If you live in an urban area and you can afford it, having a bug out vehicle is a great idea. Aside from the protection it will provide you with, a bug out car or truck will give you mobility so you can get out of your urban area if that’s the best course of action.
With some time on our hands, you can choose to make your primary vehicle your bug out vehicle. You can design your vehicle so that modifications can be done very quickly when SHTF.
Some Real Benefits With A Bug Out Vehicle
You won’t be bugging out with just one bag. You’ll be able to load up with a lot of stuff to weather the storm when you’re equipped with a bug out vehicle. If you’re bugging out on foot with a bug out bag, bringing your dog with you would be very difficult, if not impossible. Carrying your fishing poles or a sleeping bag with you would be tough too. These things are definitely not an issue when you’re on 4 wheels. You can also bring lots of water with you before you have to start filtering pond water or rainwater. Considering all the space you’ll have for provisions, you could bring enough pemmican with you to feed you for the rest of your life, let alone a month or two! With a setup like this, you will be better off than most people, if you have all your ducks in a row and you know where to go.
What Makes A Good Bug Out Vehicle.
The most important thing to consider would be if the vehicle is durable. It probably goes without saying that a 4 cylinder 1997 compact car is not ideal for the task at hand. Something strong, sturdy and ideally with 4 wheel drive is what a good bug out vehicle is made of. Something that can go off road is ideal. You don’t want a bright or flashy color. Black is probably best, with dark blue coming in second.
establish multiple locations that you could survive a SHTF scenario.
You need something you can take off-road and get you to a place nobody will ever see you. When you get to your bug out location you will be camping in style. All the supplies you need to weather the storm, and a strong safe way to get you out of dodge if anything happens while you’re there. If you plan strategically and have multiple good bug out locations, the chance of you running into trouble diminishes. The more you research and plan, the better your chances become of never being discovered by anyone and making it through to the other side without any issues. No issues with humans that is.
Interesting Modifications You Can Make To Your Bug Out Vehicle
Roof rack — you need as much storage space as possible, so why not add to it with a roof rack where you can carry even more supplies with you
Solar panel — with a single solar panel you can generate electricity to power your phone and any other devices you might have. You can do an inexpensive modification to your bug out vehicle so that the solar panel mounts to the ceiling of the interior and you can easily remove it to absorb sun rays.
Auxiliary fuel tank — Your bug out location should not be too far from home, so this one might not be essential. Then again, better safe than sorry. If you need to move locations, gas will be a finite resource so its always better to have more.
Winch —
Other Things Your Bug Out Vehicle Will Need
Tire inflator — The last thing you want is for the tire pressure on your bug out vehicle to get so low that you risk getting a flat tire. With a portable tire inflator you can keep the pressure of your tires at an ideal level, keeping you mobile when need be.
Fire extinguisher — Not much of a description necessary here. If a fire starts you need a way to effectively put it out. If your bug out vehicle catches fire, you could run the risk of losing all of your supplies and your means of movement.
Jump starting pack — When you are using your vehicle as shelter and it is your command base from your top secret bug out location, you will be using the battery constantly. If your battery dies and the vehicle won’t start, you’ll be very unhappy. With a jump starting pack this won’t be a concern.
Know Where To Go
Here is probably the most important aspect of this post. When you have your fully equipped but out vehicle you need to know where to go. You need multiple routes planned and multiple potential bug out locations. Your routes cannot under any circumstances include any travel on interstates or expressways. Avoiding the expressway as things go down is an absolute must. By avoiding, I mean staying at least 5 miles away from it if possible, let alone getting on it. Know your area and the area you’re traveling to like the back of your hand. Know the side streets, back roads, and inconspicuous roads you can travel on to get to your bug out location.
If there are checkpoints, police will ask you where you are going. The only answer they will probably accept is “I’m going home”. They will see your address on your drivers license and if you’re driving in the opposite direction of your home you might not be let through. Have a convincing story. Something like this: “I need to go help my mother. She fell and hurt herself. I’m going to be staying with her until things get back to normal because she needs my help. She lives on Sycamore Drive in such and such town.” Have an intersection or address within a mile or two of your bug out location memorized in your head. You will be waved through and you can move forward to your bug out location.
Obviously your bug out location will be somewhere not visible to other cars on the road and totally out of sight in general. With proper planning you can
