An interesting survival solution...

[Froman]

A interesting survival solution...

I made a quick search on the forums here for Prepper/Survival related comments, I did not find much at the time so I offer this thread.

I did see Elon Musk (EM henceforth)comments regarding being "A leader in post apocalyptic technology. I assumed this was EM's amusing sense of humor, but I quickly realized the potential the Cybertruck (CT) has.

So in this post I would like to discuss some of the negative and positive potential the CT has as a Survival Related Vehicle (SRV) for when the "Sh1t hits the fan" (SHTF).
Now I completely understand why there may not be many prepper comments here (and yes I understand that I am generalizing "prepper" into a broader "survival" context) as many preppers tend to reserve disclosing their preparation plans for disastrous (SHTF) events to others for good reasons. My initial post intent was to address this as more of a prepper "emergency" use SRV, and less as recreational "survival" uses. I want to discuss the potential features that could be integrated into the CT platform to improve/enhance its SRV abilities. I will discuss potential Tesla Power Wall application/integration also.

It was obvious from the start how useful as a SRV the CT could be, Bullet resistant exterior, high ground clearance(includes off-road capabilities),integrated solar re-charging, portable electric power (AC), secure covered storage, quiet HVAC. Some detractors are overall range, the size of the CT, general dependence on electronics. With the addition of run-flat tires and a durable brush-guard(and maybe powered winch) its SRV SHTF capabilities are improved.

It would be cool if Tesla offered a SRV options package on the CT providing some options that would be useful to campers and hunters as well.

So let's start.

Ponder these Ideas for now and let us know in this thread of any other SRV or prepper specific feedback and/or suggestions

Your mission, Elon, should you decide to accept it... As always, Should you or any of your CT Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions... this thread will self-destruct in 3,2,1... Goodluck

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[Froman]

Run-flat tires as a factory option. They could be purchased aftermarket, but I dont want to store a original set of large tires or hassle with reselling used tires.

Another feature I would like to see hardened electric/electronics on the CT. Having some protections against solar events such as Coronal Mass ejections and/or EMP radiation. I do wonder if the Tesla Armored Glass (aluminum oxynitride glass) of the CT will offer any benefits as an effective Faraday Shield, or if more "hardening" of the electronics would be necessary. Also I am unsure how an exposed (not Hardened) solar panel will suffer from a prolonged CME event (one lasting weeks or months).

 

[Crissa]

Your reply is in the cut-off of the quote... kinda hard to read.

-Crissa

 

[Froman]

Another option would involve a purpose built Tesla Power Wall with semi-portable "hybrid" batteries(not under development AFAIK).
This Tesla PowerWall portable (PWP) would consist of a Permanent powerwall mount with 2 batteries, one battery is detachable.
The main battery pack is permanently mounted to a permanent wall mount with this cell pack utilizing the 4860 Iron based cells (IC) as part of the PWP unit. The second Cell pack mounts to the PWP but is removable and utilizes the 4860 High Nickel based cells (HNC-P). This portable HNC unit could be quickly removed from the PWP and quickly and easily installed into the CT underbed bin storage (UBS)(assuming there are factory ordered quick mounts and hardware hookups pre-installed into the UBS). The HNC-P can be designed to fit snug into the UBS and the cooling vents/connections are also built into the UBS. I can see two advantages to the HNC-P, the first is safety, extended climate control(heat/cool) if vehicle becomes stranded. Secondly the extension of CT range (mileage) in an emergency situation (likely SHTF, otherwise the HNC-P should be assumed connected to the PWP). Hopefully offering a few hundred miles of extra range. When reaching your "Bugout" location, the HNC-P can then be mounted into another PWP unit (a PWP unit minus the HNC-P unit located at an OFF/ON the grid "bugout" location to provide power to that property). This would allow the PWP to charge the HNC-P to store/use excess energy at that destination and provide a Emergency-ready status to the HNC-P. Once recharged, the HNC-P may be used for future emergencies and/or times when an extended operational range is required.
The HNC-P will likely be heavy (and may only be a temporary battery option depending on design).

The HNC-P could also be useful when on a vacation and/or long trip when the extra safety/security of an emergency backup is good peace of mind (i.e. across long desert expanses or thru wintery mountains). Or maybe designed as a semi-permanent solution to battery range(and recharged thru the CT standard charging port).

I suggest EM Call this the "Tesla Powerwall Predator" because it sounds cool, or "Tesla Powerwall Portable" or just "Tesla Powerwall P"

I have several other ideas to contribute here but not enough time right now to express them all. I plan to share those ideas in this thread soon, and expand on some I've already discussed.

 

[Froman]

Your reply is in the cut-off of the quote... kinda hard to read.

-Crissa

sorry, 1st post failures...

 

[Newton]

Hmmmmm what makes a good prepper vehicle.
-Offroad
-Good gas mileage/able to use multiple sources of fuel
-Large enough for sleeping in/bringing you supplies
-easily fixable if broken
-tuff/able to take abuse
-can be used as a generator or be used to turn/power things
- weather resistant
Emp/solar flares is in my opinion one of those things preppers love to talk about but isnt a threat.

That's about about all i can think of right now. I'll add my random ranking.
Let's see what CT is good at.

-will be very good at offroad stuff, 100/100
-electricity is pretty easy to get and make so good there. But I guess since it has only 1 source even though u can use multiple sources to make it. so ill mark down some points 80/100
-its large for sure and lockable bed is huge also 7500 lb capacity is bonkers. 100/100
-will be a while before parts are easy to get and many electronic parts and software reliant. Wont be easy to fix alone. 20/100
-so far it seems extremely tuff and I would bet that will over engineer it, at least i hope so, but many unknowns about mechanisms and reliability. So I'll give tuff/take abuse 95/100
-built in 120v power! can probably easily jack up the back and use the rotating tires to run a makeshift generator or whatever else. 100/100 or opposite, use a water wheel or something to regen and charge
-another unsure thing but should be built very well. And is stainless, Elon jokes about making it float so I'm betting weather resistance will be amazing 95/100

I'm hard pressed to find much else to ask from a prepper vehicle.

