But out/in trailers

[apache235]

Have any of you any experience with a bug out/in trailer. I've seen the BIBO trailer which is pretty cool, Bugout trailerz (a large empty trailer with toilet and shower), the Jackwagon trailer with tent on top. I'm torn. I have a place to go to but if we ever had to leave the area for whatever reason (nuke power plant melting down) I'm thinking something to haul behind the truck would be almost invaluable. Thoughts... .

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I hate spell check. Bug out not But out

[Cwi555]

I'll avoid commenting on the reason someone would need to bug out of an area permanently, there are just to many of them.

I've had to bug out of Venezuela once (95) Ecuador once (98), what was the city of Pisco Peru (07), among other lesser events such as the 89 Loma Prieta quake. None were pleasant experiences with two of them leading to even worse experiences. There are some military personnel who've had to do this without support, but other than that very few in this country have ever experienced it.

The no support part is something of an importance that cannot be stressed enough. No ambulance/hospital/medivac, no cops, no cell phone, no ammo from God, no support of any kind whatsoever. Just stuck in the middle of a lawless area. Deep seated in most western minds is the little ray of hope that out there somewhere is support if you can just make it long enough to get it. Look into yourself, find where that little ray of hope and mercy is. Now drag it out, stomp on it, slit it's throat, and toss it into a fire to finish it off.

If you can do that (the majority cannot), then you will find its just you. If you can do that, approach the problem again.
Does a bug out trailer make sense, or does staging supplies (cache) far and wide make more sense? Is there a solution that makes more sense than either?

Toilets, showers, trailers, tents, food etc, all things that can be taken from you in less than five seconds. If your left breathing after, what do you do then when you know no one or thing is coming to help you? In my mind, that is the mentality required to approach this. Your results may vary.

[southernmom]

cwi555-any book you wrote I would buy. I would love to hear your experiences.

[Cwi555]

cwi555-any book you wrote I would buy. I would love to hear your experiences.

There is one key reason I'd never write such a book. It would be making money off the misery of others. There are people in this world born under crossed stars, shit just happens to them in a disproportionate manner. However, they are not in a vacuum. Others around them die, lose limbs, lose their minds, suicide because they can't take the darkness chipping away at their soul anymore.

Fiction serves a greater purpose in prepping people's minds so the shock doesn't consume them when it comes. Books such as AAs serve a good purpose in that, without selling out the memories of those who have experienced it first hand.

[Sacajawea]

Apache, I understand your thinking about the trailer. Life is always a little more bearable with some creature comforts. As usual, everyone's choices here depend on the reason for bugging out. Be aware that a trailer may slow you down; it'll definitely make you a target - you have something others will desire too; and it's going to be hard to hide what it is, even out in the woods. Trailers of all kinds are the most vulnerable to mother nature; to say nothing of most rifle rounds. There are a lot of downsides.

But on the other hand, I've seen some neat "project" vehicles - seriously retrofitted - that would serve your purposes better. They won't be fast, though.

[KyDave59]

I haven't had nearly the adverse experiences CW has had. I missed the Loma Prieta quake by a few months, having been there in July, with it having struck in mid-October of that year. That's probably just as well, since I doubt I had the proper mindset to survive at that point. I did get to experience a long delayed aftershock in late 1995, when I was back out there again. Heck, from the window of my office, I could actually see Loma Prieta. :-/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loma_Prieta

In any case, it's one thing to be in an area with just a suitcase, and something totally different to have some sort of supply trailer with you. As CW indicates, that doesn't mean that some one, or, more likely, some group, can't take that away from you once the SHTF. However, ideally, you'll have an idea that the pile of manure is approaching the air moving device before it actually hits, and can escape from the area while there's still a way out. But, in order for that to be effective, you need to HAVE A PLAN! Ideally, you'll have several plans, and can switch between them as needs dictate.

Now, having said that, one of the better designs would be to use a travel trailer. Some of these are self-contained, and have water, sewer, lights, heat, etc., on board. Personally, I'd stay away from the "Class C" or motorhomes, for a couple of reasons (added expense, maintenance, reliability, etc.). I'd much rather recommend a travel trailer that can be pulled behind a truck. But, having said that, please realize that most travel trailers are not made to live in full time, and most are not insulated well enough to live in in winter (Obviously, it's better than being in a tent, but just barely.). Plus, you will need a vehicle capable of pulling them. For a small one, that means, at least, a full sized 4x4 truck, ideally with a Diesel engine, or a turbocharged gasoline engine.

