Choosing my bugout vehicles (formerly the BEST WWYD !!)

[survivaljoe]

I changed the title, I think this one sums up the thread a little better


You live in a suburban one story home with your aunt, uncle, two kids in the front portion, and your wife and child in the back portion. You are forced to bug out. Between this family you have five vehicles as follows:

1. Honda Accord (4cyl) sedan with a half tank of gas

2. Chevy 3500 work van (V8 6.0L) with full tank of gas, tools, ladder racks, hardware, etc.

3. Nissan SUV (V6) 4x4 with offroad lights, CB, lift, all terrains, recovery tools, etc. Gas tank is empty.

4. Honda dirt bike with full tank of gas.

5. Chevy passenger van (V8 5.7L) with half tank of gas, mobile scanner, captain chairs, rear bench folds into a bed, very comfy.

The dilemma is this- you have four adults that can drive, however:

You can drive any vehicle listed above

Your wife is not very proficient at driving but has driven a large vehicle before

Your aunt is good at driving the accord, however, has never driven a van, suv, or bike

Your uncle has never driven a bike

What vehicle do you give to which person?
What vehicle(s) do you leave behind?

Thanks for playing!

Edit:

You have about twelve hours to load up the preps, give driving lessons, leave early, drink beer, whatever. The rest of the populace also has this twelve hours so trips to the gas station or super market are a no go.

[BigDaddyTX]

You don't say how far the BOL is, which is highly dependent on what I'd bring, but I'm assuming it's ~200 miles tops..

If you cache:
I take the 4x4 and the Accord, with only me and my uncle driving. I stick the motorcycle on the back of one of them, even if I have to tie it on with rope and speaker wire. I take all the gas from the other vehicles and fill up all of these vehicles. If I have plenty of gas left over, I'd bring the conversion van which I would instead drive, with my aunt driving the Accord.

If you don't cache:
I'd bring the Van stuffed full of supplies and 4x4 w/ the bike tied on. I have a conversion van so I know how much crap you can fit in there. I'd put Uncle/Aunt 3 kids in the 4x4 and me and the wife in the Van crammed full of stuff.

We'd have at least 10 gallons of extra fuel I'd guess from your descriptions no matter how you slice it, so I'd guess the range would be ~250-300 miles between the vehicles, more if where you live is flat. My conversion van gets 10 mpg local/highway on hills, 13-14 hwy if it's flat and holds 20 gallons, so 200 miles minimum, 300 w/ extra gas and ideal conditions. I assume the 4x4 does better but I have no idea.

[survivaljoe]

BigdaddyTX, thanks for your response.

Anyone else care to share?

[Cockroach]

I like this exercise
For me it's always about keeping options available and flexibility. Destination and distance were omitted so gave my best with the initial info.

The primary flagship vehicle is #3 whic I drive. Nissan SUV, with all terrain, recovery tools and communications it's a no brainer. Transfer the gas from work Van #2 take essential tools from #2. Essential supplies get loaded into this vehicle.

Wife drives #5, passenger van as it's got shelter and communication. Load the dirt bike in it, if possible. If not the bike gets mounted on the SUV somehow. Siphon fuel from Honda to top off this van. Any redundant essential supplies also go into this vehicle.

Choices subject to change as intel gets updated.

[Ruppism]

could you please describe the children are they very young ie babies, or young children 8-12 or teen agers?

[Ruppism]

1. Honda Accord (4cyl) sedan with a half tank of gas, the gas is getting drained from this and put in the Nissan

2. Chevy 3500 work van (V8 6.0L) with full tank of gas, tools, ladder racks, hardware, etc. the bike goes in the back of this my uncle would be driving with his wife and kids riding with them in this

3. Nissan SUV (V6) 4x4 with offroad lights, CB, lift, all terrains, recovery tools, etc. Gas tank is empty. im driving this, wife and my kid goes in this with me

4. Honda dirt bike with full tank of gas. goes in back of work van

5. Chevy passenger van (V8 5.7L) with half tank of gas, mobile scanner, captain chairs, rear bench folds into a bed, very comfy. gas is getting drained from this and put into the Nissan

The dilemma is this- you have four adults that can drive, however:

You can drive any vehicle listed above

Your wife is not very proficient at driving but has driven a large vehicle before

Your aunt is good at driving the accord, however, has never driven a van, suv, or bike

Your uncle has never driven a bike

What vehicle do you give to which person?
What vehicle(s) do you leave behind?

okay so i take the suv with wife and kid in it, it would also have all my bug out gear and guns.

my uncle takes the work van with his wife and kids, all the tools

also the batteries are getting pulled out of the accord and other van and put into the back of the work van witch also has my uncles bug out gear and guns

I would be the lead vehicle in the convoy.

