Just what is the ultimate bug out vehicle?

The idea of the ultimate bug out vehicle is something tossed around a LOT on the internet. I see monster tactical vehicles, cars kitted out like they’re straight out of a post-apocalyptic Mad Max set, and old bug out trucks from the 40’s. I figured it’s high time I talk about what the ultimate bug out vehicle really is.

My thoughts on the Ultimate Bug Out Vehicle

First, if you’ve been reading my little homestead on the web for a while, you know that I’m pretty big on planning and being realistic about prepping and survival. You also know that I rarely, if ever, say that anything is the best thing.

Finding what a good bug out truck or car is is no different. The question of which car, truck, motorcycle, boat, plane, or bicycle would be the best in a SHTF scenario is a pretty vague one.

First, you need to know just what you’re preparing for.

Are you looking for a vehicle to escape town before or after an earthquake? Are you looking for something that you can use as a combat vehicle in case our monetary system collapses? Do you need something to get you to a bug out shelter like a cabin in the woods? Are you planning on heading to a deserted island after the total collapse of society due to an EMP, zombie apocalypse or some other TEOTWAWKI event?

Now you may not be planning on one particular scenario, nor should you be. Some SHTF events would be absolutely catastrophic if you’re not prepared for them but they’re not very likely. Some events are extremely likely to happen in your lifetime and having the right bug out truck or car (or whatever vehicle you need to get the job done) would be immensely helpful.

Once you have an idea of what you’re planning on having to deal with, you need to think of what scenarios that would entail, what you’d be bringing, who’s coming along, and several other things that will depend on what situations you might face. Will you need to go offroad? Will you have to travel far? How much bug out gear are you taking? What are the biggest threats you’ll need to deal with that aren’t due to your route, such as OPSEC?

Just like a gun, a vehicle is just a tool. Some tools are better than others to get the job done but it’s really up to how you prepare and use it as to how useful it really is. You need to come up with a car that’ll be the best option for whatever you’re planning but not be so focused that it can’t be used in other scenarios.

The truck in the featured image for this post is my truck. It would work in some SHTF situations because it’s 4wd, Diesel (I can make my own fuel), sits several people, and has a camper on the back. In other situations, it wouldn’t work at all. I use it for an emergency ham radio communications center but it usually just sits in my back yard as my ham shack.

To figure out which mode of transportation (or modes) would be best, here are some considerations.

Gas mileage

Having a gigantic IED-resistant uber-combat tactical vehicle like a deuce and a half or a tank may be great if you need to go through nasty enemy-filled routes but they require an incredible amount of fuel.

Gas mileage isn’t just a consideration for the fringe vehicles that people buy in case SHTF. Some people want to have an old truck for bugging out because they may be resistant to an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) and they’re easy to work on, but they don’t typically go very far on a gallon of gas. If your bug out shelter is 500 miles from home and you only get 300 miles on a tank of gas, you’ll need two tanks just to get there, not counting what you’ll need once you’re there. AND, if you’ve ever gone off road before, your gas mileage drops considerably. If you were getting 10 mpg on the road, you may be getting 3 once you leave the streets.

Type of fuel

This is a big consideration. One of the big advantages of military vehicles is that you can use almost anything flammable in them. Some fuels may gum up the system or whatever but it’ll run. If you don’t have whatever fuel your car needs, it isn’t going anywhere. Hopefully you have a good backpack.

Gas vs diesel

This one’s a tough one. Gas is a lot more available if SHTF because it’s everywhere. Diesel is much harder to find. Diesel does have a HUGE advantage though that you can make biodiesel at home. Books such asBiodiesel Basics and Beyond: A Comprehensive Guide to Production and Use for the Home and Farm can explain exactly how to do it. Luckily, biodiesel is a lot more mainstream now so you can buy a complete biodiesel processor right from freaking Amazon! Imagine having something like that. You can make diesel; you can’t make gas.

I’m gonna have to write a few articles about that.  A lot of people think that if the apocalypse comes, they can get all the gas they need with just a screwdriver from all the gas tanks in the vehicles just sitting around or just siphon it from the tanks in the ground. Fuel just doesn’t last very long. I put fuel stabilizer in my vehicles whenever I get deployed for more than a few months but neither my Desert Warrior Harley or my F250 so well while I was gone this time to Afghanistan. I came back 18 months after training and deployment and the entire fuel systems of both vehicles had to be replaced. Not such a bad job on the bike but the truck cost me over $1,000 in repairs.

Gasifier

If you haven’t looked into gasifier systems, you should. If you connect one of these to your car, you can run off wood. Isn’t that awesome? They did that a lot back in the great depression. I’m planning on making a gasifier generator later this year but you can use the same type of system to run a vehicle.

Check out the book Construction of a Simplified Wood Gas Generator: For Fueling Internal Combustion Engines in a Petroleum Emergency if you’d like to learn more.

