17 May 2013, 09:24
Urbanised vehicles for preppers
© NR 2013
After noticing some justified anger and hostility from some city dwelling preppers about the way they are so often ignored or denigrated for their lifestyle choice and the dearth of research done to try and help them plan and prep better I thought I would try and do the odd article to try and help in some small way to redress the balance.
I got some friends to ask questions on various forums and chatrooms about what considerations they would place or consider when it comes to selecting a vehicle primarily for the URBAN prepper community.
This article is focused on cars / vans etc to be used by prepper FAMILIES rather than individual city slicker preppers who can choose cycles, motorcycles, scooters , or even kayaks and boats to get around in.
Below is a compilation of their findings and my limited research into selecting and fitting out a vehicle that will spend most of its time in a city or metropolis.
Choices appear to be the lightweight small, nimble, lightweight and compact micro / town / city / urban vehicles mainly originating from Japanese and Indian / Asian city needs, and much larger more powerful in your face heavyweight trucks, vans and cars found in many other cities in the Northern Hemisphere.
You can choose better all-round visibility for spotting trouble in a typical city car with large areas of glass OR go for a vehicle armoured enough to be able to resist or ignore small arms fire and petrol bombs (note that 99.99% of all vehicles will succumb to a petrol bomb) , economically and realistically most ordinary people will be driven to go for smaller lighter vehicles such as Jimnys, Terios, Kei cars, Micro cars, mini vans etc with only a fortunate few or wealthier few who can afford to go the heavy armoured limo or 4x4 truck route.
Tyres need to be run –flats or filled with puncture sealing foam, or at least the vehicle must carry a few canisters of instant puncture sealing sprays getting a flat whilst trying to avoid an ethnic gang or crowd of rioters / looters is not a desirable position to be in.
Multiple dry powder fire extinguishers must be carried and readily to hand in vehicles.
Get Home Bags for each vehicle occupant need to be easily accessible and NOT locked away in the boot or cargo bay.
Vehicle needs to be physically strong enough and fitted with strong enough chassis fixings so it can be capable of pulling off a typical modern shop door or light weight roller shutter to allow preppers to access abandoned shops and premises to salvage supplies.
More tools needed for salvaging supplies from secure buildings, recovering fuel and oil from fuel tanks, underground oil tanks, roof top water tanks, LPG tanks etc.
Vehicles need to be either smaller physically to be able to drive along footpaths, pavements, underpasses and cycle ways, or big enough and equipped enough to be able to drag dead vehicles clear of chosen route. So the choice is golf carts to quads, 4x4 mules to micro cars / vans that can get through small gaps OR large powerful well equipped trucks that can doze or drag blockages out the way.
Vehicles need either to be loaded to the gills with hi lift jacks, winches, draw bars, extra lights, puncture proof tyres etc and very secure or so low profile, bland and gray the vehicle goes unnoticed when parked on a street.
NOTE whilst keeping your vehicle in tip top mechanical condition is prudent and wise, you may wish to stop washing the outside of the vehicle AFTER TSHTF as a parked up clean and shiny vehicle parked among a load of dirty dusty abandoned vehicles is going to attract attention. Indeed some urban protagonists apparently paint their vehicles in MATT colour paint schemes to make them look as uninteresting as possible.
A vehicle with a very short turning circle is highly desirable, I note that vehicles such as London cabs and Micro cars and also vehicles purposely designed for urban areas benefit greatly from being able to turn 180 degrees in a normal British street without having to do a three point turn. Fast turning and reversing direction are highly desirable attributes for an urban prepper vehicle as seconds can decide if you live or die in an ambush or get away from a collapsing building. (My own new vehicle turns 180 degrees in just under 10 meters).
I feel that because in an urban survival situation the risk from attack by petrol bombs or other incendiary devices is higher that your own spare fuel supplies should be carried in good quality metal jerry cans. Plastic jerry cans melt very easily and if your vehicle was attacked with a Molotov cocktail you could see the fuel from your own melted plastic jerry can add its contents to feed the fire with disastrous results.
More respirators/ face masks, gloves, cleaning materials should be carried because of higher risk from diseases. Equally more water for washing and cleaning people will be needed as the risks of coming into contact with everything from Weil’s disease to Asbestos dust , Typhus, Cholera, and Plague rats is higher in urban areas especially in the immediate and interim period after a societal collapse. All salvaged water must be filtered and the outside of all salvaged food containers like tins etc must be sterilised so a water filter and disinfectant is very necessary.
