The car

[Pete Grey]

I’ve posted a lot about the camper so i thought i’d say something about our everyday transport for a change, ( just an other boring list, so i apologise in advance).

Being everyday transport it’s also our GHV and reserve BOV should there be a problem with the camper.

It’s an ordinary small family saloon, eighteen years old, so more people can probably relate to this rather than a 4x4 or motor home.

As it’s used everyday we have to make sure it’s practical for everything, general shopping, social use, trips to diy stores, trips to the tip etc. so it’s not kitted out like a safari wagon.

With any car the essential thing is to keep it well maintained and if things need replacing use good quality parts, for example i have replaced the rubbish OE jack with a good two tonne scissor jack.

In the space under the rear seat is a large tarp 5m x 4m some paracord, some tent pegs and a hammer, if i need to make a shelter. I also have a tow rope and a couple of pairs of work gloves.

In one door pocket is a pouch, duplicate EDC, led torch, spare batteries, knife, cigarette lighter, 12v phone charger. There are also some chocolate bars and a 500ml water bottle.

The other door pocket holds a FAK, local maps, general road atlas, a compass, chocolate bars and water bottle.

In the boot/trunk is a 12v compressor, tyreweld, jumper leads, folding shovel and a pair of grip mats (work on mud/grass as well as snow). I only keep a few basic tools as there is very little the average driver can do with cars even nearly 20 years old, but i do carry a pry bar and a syphon pump if i need to scavenge fuel.

The few spares i carry are bulbs, fuses, wiper blades, winter screenwash and brake fluid. A couple of years ago i had a rear wheel cylinder burst so i carry a clamp for a flexible brake hose (if it happens again it might keep me going).

My normal EDC is in a black daysac (either with me or in the car behind driving seat) which i can upgrade to a decent GHB with extra stuff (coincidently in a stuff sac) i won’t bore you with a list of contents. The stuff sac is in the boot with two 2litre bottles of water and three days food, an esbit stove and billy cans, this is if we have to hunker down before heading for home. From late autumn we keep two sleeping bags in the car.

That is the cars current everyday setup, if anyone can think of anything to improve it please post.

If the car is needed for a BO i’ve recently made up crate with a tent, another 5 x 4 tarp, camping gaz stoves, gas cartridges, candles, two empty folding water containers, extra food, first aid and meds, this crate is work in progress and is constantly being added to.

All the above is a waste of time and money if when you need it the fuel tank is nearly empty, never let the fuel gauge drop below halfway, that is your emergency reserve, if parking the vehicle up for some time keep it full, this leaves no space for condensation to build up in the tank.

I have tried to do nothing to the car or it’s contents that would make it stand out or give anyone cause to stop it, the grey man approach.


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[Straight Shooter]

We have just the one LandRover now …….its always prepped ….but winter time the normal extras are also loaded into extra crates that are covered in the boot BO crates are ready to go and numbered in a load sequence including a trailer load sequence including more fuel ...i'v got into the habit of refilling the truck when three quarter mark is reached …..as for the contents of the kits ….not that much different from you Pete other than coms and food quantities , if the trailer is used for a full scale BO that is covered but compromises and trade offs would have to come in to play.

[Pete Grey]

As you know SS most of our preps are in crates, for convenience (easy to stack and check contents) if we are bugging in. If we’re bugging out for speedy loading of which ever vehicle we are using.

As you say crates have to be numbered or marked and load sequenced, with the camper plenty room for all crates, with the car much less space so compromises have to be made, some crates are essential, but we’ve still got to maintain a wide balance of our perceived needs.

With the car i think with the everyday stuff i posted there is room for the tent box then a crate of canned foods, dry food crate, the first aid and meds crate, the kitchen stuff crate, and the sleeping bags, we can cover/hide these.

That’s it without loading the car to the gunnels. We don’t want to make the car an obvious target.

Anything left would have to be hidden for when we return. In the meantime over the next few months i want to cache more stuff at our BOL. That will make things easier in the future.

[Mortblanc]

My vehicle is much the same. I have settled on a rather unnoticeable little red Jeep Liberty of 2006 vintage. I believe you folks still called that model the Cherokee. The engine is good, a Chrysler 3.7L V6 with the normal automatic transmission you folks spurn. There is also 4WD and I just had the front suspension rebuilt. The windows go up and down and the heater works. The radio not so much, depending on the artist I choose.

I did install a roof rack and high intensity driving lights on the rack. Not that I drive much at night. I have tried to stay off the roads at night since my first cataract surgery ten years ago.

The roof rack serves the primary function of being a visual symbol that answers the eternal question "where did I park that #%$& car ?"

After all, over here the best practice for a SHTF "get home" scenerio is a trip to the grocery on Friday evening. You see, our average car park outside the Walmart covers about 50 acres, and yes, they will be nearly full on Friday night.

Every form of deviant, non-English speaking, mutant hillbilly in the area will be at Walmart in every form of dilapidated rusted out vehicle a Mad Max movie ever imagined. You dodge all these creatures form the zombie horde as you shop, then you have to find your vehicle and believe me there are fifteen or twenty in every car part that are identical to yours.

