T2K survival..RV style

[mikeo80]

I was sitting here at my computer, reading some of the posts, enjoying an adult beverage...And I had a thought. (Oh, no! )

Somehow, the movie Independance Day came to mind. Specifically the part where Captain Hiller (Will Smith) meets Russell Casse (Randy Quaid) as Russell is part of a caravan of RV's and other camping types escaping from the devistation of Los Angeles.

So...my thought ran...is this a viable tactic?

In favor:

1) Mobility. Yes, RV's have a horrifying MPG rating. But you CAN move. A full tank of gas would get something like Russell's RV about 350-400 miles.

2) Comforts. You can sleep in a bed, have a roof over your head, cook something on the internal stove, have about 50 gallons of water, whatever food is stored on board. You can even use the internal toilet.

Against:

1) Reserve stocks. RV's have a good bit of internal room. Nothing like our houses, though. I would think that after a week to ten days, you are empty.

2) Mobility. Once you are out of gas, you are DONE. No movement.

I am interested to see what you think.

My $0.02

Mike

[Medic]

Take an 8-ton (metric) delivery truck and convert it to an RV. You'll have much more room and if you choose wisely (let's say, Mercedes-Benz Actros or Unimog), you'll have (at least some) off-road mobility as well. With a bigger vehicle, more room for stores and relatively smaller mile per gallon ratio.

Edit: And if you want true mobility, no matter the weather, build the RV on Ural or Zil and you can guarantee, it will start even in -35 degrees centigrade - if not, build a fire underneath the engine and try again in fifteen minutes.

[weswood]

Don't forget that most decent sized RVs have an onboard generator.

As far as fuel, it's like any other vehicle. Convert it to alchohol or biodiesel.

[pmulcahy11b]

As far as T2K vs Independence Day -- in Independence Day. the apocalypse is severe, but it has just happened. Not everything is wrecked or worn out, and people are still civilized and patriotic (at the end, for the entire planet).

In T2K, the apocalypse has been going on for nearly five years. Almost everything that still works is being quickly overworked. Civilization has given way to mere survival in most cases. Patriotism is given to whoever allows you to take care loved ones.

Your RV is a luxury now, because it still works. Therefore, it's a target for criminals, or may be taken by your new government because it's something that works. Most civilian vehicles are not built for such abuse, and most other RVs haven't survived to this point. You need to be heavily armed to keep your RV, and to take spares from other people who have them. (How many campaigns have you been in where the players have become marauders out of necessity?)

Such a large caravan of RVs will not happen in T2K.

[stormlion1]

Spare parts are a issue, as a rolling caravan moves in time they will begin to break down and parts for RV's may share some compatibility with other vehicles that compatibility will not be a 100%. I give it something like a few months before they begin to break down and scrounging fails to find fresh parts. Even tires will be a issue given time. On a lighter note, you can always pull the engines and lighten the load and have cattle or horses pull them and replace the tires with something more durable.

[mikeo80]

Paul and StormLion1 are both correct. Paul is right because he reminded me of the time frame involved, Stormlion because IF RV caravan is going, parts do become an issue. That will teach me to post while indulging in an adult beverage.

How about this? The caravan starts during/right after TDM? That fits more into the Independance Day scenario, the govts have not absconded with anything left over, parts are still available, gas is somewhat available (power for gas pumps comes to mind), criminals are still reeling from TDM as much as anyone. There, that might cover it?

My $0.02

Mike

[General Pain]

Rvs would be a great solution for survival in a post-apo.

But IMHO some small modifications should be made.

It should be able to run on ALC - so a still is a must
Some ARMOR plating could also be smart
A plow in case of snow etc. + chains for the wheels
a device to harvest rainwater might be smart
maybe a lookoutpost on top
spare parts offcourse

well that was some of my suggestions

[mikeo80]

I think we covered some of this in a previous thread. I can not find it right now. (My Google-fu is weak tonight.)

My Observations:

1) As war starts in China, I think you would see some preppers start heading for the hills.

2) First nukes in China, I think any prepper left in a city is out the door. Heading to their main base camp. Getting down into their hole and pulling the cover over them. You will also see the first civilians heading out. Most of them do not have a CLUE where they are going...They just want to be away from the city.

