No more fuel?

[badmotorscooter]

First of all I would like to say Bob is an amazing and genuine person. I have never met him, but I have watched almost all of his videos and seen all the help and information he has tirelessly given.

Bob is a beacon of hope and instruction for many people that have run out of hope and options.

I was recently watching a video from a couple of years ago where Bob explained how being a nomad and being on national land was pretty much the safest place in America. He made a point of saying an exit strategy of turning the key and leaving a bad situation or set of circumstances was paramount to one's safety. That moving to a better place was always a good option and nomads had a distinct advantage in that regard vs. someone grounded on a property.

This is all true and I agree with everything, but...

What happens if fuel is in short supply or God forbid completely unavailable? What happens if this drags on for weeks, months or longer? Don't say it isn't a real possibility, anything could happen in today's America.

The house of cards would come tumbling down and things would become extremely difficult if not impossible in short order. Carrying an extra 10 gallons of gas (if you had the room) isn't going to get you far...

Does anyone have a viable contingency plan?

The nomad lifestyle looks very fragile and insecure when considering this, perhaps it should be talked about more?

 

[WanderingRose]

Anything catastrophic could happen, be that fuel shortage, earthquake, water supply disruption, etc.

We can’t plan for all eventualities and then try to live in anticipation of them, only be mindful day to day and go on about our lives.

When disaster strikes, punt and pivot as needed.

 

[RoamerRV428]

sorry but most of us can't go Apocalyptic and guess here LOL
every man woman and child for themselves....I got so many crazy movie references that are scary as heck when the 'SH** hits the fan' but key being, IF ONE is very nomad one and SO out there in nature they would have SOME backup fuel......but if we 'go there' and those backups run out......hey it is what it is! Like above how WR said, punt, pivot, adapt, change and scrape and crawl for your survival. WE WILL all be in that boat so? ALL lifestyles are fragile if it goes down that bad so it isn't like you can prepare for it all...........this is when 'The Preppers" shine and come into their own ya know, in their hunker down for the big change and prepped ALL for these issues maybe and survive, us on the road or in normal might have a small chance LOL

If one thinks fragile lifestyle one is not banking on 'society holding the norm' and if ya think that, don't do it hunker down now full in and try to survive the what ifs.....weeee....

 

[Happy Camper]

Mad max scenes swapped out with vans was the first thing that came to mind lol.

If you can't get fuel that would be the least of your worries. No fuel means a lot of other shortages that are more important.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Yep if the fuel tap gets turned off unexpectedly for some reason (who knows) then it wont really help to be able to drive to the grocery store...cuz after a few days of no trucks able to deliver, and the mass buying spree that will happen, there wont be any food to buy anyway.

Lets hope that never happens.

 

[WanderingRose]

Exactly.

As a side note, not trying to derail the OP topic, always carry extra water and enough shelf stable food to get you and your pets thru at least several days.

Anything could stop us in our tracks, and we need to be able to meet basic needs until (hopefully) help arrives.

 

[tx2sturgis]

One of the survival strategies that has always worked for humans is to be with a group so that resources can be harvested (as in hunting and farming) and then shared with others in the group, or barter goods with other groups, and accumulated assets can be protected.

 

[Happy Camper]

In the words of coronavirus panic buyers "You can never have enough toilet paper and water!"

Food should probably rank up there as well.

From decades of hearing the end is around the next corner I can say this with some confidence. It's a very long corner.

 

[bullfrog]

Somebody will have to come find me and tell me! Lol!!! Kayak, a fishing pole and a hogan.

 

[jacqueg]

The nomad lifestyle looks very fragile and insecure when considering this, perhaps it should be talked about more?

All lifestyles are fragile and insecure, when you come right down to it.

I am not saying that a fuel stoppage is impossible, it surely isn't. But then we would be in Mad Max territory, and I don't think there are any plans you can usefully make, since it would be pretty much impossible to carry a lifetime's worth of fuel with you in your van.

Best defense in such a world is to be creative and flexible, and find some folks to join up with. Also, be able to turn your van into a covered wagon and learn how to work with an ox team.

You could go full prepper, buy 100 acres in, say, Wyoming, and build your own survival bunker, complete with gas tanks. But that is kinda not being a nomad, right?

 

[Happy Camper]

If you know how to fish and where they are, you should be good. Fishing supplies don't have to take up much room.

Add in some water filters or better yet, a small distiller, and you're good. You can pull clean water out of mud with a distiller. You can also distill salt water and get clean water. A distiller is cheap to buy and fairly easy to make.

Learning how to make a fire and how to do so safely would be good to know as well.

