Choosing a Bug Out Vehicle

While I don’t feel that the term “bug out vehicle” reflects precisely what I’m going for in this article, I’ll use it anyway because I think most of my readers will quickly understand what I mean.
The Bug out Vehicle is supposed to be the vehicle used to escape the city when disaster strikes. While some events may force you to do so, what I want is a vehicle that could be used for such scenario, but also covers both several other scenarios that are more likely, and at the same time works for the mode typical mundane use. Maybe  “Survival Emergency Vehicle” would be a broader definition, one that includes the possible bug out scenarios but takes into account other considerations.
Without wasting time lets go right into what we’re looking for.
Financial Crisis considerations: This already being a fact and not a “what if”, there are certain points to keep in mind so that our vehicle responds to the economic crisis part of the equation as well.
*The vehicle should be affordable. I suppose few of us have money to throw away. Without compromising on quality, buying used tends to save you lots of money that can be put to better use. As a rule of thumb if you buy a vehicle that is three or four years old and has less than 40.000 miles you’re still looking at a relatively new car that has many years ahead of it, and you’re buying it for a fraction of what it costs.  10.000 miles a year tends to be standard, be suspicious of cars that have much more or much less than that and check that the general wear of the car insides matches the miles its supposed to have.
*The vehicle should be known for its ruggedness and reliability.
*Repairs should be easy to make, hopefully you’ll be able to do at least some of your own, so easy to understand car mechanics and engines would be best. The model should be popular enough so that mechanics are familiar with them and spare parts are both easy to find and affordable.
*Regarding efficiency, this will be a vehicle that you’ll be using mostly for driving on good roads. Maybe it doubles as your daily driver or commute car, so good millage is very important so as to be affordable to keep it fed. Even in some evacuation scenario or emergency that requires driving long distances, fuel efficiency means you get to cover more miles with less of your scarce fuel resources, or using whatever you manage to scrounge around.
*If possible, manual would be preferred. It uses less fuel, its mechanically more simple and you tend to have more control of the vehicle.  In some situations such as when wounded or when there’s a driver with no experience with manual transmission, then automatics are and advantage, so both have their pro and cons.
*It should be able to deal with some off-road driving, drive across mud, snow and sand. Even if this vehicle will be dealing with paved roads 95% of the time, you don’t want to get stuck during an emergency or if you ever have to drive around traffic or blocked vehicles. Because of this, the vehicle should have the option of 4WD. The chances of you needing it aren’t high, but if possible it would be good to have that alternative. Here we will have to compromise to a degree because off road capability, good road driving and efficient gas millage tend to be mutually excluding. Don’t forget that a fuel efficient soccer mom van may take your entire family and gear twice the distance a fuel thirsty 4.0 4×4 can. Not to mention that its much cheaper to driver on daily basis. Think SUV or light off road capability, you don’t need a monster rock climber.
*The vehicle should be small enough so as to maneuver around debris, car wreck, or whatever may be blocking the road. You want a car that has some muzzle, but agility makes for a more convenient vehicle for daily driving and when you need to move fast during emergencies as well. At the same time, it should be big enough to fit your entire family and your supplies.  Again we’ll have to compromise and go for some medium sized vehicle, not too big, not to small, but something that seats 5 with room to spare. You might get away with a smaller 3-door SUV if you’re on your own but always plan on needing some room later on.
Some Recommendations
Here’s a video I found on the Honda CR-V. This one would be one of my first choices. Honda cars have the same reputation as Honda generators. They just work and keep working after others die.


My second recommendation is the Toyota RAV4. This is a nice little vehicle and has acceptable gas millage. Its also pretty good as an off road vehicle.

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FerFAL

Why Hiding Money in Books isn’t such a Good Idea

While doing some house cleaning I came across this little find.
500 Pesos and 50 pesos. 500 Argentine pesos is almost 100 USD, too bad its “old” pesos, from the 80’s. After that came the Austral and then Pesos again. Back in the day 500 pesos was the equivalent of 500 USD. Too bad inflation destroyed its purchasing value long ago, even before the change of currency.
I know finding 500 USD stashed from the 80’s would have been another story since its not as unstable as some south American currency but I still think there’s a couple lessons there.
First, paper money isn’t a great idea because inflation or unstable economies may cause it to lose value. Second, I think it clearly shows how easily money hidden in books gets either lost of forgotten!!
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FerFAL

