How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It - James Wesley Rawles [97]
For maximum mobility, the best of all possible worlds would probably be a vehicle with a central tire-inflation system (CTIS)—such as that used on the military High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) and its commercial Hummer H1 counterpart—used in conjunction with a Michelin PAX-type auxiliary supported tire system.
EMP
If you are concerned about electromagnetic pulse (EMP) disabling your vehicle, then buy either a diesel or a pre-1975 gasoline-engine vehicle. Some later vehicles can be retrofitted with traditional ignition systems that don’t have microcircuits. (Ask your local car mechanic.) With diesels, the main EMP issue is that the newer vehicles use microcircuits in their glow-plug circuitry. You should have an experienced diesel mechanic show you how to bypass the glow-plug switch with a clip lead from your battery’s positive terminal. Keep that clip lead in your glove box at all times.
The major U.S. (Detroit) car and truck manufacturers started using electronic (“computer”) ignition systems in or around 1975. Chrysler was the first of the Big Three manufacturers to abandon the traditional “points and condenser” for an electronic ignition. That was in about 1974. Ford and GM followed with most of their product lines around 1975. The conversion in ignition systems usually took place in automobile product lines before trucks. By 1976 or 1977, virtually all gas-engine cars coming out of Detroit had electronic ignitions. Trucks all transitioned to electronic ignitions by 1978.
Camouflage Painting?
My general advice is to camouflage vehicles only after you have made it to your retreat, and only if it is a truly Schumeresque situation. In the present day, a camouflage-painted vehicle will attract unwanted interest—either from malefactors or from law enforcement. A flat paint job in one earth-tone color will not attract suspicion. You should also keep the materials handy to spray-paint, Bowflage-brand paint, or camo-tape over any chrome parts, if and when things get really bad. (Bowflage paint seems to be best for reducing infrared signature.) But in most parts of the country a camouflage paint job simply screams “Prepared guy!” Be sure to weigh the costs and benefits.
When parked, vehicles can be made far less visible with military camouflage nets (supported by spreaders to break up any expected vehicular outline), and burlap sacks to cover high-albedo windows and headlights.
Horse Power
For the really long term, learn as much as you can about horses, and change your purchasing plans if this approach matches your needs and the pasture-carrying capacity of your retreat. There is a lot to this: horsemanship, hay cutting (preferably horse-powered), hay storage, pasture fencing, a barn, tack, veterinary supplies, and so forth. Here at the Rawles Ranch, our saddle-horse money pit may soon have some new friends in the pasture.
Hay and grain prices have been sky high for a full year now, so this has pushed the price of horses down tremendously. As this book goes to press, in much of the western United States good saddle horses are literally being given away. Just ask around. If you are not yet an experienced rider, then limit your search to older, gentle, “bomb-proof ” mares or geldings. If you have plenty of pasture and hay ground, take advantage of the current low prices for horses. Buy them while they’re cheap. Watch your newspaper classified ads and Craigslist for horses as well as tack, hay mowers, and a horse trailer. In addition to saddle horses, think in terms of working horses. While you are searching for saddles, also look for wagons, buckboards, horse collars, long reins, log chains, and other workhorse tack.
Fuel in a Grid-Down Collapse
You will need to access gasoline in underground gas-station storage tanks if electrical pumps become inoperable. Typical retail gas-station fuel tanks are less than fourteen feet deep, including the height of the filler necks, so