Combine that with solar and a 12v fridge/freezer, and you're set.

Just have to find the right spot and you could be there for years. Since law enforcement wouldn't have gas to come and bother you lol. Add a few vans to the group and you have some safety and redundancy. It's the same as what most are doing now, except catching your food vs buying it. Hell in the right spot you could also have a small garden.

You might end up liking life with no gas lol.

 

[eDJ_]

Assuming there will always be some fuel/gasoline hidden away somewhere.

In the "Van Conversion" website below there is a page titled, "A Bugout Car". There is bit of info (also in Youtube) for an extended mileage solution. I grew up hearing that this was a MYTH. But the info debunks that it was ever a myth.

 

[SLB_SA]

Here Aptera Electric Car is a car that needs no gas.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

For short term/spot fuel shortages, have an alternate form of transportation: bicycle, powered bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, etc.
Electric power has advantages but the cost of entry is much higher. One can get up to 150 mpg on a small gas powered bicycle.

For long term shortage or unavailability of fuel, I would look at pepper sites. At that point the wheels have come off of our society and fuel is one of many problems. We are basically in primitive survival mode.

 

[BelgianPup]

A gas shortage isn't all that likely. Politicians will jump on anything that negatively affects THEM, and a gas shortage would probably do that.

 

[SLB_SA]

If you really want to worry, imagine a nuclear strike/war that contaminates water supplies. No filter will make highly radioactive water drinkable and radioactive fish are not good for you. No sunlight means solar does not provide power. I prefer to ignore "mad max" concerns and deal with ordinary ones (like my visit to the dentist this morning and the resulting bill).

 

[bullfrog]

“If you’re gonna go, go big!” says the former Titan II combat crew member. Lol!!!

 

[dreamrunnerjt]

I am sure there will be ways to convert your van to solar. Get extra panels before shtf. Let’s face it. We are all just going to do the best we can if our society crashes.

 

[LargeMarge]

... We are all just going to do the best we can if our society crashes.

.
I agree, except the part about that 'if'.
I lived and worked all over this particular planet.
We were there for:
* a glacier release flooding major cities, after the volcano flattened everything above-ground for a hundred thousand hectares... during a blizzard
* civil collapse, until the end of the week...
...then, starving and filthy and dehydrated, civility was replaced by brutality...
... the transformation seamless...
... during a blizzard.
.
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How about:
* "We are all going to do the best we can DURING THE REMAINDER OF THIS COLLAPSE."
.
I turn 71 in a few weeks.
My home is along the east coast of the Pacific.
I lived through multiple house-price super-skyrocketing and crashes.
I saw money for rent at 22% (twenty-two percent) from 'over-worked under-paid' bankers.
.
September, 2022.
these united states of America.
A credit card offer has 32% (thirty-two percent) interest, plus skads of peripheral charges.
And house prices are a roller-coaster.
Based on only tiny fractions of the evidence, politicians and government agents are [redacted] and [redacted] and only care about their [redacted, then 'keister' inserted by alert editor].
.
I saw your 'if', and thought of Oregon.
* Portland and their no-go zones.
* Eugene with [redacted] breaking into vehicles for sleeping.
.
The society crash is now.
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Accordingly, we live in a traveling home.
We have nothing to disconnect, we can be moving in two minutes.
As we rehearsed, as in:
* dogs loaded
* start the rig to build air
* shift the dogs to their kennels
* put it in gear, and roll.
.
August, 2022.
Three times in three weeks, [redacted] set fire to their squats surrounding our acreage.
Three times, as we rehearsed, the dogs were inside the rig, in their kennels, and we rolled in less than two (2) minutes.
.
We scribbled our Disaster Plan, a flexible inventory and check-list for a couple dozen widely divergent catastrophic events:
* the inevitable tsunami... during a blizzard.
* the inevitable earthquake, breaking dams, flooding sewage treatment plants, zero transportation due to collapsed bridges and over-passes, zero electric, zero fresh drinking water... during a blizzard.
* the inevitable tsunami flattens Portland, three million refugees instantly joining the [redacted] in their tents downtown, the attrition unimaginable...
...the Columbia River blocks a northward trudge, east is desert controlled by generations of farmers/ranchers and Injuns (some over-lap) community...
... south through a flooded Willamette Valley, leveling small communities, eating everything in their wide swath.
At this point, we are in open warfare, everybody is a potential enemy.
During a blizzard.
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I think stocking fuel, food, water, security, community, is probably less effective during the festivities.
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I welcome your rebuttal.

 

[Happy Camper]

Be a prepper. Buy a box of small paper bags to hyperventilate into. Geez people.