3) First Nukes in Europe: The average civilian will be scared to death. Any one with the sense God gave an ant is heading outbound from the major cities. The problem is with so many on the road, the roads become clogged....quickly. Look at Atlanta during last ice event. once the first problems hit the roads, EVERYTHING stopped.

Now where does this leave the RV'r? IF they got out early, I do not see major problems. Oh a tie up here or there, sure. Maybe some gasoline shortages as people fill their RV's, towed vehicles, and spare gas cans. IF the roads deteriorate, the RV'r is in trouble. As I read RV's, roads only or VERY Mild terrain. I point at the RV convoy in Independence Day Movie. Out in very flat desert.

I look around my area of Fayetteville, NC. Yes, relatively flat. BUT most of that flat area consists of farms. That means you have to negotiate the rows that the farmer planted. IF they are pointed the way you want to go fine. Going over said rows, not so good unless moving very slow. No more than 5 - 10 MPH. I would think at more than that, you tear the bottom out of your RV. IF the ground is not wet. Soil here in this part of NC is mostly sand. Can be very nasty when very wet, but it does dry out fairly quickly.

Now let's say, you are good at reading the tea leaves. You read last night about the first nukes that Russia dumped on China. You packed your RV, filled the gas tank, maybe got 10 - 20 gallons extra in gas cans. Maybe you even thought a little and topped off your propane tank and got 10 - 20 more gallons of water.

Now what do you have? About 400 miles of travel before gas tank starts getting really LOW and you need to think about using your reserve gas. Forty gallons of water in the clean water tank, what ever food, clothing, weapons, people and odds and ends that you crammed into said RV. A family of four, you probably have at most 10 days to two weeks of supplies on board.

I am really tired tonight, so I am going to end this diatribe here. I will pick it up again soon. Trust me, there is a reason I am going down this particular rabbit hole. No, I did NOT see a White Rabbit.......

My $0.02

Mike

[kato13]

Originally Posted by mikeo80

I think we covered some of this in a previous thread. I can not find it right now. (My Google-fu is weak tonight.)

Admin Note: Merged the two threads.

[mikeo80]

Originally Posted by kato13

Admin Note: Merged the two threads.

Thanks, Kato.

I knew this thread was out here...somewhere...

Like I said, my Goggle-fu was very weak last night.

More on the rabbit hole later. Got to go to work.

My $0.02

Mike

[mikeo80]

I told you that I would take you farther down the rabbit hole...

SO here goes.

Now, we left out intrepid escapees with about 10 - 14 days of food, water for four people.

How do we fix this scenario.

IF these good folks are not really preppers but are thinking about the future, one idea is small, out of the way storage sheds. Public Storage Company says it has the largest selection of units. So if our travelers had planned ahead, had a (relatively) secure site picked out, they could have pre-placed extra dried food, weapons, ammo, clothing, etc. Now if you have a 5 x 5 unit, the ceiling is eight feet high. That gives you 200 cubic feet of storage. I bought a 90 day supply of dried. Two boxes, about 2 x 3 x 2. 12 cubic feet. The math starts to make some sense.

Now, lets go down the rabbit hole a little more.

The family just visited uses the RV quite a lot. They visit parks, historical sites. They make sure the RV stays above 1/2 tank of gas, 1/2 tank of clean water, and the dirty water is as empty as possible. Maybe 7 days of food. With such high mobility, you can not have a storage unit in every spot you visit. How would you solve the problem? I see maybe keeping within a 400 mile radius of a few storage units? Expensive. You could loose a lot of investment if the balloon goes up. Any other thoughts?

Again, trust me. I do have an ultimate end to this rabbit hole. Still have not seen a White Rabbit. But I DID glance up and see "something" white down here.

I need to rack out early tonight. VERY early appointment tomorrow. Followed by work. Whooopppeee!!!!!!

My $0.02

Mike

[.45cultist]

I think the maintainance rules gain importance to civilians with these. The early seasons of "The Walking Dead" had a cantankerous 1970's RV. But a rough rule of thumb to use with RVs and travel trailers is when the potable water needs refilling, the black and grey water(if separate) will soon need to be emptied.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Check out "Panic in Year Zero"; I think you can find the whole thing on Youtube. It's an older one, but good.

[.45cultist]

Ray Milland did a good job with "Panic in the Year Zero". I'd recommend looking at the conversions of U.S. and Canadian M109 shop trucks online. RV and travel trailers would need to learn convoy tactics pretty quick or be deep in the woods if staying in place.