Why Occupy Wall Street does not Represent You

Very few topics I’ve covered have generated as much anger as my previous post regarding OWS. Being politically correct is not in my language and I have enough friends so as to not lose sleep over who’s panties get all bunched up. If someone has a different opinion, you’re more than entitled to it. In fact, if you present it in an adult manner, without insulting and in a way it makes some sense I might even publish that different opinion in my blog.
That’s where the signs of trouble start with OWS. I can´t remember the last time I’ve got so many angry email, comments and insults. Even when talking about the Tea Party movement and allowing some people to be more disrespectful towards the movement than I should have I didn’t get that type of hate email and messages. That’s a sign of maturity, understanding and simply knowing better. When all you can do is insult then you either lack the maturity to explain yourself properly or your movement just lacks any content worthy of being explained.
One of the things that apparently angers OWS people the most was my comparison to our version of it, the “piqueteros” and either similar groups of social groups that somehow “evolved” from the piquetero movement.

What is a piquetero?
Seems every member has his or her own definition of what OWS really is.  There’s apparently as many definitions as people involved, another sign of trouble in my opinion. What apparently most of the would agree on is that they are people fed up with the system/government and are most of all fed up of Wall Street, bankers and other global corporations owned by evil greedy men that are basically destroying our planet and enslaving hard working people around the world. So far so good, and so far I’m feeling represented myself. The piqueteros started in somewhat similar way, keeping in mind the clear differences between what is considered a poor person in USA and what´s poor by South American standards. Before becoming political, piqueteros where simply people from all walks of life, mostly poor, that were just fed up of being hungry, unemployed or exploited by both the government and politicians. Eventually the piqueteros became the strong arm of the government itself, but the origins weren’t different form the ones of the OWS movement.

Occupy and Okupas
I sometimes wonder, do people really know what they are joining before saying they support this or that movement? During hard times like these its easy to be misled. You find a group of people that say they are the 99%, that they are fed up, they don’t want to be exploited by big corporations any more, “What the heck, I feel the same way!”  and you finally feel represented.
But what is “Occupy”, where does it come from? It comes from another grassroot movement, but one that may not represent you as much as you think. “Occupy” comes from the “Okupa Movement”, which is slang for “ocupa “, purposefully replacing the c for K as if making reference to their lack or dislike towards proper education and literature, maybe some rebellious spirit and lack of maturity in there as well, something the young Spaniards are known for these days. The “Okupa” movement refers specifically to occupying land, public or privately owned, that has either been abandoned or in the majority of cases, is simply unoccupied. This social problem was already common in South America but it started as a movement in Barcelona with young people living on welfare and not wanting to live with their parents any more. The movement became popular all across Europe and it went well with the idea of working very little or nothing at all, traveling across Europe collecting gov. checks and living in occupied property. The Okupa philosophy is that if a property isn’t occupied, they have a right to occupy it themselves. Sometimes the Okupas have a social twist, some form vegetarian kitchens, do arts and crafts and have a certain hippie air about them. The okupas with more political aspirations go for establishing self-managed cultural or social centers and  growing gardens.
This sort of activities have gained them social acceptance to some level but the root problem with Okupas is significant. For one it completely ignores the right to private property, to manage or inhabit it in whatever way you like. For another it indulges a lifestyle of no responsibility and lack of productivity. During one of my trips to Spain I found what I consider to be a good example of the okupa movement and the core problem of Europe: A 30 year old English skater that was skateboarding in one of the Museums of Barcelona. Dirty, unemployed, and with no intention of finding a job any time soon, he had been living off welfare for several years. I found it to be an interesting metaphor how this person showed no respect, nor any intention to visit the museum he was “playing in”, but had no contempt in damaging the structure he was using for skateboarding.