When we first bought our travel trailer, I had the entire month of December (2007) off as vacation. So, we decided to take the travel trailer on a tour of the country. We did 17 states and 1 Canadian province that month. And, we learned a lot of things, such as "We ain't doing that again!". :*)

We left Kentucky late one day, due to problems with the Propane heater in the trailer. As a result, we only made it across Indiana and into Illinois before we stopped for the night. The next day, we made it the rest of the way through Illinois, across part of Missouri, and into Oklahoma. When I started seeing multiple vehicles upside-down in the median and off the side of the road, I figured that it was a good time to stop. We spent three days in Oklahoma City, and got to experience the worst freezing-rain/ice-storm in that state's history.

After the ice melted, we made it the rest of the way across Oklahoma, the panhandle of Texas, and New Mexico without incident. But, I discovered that my 1500 series Chevy truck was only just barely marginal to pull a 24 foot travel trailer, especially at high altitudes. Arizona was nice, as was visiting Meteor Crater, the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, and the Grand Canyon. However, we found that trailers were restricted from going across the Hoover Dam, at least then (They were building a new road/bridge, but, due to terrorism concerns, had limited trailers from the road across the dam.), which made us take a long detour to the south to cross the river.

Oh, yeah, the fuel consumption was AWFUL. I think I remember calculating that I was getting about eight miles per gallon. Note that there aren't a lot of gas stations in the western part of the country, and that, even if you can see a gas station up ahead, it may still be 25 miles away (So, you'd better have at least three gallons left in the tank!). It doesn't hurt to have a couple of five gallon cans of gas, but they need to be stored safely/securely (since they will sprout legs and walk away at night).

We spent a day or two in Las Vegas, before heading north out of there, up highway US 95. Our plan was to go up to Reno, and go west from there. But, part way up US 95 towards Reno, we got word of a severe winter storm/blizzard hitting that area, so we turned west on US 6 at Coaldale, and went across the mountains, meeting up with California highway 120, which took us over to US 395, which we then took north. And, we found out that they close a lot of those roads in the California Sierra Nevada mountains in winter. And, we found out that there's a reason that they close a lot of those roads! But, we made it without getting stuck. In the process, we passed within about a mile or so of where Steve Fossett killed himself in a plane crash. And, there was certainly a reason it took the search crews over a year to find his remains.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Fossett

Anyway, we ended up getting over to I-5, and we thought our problems were over. However, there was another severe winter storm/blizzard that followed the first one, and hit us in the area of Grants Pass in Oregon. We were the last vehicle over the pass before the highway department closed Interstate I-5 (The highway department crew was in front of us, and had just pulled over to set out the barricades as we went past.). It took us over an hour to go the seven miles down the north side of Grants Pass (and, that was on I-5).

Once we cleared Grants Pass, road conditions improved, although I discovered that it's a good idea to suspend the power cable to the trailer. During our trip up through Washington state, the power connector pulled out, and I dragged the end of the cable for over 100 miles. Some nice gentleman was finally nice enough to pull up beside me and yell "No lights!". Whoopsie. I pulled over at a rest area, and wired what was left of the power connector and cable back together enough to give us lights and trailer brakes.

Going through Customs on the US/Canadian border was fun. They gave us a thorough inspection, going both ways, and appeared to be quite disappointed that they didn't find any contraband.

On the way back, we hit another blizzard in the Cascade range, at Snoqualmie Pass on I-90. That one had been plowed, although driving through a cut through an 8 foot deep bank of snow was, umm, interesting.

Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming were actually nice (One of the few times I've been through that area when the weather wasn't terrible.), although we hit snow again coming out of Gillette, and it was pretty nasty by the time we hit South Dakota. We also discovered that RV parks aren't open in winter in South Dakota, nor most of Iowa. We finally stopped for the night in the parking lot of a Walmart, not too far outside of Omaha (All of the other nights, we had spent in RV parks, which had electrical hook-ups.). As we were in a Walmart parking lot, we didn't have an electrical hook-up, and were running entirely self-contained. That was the night that it got down to about 20 below zero F, with a 40 mile per hour wind. I think we burned the better part of a 30 pound tank of Propane, and were still cold.

We made it home the next day, and I don't think we've taken the trailer out since then.

So, it was certainly better than in a tent, but we found that we traveled a lot slower, burned a lot more fuel, couldn't go on some roads, struggled on other roads, and stayed cold. Oh, yeah, also note that transporting weapons across state lines can get tricky (and, don't even think about it while crossing international boundaries!), and you can find yourself in some serious trouble if you do encounter any law enforcement. In any case, if you're considering something like this as a bug-out vehicle, please factor these items in.

