The best bug out vehicle???

[40calruler]

been giving this more thought as of late, considering a 34-38 foot boat. Enough room for a bunch of stuff, water, couple of hundred gallons of fuel. Just cruise a few hours and find a secluded spot, drop anchor and see how things sort out before making any other moves. With care a couple of months on the boat should be doable.

That is a good idea. Self sufficient in fishing and can bring a lot of canned goods on board. Plus you can spot an intruder from a long ways off. I like it.

 

[coop44]

radar is your friend depending on the installation you can detect some one coming from a long ways off. Maybe 20+ miles gives you plenty of time to get ready to greet them. there are also plenty of barely inhabited islands in puget sound, good for hiding.

 

[The Heretic]

What about with shorter gearing?

Do you mean final drive? By "shorter" do you mean "lower" as in a higher numeric ratio?

Then you wind up with a truck that can't keep up with fast traffic.

The problem with the Cummins is as I said, it makes its power at a lower RPM, and has a much lower redline. So depending on the overall final gearing, you wind up with a slower speed.

Most pickups/trucks under 15K# have a top gear transmission ration of about 0.7 :1 - so no matter how many gears you have, you can't go any faster once you get into the top gear (usually an overdrive - i.e., greater than 1:1) - so while a 6 or 7 speed is better than a 4 or 5 speed for diesels, once in top gear you are running the same ratio as the 4 or 5 speed with overdrive. Also, bear in mind, most transmissions for the larger diesel engines like the Cummins B start off with an almost unusable first gear ratio - at least on the street.

With "higher" (lower numerically) gearing in the final drive, and/or taller wheels, then you get back some of that speed, but you lose some of you ability to start off with a heavy load. My truck has a 5 speed (a 4 speed really as first is not usable on the road) and 4.10 final drive with 28" tall wheels/tires. I am going to get 19" wheels (DH steel wheels, not chrome crap) with 35" tall tires, but I will leave the final drive alone as that will be about right. I will probably replace the transmission with a 6 speed but as I said, the OD ratio will be almost the same - the only thing the 6 speed will get me is 5 usable gear ratios instead of only four.

But I would not put a 4BT into my Toyota as it is too heavy, it just isn't needed, and the driving experience wouldn't be as good as the MB diesel.

 

[edison bulb]

IMO, when the Beast is unleashed there won't be many roads left in suitable condition to drive on. And any surviving roads will be full of other people trying to drive away...

If you're physically able to do so, the best bug out vehicle in this area (Portland) would be a Surly mountain bike of some type. A fatbike is far more versatile than any gas powered vehicle for escape.

 

[Martini_Up]

if you didn't leave before the chaos started, anything less than a monster truck which can crawl over other vehicles is useless. Logging roads, highway, back roads, all of it will be plugged or ambush zones. And even a monster truck crawling over other vehicles will be the hugest target ever so it bette be armored.

That said, if I'm leaving when I know the S is about to HTF but has yet to do so, I'm leaving in a 24' motor home. No matter where it runs out of gas / breaks down / parks, it's home

Has anyone ever considered an ultralight to get to their BOL?

 

[edslhead]

This things out front ready so that's what I'd take.



This is where I'd try to go.

 

[308]

There is always this one

 

[AMProducts]

I like this one.

View attachment 238960

The wheels are too big, not enough rubber on those tires to maintain good traction when aired down. The other problem is, the guns only seem to point forward, in most cases you want to be able to shoot while running away.

He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day. But he who is in battle slain, will never rise to fight again.

 

[AMProducts]

So generally speaking, I consider most of the "perfect BOV" talk to be a lot of fantasy, however it's a fun fantasy to engage in.

That said, in general, I don't think a BOV needs to be fast, in fact while speed can be an important factor, it's a limiting factor in terms of cargo capacity. There are roughly two options I consider serious, first is a lighter weight higher speed vehicle with decent ground clearance. This is your jeeps, and 4x4 pickups. that can be equipped with a trailer. Trailers greatly extend the flexibility of your vehicle as pull the pin, and you can dump the weight. The real problem with very large vehicles is that they are always slow, and some problems simply can't be fixed without heavy equipment like chain hoists. So the combination of a large truck, motorhome or RV, and towing a smaller vehicle like a small pickup or jeep is also valid.

I really don't consider "one" vehicle as being a viable solution. For me, the solution would actually be a convoy, a MVTR cargo, pulling a trailer full of gas/diesel, another MVTR pulling a portable genset, along with a train of other civilian and modified tactical vehicles.

Despite my investment in the jeep cherokee platform, I'm really leaning towards dropping it in favor of pickups. I have a GMC 2500 that I use for moving steel, and for the moment, I can tow my jeep behind it. This is the approach I'm taking for hunting trips, since I can drive the pickup (2wd) onto the property and park it, I can then unhitch the jeep and use it for exploring the rest of the property. If it were legal, I would strongly consider putting a small trailer on the back of the jeep as well that could carry extra supplies, however this greatly limits manouverability.

 

[Gunner3456]

European vespa.

NO one would suspect you had balls, let alone firearms riding one of those.
Its compact, decent gas mileage, semi zippy and comes in pink.
(Again, to throw off any would be vespa jackers)

The Japanese bike manufacturers make those now and I think they are better quality. The Honda 150 PCX is 150cc and gets 100 mpg.

If I was going for a scooter I'd rather have a dirt bike to go more places.

