survival drivers test

reply to post by Destinyone


Honestly, the best we could hope for would be for TSHTF in the winter. I hate to say this, but it would cull the numbers a bit...and make survival a bit easier for the rest of us who were prepared. (I am refering to unruly mobs, etc)

I would say I'm a pretty good driver myself, having driven trucks, sedans, and the occasional retro-fitted bus! (For a local cherry farmer, they had the old school buses converted to carry tanks of cherries!)

How many of you can snow ski, ice skate, or even have snow shoes?
How many know how to rappel and have mountain climbing gear?
How many of you know how to ride a horse and cinch up a saddle and bit a horse?
how many of you can start a fire in the snow and ice and in the rain?
how many of you know how to siphon gas from others vehicles
how many of you know how to change a flat or even check the oil

Id say 90 percent of the folks in here aren't able or willing to do any of this stuff and are a liability on the roads in hazardous conditions, especially because most don't have the proper equipment or skills to survive if faced with having to survive and would freeze to death if they were ever stranded in the snow in a blizzard


what does the first part of my response have to do with anything? NOTHING unless you are skilled

Originally posted by sweetnlow
How many of you can snow ski, ice skate, or even have snow shoes?
How many know how to rappel and have mountain climbing gear?
How many of you know how to ride a horse and cinch up a saddle and bit a horse?
how many of you can start a fire in the snow and ice and in the rain?
how many of you know how to siphon gas from others vehicles
how many of you know how to change a flat or even check the oil

that's another thread.

but i'd raise my hand to most of your posts.
although i'm a decent rider, i've never owned a horse.the climbing gear is in the scout, although i'm not one for solo on cliffs, i do have rapelling and rescues skills with rope.
important topic.

how many of you know how to siphon gas from others vehicles

but you should add, without getting a mouthful of gas.

Originally posted by sweetnlow
How many of you can snow ski, ice skate, or even have snow shoes?
How many know how to rappel and have mountain climbing gear?
How many of you know how to ride a horse and cinch up a saddle and bit a horse?
how many of you can start a fire in the snow and ice and in the rain?
how many of you know how to siphon gas from others vehicles

how many of you know how to change a flat or even check the oil

Id say 90 percent of the folks in here aren't able or willing to do any of this stuff and are a liability on the roads in hazardous conditions, especially because most don't have the proper equipment or skills to survive if faced with having to survive and would freeze to death if they were ever stranded in the snow in a blizzard


what does the first part of my response have to do with anything? NOTHING unless you are skilled

Check all three.

Check all from North Face. Chouinard ice axe,and crampons. Keep a nice mix of carabiners in pack, truck and house.

Check...broke my first horse in at 9 years old.

Check....have climbed most of the glaciers in the Sierras. 2-3 week trips with base camp at 12,000ft or above.

check...keep clear tubing for that...plus have a hand pump one.

check...truck, car, 4-wheeler, riding lawn mower, motorcycle, bicycle...garden wagon.

What do I win....

reply to post by Destinyone

What do I win....

a couple extra days before the drones spot you.

Originally posted by rubbertramp
reply to post by Destinyone

 

What do I win....

a couple extra days before the drones spot you.

They'll have to learn to fly under over-hang cliffs.....:I'll be the one hanging in a butt bag.....lol:

Looks like I'd have a class A off-road survival license based on your definitions and my history there.

Can you drive uphill on a 45 degree incline in two to three feet of mud with a '57 Ford station wagon? The vehicle earned the nickname of "Sherman Tank"

Can you hop two to three foot wide crevasses to hell with a 67 Chevy Impala?

Can you spin wheelies in several feet of loose sandy beach and pull out of it at any desired moment?

Can you drive WITHOUT those snow chains and make it home in time for dinner?

Can you (as a passenger) steer and talk guide a driver out of a black ice-spin on a loaded freeway?

Can you ride an oilwell derrick bareback? Oooops, that probably doesn't count.

reply to post by Destinyone

your life if ever faced with that challenge in a survival situation

Originally posted by sweetnlow
reply to post by Destinyone

 

your life if ever faced with that challenge in a survival situation

Oh...I've had a couple of close calls. My Guardian Angel works overtime with me....

As far as siphoning gas from other vehicles, wouldn't it be much quicker and more efficient to just punch a hole in the tank of the 'dead' vehicle, put a funnel under the hole and just let it all drain into gas can, or whatever container?

This can be done by one person, quickly, with way less hands-on time, freeing up time to keep eyes open on situational awareness while petrol is drained, and/or scavenging other effects and/or parts from dead vehicle.

A petrol vehicle makes you a slave to petrol anyway. Go horse, or go bicycle, or simply walk!

Other people are likely going to be the biggest concern you have, so, the more invisible you are with the smallest footprint, the better.

Hell, if you're going to run, why not hit the coast, and steal a sailboat out of a marina? All the fat cats that own those luxury 100ft yachts with solar and wind generators, that run fresh water makers and other goodies will be holed up somewhere else. Plus, rule of law is gone, so, there's no one about to protest your accommodation. No need for petrol, and with sailboat you can go pretty much anywhere else in the WORLD that has ocean.

Forget having a car, or a bus, or even a military tank. Gimme sailboat.

reply to post by rubbertramp


This sort of driving that you're emphasizing is, in my opinion, about risk analysis, patience, and survivability. It may require nerves of steel here and there, but for anyone who has trekked thru harsh terrain I think most of'em would concede that the three factors I've previously noted trump all other concerns.

Once a vehicle goes down (and assuming you've no support elements, spare parts, fuel, technical know-how) you're more or less up the creek without a paddle.