Dave

[Cwi555]

Dave there are people out their who's lives make mine look like a trip to the candy store. There is always someone out there that has had it worse.

[Celt]

A lot of guys around here use off road style trailers. They normally build them up themselves from a tub with beefed up suspension and oversized tires to match their vehicles. Many of them use solar to charge AGM batteries to keep their fridge/freezers running along with other electric tools, battery charging etc. They usually have a smaller water tank and some are pressurized or run into a pump system to wash dishes and people. Lots of them have a rack on top where a roof top tent is added so you aren't sleeping on the ground. With the right setup these trailers are commonly towed behind while rock crawling which is pretty neat to see. These aren't big trailers, they are generally a very short wheelbase with an extended tongue. They are basically designed to haul all the extra stuff and live in a small amount of comfort while out of civilization. Do a little searching online and you can quickly come up with some really neat designs and ideas. They aren't very difficult or expensive to build by yourself from the ground up. Doing that you get exactly what you are after. You can also of course purchase a pre-built trailer with all the bells and whistles but you will pay for it.

Another option is the tear drop style trailer. They too come or can be modified to beef up the suspension and travel. The thing that's nice about them is they are deceivingly large inside. I know a couple that traveled from California into Alaska with one, sleeping in it every night. You can seat four adults inside around the table and it very comfortably sleeps two full sized adults. A 6' male can stand up inside them in the middle. They are very compact but travel very well with all the amenities to include an outside shower, satellite tv, head with black/gray storage systems.

[redman2006]

Milsurplus has some command type trailers that look like they could make interesting bug out or off road trailers.

[Sacajawea]

When thinking about planning a bugout, just remember that there may be extenuating circumstances that - even when you know your situation is going to go south - prevent you from leaving then & there. That happened to me last year. Because my hubby got sick. It was simply impossible to keep to my plan.

What about parents? Kids? Even your job may delay you or cause you to weigh trying to stick it out a little longer -- and your plans will have to adapt.

These situations are almost never as cut & dried & predictable as they are while we're "what iffing" them. LOL. Make the plan - and the backup plan - and the backup to the backup - anyway. At least you'll have a whole bag of tricks to choose from the reality turns out a little differently than you thought it would.

[apache235]

Lots of interesting ideas here. I'm not thinking of an RV type trailer that you live inside of, more on the lines of a small utility trailer that may have a tent on top and a (sort of) secure place to store things like food, water, guns, ammo and other gear. Maybe paint something like "Larry's Lawn Care all of our mowers are hand powered to keep Gaia green" or some stupid shit like that. However, leaving a safe area to go to someplace unknown is not something I want to be saddled with, but bad things do happen.

[KyDave59]

That might not be too bad for spring or fall, but it's going to get awfully cold in that tent in winter, and awfully hot in summer (although you can help somewhat with that by parking in a shaded location).

One thing some genius ought to come up with is a burn barrel with a hot water heater on it, so that you can produce hot water over a fire, and route it inside the tent. That won't be perfect, but it'd be a lot better than freezing in the tent.

Dave

[redman2006]

Maybe use a slide in camper and secure it to a small 4x8 utility bed. The top on some fold open for a tent type camper.

I saw a homemade camper like you are talking about. I have no idea how much effort it took, but he had cut the top off a utility trailer and hinged one side. When it opened, the top was supported with legs and popped up a tent over both the top and the open trailer.

I will see if I can fid a picture. Several motorcycle type trailers do this. When his was closed, it looked like any other utility trailer.

The other option would be one of those milsurplus mobile command center truck bed units on a trailer. I think you could disguise that with a little sheet metal to look like any other homemade utility trailer or small construction site office trailer. The advantage would be the ac, built in storage and durability.

My brother found an old utility company truck with a bed like this on it. He made a trailer from it for his shoeing business that would be a workable solution for you.images (1).jpgimages (1).jpg

[apache235]

This is more of what I had in mind

http://www.bibooutfitters.com/survival-model.html

or this

http://moabaz.com/moab-fort-xl/

They aren't cheap, but then again... .

[hsehntr98]

I like the BIBO one better because most everything is contained inside and there is no advertising on the outside. The quality of the products seem better and the starting cost is less. I'm not sure I would like sleeping in the top tent, but I am sure someone would. And it looks like it is better constructed.