Transportation for Bugging Out

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My current locale is not the best if TSHTF. I am 30 miles from a “major” city and a couple miles from a busy interstate highway. As I travel down this road called Preparedness I am coming under the realization that if it gets bad enough – I am going to have to bug out.

After interviewing Scott Williams and reading his book BUG OUT(review long overdue for this excellent book)…..relocating in a severe enough emergency makes a whole lot of sense.

My brother has land (40+ acres) in Georgia that is well in the boonies. I have not been there since I was a kid but my recollection tells me that there is lots of wooded land containing various game animals, streams and ponds nearby, and lots of space for gardening. There are several houses on he property and would most likely be a much better location in the event of TSHTF than near a major city.

In preparing for a possible exodus to Georgia – a couple questions come to mind right away.

The first – What method of transportation would be best to make the 3 hour trip?

My answer (at least for now) - I own a 2000 Chevy Blazer ZR2 4×4that I would use in conjunction with our other family vehicle to make the trip. The Blazer would be useful should for some reason traveling gets rough and the need to go off-road happens. I do not anticipate this need as movement to the bug out location should occur prior to things getting too bad. I have planned a few modifications/improvements for the Blazer in the Fall of 2011(for another post).

The second – How do I transport collected supplies along with members of my family?

My thoughts on this is to pull some type of trailer. The Blazer is not a huge vehicle so the trailer cannot be too large. Below is a picture of one possibility:

Another possibility is to use a trailer with a little more off-road capability and more rugged. Such as this:

Trailer can be pre-loaded with certain supplies such as spare clothes, tools, blankets, etc. When the time comes – other supplies can be loaded – food, some water, firearms/ammunition, water purification equipment, batteries, medical supplies and of course food. Much of my supplies currently ar stored in plastic bins for organizational purposes as well as easier transportation.

As stated before – my “bug-out” plan is in the early stages. There is a lot to acquire and much planning to do. My hope still is to remain home if TSHTF – depending on the specifics of the event.

Rourke

Tags: bug out vehicle, bugging out

bugging out | Rourke December 22, 2010

13 Comments to “Transportation for Bugging Out”

By Dave, December 22, 2010 @ 6:41 am

Rourke:

A bug out trailer is a good option in our world of SUV’s. You can usually find some good deals on these in late winter (tax time) as the contractor type businesses need to unload extra equipment.

If it goes down in dramatic fashion it will probably come during the biggest blizzard in history. Driving on snow slick streets with an overloaded trailer that was packed in hurry (Weight and balance) could become very dangerous. In addition you are driving a gasoline powered SUV, once you hitch that trailer your fuel economy will go through the floor.

Not being critical of your plan just pointing out some things that weren’t mentioned in your article. Good luck, God Speed.
By BePrepared, December 22, 2010 @ 9:15 am

If you ever get over to the NE AL region, drop a line and I’ll show you the BOT (Bug Out Trailer).
By Dee, December 22, 2010 @ 1:41 pm

What kind of trailer is the enclosed one? Very cool.
By Rourke, December 22, 2010 @ 2:12 pm

BePrepared –

Will do!

Thanks – Rourke
By Rourke, December 22, 2010 @ 2:15 pm

Hi Dave –

Thanks for the points – which were well made. If I continue to use my Blazer – which is most likely – I will continue to drive it with all-terrain tires. I am due for new ones soon.

One other modification I plan to make on the vehicle is an additional fuel reserve tank.

Thanks again – Rourke
By Rourke, December 22, 2010 @ 2:17 pm

Dee –

Can’t remember to be honest with you. Something I found on the net.

Rourke
By Patriot One, December 22, 2010 @ 4:38 pm

Let me tell you folks you can go nuts with prep, I know, I have, RV’s 24′ Car Trailers, Buying Diesel vehicles and now I’m looking at 90′s vintage M35 6X6 2.5 ton surplus trucks. Believe it or not I think I’m on to something here if they are selling a 10 to 15 times min. bid they are a great deal. On most I’ve looked at the min. is $150 and I haven’t seen any with more then 11000 miles on them.

When you consider the trailers are $900 to $3000, the trucks are a very viable alternate. Here is the site I’ve been shopping at. http://www.govliquidation.com

If you are really thinking about a trailer make sure you buy one made with 5200 lbs. axels and not 3500 lbs. axels the price is usually the same but the GVRW is 10400 vs. 7000, not that you are going to pull that with most SUV’s.

Good Luck to all, Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
By GoneWithTheWind, December 22, 2010 @ 5:00 pm

Consider a 20′ shipping container pre-positioned on your brothers property in an unobtrusive location. Obviously there will be things you couldn’t store in it unless you hooked up a dehumidifier to it. But it would allow you to minimize what you would be taking with you in a crisis.
By Craig, December 22, 2010 @ 7:07 pm

I just bought 2 M101A1 surplus trailers at auction. They are off road to match your SUV and easy to pull. I pull mine with my Ford Explorer. You can even get them with ribs and canvas…tough and affordable.
By Sheepdawg, December 22, 2010 @ 7:57 pm

Several points; the gov liquidation website that Patriot One listed is great. You can find many items there (shipping containers, trailers, trucks, etc).

If those photos are of your stuff, did you disable or remove the Geo Tracking on the phone or camera? OPSEC.

I am working on similar preps – bigger SUV, trailer, and location. The land is about 3 hours from my residence.

Good luck to you.

SheepDawg
By Scott B. Williams, December 22, 2010 @ 8:42 pm

Rourke,

Good post and I appreciate the book review as well. My current book project that I am working on as a follow-up to Bug Out will greatly expand on the topic of bug-out vehicles, covering the spectrum from motor vehicles like your Blazer through a wide variety of alternatives, both for land and water, individuals and families. It’s a much-discussed topic in survival preparation, and rightly so as any well though-out bug-out plan should include primary and secondary transportation options.
By irishdutchuncle, December 23, 2010 @ 9:18 am

i liked the s-10 blazer a lot. the 4.3 liter v6 was still running great when we had ours towed away.

pay careful attention to your transmission. a bad front pump seal is what did ours in. the other weak point that i recall, was the in-tank fuel pump. a limited slip rear would have been a nice upgrade, also. (does the ZR2 package include limited slip?)

the alternator, water pump, ignition module, gas tank and starter each needed replacement while we had the vehicle also.
By Jason, December 23, 2010 @ 11:36 am

Every prepper goes through this stage of preparedness. A LOT of planning is required for a bugout trailer, just studying the schematics of GWR, tire size, enclosed/open, towed by a SUV vs 6×6 mil surplus rig isn’t good enough. This is one of trial and error also. Questions arise of how much extra fuel to take (poster about your MPG will dramatically decrease – usually get 18MPG – expect to get only 9MPG with a full car & trailer) how to store it, what items to bring along, what road clearing items are required – chainsaw, ax, saw mounted on outside or easily accessible, just adding a spare fuel tank to a vehicle takes some work, also need to upgrade rear suspension if you want it to ride better/safer, how to communicate between vehicles, then the vehicle repair tools and spare parts.

THEN, you have to look at the primary, secondary and triary routes you’ll take, that 3hr drive will take double to triple the hours especially if roads are blocked naturally or man-made, traffic jams, or accidents. I’ve done three bugout trials in the last 5 years where the situation is that I will be out of my home for 30 days, every single one of them had problems I didn’t envision that if it were a TRUE BugOut – I may have been in a world of hurt.