Inexpensive, simple bug-out or get-home vehicle

[ATCclears]

This could put some miles between you and a troubled area...

Peter

Sanjay Dastoor: A skateboard, with a boost | Video on TED.com

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[PolishedBrass]

$1300 a pop ... kewl ... but I would rather burn petrol

 

[sheepdip]

not much help on a dirt road.

 

[PolishedBrass]

I will be keeping my eye on these as production prices drop.

 

[erudne]

Moped

 

[coop44]

ford expedition, well built enough to run over skateboards, can be had cheaply, if you don't drive it much mpg doesn't matter.

 

[CamoDeafie]

motorcycle/ATV or failing that, a mountain bicycle of some sort.... I think there are such things as electric dirt bikes and electric ATVS (basically off-road golf carts)
I know there are electric-assisted bicycles and electric motor hubs for adding on to a bicycle frame with a rack to hold the battery....
I am what people consider "car-free", and I use a mountain bicycle for pretty much everything. I have a thread on the bicycle HERE;
http://www.northwestfirearms.com/preparedness-survival/135434-bicycle-camping-bug-out-vehicle-hunting-rig.html

With an ATV/UTV type of vehicle; you can carry all you need to carry for a week to a month worth of supplies, with a way of getting fuel or charge, and can go through most paths and trails that are wide enough,


With a Motorcycle, either Street or Dirt/Dual Purpose, you have the advantage of being able to use narrower trails/paths and higher speeds as well as smaller target overall, but you lose the cargo capacity, though several people have found ways to travel much lighter with the Motorcycles, and several use small trailers for the roads and as a way of setting up "base camps" for long trips..

With a Bicycle; you do not need fuel, you can go pretty much everywhere, can use more trails that are more dangerous on a motorcycle (tighter trails and twisty trails), and you can also get off and move bicycle over obstacles far more easily than with a motorcycle... and quite a few people have managed to find a way to survive up to a month with just a touring bicycle and their kit, and several also have used trailers with bicycles, a dizzying variety of trailers...the most popular being old faded child trailers.... you also can blend in better in some places with bicycles and trailers, several homeless people use such a set up.....

 

[daoism]

A bicycle is one of the most energy efficient forms of transportation known to man. Just about everyone knows how to ride one. Easily maintained and repaired w/ basic instruction or a reasonable understanding of mechanics. Very inexpensive to own/operate compared to most other forms of transportation.


Just sayin'

 

[jmurray192]

China will copy this and you will start seeing them on ebay for $300. At 300 I would buy one. Ill wait it out. Would be something fun to play with

 

[coop44]

it's a toy, what I practice skeet shooting for.

all you energy concious car free people are depending on societies infrastructure to take up the slack, either that or you live in a very small self sustaining bubble of some sort.

 

[CamoDeafie]

depending on societies infrastructure to take up the slack,

Trails. as in game trails and hiking trails....which are as primitive as possible; and already a natural infrastructure to use..ditto for the dirt motorcycles and ATVs/UTVs.... you basically blaze your own trails and really; the only part of the infrastructure that are man made that I can see giving people big big problems would be fueling stations, ways to get electricity, spare parts..... which is why a bicycle can work better in some situations...especially if you have a way to access spare parts and such for them.....
To be honest? I do not foresee the level of dystopia that would entail the utter and complete collapse of everything possible in the next decade... I mean; look at the eternal warfare in Africa, look at what has happened in other countries, they still manage to have some semblance of infrastructures, fueling stations, although probably in the hands of warlords, electricity from generators or from other means, what I can foresee more likely is a situation much like the Balkan wars and what IS happening in Africa....

It IS telling that the majority of daily transportation over in Africa, what with their much more primitive infrastructure compared to here; is primarily based on bicycles and animal drawn carts...
Granted; it doesn't seem to rain as much over there; but then again, look at most of Asia....bicycles again are very much the primary means of transportation along with scooters, mopeds, carts, animals, and small motor vehicles..
What I am saying is that.... even if the roads were in a state of major disrepair that there's cracks, weeds, potholes, and the like... (like Detroit....) bicycles and ATVs and Motorcycles can still negotiate them pretty well....and even if it becomes more of a gravel/dirt/mud road network... there will still be a system of infrastructure around to use... instead of bridges, raft ferries.... in fact, I do foresee a lot of people taking to living off of rafts on the rivers and fishing and hunting there...society will find a way to adapt and survive.
The type of Society that will survive...well I for one hope to be full of like minded people who believe in personal liberty and rights.

 

[coop44]

China will copy this and you will start seeing them on ebay for $300. At 300 I would buy one. Ill wait it out. Would be something fun to play with

It's people like you who encourage the chinese to be the biggest thieves of intelectual property in the history of mankind.

 

[coop44]

Trails. as in game trails and hiking trails....which are as primitive as possible; and already a natural infrastructure to use..ditto for the dirt motorcycles and ATVs/UTVs.... you basically blaze your own trails and really; the only part of the infrastructure that are man made that I can see giving people big big problems would be fueling stations, ways to get electricity, spare parts..... which is why a bicycle can work better in some situations...especially if you have a way to access spare parts and such for them.....
To be honest? I do not foresee the level of dystopia that would entail the utter and complete collapse of everything possible in the next decade... I mean; look at the eternal warfare in Africa, look at what has happened in other countries, they still manage to have some semblance of infrastructures, fueling stations, although probably in the hands of warlords, electricity from generators or from other means, what I can foresee more likely is a situation much like the Balkan wars and what IS happening in Africa....