Start with this video if you want to see how to do it.

Reliability

I used to own a 1971 International Scout 4×4 when I was in high school in rural Pennsylvania. It was a fantastic truck off road. I could climb hills so steep that the carburetor floats wouldn’t work, by crawling it up using the starter motor. There weren’t many places I couldn’t take it. The problem was that it was a P.O.S. and I spent more time under the hood than I did behind the wheel.

Your car may hit all the checkmarks on your ultimate bug out vehicle list but if it breaks down a lot, you won’t be getting very far.

Whatever vehicle you get, I’d suggest going through it mechanically and getting it in top-running condition before you go spending a lot of money on wenches and big tires.

Ease of repair

You may think this is the same thing, but it’s not. A Honda Accord may be a super reliable vehicle, but if it breaks down, you may have a hard time fixing it. Not only is it pretty complicated, finding parts isn’t very easy.

On the other hand, a 1970 F-series or Chevy truck may not have the reliability of a Honda, but parts are plentiful and they’re super easy to fix.

In any case, do yourself a favor. In addition to having tools and a few spare parts, get yourself a copy of something like Auto Repair For Dummies as well as the repair manual for your specific vehicle.

EMP/CME

Contrary to what a lot of people think, an electromagnetic pulse from the sun or some idiot terrorist or government is actually fairly likely. In fact, it WILL happen at some point again from the sun as it has many times for billions of years.

Modern vehicles are run by computer. Computers don’t like EMP. The military has been hardening their vehicles against it for generations. Older vehicles would be almost EMP-proof.

The problem is that there just hasn’t been adequate testing on how vulnerable vehicles are to EMP. It all depends on just how big of a blast it would be. In most cases, the vehicle would just shut off and you’d have to restart it. In severe cases, it won’t ever start without replacing the CPUs and sensors throughout the car.

OPSEC

Here’a a big consideration, based on what exactly you’re planning for. If you have a big 5-ton military vehicle in your back yard and drive it through town occasionally, everyone knows it. If society breaks down, you’ll have to spend a lot of resources to protect that vehicle.

On the other hand, if you have something like a Jeep Grand Cherokee or Toyota Landcruiser, you can kit them out inside to be extremely capable vehicles off road and most people wouldn’t give them a passing glance.

Off road capability

Bigger isn’t necessarily better. A lot of being able to drive off road comes down to driver ability. I used to have an old VW Beetle that I paid $52 for back in high school (I’ve had a lot of vehicles) that I could take places off road that trucks couldn’t go because it had a surprising amount of ability in the woods and a short wheelbase. I could fit under trees and go down into ditches without hanging up on my bumpers like the big trucks did. That’s a big reason why Jeep CJs do so well.

Clearance and drivetrain are also considerations. You can improve these by upgrading the hubs, lifting the vehicle or modifying the wheel well to fit bigger tires, and waterproofing your engine.

Practicality

Essentially, it all comes down to practicality. Some vehicles are really good for some situations but they’re pretty useless in others. Choosing the right bug out vehicle comes down to finding something that will work when you need it to. All your plans are irrelevant if the SHTF scenario you planned for isn’t the SHTF scenario that happens and you end up having to leave your vehicle at home or on the side of the road. You just wasted a lot of resources that you could have spent elsewhere.

Personally, all my vehicles are bug out vehicles. You never know where you’ll be when something happens that you gotta get outta Dodge. Doesn’t do much good to have the ultimate SHTF vehicle when the zombies come if it’s sitting at home and you can’t make it home – or it gets stolen or broken and you need to do something else. Even my Harley is set up to bug out if it came to that, but it’s not my first choice:

Also, it helps tremendously if your bug out vehicle is also your family vehicle. It’s all well and good to have a huge zombie mobile but if you can only use it for zombies, it’s nothing but an ego boost and something to brag about. As my roommate in college used to say, “Not good cheese, man.”

What do you think the ultimate bug out vehicle is? What do you have right now? What upgrades have you done?

  by graywolf 

About graywolf 

I am a former federal agent and military veteran who has deployed to combat theaters in Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan and have almost three decades of military and military contracting experience.

My goal is to help preppers and others understand how to intelligently protect their family and their way of life against real threats, without all the end-of-the-world doomsday crap.

 Pro Deo et Constitutione – Libertas aut Mors

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis

Joseph F Barber- https://twitter.com/toptradesmen

https://www.facebook.com/FREEDOMORANARCHYCampaignofConscience

Some resource I used for this article:

S. Hrg. 109-30: Terrorism and the Emp Threat to Homeland Security

Critical National Infrastructures Report (PDF, 7MB)

EMPs: How to detect a blast that could darken the world

Protecting Land Mobile Vehicles from HEMP Threat Environment