And now for a slightly different BOV..........

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by chelloveck, Oct 28, 2012.


  1. Airtime

    Airtime Monkey+++

    When ever I drive beyond the region where I know all the back roads ensure I have a Delorme Gazetteer for each state I will traveling through or near. They have all the little back roads and it is easier to sort out a detour or alternate route far easier than any GPS navigator. Any prep that also has good value in a non-SHTF should be a near automatic acquisition if financially feasible. These are 20 bucks and should be a must have in my just thinkin mode.

    AT
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  2. Rabid

    Rabid Monkey

    You've got me thinking of a transportation mode if there should be an EMP. Just think no one coming around the bend or sneaking up on you at 100 mph. As long as the EMP gives me a few days warning, I'll be all right.
     
  3. Airtime

    Airtime Monkey+++

    And if the EMP doesn't give you a few days warning (and there is little objective reason to think it would).... What then?

    AT
     
  4. ColtCarbine

    ColtCarbine Monkey+++ Founding Member

    Thanks Chelly, this does have potential for those of us living near abandoned logging rail lines and as mentioned far better than beside the rail or the rail bed itself.
     
  5. Rabid

    Rabid Monkey

    Then I have to use my hand manual drill and I don't know it I would have enough ambition to build one. I could gas weld it but I don't know if I would want to use my valuable gas on that. Oh heck I don't really need one I don't even know where I would go if I had one.
     
  6. Airtime

    Airtime Monkey+++

    Probably should move to a new thread but your comment about gas welding stirs something I have been working on for some time. I think Preppers with some machine and welding skills may be well advised to stocks a small MIG welder (I have two) and plenty of flux core welding wire. A modest size generator can power a small MIG welder. They are easy to use but more important MIG welding is one of the more energy efficient forms of welding. It is amazing how powerful the ability to joint steel together would likely be in a SHTF scenario. The other machine to complement this would be a small plasma cutter. No special gases needs for either, just electricity but that can be generated.

    AT
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  7. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    Part of the Ranger credo is to not walk the trails- and a rail line would qualify the same in a SHTF scenario in my book. You are most likely to either run into transients looking for the shortest route from here to there (that may be trouble in some form). And potentially bandits looking to take what you may carry or just flat out kill you for your pack. I for one would not be on the rail but maybe adjacent to it, to follow the general route to get where I am going.
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  8. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Your premise that "a Rail Line is the shortest route between two points" is FALSE. Rail Lines are engineered, to have the gentlest Grade Change over distance, not the most Direct Path between two points. This has ALWAYS been true, in that Grade Changes cost FUEL, and Fuel is MONEY when transporting Goods over distance. A railroad will, many times, make wide loops, to gain or lose elevation, to keep the Grade Change to the absolute Minimum, that add lots of MILES to a length of a Route between two points. .......
     
    ColtCarbine and kellory like this.
  9. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    And that simple grade, makes for easier movement, wheeled, powered, or walking, and the low spots are bridged.
     
    chelloveck and Yard Dart like this.
  10. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    My point about the shortest route, as Kellory noted, was in the context of- shortest navigable pathway from here to there for the average Joe. Not as the crow flies, as most experienced outdoorsmen would use for the direct route (shortest travel distance). In lieu of using the road or highways, rail-lines would be the next most direct path of travel, for most people with limited cross-country experience. Now most of us understand that you will want to avoid heavy traffic routes, be it roads, rail or other well used avenues to get where ever you are going.
     
  11. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    No, rail-lines will always take a back seat to roads as a main traffic flow. rail requires preparation, and forethought. street traffic requires little, it is more wide spread, and changes are easy. rail will be at best, a freight, or back-up system.
     
  12. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    I am strictly talking about foot movement in the event vehicles and other modes of transportation are not available due to whatever reason (fuel shortage, EMP, ECT)
     
  13. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    I am speaking of all movement, including foot traffic. Roads are much easier, and more plentiful. and require little modification. The only reason the roads would be avoided, would be if they were either blocked, or targeted by predators.
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  14. Airtime

    Airtime Monkey+++

    The discussion is interesting but i'm having difficulty ascribing to any hard rules. The selection of a route from point A to point B realistically is an exercise in risk assessment and management. The direct bushwhack route may expose one to risk of injury, or could be physically too exerting thus risking even getting there. These need to be weighed against the risk of say a gang of thugs along the rail line. In the early stages of SHTF maybe the probability of thugs is low but it is dark and raining and you lost your compass. The answer might favor the rail. Different conditions could favor cross country or maybe even by car. So for me the moral of the story is explore the issues with these discussions with the understanding that these points are proving more food for thought for a more complete risk and option assessment.

    AT
     
    chelloveck and Yard Dart like this.
  15. NotSoSneaky

    NotSoSneaky former supporter

    There's plenty of abandoned railways around, then there's the rails to trails network (good for easy mountain biking) and snowmobile trails can be used in summer too ya know.
     
    ColtCarbine and kellory like this.
  16. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    True enough, but the nearest abandon rail to me (according to the map I saw) is a full hour by car away. The rail near me is quite active. Post SHTF, is a different story.
     
  17. ColtCarbine

    ColtCarbine Monkey+++ Founding Member

    Everybody's logistics are different, what might not apply in your area could in somebody else's. I have an abandoned logging rail line within a five minute bike ride. That rail line goes from the river where logs used to be floated down river and/or loaded onto logging trucks or transfer of rail cars with an adjoining rail line. The use of this rail line and others has always been in the back of my mind as a means of a back-up plan to get out of dodge, whether on foot/bike or drive a vehicle straddling the tracks.

    The probability of needing to use the rail is pretty low as there are numerous country roads leading out of town in the same direction of the rail lines around here, besides plenty of other roads leading elsewhere. One thing is for sure I do not have to worry much about exit routes out of the area I live in, unless I needed to get on the other(dry/east) side of the Cascade Mts., even then I know of a few routes that avoid major highways or county roads using logging roads to get to the other side.

    If nothing else the original posting got the gears a turning in my head for improvising a means of transportation, if the need arose. It would not be hard to fabricate something like the video showed. This information is now stowed away for future use, where nobody can take it from me, in my memory bank.
     
    kellory and chelloveck like this.
  18. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Per this idea, I have started the disassemble of the power chair, weather sucks right now, and I'm working outdoors, so there will not be much propress until the weather improves. But as a teaser, here is what I am after: IMG_20130325_151752_021. IMG_20130325_151758_726. IMG_20130325_151714_316.
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  19. fmhuff

    fmhuff Monkey+++

    Rail bikes have been popular for almost as long as there have been rails. They eventually banned them because of the number of deaths involved (train strikes). I think it's a great idea on abandoned lines though. RR tracks go to many scenic places roads don't, and the line is never very steep.
     
    kellory and chelloveck like this.
  20. goinpostal

    goinpostal Monkey+++

    That just gave me an idea.
    Say you take a motorized skateboard,and mod it for single rail use.
    Then it would be easy to transport off rail.
    Matt
     
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7