It IS telling that the majority of daily transportation over in Africa, what with their much more primitive infrastructure compared to here; is primarily based on bicycles and animal drawn carts...
Granted; it doesn't seem to rain as much over there; but then again, look at most of Asia....bicycles again are very much the primary means of transportation along with scooters, mopeds, carts, animals, and small motor vehicles..
What I am saying is that.... even if the roads were in a state of major disrepair that there's cracks, weeds, potholes, and the like... (like Detroit....) bicycles and ATVs and Motorcycles can still negotiate them pretty well....and even if it becomes more of a gravel/dirt/mud road network... there will still be a system of infrastructure around to use... instead of bridges, raft ferries.... in fact, I do foresee a lot of people taking to living off of rafts on the rivers and fishing and hunting there...society will find a way to adapt and survive.
The type of Society that will survive...well I for one hope to be full of like minded people who believe in personal liberty and rights.

wow, you got some kind of post apocolyptic universe going on in your mind, ought to write a book.

meanwhile, back here in reality, you depend on a steady supply of fuel and groceries delivered to your local supermarket and gas station daily. You depend on the emergency services when you crash your bike. A hospital when you are seriously injured or sick. the basic services of water and power delivered to your home. These are the infrastructure services that society provides you and of which I speak.

 

[coop44]

Back to the OP, looks cool, if you are 25(or under) and never had sex with a real girl (not plastic or cyber), looks like the thing for you (most ride a skateboard until they do). Get good medical coverage, and fill out your organ donor card, I'm going to need the spare parts.

 

[PolishedBrass]

Who let the Troll in?

 

[CamoDeafie]

wow, you got some kind of post apocolyptic universe going on in your mind, ought to write a book.

hahaha I watch way too many post-apocalyptic movies myself....
but like I said, it is highly unlikely to happen; what is more likely would be what happened in Argentine, Greece, and the Balkan region during the late 90s... as well as Africa in general.... all of which still have social infrastructures, as heavily damaged as they are, they still manage to have some semblance of civilization..

meanwhile, back here in reality, you depend on a steady supply of fuel and groceries delivered to your local supermarket and gas station daily. You depend on the emergency services when you crash your bike. A hospital when you are seriously injured or sick. the basic services of water and power delivered to your home. These are the infrastructure services that society provides you and of which I speak.

now, those, I did not really think about....because
1) I haven't needed to go to a gas station for myself....
2) supermarkets...yeah I do understand that; though we have a farmers market where we get fresh stuff
3) hospitals will always be around in one way or another... be it private or public owned... there will always be a demand for medicine and doctors in the future, especially after any major geo-political event that results in war or famine or disease.
4) water and power, yes I understand that everyone depends on them, there are also those who do not depend on public utilities for their needs.... sink a well; have a septic tank, a generator/solar/wind/water power system... I have a family friend who uses both solar and wind to generate the electricity for their house and they haven't needed to pay the utilities in quite some time......tho they live in Central Oregon where its sunny most of the year, with varying temperatures.

 

[coop44]

self sufficiancy is great, but, how much infrastructure did it take for some one to get there?

solar panels need to be manufactured (personally would never have them, they fade to 50% of new in less than 10 yrs, and are toxic waste when you decide to replace them).

Wind generators are also pretty tech heavy.

can you cobble up microprocessors in your workshop?

unless you dug a well with a shovel, the bit and casing were shipped, possibly from china.

who cast your septic tank? do you know how to make cement (not concrete)?


All I'm trying to say is that most self sufficient folks really are not. With a little thought you realize how much we depend on the system of logistics here.

not everyone has the desire or the ability to live a bucolic life as you describe

 

[knuckle Head]

I though about this after reading the OP and though well a bicycle would be better and an electric assist bicycle that recharges on downhill grades would be even sweeter, then there are scooters, motorcycles and my favorite the ATV.

But I thought wait just a minute, really people hold off just a minute here. Think about it, we all discuss bob and ghb's, now thinking along this same lines here with the ghb in mind, these things are compact, can be stored in any vehicle of anyone I know without taking up a horrible amount space.

If a person commutes across town every day say 10 miles, shtf that could be a full day and if it happens at rush hour and the roads are jammed, then you are going to spend the night somewhere on foot. But one of these little things and no I never really master one like todays youth, but I could practice up in empty parking lots and such. Anyways shtf, earthquake, mt rainier blows its top whatever roads are jammed, this little thing stored in the trunk of a vehicle could get a person home in a couple of hours weaving through abandoned vehicles and on side streets.

I think there some actual merit here to be considered

 

[CamoDeafie]

Coop44; I do get what you are saying. I do agree that infrastructure WILL be around. as long as there are people with skills, with materials, with access and ways and means, infrastructure will NEVER go away. if it sounded like I was talking about a wasteland sort of thing, sorry, I did not mean that. Again, look to Africa, look to the Balkan area, to Greece and Argentina; for examples of realistic disasters that do happen for ideas of how to prepare for such disasters, hell, look at what happened in New Orleans... now..
my friend with the windmill; his is based on a design that does not use microprocessors, but rather an older form of technology... batteries and related relays and techs...maybe there's processors somewhere along the line for power regulating, maybe he's using ancient technology that WORKS...as for solar panels, he has spares in storage; and they are modular types instead of being completely sealed units for just that reason of replacement....
ANYWAYS. as long as there are people with marketable skills, there will be replacement parts and ways of making things work should the S Hit The Fan.

back to OP; there are such things as folding bikes/scooters/mopeds too..but yes Knucklehead, I do agree that there are some merits to consider for the powered skateboard.. I know I cover approximately 10-15 miles on a daily basis just doing errands and stuff with my bicycle.. granted, this is entirely in town and on roads and paths;

 

[coop44]

the motorized bike kits out of india are pretty neat, just afraid some one would knock me off a skateboard pretty easy, either just to do it or to steal it.


btw kinda actually looking forward to Mt. Ranier going off, got a front row seat for the "Big Show"