 

[rick benjamin]

 

[edslhead]

Was walkin Fred and saw this one. Kinda has a Mad Max look.

 

[mjbskwim]

So generally speaking, I consider most of the "perfect BOV" talk to be a lot of fantasy, however it's a fun fantasy to engage in.

That said, in general, I don't think a BOV needs to be fast, in fact while speed can be an important factor, it's a limiting factor in terms of cargo capacity. There are roughly two options I consider serious, first is a lighter weight higher speed vehicle with decent ground clearance. This is your jeeps, and 4x4 pickups. that can be equipped with a trailer. Trailers greatly extend the flexibility of your vehicle as pull the pin, and you can dump the weight. The real problem with very large vehicles is that they are always slow, and some problems simply can't be fixed without heavy equipment like chain hoists. So the combination of a large truck, motorhome or RV, and towing a smaller vehicle like a small pickup or jeep is also valid.

I really don't consider "one" vehicle as being a viable solution. For me, the solution would actually be a convoy, a MVTR cargo, pulling a trailer full of gas/diesel, another MVTR pulling a portable genset, along with a train of other civilian and modified tactical vehicles.

Despite my investment in the jeep cherokee platform, I'm really leaning towards dropping it in favor of pickups. I have a GMC 2500 that I use for moving steel, and for the moment, I can tow my jeep behind it. This is the approach I'm taking for hunting trips, since I can drive the pickup (2wd) onto the property and park it, I can then unhitch the jeep and use it for exploring the rest of the property. If it were legal, I would strongly consider putting a small trailer on the back of the jeep as well that could carry extra supplies, however this greatly limits manouverability.

OK I'll buy some of the first paragraph. But trailers can be good and bad.
Now as far as a 'convoy' there rubber ducky,you will be the fantasy of everyone with nothing.And the target of said people.Plus any government alphabet company that sees you will most definitely have you on their radar or in their sights.
With the money to buy all the goodies for your convoy,as I have said in a few threads before,most in urbanite areas would be better off buying property somewhere else and having the trailers and goods there already.
Maybe have a shipping container at the sight? All's it has to be is a building lot to store the container
You can get thru the bad areas quicker and without everyone noticing you as much
Have your 2-3 day supplies at home to reach your bug out spot.
But not in Idaho.Nothing here but sage brush and steep mountains

 

[AMProducts]

OK I'll buy some of the first paragraph. But trailers can be good and bad.
Now as far as a 'convoy' there rubber ducky,you will be the fantasy of everyone with nothing.And the target of said people.Plus any government alphabet company that sees you will most definitely have you on their radar or in their sights.
With the money to buy all the goodies for your convoy,as I have said in a few threads before,most in urbanite areas would be better off buying property somewhere else and having the trailers and goods there already.
Maybe have a shipping container at the sight? All's it has to be is a building lot to store the container
You can get thru the bad areas quicker and without everyone noticing you as much
Have your 2-3 day supplies at home to reach your bug out spot.
But not in Idaho.Nothing here but sage brush and steep mountains

I don't disagree at all... however like I said, it's a flight of fancy, and if you're going to go all the way, go all the way.

That said, the "hold it all"-BOV is really that, a fantasy, I've done multiple trips and it's functionally impossible to get everything you need in your car, this is why most people have a house or an apartment, and this is why I buy property in places I like to hunt, and construct hunting cabins, that may or may not have a hidden cache of food, meds, and clothes. This means all I need to do is get there.

 

[albin25]

Back when life was one big "bugout"... this seemed to work.



Easy to find fuel, worked well off-road too, self guiding so you could sleep on the go,
( not to mention an excellent emergency food supply if the beans ran out ).

 

[erudne]

Back when life was one big "bugout"... this seemed to work.

View attachment 241334

Easy to find fuel, worked well off-road too, self guiding so you could sleep on the go,
( not to mention an excellent emergency food supply if the beans ran out ).

I would refuse to eat a cowboy for sanitary reasons

 

[coop44]

been giving this more thought as of late, considering a 34-38 foot boat. Enough room for a bunch of stuff, water, couple of hundred gallons of fuel. Just cruise a few hours and find a secluded spot, drop anchor and see how things sort out before making any other moves. With care a couple of months on the boat should be doable.

things change, the spouse dropped the divorce bomb and the boat is looking better all the time. Been finding early 70's boats in the mid teens price wise. most are liveable needing some cleaning and maintenance. going to need a couple of (or more) pelican cases for guns and ammo. Marinas are pretty secure around here, meeting a lot of nice folks looking at boats.

 

[mjbskwim]

OK the boating thing sounds like a great deal.yes you can see your adversary from a ways off.BUT it would be like taking the back roads across the pass.There are folks that know the area better than you.The have boats also.They know where the good hiding places are.And hwere to attack the new crowd.
And sail/blow boats sound great.No fuel costs! Haha at the price of not getting away from anyone but Gilligan in his row boat
The romance of boat living sounds like a lot of fun.And it is till you run out of money .
Good luck my friend

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

Reality will set in and plan "b" will look better and better; the BOV will most likely me an amalgamation, similar to what was dramatized in the movie Mad Max. Some do that now....

Plan "a" is the vehicle I use before the big event. It must be in good working order, large enough to haul supplies, small enough to afford.

The situation should be what determines the mode; good luck moving a vehicle down an unsecured route after anarchy sets in.

 

[erudne]

I sold my horses a few months back and now I'm thinking about this: