Bugout Vehicle: What do You do if You Can’t Drive?

You have, of course, heard the expression about putting all of your eggs in one basket. Carry that thinking over to your bug-out-vehicle, your BOV if you will. If you pin all of your hopes on your vehicle during a crisis, you may be putting your survival at risk in some cases.

Imagine your BOV is packed top to bottom with your emergency essentials, and you can only get a few miles down the road. A vehicle packed with much more than you could ever possibly carry in a pack, and at this point caching your supplies is out of the question as well. What do you do if you can’t drive?

In some cases, it may make more sense to have a bug-out-vehicle hidden somewhere other than at your home, at a bug-out-location perhaps or some other place. This sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it.

It makes sense, because if the situation is so dire that you have to bug-out, chances are you will not be able to leave in a vehicle. A situation that causes you to flee your home may very well have damaged roads or the fact that everyone else is trying to flee the area, and thus, creating gridlock. Now you have a vehicle packed top to bottom and you cannot leave in it, and yet you have to leave to save your life.

The only option is to leave on foot, and how comforting would it be to realize that you do have a vehicle at the ready somewhere away from the disaster are, vehicle at the ready with some supplies cached close by or even in the vehicle if it is hidden well enough.

Once at your safe haven or even a few miles outside of the urban sprawl, you have options if you have a vehicle that you can walk too, but if you tried to leave in one at the onset it may very well be abandoned somewhere along the route, because of conditions caused by a disaster. An abandoned vehicle with supplies inside that you could not carry nor cache.

You have to reverse the process to create a situation away from the destruction. However, you have to plan carefully and have a location in which you feel comfortable. Once at the location with a vehicle at the ready, you have given yourself more options. You can hunker down there or move from that area.

The vehicle can be at a trusted friends or family members’ home or hidden on some property that you own, or have complete access to at any time. This is no small feat by any means, but bugging out with a vehicle and only being able to go a few miles is not a problem you can overcome, so you have to eliminate the problem before it is created.

Obviously, you have to choose your vehicle carefully. It needs to be big enough to accommodate your gear and passengers and well maintained to ensure it will operate when needed. Keep in mind your vehicle may have to double as a shelter for several days or even longer, as well.

No one really knows what an EMP will do to any vehicle and guessing is only going to get you into trouble, so the older the vehicle the better, and one that looks like it is ready for the salvage yard might keep people from investigating it too closely if they happen upon it by chance. A shiny new rig hidden under some Camo netting is a beacon in the night.

Keep the gas tank empty when parking it, but, of course, have gasoline/diesel cached close at hand and use a fuel stabilizer to keep the fuel fresh. One reason for emptying the tank is to keep someone from driving off with your vehicle and to prevent the fuel from deteriorating in the tank and lines and literally gumming up the works.

This plan is not for everyone, and once the SHTF any plans will likely change, but knowing you have a vehicle and supplies cached somewhere can save your life.

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Source: prepforshtf.com