We’ve seen this kind of social “okupa” movement in Argentina after the 2001. We already had people settling and living in land they didn’t own, forming shanty towns, but after 2001 we saw it grow not only as a matter of occupied real estate, but as a political and social movement as well. Given the magnitude of the crisis it also occurred in industries as well. In some cases workers occupied factories that had been abandoned, but in many others they simply took over what didn’t belong to them. A glorification of this sort of practice can be found in the documentary “The Take”. Naomi Klein, the director of this documentary is a communist and I’ve seen her on CNN talking for OWS movement and organizing events. She’s clearly a OWL leader. While this may sound all very romantic to some remember that this is a double edged sword that cuts both ways. I’d like to hear how much you like the Occupy movement if you one day come back home after a weekend out only to find that some other family has decided to put to better use your “vacant” property. This happens all the time around here and again, its also happening in USA.
The OWS movement has no clear ideology and strategy. Some of their members claim they have, but again its as if there’s as many opinions on what should be done as people involved, with many of them claiming they don’t have a clue, they are just mad and fed up. All of them show resentment towards the so called 1%, but if you’re supposed to “redistribute” what this greedy 1% is taking away, how exactly are you supposed to do that? Through more taxation? Bigger government? It should be no surprise to see Obama showing his support to the OWS movement while being against the Tea Party movement. While not perfect the Tea Party movement has clear objectives or at least some clear stances such as less taxes, not more of them and smaller government.
Ron Paul has showed his concern for the OWS movement and I’ve always considered him a very smart man. Not only do I agree with him, I think the problem he sees with the OWS movement could be much worse if certain people with very clear agendas manage to take control of it and pull the mass that isn’t that sure of what OWS is all about in their direction.
By definition alone, and by some of the key leaders involved, the Occupy movement is clearly leaning to the left. On one hand its supposed to represent the 99% that are fed up, but on the other we all know who benefits from redistribution and socialism. I hope most of the good people that got involved because they felt identified with it in some way understand what this kind of movement is about. More taxation that is supposed to target that 1% inevitably ends up affecting the other 99%, and the bigger government is just the cause of the problem, not the solution. Maybe some of the people involved in OWS believe they are against both of these, but that exactly the monster they are feeding, even if they do it unknowingly.

Who are the leaders, speakers and representatives of OWL?

Naomi Klein, feminist, anti-consumerism , communist.

Cornel West, Black Panther Party admirerer, honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America

Slavoj Žižek, Marxist, atheist philosopher

This guy…

SO, still feeling you’re part of THIS 99%?
Have a nice weekend people.
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FerFAL

The Occupy Movement: The US version of the “Piquetero” socialist movement of 2002 in Argentina.

Ferfal,

I was reading through the news this morning and came across this article ( http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/15/police-order-protesters-to-vacate-occupy-wall-street-camp-in-zuccotti-park/?test=latestnews ) .  The part that stood out to me was the mention of the lawyers for the ‘occupiers’ using a squatters rights argument to allow them to continue staying in the park.  I was reminded of the article you wrote some months back about the growth of slums and how they took on a life of their own.  It seems the occupy protesters may be working toward the same end with a similar negative effect to surrounding business and neighborhoods.
-G

Hi G, yes I’m familiar with the Occupy movement. I saw it on the news during my stay in Salt Lake City, and it did in fact bring some memories.

When banks closed in Argentina in 2001 stealing people’s money, people with savings and bank accounts took the streets and protested. These were people with jobs, with USD savings they had done sacrifices to build and the banks just took them for themselves converting them to pesos at a 75% loss. The Occupy movement is not that kind of people. What the Occupy movement reminds me of is the worst of society that came along after the collapse, the piqueteros and other “social” movements and groups. In this case the Occupy movement is the same thing only adapted to the American idiosyncrasy. The “piquetero” movement was a reflection of the violent times we were living in: blocking roads, attacking people, looting, stealing. Many of these groups evolved into the different socially accepted political movements and groups that aligned well with the official welfare state policy.

In spite of the little differences those groups and the Occupy movement are the same thing. It’s this socialist, lefty kind of cool liberal BS abortion of nature that glorifies simbols of socialism and communism and demands redistribution. They supposedly represent the mass (the 99%) and rise against the evil 1%ers, yet knowingly or not becoming these useful idiots that end up feeding and benefiting the same structures that they are supposed to raise against. Please wake up people. During my time in Salt Lake City I wasn’t surprised to see Naomi Klein just thrilled about these movements. This woman is a communist, author of the Shock Doctrine (anti-capitalist literature) and The Take (anti-capitalist documentary based on the takeovers of companies in Argentina). That’s the true nature of the Occupy movement and trust me, its not the answer, but the way in which USA will go down to 3^rd world conditions it may never recover from.

Like Cristina and Nestor Kirchner did at their time, Obama is also siding with these social (or shall we call them what they are) political movements. Obama is being just as grotesque about it as the Kirchner´s where, saying it plain and simple, “we are on their side”.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-occupy-wall-street-we-are-their-side_598251.html
just in case anyone had any shadow of a doubt.
Folks, it´s sad and helpless, like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Politically and social this is the exact same thing we saw in Argentina. This neo-communist garbage being vomited by bums, welfare leaches, and so called intellectual alike, being promoted everywhere from work environments to universities, and just like we saw in Argentina, it all has the seal of approval of the president and staff.