My 2 cents.

those tire caltrops and a small box at the back of your rig with a button to drop them would help out too or better yet hook them up to a chain so u could reel them out if persued for a while.as for vehicle id have to say go with something manual and former military like an old blazer or power wagon or something that can burn things other then gas to get along. getting one of those grille and rear mounted spare tire mounts can protect the radiator and the back of the rig in the event ramming is nessisary and provide spare tires(better yet run flats),roof racks and what not probably wouldn't hurt either as well as some jerry cans. if you have machining knowledge you could rig up some kinda smoke generator(dump oil on the engine or whatnot) snorkel kit (if stream filled area) would also be quite usefull

as for driving techniques to specificly try to learn that can be hard are how to successfully ram a car or other object with a big bumper to kinda prepare your self for inevitable impacts and practice driving on flat tires (in controlled environment)and figuring out what exactly your vehicle can do might just save your life and learning how to e break can be of advantage

some other usefull tools i didnt see mentioned were winches (come along was mentioned) heavy chains and the ability of your rig to provide power (i think they are called inverters?)and auxilery lights and or black out ones if you can find them (for night travel discretly) and it probably be usefull to have some kind of fuel pump resovior (truck bed mounted usually) and cb for comunications and extending your range(have one vehicle act as a fuel tender) and while i have never seen one made some kind of scoop to pick up and or clear road blockages kinda like snow plow but lighter and anything lightweight you can use to armour weak points couldnt hurt

s&f op

I'll be laughing at all the people trying to drive their 4x4's around/ across/ through piles of abandoned cars as I drive by on my dirt bike! A 4x4 is not the answer in a SHTF situation. Roads will be clogged and impassable, and sides of the roads will not be an option for cars/ trucks due to ditches, guardrails, fences, etc. But a good, light dirtbike will go just about anywhere. With another set of hands you can even carry them over obstructions if needed. You can also quickly and easily siphon gas out of cars into a bike and be back on your way in minutes.

reply to post by SavedOne


My big ol' Harley isn't as convenient as your Dirtbike, but it is still much better than the truck for getting through town! I think that is a great idea. Also easier to evade authorities if need be. I've wondered about that plan some. After SHTF, and I hunker down for about 2 weeks, and then it is time for that first scouting trip....... Well, the first scouting trip would definitely be on foot, so maybe it is time for that 2nd or 3rd scouting trip, should I take the bike for convenience and evasion, or take the truck for hauling capacity, protection, and tools? What do ya'll think?

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by SavedOne

 

My big ol' Harley isn't as convenient as your Dirtbike, but it is still much better than the truck for getting through town!

I think that is a great idea. Also easier to evade authorities if need be. I've wondered about that plan some. After SHTF, and I hunker down for about 2 weeks, and then it is time for that first scouting trip....... Well, the first scouting trip would definitely be on foot, so maybe it is time for that 2nd or 3rd scouting trip, should I take the bike for convenience and evasion, or take the truck for hauling capacity, protection, and tools? What do ya'll think?

Have a 1983 Honda CT 110 in the garage, sitting next to 2 Pentons both early 70's.... Penton 170cc and the other a 125cc.

The Honda I call the goat bike, it can climb a tree if needed...and it's called a Postie in Australia, because that's what they used to deliver the mail.

Yep...all set here....

all i can say is stay in the middle of the road at all costs on any country road regardless of weather and road conditions.

the steep banks on the side can swallow up your car and you'll have no way of pulling it out without help, which could be mins. or days away.

unless you install a winch or have a portable one. every survivalist should have one.

reply to post by SavedOne


dirt bikes are nice, got an old enduro, but you can't carry much.
where i live i can catch dirt roads for literally hundreds of miles.
i can head to arizona, i can cut right across the entire gila, i can visit other friends if needed, i can head north towards colorado, all by dirt.
might need to cross pavement on occasion, but what you say really doesn't concern me.
depending on the situaltion, i can deliver hundreds of gallons of spring water from my property to whomever may need it.
i can use the scout for rescues and runs to the hospital, even in multiple feet of snow.
i could go on about uses, but let me ask, can you do that with a dirt bike?

seems to me, too many claim to understand what a survival, shtf scenario will be like.
personally i'm trying to be equiped for any situation, and i think those who claim to know how it will go down are in many ways kidding themselves.
survival doesn't mean just avoiding a trip to a fema camp.
it means being ready for multiple different scenarios.

My dad started teaching my to drive when I was 3 by putting my on his lap and refusing to steer. When I was 5 I was driving the tractor in the field while he stacked square bales. Still wasn't big enough to hit the clutch at that point so if we had to stop he would have to jump off the wagon and run up to the tractor and stop it. There was a lot of pressure not to screw up as bringing about a stop would be a major hassle with the short time delay.

When I was seven I could stand on the clutch on pry down on the steering wheel with my arms which got me graduated to driving on the mostly deserted roads around here. We work in swampy, hilly glacially carved country with many different types of soil all jumbled together that often present multiple separate challenges on a single pass.

So yeah I've seen some offroad, what do you want me to drive where?

So yeah I've seen some offroad, what do you want me to drive where?

i want you to drive my scout, loaded with supplies a few women and their children from my place in s.w. new mexico to a buddies stronghold in montana.
must be done almost entirely by dirt in order to avoid the roadblocks.
it'll be you and 2 other similarly equiped vehicles.

reply to post by rubbertramp


That sounds like fun yet I have my own family and resources here in a still fairly remote location. Most likely I wont be bugging out very far. Perhaps though I have given you an idea of where to find a driver.

good luck to all