Defining Your Own "Bug-out" and/or "Off-grid" Vehicle

Defining & Implementing the "Bug-out" Vehicle

This solves the problem of our transmission-weary Dodge van, which is unreliable for camping and long-distance due to its built-in shortcomings coming to fruitiion.

She wanted a vehicle which was rugged yet driveable, which was large enough for sleeping in, yet still manueuverable, which was well-built for its tasks instead of for the image of addressing those tasks (city, highway, country, and off-road driving in either 2WD or 4WD mode).

We did quite a bit of research and "field" studies of vehicles in the city, parking lots, and highway. We checked reviews and specifications, new-and-used prices, repair basics and costs, searching for flaws and "best" year models.

We found one which feels comfortable w/r/t "handling a truck", feels safe on highway turns and sloping turns, and which had a core chasis/drivetrain/engine which had already proved itself before it was reassigned into an SUV.

The Nissan designers asked beforehand of surfers, hikers, campers, dirt-bikers, skiers, and four-wheelers just what they wanted in a new or liked about other vehicles. The first-release Xterra (in 2000) became a design to fit function rather than demographic and "image of function" more designed to project a "lifestyle" mirage as social bait.

I also suggested a vehicle which also covered functions associated with geographical "emergency" and social "crisis", i.e., one which was REALly rugged, large enough to quickly fill with survival/escape essentials, which was strong enough to pull a mall trailer of more of the same, etc.

A quote from "Bug Out Vehicles and Shelters: Build and Outfit Your Life-Saving Escape" (via searching the "Look Inside" Amazon feature for "Xterra" (at ) supports her final choice:

She got a black 2000 with the third most powerful engine (4-cylinder, 6-cylinder 2.4-litre, 6-cylinder 3.3-litre, 6-cylinder 4.0-litre) so that we can pull a teardrop trailer or load it up without losing functionality.

We plan to add an HHO "booster kit" which will extract hydrogen gas from water, "inject it" and which will add 50-70% fuel economy to whatever you currently have. The Xterra gets 16-20 mpg so we hope to be able to very-conservatively boost the vehicle's mpg up to between 24-30; some have reported getting 45 mpg. Not a "water-powered" car, this removes carbon deposits and allows your engine to burn more efficiently and cooler, increasing engine life.

Defining & Implementing the "Off-grid" Vehicle

We are narrowing down to a few certified installers for a 1-year guaranteed system which goes for around $400.

With the old 1986 Porsche 944 sold (for $2250), we now turn to questions w/r/t selling the other two vehicles, in order to acquire a used high mileage-yielding "run-around" vehicle which is light enough to be towed by the Xterra.

It, in turn, like the Xterra, will be able to tow a "teardrop trailer", giving us many options. We will also add an HHO unit to it, if all goes well with the first install.

Examples:

• HHO Car;
• HHO Booster Kits & Manuals;
• Quantum Technologies demonstrates their 105-mile ranged, turbocharged, intercooled, hydrogen-electric hybrid Toyota Prius at LA Auto Show.

A few "small vehicle" make-models come to mind:

• Toyota Prius;
• Honda Fit;
• BMW Mini;
• Scion IQ;
• Nissan Leaf.

Which one that we select, in the end, will depend on its safety, price, parts availability, RFID-disabling abilities, repair frequency, mileage, and abilioity to modify for HHO, or further, as a complete non-electric, non-gas, non-hybrid "water" or "ZPE" (zero-point energy) car.

This is a very interesting arena for activating projects which resist the "black hole" created by Capital, and for sharing learned technology and experiences. Creating a new world within the old is the only way beyond choosing between co-dependent surrenders.