Along with these useful fools, honest Americans may fall for it as well. Betrayed, overtaxed, they may feel this is the way to go, the way to get back at Wall Street and the banksters that keep getting rich on their behalf. Simply stop for a second and ask yourself. Why is the person that got placed in the presidential office by these same evil 1% supporting the groups that appear to rise against them? Because they dont!

Guess who will benefit the most from this redistribution, this increase in taxes, ruined economy, poor working conditions and neo-communist working environment? Who benefits from the destruction of the middle class, practically converted into modern slavery? Yes, that same group of bankers.
I was talking with Dave Duffy and John Silveira from Backwoods Home Magazine ( I remember, I still owe you guys an article and books!!) and at one point I told him “Communism is the most brutal form of capitalism. Just think about it, monopoly on everything, the population reduced to working for the minimum required to sustain their lives while taking advantage of nearly 100% of their production value”. John liked that quote a lot. If you think about it that’s the way it is, that’s the way in which these corporations that rule our lives benefit the most.

In the new globalized world, nothing would make our true rulers happier than seeing the entire world submerged into this neo liberal commie loving socialist intellectualoid freak of nature.
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FerFAL

Stockpiling in Anticipation of Disaster‏

Ferfal,
Great book. Now my neighbor is reading it.
Maybe it will go ‘viral’ in our neighborhood.

Having had several weather-related events
in our area (over 20 years) which cut off electricity
for days and sometimes weeks, we know how to
persevere until its return. Below is our list of
low-cost items to stockpile, which is different
than the average preparedness checklist:

1. Trash bags. Buy a bunch when they’re ‘on sale’.
2. Paper. Toilet paper, paper towels, paper plates, etc.
3. Books. Internet and cell towers were disabled.

Here’s why:
trash bags store everything from dirty clothes
to garbage while waiting for the electricity to return.
Disposable paper lessens the necessity for water
which may be unavailable due to no electricity.
Books are a pleasant distraction from the situation.
(however, the last time, we enjoyed a non-stop Poker
game with individual sheets of toilet paper as ‘chips’.
we learned 9-year-old girls have the best ‘poker face’)

Some excellent points, thanks.
I usually don’t recommend stocking up massive amounts of anything, especially not if you lack the financial resources to do so or are lacking in some other areas. I cringe when people say they stock up toilet paper “because it will be worth its weight in gold… after SHTF”.
Having said that there’s some products that are just extremely handy and versatile or that you end up using anyway no matter what. Those I will buy in quantity.
As you explained paper products are very handy, especially when there’s little water to go by. Toilet paper gets used eventually too, but please, don’t stock up on it planning on trading it or barter, think more in the lines of personal use.

Black Contractor Bags, 42 Gallon, 33×48, 3.0 Mil, 50/case
Also on big trash or contractor bags, those are fantastic. You can use a few in combination with frozen bottles. Keep some in the bottom of the fridge when the power goes down and cover with a few plastic bags for insulation, that works well. Storing and transporting all sorts of products, packing clothes, food, etc. By all means have a good supply of quality trash bags, don’t waste money on the cheapo ones that tear when just looking at them.

Warp Brothers SP-4CH10-C 4 Mil Carry Home Coverall Clear Plastic Sheeting, 10-Foot by 25-Foot
Two more products to keep in mind. The first one is clear plastic sheeting. This product is fantastic for a number of uses, from wrapping supplies or using it for improvised shelter. Also for earthquakes and other disasters, it can be used to close holes, replace windows. During the Sarajevo siege clear plastic was used to improvise windows after they were destroyed after shelling.

Scotch Heavy Duty Packaging Tape, 2 Inches x 800 Inches, 6 Rolls (142-6)
The second one is packaging tape, at least 2 inch wide. Duct tape gets most of the fame and rightfully so, but packaging tape is also very useful and cheaper which is always nice. I’ve used this sort of tape to reinforce trash bags and make them much more resistance when transporting heavier objects or packing them tightly. It is no replacement for duct tape but I find it to be great for those tasks where duct tape is overkill. What I recommend is first buying a few rolls, then buying larger quantities once you verify the quality of the tape. Some are very good, others fall apart to easy. Since its cheap to begin with its better to buy the good stuff.

Gorilla Tape 1.88-Inch by 35-Yard Tape Roll
As for duct tape, I keep recommending the same, go for Gorilla Tape.
Take care!

FerFAL
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