the engine inhaled it.  Water doesn’t compress.  The block …


Lessons Learned from My First Bug Out Truck – Part 2, by H.J.

8

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Using one side of my mechanic friend’s two-car garage, the gasoline engine was removed and the 4BT was prepared for test fitting by pressure washing the engine and scrubbing down with degreaser. One of the top killers of diesel engines is high exhaust gas temperature (EGT), which can occur under hard use and heavy loads and can melt the pistons and cylinder rings. To monitor this temperature, the turbocharger was also removed, the exhaust manifold was drilled and tapped for an aftermarket pyrometer, and the turbo re-installed. It is important when monitoring …


Abandoning Home, by Francis

204

This essay is not about survival skills in their basic form. Rather, this is a gedankenexperiment about abandoning suburbia and getting us somewhere safely in the event of TEOTWAWKI. This is often called “Bugging Out” in the current parlance. Thus, I consider us not preppers but semi-preppers. I’ve previously written in SurvivalBlog about our preparations for survival. Because of recent events, we are concerned about our extended family’s safety. I could kick myself for not purchasing the SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick that was offered back in January. Because of the most recent events of the riots (the mainstream media would …


Vehicle Preparation – Part 2, by Traveling Mechanic

12

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) You should look and feel along the total length of all hoses. Any unusually soft or hard areas are of concern. Any bulge or area worn more than half of the hose thickness is a sign of imminent failure and needs replacement as soon as possible. There are several things that will cause your vehicle motor to run hotter than expected. The typical cause is that the flow of air through the radiator may be partially blocked. A no-cost or low-cost solution is to take your garden hose and blow water from …


Vehicle Preparation – Part 1, by Traveling Mechanic

23

Like what seems to be most of SurvivalBlog readers, I am stuck near a city by the need to work. I have an exit plan (a.k.a. Bug-Out plan) that we are following. I decided to share some aspects of our actions. If you do the suggested vehicle maintenance and repair work then this will assist you to avoid being broken down along the road during your Bug Out exit. These checks and corrections will also benefit by eliminating typical defects that arise in normal use. The beginning part of each check is an inspection of your Bug-Out Vehicle (BOV). I …


Bug-In/Bug-Out Transportation, by WVA

57

In this articles, I will discuss some considerations for selecting and preparing your Schumer Hits The Fan (SHTF) vehicle. Nearly all post-disaster/prepper/survivalist/etc. novels follow one of two plot lines. The first, our heroes are caught away from home and forced to travel on foot when their vehicle ceases to operate due lack of fuel, mechanical failure, being stolen, etc. The second, our heroes are at/near home and are bugging-in, using the vehicle for short trips until bugging-out when the situation deteriorates. Either of these plot lines show how vital reliable and capable motorized transportation will be when the worse happens. …


Converting Your Pedal Bike into an E-Bike, by Mark F.

33

What are your long-term transportation plans for when SHTF? That’s right – long after the diesel and gasoline tanks run dry, how do you plan to get around in a sustained grid-down situation? Walking can only get you so far, and that saddle horse will burn through feed and water, putting an additional strain on your resources. We’ve all been there, and I know the unsettling feeling of not having a solid answer to this need for a reliable, sustainable, low-resource means of TEOTWAWKI transportation. It’s tempting to just write the whole issue off and accept the limitations of staying …


The Ultimate Prepper Vehicle, by Spotlight

38

I will admit that the title that I chose for this article was mostly tongue-in-cheek. There is obviously, no ultimate prepper vehicle. What works for me may not work for you. However, I do want to take the opportunity to make the case for what I think is an excellent prepper vehicle: the minivan. Yes, the lowly, oft-mocked minivan. The “Loser Cruiser” as one of my buddies put it when I drove up one day. As I sensed he was attacking my manhood I responded that if he was getting his manhood from the car he drove, he had much …


Seven Steps to Survival, by Allen A.

12

Back in the day, when my hair was a different colour, the Seven Steps to Survival was part of the survival course that I taught.  This article will discuss those steps and how I applied them in a recent survival event that I found myself in. RECOGNITION Simple as it may sound the first step to surviving is to identify and accept that you have a problem and that it is serious.  Denial of your situation or the refusal to accept how serious it is can get you killed or injured.  Without acknowledging the nature and seriousness of the situation …


My One Month TEOTWAWKI Road Test – Part 2, by Maui Dan

29

(Continued for Part 1. This concludes the article.) I was consistent with daily hikes using them for recon practice, making maps, taking notes of locations and observing any nearby people. Judging who I thought may be friends or foes. I did take note of two males in their 20’s who appeared fairly intoxicated early in the afternoon. I hiked for the benefits of physical exercise and enjoyed the quite beauty of the land. There were several memorable hikes. The day time temperatures were now in the upper 80’s. I wore Timberline hiking boots and stripped down to shorts. Finally found …


My One Month TEOTWAWKI Road Test – Part 1, by Maui Dan

30

Backround: I’m a country boy who grew up in the farm land of Western Pennsylvania. I lived in the Amish region, observing their off-grid way of life. I was taught to take care of our animals, and that they would take care of us. Nearly everyone learned to hunt and had a knowledge of basic outdoor skills. I was a Boy Scout and learned “Be prepared.” I was a multi sport athlete in high school and  college where I made life-long friends. I have a career in physical therapy spanning 38 years, and achieved a 4th degree black belt. I’ve …