(Remember that all rodents like rats and mice etc urinate constantly so a rat simply waking across a row of tinned food in an abandoned shop will very likely be dribbling urine infected with Weils disease onto every tin.)
Thinking about the risk from infection etc reminds me you really need a very comprehensive First Aid Kit in your vehicle, and all salvaging work should be carried out wearing rubber gloves.
Fallen materials from buildings, shattered toughened glass from shops and offices, collapsed or missing manhole covers, debris thrown from buildings, collapsed drains etc are all likely to be plentiful and just waiting the opportunity to damage your tyres or engine and transmission so under body skid plates and engine / sump guards are highly recommended for both micro vehicles and larger 4x4s utility vehicles.
As much of your fuel at some point is likely to have been salvaged or recovered from abandoned vehicles or fuel stations it’s an absolute must you have extra particle filters and water / sediment filters fitted to your engines fuel supply.
Because of the immense numbers of windows in shops, offices, stores, displays bus shelters etc are not only likely to end up broken and falling into the street, but on a sunny day these are likely to generate large numbers of bright reflections that may obscure threats to you it may be worth fitting polarized window tinting film to some of your vehicles glasswork.
Even if not being used to transport externally mounted supplies it is still wise to fit the roof of your vehicle with a full sized roof rack lined with good quality ½ or ¾ inch marine grade ply as the rack / ply combination may save your life from materials falling or thrown from the upper floors of buildings around you. It won’t stop bullets but it should stop bricks and rocks long enough for you to get out of range.
Laminating film of the type used by new parents to make glass doors and windows shatterproof if impacted could be a useful addition to the side and rear windows of your vehicles (The front screen is already laminated) It could prevent or delay an attempt to break into your vehicle long enough for you to react .
Bull bars / A bars (black powder coated NOT shiney chrome) and rear chassis mounted tow brackets are probably worthwhile investments as they can be used to push blockages out of the way or to fasten hawsers to, plus the extra layer of protection they offer to the front and rear of your vehicle.
I invite experienced urban preppers to add their comments and finding to this article as I’m sure they have priceless advice and info to share with their peers.
NR
© NR 2013
After noticing some justified anger and hostility from some city dwelling preppers about the way they are so often ignored or denigrated for their lifestyle choice and the dearth of research done to try and help them plan and prep better I thought I would try and do the odd article to try and help in some small way to redress the balance.
I got some friends to ask questions on various forums and chatrooms about what considerations they would place or consider when it comes to selecting a vehicle primarily for the URBAN prepper community.
This article is focused on cars / vans etc to be used by prepper FAMILIES rather than individual city slicker preppers who can choose cycles, motorcycles, scooters , or even kayaks and boats to get around in.
Below is a compilation of their findings and my limited research into selecting and fitting out a vehicle that will spend most of its time in a city or metropolis.
Choices appear to be the lightweight small, nimble, lightweight and compact micro / town / city / urban vehicles mainly originating from Japanese and Indian / Asian city needs, and much larger more powerful in your face heavyweight trucks, vans and cars found in many other cities in the Northern Hemisphere.
You can choose better all-round visibility for spotting trouble in a typical city car with large areas of glass OR go for a vehicle armoured enough to be able to resist or ignore small arms fire and petrol bombs (note that 99.99% of all vehicles will succumb to a petrol bomb) , economically and realistically most ordinary people will be driven to go for smaller lighter vehicles such as Jimnys, Terios, Kei cars, Micro cars, mini vans etc with only a fortunate few or wealthier few who can afford to go the heavy armoured limo or 4x4 truck route.
Tyres need to be run –flats or filled with puncture sealing foam, or at least the vehicle must carry a few canisters of instant puncture sealing sprays getting a flat whilst trying to avoid an ethnic gang or crowd of rioters / looters is not a desirable position to be in.
Multiple dry powder fire extinguishers must be carried and readily to hand in vehicles.
Get Home Bags for each vehicle occupant need to be easily accessible and NOT locked away in the boot or cargo bay.
Vehicle needs to be physically strong enough and fitted with strong enough chassis fixings so it can be capable of pulling off a typical modern shop door or light weight roller shutter to allow preppers to access abandoned shops and premises to salvage supplies.