So you burst free of the zombie horde and race across the lot, dodging the "circlers" that dropped their significant zombie off at the door with the words, "I'll just drive around the lot until you come out!"

Now here is where the real "bug out" practice comes in, You now must push your trolley with one wanky wheel across the 50 acre lot to your waiting survival vehicle! God help you if you do not have a reference indicator marking your vehicle for access on the first try. If one of the circlers hits you the kids left alone in the parked cars will swarm your cart and take all your plunder!

Add to this the fact that it is winter and there will be either driving rain, freezing wind, blizzard snow, or possibly the creep of the Arabian desert and 40 degree temps due to global warming which one must endure, survive and thrive. I have not had that last part yet, except in summer when we cal it "Normal".

Many a time I have gotten to the vehicle and thought, I am nearly there, if something happens now I have milk, donuts and white bread to live on for several days.

And something could very well happen!

According to the insurance underwriters, and if anyone knows statistics it is insurance underwriters, 53% of all traffic accidents occur between 3pm and 12am on Friday evening!

I now have a 53% chance of being killed or maimed in an accident on the way home, or starving to death in the traffic backup from the closed highway due to some other poor fool's accident.

So due to that scenerio there is a large tote with goodies in the back of the Jeep, Tent, tarp, stove, food, water....

and I have measured the consumption rate of my vehicle while idling, which is just short of a liter per hour, (Aprox 75 liter tank) so if I have to run the heater all night I am covered since the Walmart also sells fuel and any sane person filed up in the crowd of fuel seekers that remind you of the 1973 fuel shortages. Walmart also increases their fuel prices on Friday evening, imagine that!

Many is the time I have dragged myself from the vehicle to the sanctuary of the bug out location, leaving the plunder of the forage intact in the Jeep, too tired to unload immediately and muttering "Never again will I go for groceries on Friday night, those people are insane!"

Now I am reminded that it is Friday, and I am out of peanut butter and spam. It looks like I must check the magazines in the AR and head back to Walmart.

[bigpaul]

which is why I never shop on a Friday OR in the afternoon!

[CharlesHarris]

Mort, perfect description on the Martinsburg mall. That's why I drive to Winchester (Virginia) to shop.

[Pete Grey]

(7 December 2019, 17:13)Mortblanc Wrote: ..............I did install a roof rack and high intensity driving lights on the rack........The roof rack serves the primary function of being a visual symbol that answers the eternal question "where did I park that #%$& car ?"

A good few years ago, more years that i care to remember, on a holiday in Devon i was driving around with an orange inflatable dinghy on the roof rack. I could see the car from half a mile away, no problem.

Unfortunately there was a thunderstorm while we were and the thing filled up with rain water, bent the roof rack and nearly dented the roof.

I could not move the dingy, much too heavy, but i was able to take out the air filler and let the air out and the water cascaded out as it lost it’s rigidity, then i reinflated it and turned it upside down, never made that mistake again.

As for the zombie hordes we also try to avoid shopping Friday nights, and Saturday is just as bad. We don’t have trouble finding our car it’s the scruffy old one in the corner, the hordes from eastern europe usually drive merc’s or bmw’s, and park in the disabled driver spaces.

[bigpaul]

at least you knew it had no leaks, Pete.
no eastern European's, horde's or otherwise, where I live.
best time to go shopping is early part of the morning, back by mid morning and that's with a 40-50 mile round trip.
only the plebs go shopping at the weekend.

[Mortblanc]

Many years ago, when I was much younger and less senile, I spent almost a half hour scouring a big car park for my truck. Walked every row and laid eyes on every vehicle, it was nowhere.

I would have called the police and reported it stolen if there had been cell phones back then. That truck was gone.

Then I remembered that I had driven the Jeep that day???

[Straight Shooter]

Sorry guys this reminds me of the golf joke...……………………...two guys on their own team up to play a round Tony tees off down the fairway he is dead centre …….great shot says Mike as he tee's off …….oh bad luck says tony as mikes ball disappears into the rough , they walk on down …..hell tony says I don't think you are going to find that ball ! yeah I will ! they both look in the thick undergrowth ….what's that noise mike ? that's my ball , it makes an audible alarm so I can find it …..that's incredible ! they play on ……...tony tees off perfect line again followed by mike …….oh bad luck mike you hit the pond ! they walk on down towards the pond and tony stops dead in his tracks in disbelief ...as mikes ball comes to the surface on a floatation ring then a small propeller pop's out then wizzes the ball to the shoreline …..I have never seen anything like it tony blurts out never ! yes it does that if it comes into contact with water exclaims mike …..as the light starts to fade the tee up for the last hole …….tony go's first perfect shot onto the green ……..mike slices it straight into mega thick growth in between two streams ……….oh mate ! you are having a real bad day ! you will never find that ball now , the noise from those streams will drown out your alarm...….mike says wait …..hold on tony can not believe his eyes mikes ball is now oscillating blue to red to green to white and you could now hear the alarm ! fucking hell man ! this is incredible …….I have played golf for thirty five years , I have never ever seen anything like this ….and with my own eyes......you would only have to buy one ball ever ……..where did you buy it mike?

punch line coming up












I don't know tony ……...I only found it two days ago !