Survivor McGyver- Car

I can see emptying the glove box, taking the trunk carpet, seat covers and tire iron. I can even buy into taking the seatbelts, some wire, and a washer fluid hose. But why screw around with the air bag or a questionable container for water?

Walk down any road in this country and you will be able to come up with a plastic water bottle and a beer or soda can with in a few miles.

If it truly was an EMP I would think 3-4 hours is going to be the max for unloading any cash you have at a store/mini Mart. Eat's and a bic lighter would be my #1 priority with cash. Hobo roll the trunk carpet with the seatbelts to carry everything. Tire iron slipped into the top for quick access and fire up the shoe leather. Eyes open on the way for apple's, blackberries, and a bike.

Whynot

 

In addition to the comments above... Tires can be used as a smudge/signaling device... use the radiator over flow bottle as a container to carry gas... punch a hole in gas tank to drain gas... CD's make great signaling devices if you have some for your listening pleasure... any vacuum hoses can be used as a syphon. use the seatbelts to make a sling for the battery if it's good... check the in car safety kits normally included in rental cars... (flares, inflate a spare, reflectors, bag, jumper cables, etc...) if the car has real hubcaps take one, can collect water, and possibly cook in it if it is a solid dished one...

 

Oahu is under 250 miles in circumference. So I think I am ok with the car and cell not working. AND, I know where @Bear lives!

If it were a nuclear event, we wouldn't have much places to go and probably not enough time to get there if we see the flash while in the car. Maybe get to the nearest beach for a last epic "sun tan."

If it isn't a nuclear scenario, then I still know where Bear lives. I'm coming over, buddy! Everybody can use a cook. ;p

 

Strips of rubber cut from floor mats and window seals can be used as emergency fuel/fire starters.

The thin foam under the seat covers can provide a lot of warmth, day or night. Wrap it on and tie it in place for fast cold-weather clothing or a warm sleep suit.

Floor mats make great ground cloths, though heavy. A small one (or piece of a large one) can provide a dry seat--which can be the height of luxury, sometimes.

The box from between-seat storage and the glove box liner can be pulled out and used as small baskets.

Cut off the serpentine belt for instant cordage.

I wouldn't trust anything from under the hood for use as a canteen. The chance of getting some bad chemistry is just too high. Real containers abound on the roadside almost everywhere. Bottles & cans.

A bolo is a very useful weapon. You can make a dandy one out of lug nuts & wire.

One of the earliest weapon upgrades was when the Caveman Crew went from the thrown rock to the rock on a strap--swung or thrown. It's a real force multiplier in short range disputations. Make a modern version by tying a bunch of lug nuts on the end of a strap or wire cable. Or a serpentine belt.

 

Sadly, not only did @Seacowboys get mugged on his way to the restroom, they shanghaied him and dumped him in the middle of nowhere. He awoke to find himself next to an abandon car that had a pocket knife and a half pack of matches.
Damn, mugged and lost, need to figure where I am at, what kind of terrain, weather, foliage, season. I am going to assume, since there's a dead car there, it's near a highway of some sort and all roads lead somewhere. Once I had assessed the environment that had to be contended with, and determined I had 250 mile to travel before I could establish contact with any further resources or a working telephone, I would turn to the immediate needs. Water, Food, Clothing, Shelter. While there is probably some things from the old car that I could adapt to help meet some of those needs, the A.O. and likely weather would determine if it were worth sacrificing or would I want to return to my car and retrieve it at a later time? All roads lead somewhere, is it a hostile environment? Are there animals to eat or that would prefer to eat me? Marauding grizzlies are not a likely encounter in Alabama, but there are alligators, mosquitoes, and snakes, mosquitoes being the only one that I couldn't eat with a bit of preparation. Protection from the elements would be my first priority, that and water. I might take the windshield washers container for a canteen and a hub cap to cook and boil water. I suppose I could take the trunk liner fabric and make a poncho or hat, if needed. Don't know if they took my shoes or not but feet are important and protecting them makes walking a lot easier but those steel belted radial tires worked for gook sandals but I wouldn't even try to cut some out with that pissy little pocket knife. My AO has lots of ponds, creeks, rivers, lakes, streams, puddles, swamps, etc. so water shouldn't be a problem. I can only assume the people I encounter will be wearing pandemic masks and maintaining a safe social distancing or I'd just figure to walk to the nearest Walmart, they're everywhere. Once I got there, I'd pull the 14 caret gold molar and sell it to the dentist there then take a cab home.

 

If I'm driving a rental car nowadays and it quit in this scenario I would be on a main road. I'd cut up the rental paperwork with the pocket knife, dip it in whatever oily fluid reservoir I could find under the hood. Leave the hood up. Scratch something like "Go Home!" "Be Woke!" or "Save the Planet" on the hood with the picket knife. Gather a pile of dry kindling from nearby, remove trunk carpets, rear seat bottom, spare tire, and anything else that's likely to make a smoky fire. Walk just far enough to pick up the nearest road kill, or even a hunk of tire if it looks like an animal. Tie that to a stick. Light the fire right at the edge of the slow lane (don't want to start a wildfire) and start cooking whatever you tied to the stick.

Within minutes you will have PETA, the EPA, ANTIFA, NHTSA and half a dozen news crews out there to either protest what you're doing, rallying to support whatever you're protesting, or to report that it's all Trump's fault.

Find a nice vehicle with the keys in the ignition and a full tank of gas and be on your way. It's only 250 miles to home, and you can wait to use the bathroom when you get there. You can wait til morning to report the rental car was stolen by protesters, since you had to hitch rides all night to get home and didn't have a cell phone.

 

For real man, The pirate carries about 25#s of cold hard steel all the time around his waist area.

 

Most every one has mentioned all the things I thought of so I don't have much to add.
I generally don't go any where without my EDC especially without extra water.
I have played this scenario with a downed plane as well, but reality is much different, but the exercise is worth while.