As enjoyable as a
road trip can be, driving in a lawless world might not be all sing-a-longs and
guessing games to help pass the time -you may need to seriously up your driving
game. Here are some practical ideas, and a few unconventional ones, to better
your odds of safely reaching your destination.
-Practice defensive driving skills if you can find a safe
place to do so. Some areas even offer closed course classes and like
self-defense courses –they’re money well spent. Your life and the lives of your
family may depend on your ability to navigate obstacles at high speeds without
losing control.
-If you have a Bugout
Location, know your routes (more than one) without a map and practice driving
them at night. Keep clear goggles in your car kit in case you need to hang your
head out the window and drive without headlights at night. Of course I don’t
suggest practice driving without headlights, but it might be a good idea to be
prepared to do so -a concealed target is not an easy target. Goggles will also
protect your eyes from broken glass.
-Have actual maps and
a compass for reference –GPS devices won’t work if the satellites are down.
-Keep a full range of supplies in your vehicle -food, water,
first aid, duct tape, flashlight, tools, fuel can, syphoning hose or hand-crank
pump, spare tire and jack, portable compressed air tank, emergency battery
charger, extra motor oil and other essential fluids, etc. That may sound like a
lot to haul around along with all your personal gear, and for some vehicles it
may very well be, but if you simple put all your supplies together you can
better judge what you have room for and what you don’t -most of these are
practical supplies you should have around anyway. If you would rather not drive
around with your vehicle fully stocked like a portable bomb shelter at all
times -have your survival vehicle supplies consolidated somewhere close for quick
loading.
-Run-on-flat tires are not cheap but are the best defense
against getting a flat tire -otherwise keep a few cans of aerosol tire-patch products
in your kit -Fix-A-Flat and the like. Tire puncture plugging kits are available
at most auto parts stores and are inexpensive and fairly simple to use to fix a
tire puncture yourself -you’ll need a portable air tank to inflate the tire
back up though. If all else fails don’t hesitate to run on the rims -your
vehicle control will be extremely poor and you’ll permanently damage the rims,
but police chase footage prove it’s not out of the question -rims can be
replaced, lives cannot.
-Should your radiator spring a leak or blow a hose, you can
still operate the vehicle, just watch the temperature gauge and pull off the road
and shut off the engine (if you can) when the needle reaches the limit or it
will eventually permanently damage the engine. Open the hood for ventilation
and let it cool down. Periodically turn on the ignition key and see where the
temp needle goes. Don’t pour water on your engine to help cool it down unless
you know what instruments to avoid getting wet. Once your engine is cold again
you can continue on. I once drove a vehicle over 70 miles after my radiator
blew out and completely drained of fluid. It took me 4 hours because I had to
pull over and shut off the engine every time the temperature red-lined and let
it cool down, but I got to where I needed to go.
-DYI spy car defense tactics may sound drastic or even absurd,
but keep in mind what kind of environment you might be driving in. Without the
aid of law enforcement to help you, you may be on your own. Glass containers of
nails can be thrown out behind your vehicle to puncture pursuing vehicle tires.
Glass containers of motor oil can also be thrown out behind you onto a hard
surfaced road, and especially effective around curves. Have you ever been
following another vehicle and they turn on their windshield wiper fluid and you
get sprayed too? Imagine what spraying a toy water pistol out your window would
do if it was filled with an oily substance. Those little globe-like plastic
containers that cheap toys come in, like from a coin machine, can be filled
with petroleum jelly and thrown at a pursuing vehicle. The worst practical joke
I was ever subjected to was when a “friend” of mine smeared petroleum jelly on
my wiper blades and then put a small blob of mud right in the driver’s view on
the windshield. Instead of getting out of my vehicle and wiping off the mud once
I noticed it, I simple turned on my wipers and fluid -and petroleum jelly
smeared across my entire windshield. It took more than a couple towels and some
serious degreasing cleaner to clean it off well enough to see again. Please
don’t do this to anyone, it’s really not a joke -thankfully I wasn’t flying
down the road when this happened or I might not be here to suggest that you
think about trying this yourself, but like any of these tactics -only if you’re
in serious danger and fending for yourself.
-If you can’t afford a bullet-proof vehicle or full riot
gear for every passenger in your vehicle, fiberglass ballistic panels sell for
less than 20 bucks per square foot and can be merely set beside you to possibly
redirect a bullet -you could even attach a handle to a small panel to make a
handheld shield. Even laminated plywood or sheet metal might redirect a
projectile away from you. With today’s weaponry, it’s hard to guarantee
anything to be totally bulletproof, especially if you take a shot straight on,
but anything between you and a bullet, especially if you’re angled away from
it, adds to your chances of surviving a shootout.
Your ability to
remain calm in a stressful situation is the best defensive skill you can
possess. Practice and preparation will help you keep your cool -even if you’re
dodging flaming rubble while zombie mobs paw at your car.
Buckle up and
Godspeed.
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteI love learning more about what I need to have for safe survival. Suddenly a Nerf guns look different.
Can you write an article about how much water and what types of food that would be best? Are Snickers the prime choice or do you have top 10 picks for nutritious food that stores well and can be kept at alternating temperatures like the Power Bars I find in the bottom of my purse?
Hey Laura,
ReplyDeleteYou can check out my Survival Water Workshop post for more insight on water needs, but I do have a Water Workshop II in the works because there's definitely more that can be said, especially about storage and homesteading. I also have posts on the way concerning food options and nutrition, wild gathering, long-term storage and so on, so stay tuned…