Category: Vehicles

Transportation 101: Your Basic Bicycle, by Eliyahu in Israel

My transportation Plan B for when the big one hits is your basic bicycle. Think about it. No fuel costs (you have to fuel yourself in any case), sturdy, dependable, minimal maintenance, lasts a long time, goes anywhere, and its healthy for you. Not only that, but when you get all those maniac drivers off the roads, it can even be a pleasure. Sure, I fantasize about being able to brew my own biofuels, or having enough solar panels to charge a small electric runabout, but the reality is a sturdy two wheeler sitting in my garden shed. If the …


Consider The Little Things, by R.P.

I hope some of you know most of these things, but I’m sure most of you won’t know all of these things. I took a camping trip not too long ago where I made one of my favorite childhood camping dishes, the hobo dinner. I’m sure those of you who camp have had it a few times. Put some potatoes and veggies in some aluminum foil and throw it right on the fire. Easy enough. Tastes great. Don’t even need a plate. I, however, am not your average cook. I like to try new things, and I don’t eat plain …


Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skills and Knowing Vehicular Limitations, Part 1

Dear Editor: While alloy wheels can have an alloy-to-steel corrosion issue, hitting them with a sledge hammer will probably damage the rim.I f you have an issue with a stuck rim, then just lower the flat with the nuts finger tight. If you do so, then he weight of the car will break the wheel lose with no damage. – Black Hat


Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skills and Knowing Vehicular Limitations, Part 1

James Wesley, In reply to Z.T.’s article, Basic Mechanics Skills and Knowing Vehicular Limitations, Part 1: In general, while Z.T.’s post concerns tire maintenance, you should think “maintenance” on all fronts. Are you personally familiar with how much oil your vehicle eats per thousand miles? Are you familiar with your current, average and customary fuel mileage? Any diversion from the customary indicates a potential problem. Provided you’re aware of what “customary” is on all fronts. Are you also checking, and familiar with, all fluid levels? Of all kinds? Simple preventive stuff. Find the problem before it becomes an actual problem. …


Basic Mechanics Skills and Knowing Vehicular Limitations, Part 1, by Z.T.

Basic mechanical knowledge and skills are something that any person who hopes to be successful in TEOTWAWKI must have. I am not speaking just about vehicles, but vehicles are an excellent avenue to learn them. I can only talk with authority on my own past, but I know that the wealth of much of my knowledge comes from my extensive background in working on cars. I won’t claim that any of this post is going to be something that you have never read before. I am even willing to bet that you heard much of this speech by a parent …


Letter Re: Situational Awareness, Complacency, and Common Sense

Dear Survival Blog, As a journalist, I’m constantly intrigued by the dissemination of information in our world. Obviously, with the advent of social media, people have become exceptionally lazy about seeking out information. There are very few circumstances in our modern society where your technology can’t help you find out what’s going on within seconds. However, every now and then, we encounter a situation where your technology can’t help you – unless you’re prepared.  Earlier this week, I was in just such a situation. I was near the front of a interstate closure caused by a burning catering truck. Because …


Your Two Foot Bugout, by The Virginian

For most of human history, people have traveled by foot or by beast.  People have walked great distances over trade routes, over Roman roads, caravan routes, the Appalachian Trail and the Bering Straits to name a few. Do not forget that your core bug out vehicle is your own two feet. So much emphasis in the prepper community is placed on fantasy vehicles, tricked out 4×4 SUVs, retrofitted military vehicles, campers, trailers, the list goes on. I call these fantasy vehicles not to insult those that have invested their future in them, but because for many people living paycheck to …


Being Prepared, Even On A Routine Mission, by J.W.

One day, last year, I found myself in a pretty serious situation that tested my nerves and my luck. It happened on the C&O canal in Maryland. The canal runs 184.5 miles from Washington DC to Cumberland Maryland. Living just across the Potomac in McLean, Virginia, I made it my custom to ride my mountain bike on the canal every chance I got. It was and still is my favorite ride of all time. I would enter the trail at the 12.6 mile mark across the street from the Old Angler’s Inn near Carderock, Maryland. where there was ample parking …


Two Letters Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

JWR, RE: basic mechanics & vehicles, specifically more on tires/wheels, etc. Make a jacking platform to support the jack in soft soil. I used 2 thicknesses of 3/4″ plywood Gorilla Glued together. I’d suggest at least 12″ square, but there is an advantage to making it larger. I made mine as large as would fit underneath the passenger seat in my truck, which was 14.5″ X 16″. Inflate the spare to 15-20% over the regular running pressure in the other four. That won’t hurt it, and it’s easier to let air out than to force it in .[JWR’s Comment: If …


Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

JWR,  Keep up the good work! Now that everyone knows the woes of removing a tire, does anyone check the spare tire to see if it holds air etc? Most people don’t check the tires on a road trip, let alone daily driving or the condition of the spare tire. I would ask everyone to make sure the spare tire is not only inflated, but holds air for more than a day or two! This should go before the first post: Do you have a proper (working) and weight-rated jack to lift the vehicle, and do you know where to …


Two Letters Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

Jim, The king of the hill when it comes to breaking loose lug nuts is the four-way lug wrench. It is also called a “cross wrench” by some folks. I have used them since I was a child learning everyday fixes from my father in the 1960s. But beware of cheaply-made imports. I have bent and actually broken a few of the cheap ones while helping friends break lugs loose on their vehicles using their cheap four way lug wrenches that I had told them not to buy, but they ignored my advise and went cheap. Sitting on a desolate …


Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

Dear JWR, Instead of a breaker bar, which while good to have is large and hard to store, I’ve found extendable lug nut wrenches to be the ideal compromise.  Easily twice as strong as the much thinner wrenches that come with the vehicle. The only caveat is that I’d recommend a long/deep wall socket that’s the precise size of your lugs to ensure you don’t damage and/or jam or lug nuts inside your socket… I’ve tried both the Torin (sold at Wal-Mart stores) and the Grizzly (sold by Amazon.com) with satisfactory success.  Both are over 20″ extended, and even slightly …


Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

Jim, If I might add my two cents to Albert’s comments on Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations:  I was also inconvenienced with lug nuts being over-torqued. I bent the factory lug wrench in the process.   My dear spouse would have never been able to loosen one, much less five lug nuts. So I vowed to never again be put in that position again.  I made the assumption that the tire store torqued the lug nuts to factory specifications. They went far beyond that number. Apparently, many do.   My solution was far less high tech, EMP proof, and far less expensive: a 24-Inch …


Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skills and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

James, Thank you for your contributions on SurvivalBlog. I read with interest the article on basic mechanical skills.  Changing a tire can be a difficult process,  last summer I had a blow out on a 100 degree day, found that changing a tire in the severe heat was a difficult task  and for an older man, and possibly dangerous.   I decided to decide to find a workable solution for this problem. At first I tried the 12 volt DC impact wrenches but found them unsatisfactory. My solution was to take a 1,700 watt inverter that I placed in a tool box …


Getting Out After a Trigger Event, by Paul H.

Despite years of reading valid arguments for moving to the American Redoubt or other remote area, of the hundreds of preppers I’ve met I can count on one hand those who made the move and most of those were retired.  I meet relatively few preppers living at a secluded retreat, a few with secondary retreats, many planning to bug out to property they do not own (hopefully by agreement), and the majority still living in and around cities with no alternative plan to shelter in place.  Only one of those four types I just described is unlikely to be on …