More tools needed for salvaging supplies from secure buildings, recovering fuel and oil from fuel tanks, underground oil tanks, roof top water tanks, LPG tanks etc.
Vehicles need to be either smaller physically to be able to drive along footpaths, pavements, underpasses and cycle ways, or big enough and equipped enough to be able to drag dead vehicles clear of chosen route. So the choice is golf carts to quads, 4x4 mules to micro cars / vans that can get through small gaps OR large powerful well equipped trucks that can doze or drag blockages out the way.
Vehicles need either to be loaded to the gills with hi lift jacks, winches, draw bars, extra lights, puncture proof tyres etc and very secure or so low profile, bland and gray the vehicle goes unnoticed when parked on a street.
NOTE whilst keeping your vehicle in tip top mechanical condition is prudent and wise, you may wish to stop washing the outside of the vehicle AFTER TSHTF as a parked up clean and shiny vehicle parked among a load of dirty dusty abandoned vehicles is going to attract attention. Indeed some urban protagonists apparently paint their vehicles in MATT colour paint schemes to make them look as uninteresting as possible.
A vehicle with a very short turning circle is highly desirable, I note that vehicles such as London cabs and Micro cars and also vehicles purposely designed for urban areas benefit greatly from being able to turn 180 degrees in a normal British street without having to do a three point turn. Fast turning and reversing direction are highly desirable attributes for an urban prepper vehicle as seconds can decide if you live or die in an ambush or get away from a collapsing building. (My own new vehicle turns 180 degrees in just under 10 meters).
I feel that because in an urban survival situation the risk from attack by petrol bombs or other incendiary devices is higher that your own spare fuel supplies should be carried in good quality metal jerry cans. Plastic jerry cans melt very easily and if your vehicle was attacked with a Molotov cocktail you could see the fuel from your own melted plastic jerry can add its contents to feed the fire with disastrous results.
More respirators/ face masks, gloves, cleaning materials should be carried because of higher risk from diseases. Equally more water for washing and cleaning people will be needed as the risks of coming into contact with everything from Weil’s disease to Asbestos dust , Typhus, Cholera, and Plague rats is higher in urban areas especially in the immediate and interim period after a societal collapse. All salvaged water must be filtered and the outside of all salvaged food containers like tins etc must be sterilised so a water filter and disinfectant is very necessary.
(Remember that all rodents like rats and mice etc urinate constantly so a rat simply waking across a row of tinned food in an abandoned shop will very likely be dribbling urine infected with Weils disease onto every tin.)
Thinking about the risk from infection etc reminds me you really need a very comprehensive First Aid Kit in your vehicle, and all salvaging work should be carried out wearing rubber gloves.
Fallen materials from buildings, shattered toughened glass from shops and offices, collapsed or missing manhole covers, debris thrown from buildings, collapsed drains etc are all likely to be plentiful and just waiting the opportunity to damage your tyres or engine and transmission so under body skid plates and engine / sump guards are highly recommended for both micro vehicles and larger 4x4s utility vehicles.
As much of your fuel at some point is likely to have been salvaged or recovered from abandoned vehicles or fuel stations it’s an absolute must you have extra particle filters and water / sediment filters fitted to your engines fuel supply.
Because of the immense numbers of windows in shops, offices, stores, displays bus shelters etc are not only likely to end up broken and falling into the street, but on a sunny day these are likely to generate large numbers of bright reflections that may obscure threats to you it may be worth fitting polarized window tinting film to some of your vehicles glasswork.
Even if not being used to transport externally mounted supplies it is still wise to fit the roof of your vehicle with a full sized roof rack lined with good quality ½ or ¾ inch marine grade ply as the rack / ply combination may save your life from materials falling or thrown from the upper floors of buildings around you. It won’t stop bullets but it should stop bricks and rocks long enough for you to get out of range.
Laminating film of the type used by new parents to make glass doors and windows shatterproof if impacted could be a useful addition to the side and rear windows of your vehicles (The front screen is already laminated) It could prevent or delay an attempt to break into your vehicle long enough for you to react .
Bull bars / A bars (black powder coated NOT shiney chrome) and rear chassis mounted tow brackets are probably worthwhile investments as they can be used to push blockages out of the way or to fasten hawsers to, plus the extra layer of protection they offer to the front and rear of your vehicle.
I invite experienced urban preppers to add their comments and finding to this article as I’m sure they have priceless advice and info to share with their peers.
NR