[survivaljoe]

Cockroach, thanks for the reply. I intentionally left out the distance, thinking that would give obvious advantages to the longer range vehicles.

could you please describe the children are they very young ie babies, or young children 8-12 or teen agers?

The kids ain't old enough to see above the wheel
All younger children.

[BigDaddyTX]

Cockroach, thanks for the reply. I intentionally left out the distance, thinking that would give obvious advantages to the longer range vehicles.

Yeah, but it really matters for the purpose of this WWYD. I mean, the little car is clearly going to get 30+ mpg which would be a huge deal if you're going 500 miles, but if you're just going 100 miles I'd bring everything, which is why my answer sorta covers all that. Same with the cache or no cache, not quite enough info for a truly accurate answer.

[survivaljoe]

Cockroach, thanks for the reply. I intentionally left out the distance, thinking that would give obvious advantages to the longer range vehicles.

Yeah, but it really matters for the purpose of this WWYD. I mean, the little car is clearly going to get 30+ mpg which would be a huge deal if you're going 500 miles, but if you're just going 100 miles I'd bring everything, which is why my answer sorta covers all that. Same with the cache or no cache, not quite enough info for a truly accurate answer.

I hear what your saying and I thought your answer was pretty creative. I didn't think to strap the bike to a vehicle. Those are the kinds of answers I'm looking, not some much the "drive 500 miles to a hotel" type answers. I know that knowing how far your going is a big decision making factor, however I wanted this thread to focus on capabilities as well. I was planning on using some of the responses to help out a couple in my family that hadn't given any thought to the logistics of bugging out.

[Doctorr Fabulous]

The issue with capabilities is one that comes up a lot. Does the route require 4x4? How much shit are they taking? What is the off-roading skill level?

I big, nasty 4x4 with a 2500 miles range is worthless if the driver rolls it, and a Honda Civic is a bit outclassed if you need the cargo space and have to take some nasty roads.

[survivaljoe]

Thanks for your input DT.

[Tater Raider]

My rig suits me just fine. DD/BOV/work truck which is slowly being upgraded.

Pro: Go anywhere, perfect for making quick deliveries on bad roads in worse conditions, and style points (yes, a BOV can have style points)

Con: Lack of cargo space with 3-4 people, can't pass anything, gas stations included, and gets noticed.

[EmbraceTheHate]

I'd take the bike and leave the rest of them deciding.

Why? Because of years of gncc, enduros, and motocross I could go anywhere. I could out run anything. Gear would be hard to haul tho.


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[survivaljoe]

I'd take the bike and leave the rest of them deciding.

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't at least thought about it

[Tater Raider]

Okay, now that I reread things, work van and motorbike are coming, anything else with gas in it is getting its tanks siphoned. There's no sense taking multiple gas-sucking vehicles and all of them but the accord and bike are Since the cargo van has the most gear in it you speed things up.

This assumes 4 adults are bugging out, not 2 families.

[survivaljoe]

Tater, thanks for the reply. I think you're the first person to suggest taking the cargo van.

I'm kinda curious why this thread hasn't gotten more responses. If it was about whether you like hot dogs or hamburgers, it would be 30 pages long with all kinds of debate.

[Tater Raider]

I think you need to clarify the scenario a bit. You said the 4x4 has coms + other gear, but after the fact. Ditto the kids. Perhaps if you saidsomething like:

You have to bug out. Here are the circumstances:

• You have 12 hours to get moving on your bug-out.
• You are responsible for X families.
• There are Y kids involved under the age of 12, and this many are toddler or younger.
• There are Z number of teenagers in the group.
• Vehicle 1 is a Honda Accord with no modifications and half tank of gas.
• Vehicle 2 is a Chevy 3500 work van, 6.0L V8, full gas tanks, this cargo, those mods.
• Vehicle 3 is _____.
• etc.
• Your BOL is _____ miles away through _______ terrain.
• You are bugging out from a hurricane/forest fire/water moccisan invasion/radioactive zombie bikers/the goberment said so/etc.

Circumstances really do dictate actions a lot of the time. My children are mostly grown up, 2 in college and their issues, and those of their mother, become my issues because it affects their actions. My plans have to take into account that I have to deal with the first ex. in any major disaster, but some disasters the involvement is minimal while others it could become a mess. For example, a house fire at my place is a minimal involvement on their part but if their mother's place catches then it is a disaster for me as well because 1 kid still lives with his mom and I anticipate a huge paradigm shift for them with possible legal entaglements. That's my situation at least.

So the more pieces of the puzzle we have the better the responses will be. It may not bring up the number but the quality of them will definitely improve.

I hope that's helpful.