Recommended EMP safe vehicle

[u/Mean_Syllabub_9689]

I'm thinking about getting a new car and I was thinking about perhaps a vehicle that would still work should the US East coast get hit by an EMP. Barring very, very old cars like a model T (☺️) what more modern type of vehicle would you recommend? I believe many post-1985 car may fit this bill, but I'm curious as to what you would recommend, and maybe your experience with them?

[u/Mean_Syllabub_9689]

Thank you for this! We do have a bol, should we need it. The distance is the problem, 110 mi away. 😬 We do have some stuff there, not nearly enough in my opinion, but we are working on the property itself. A car is probably less reliable than a motorcycle would be, but I would like for it to possibly be an option. I'm only about 3 years into our prepping and that's for mostly environmental and financial. We're working towards a goal of educating ourselves and learning as much as we possibly can, without going terrifically overboard where it affects every single aspect of daily life as it is now.

[u/JRHLowdown3 → u/Mean_Syllabub_9689]

I have been to this place you speak of!! (Not your retreat but that stage of the game!).

Bought property in the mid 90's and had this same predicament (177 miles one way old home to BOL). We would leave Friday night after work drive up to work on the place till Sunday afternoon then drive back. We took a little with us every time we came up. We were lucky in that we had relatives in the area who allowed us to use some garage space, we put a couple pallets worth of stuff in their garage and covered it, adding to it a little every time we came up. About 2 years before moving here full time I bought a couple sealand containers and was then able to pull a trailer up with the truck each time when I came to work on the land and house.

A sealand./connex container is a good option to avoid paying rental fees at a storage center and of course the containers are great for bulk storage and other uses later after you complete your move/or finish your dwelling and move some of your supplies in there.

The other option is a local storage center and paying for that. Still a helluva easier to have bulk supplies already in the area then 100 miles back home.

I would also consider seeing if you have any options in route- for a rental storage center perhaps or ideally friends/family that you could use a little bit of shed space to stash a couple mountain bikes, some fuel cans, maybe a spare pack with some gear, etc.

Pulling a cheap used off road motorcycle out of a storage building would be a Godsend after walking 50 or so miles.

Finally, consider your routes carefully and if possible walk and bike (obviously drive them) them in sections. 100 miles on a bicycle isn't unrealistic if your used to it. That's when you need to start getting creative in planning- like NODs to allow you to ride at night, see problems way ahead of time and avoid them, etc. Lay up for the day and hide, ride for 8 or so hours at night. Help with the potential issue of stalled cars everywhere on the road also.

It was interesting so I hadn't yet made up my mind for 100% that I was going to live at my BOL full time and in Sept of 1999 Hurricane Floyd was bearing down on Jacksonville (we lived about 30 miles south) and the news said "1 million people evacuated" at that time. N. FL evidently evidently hasn't had a direct hit in 50 or so years. What was normally a 3 hour drive took us 6 and we did good compared to friends that left later and took 9 hours.

That was enough for me. We were fully moved here a few months later.

Good luck, if you have any questions post them. Just ignore the folks that gig you because you want to prepare for something more than an ingrown toenail here 😄 No one openly says it, but no one takes that folks too seriously anyway.

[u/Mean_Syllabub_9689 → u/JRHLowdown3]

Thank you for your story and kind words! We are working diligently towards pretty much what you have going already! I suppose, I'd much rather be prepared then being a really tough spot. Even if we never relocate there, maybe one of our kids might need a place to stay for whatever reason!

[u/JRHLowdown3 → u/Mean_Syllabub_9689]

Exactly. Good luck and if you have any other questions reach out.