 

[MEDICALJMP]

My largest issues as a SHTF vehicle is when the power fails for any length of time you soon have a large brick. Now that goes for any ICE vehicle too as if you can’t pump gas from a tank it won’t go very far. You can only store so much fuel at home. Unless you have your own roof-type solar system the solar tonneau cover won’t provide much useful power beyond short drives.

 

[Crissa]

My largest issues as a SHTF vehicle is when the power fails...

...Isn't that the fate of all vehicles?

Gasoline pumps need electricity to function, trucks to ship it in, etc.

At least with electric you can charge off of whatever your generator is, be it solar, wind, hydro, or carbon based.

-Crissa

 

[MEDICALJMP]

...Isn't that the fate of all vehicles?

Gasoline pumps need electricity to function, trucks to ship it in, etc.
-Crissa

I pointed that out further down the paragraph. Both types will be locked in place sooner or later unless you have your own electrical generation. Solar is much better for longer term survival situations. Gasoline is stable for a set amount of time and you can only store a limited amount safely at home. Natural gas generators won’t last long if the infrastructure collapses or we have a total societal failure. Only a whole-house solar system can resupply the Power Wall long term as a stand alone system.

 

[GnarlyDudeLive]

My largest issues as a SHTF vehicle is when the power fails for any length of time you soon have a large brick. Now that goes for any ICE vehicle too as if you can’t pump gas from a tank it won’t go very far. You can only store so much fuel at home. Unless you have your own roof-type solar system the solar tonneau cover won’t provide much useful power beyond short drives.

True but ~15 miles of charge a day is more range than you can get when pumps stop working, lol. If someone is serious for a SHTF situation, a multi-fuel generator is going to be on the list and could be used in a pinch to help charge the CT up as well. The bed could also store several additional portable solar panels. The CT can not only provided mobility but also shelter and also become a mobile power storage unit. Kind of amazing really. ~15mils of range from a solar tonneau cover per day can add up to quite a bit if you hunker down for a week or more.

 

[Luke42]

My parents were back-to-the-landers when I was a kid, so I've lived a lived the off-grid life. I'm more focused on long-term sustainability than on single dramatic event, though. I don't mesh with the prepper community, even though I have relevant experience.

The Cybertruck could be a good prepper / off-grid vehicle, but it is currently a poor choice.

The reasons are parts availability and driveway repair ability. There aren't any Cybertruck parts in my local junkyard, or even at Advance Auto. Also, nobody outside of Tesla R&D knows how to fix the Cybertruck.

The Cybertruck might be a good choice for off-grid living in the future, but there just aren't enough on the road to be able to take two broken ones and make one working truck. Hopefully this will change, but it is not currently the case.

A five or ten year old F-150 or Silverado is boring AF, but parts, fuel, and oil are all readily available and knowledge on how to maintain them in a slow motion clusterfuck (like the current pandemic) is widespread. You can even buy two or three old trucks and swap parts among them as-needed -- or use one to get the other unstuck.

Massively popular vehicles are easier to maintain in difficult circumstances, even if they aren't perfect in other ways. Hopefully the Cybertruck will meet these criteria in the coming decades, as the Toyota Prius has before it.

Another thing to think about for medium-term transportation is a solar powered golf cart. They're not so useful for highway travel, but they're really useful on a small farm or rural community. Electric golf carts are super-easy to maintain if you can order parts from Amazon, but harder if you have to scrounge locally. This is the same problem the Cybertruck has, but less severe because there is a larger population of donor vehicles.

Also, a compact tractor with a front end loader is really useful. The loader becomes like a bionic arm for you after you drive it enough. But you have to buy fuel, oil, and parts for it -- so you need to be in an economically sustainable situation in order to maintain it over the long haul. Just like you have to with an F-150/Silverado -- and, to a lesser extent, the Cybertruck, or a golf cart.

Setting yourself up for anything other than camping out in the woods for a couple of weeks is hard. We're 10 months in to the current disaster, which strikes me as the kind of thing that all y'all have been prepping for, and it's not going away any time soon. I've lived the off-grid life, and true independence from civilization is a hundred times harder to achieve than most enthusiasts want to believe.

I've been there, done that, grew the food.

Anyway...

Long term maintenance (in the aftermath of a dramatic event) and economic sustainability (in addition to food and energy sustainability ) are things which turn a lot of prepper and back-to-the-lander doctrine on its head. But they're important to consider fully.

 

[Luke42]

If I were prepping or off-gridding, my ride of choice would be a 10-20 year old F-250 diesel (or the Chevy/RAM equivalent).

The reason is that biodiesel is an option, and these vehicles are common enough that you can find parts and expertise.

Then a compact 4x4 diesel tractor, a chainsaw, garden tools, and a generator. These are really useful for making firewood, making trails, and generally making a landscape livable.

The F-250 can tow wide variety of things as needed, including a flatbed trailer or a travel trailer/RV.

You can set up the necessities for an off-grid life in a few hours with 2-3 trailers.

Not a classy off-grid life, mind you, but a comfortable and practical one.

There's a lot to be said for having redundant copies of critical equipment, especially when the parts are interchangeable.

But all of these tools require a business ecosystem in order to function over the long haul, which means you need to provide this as part of your prepping. Which means that, sooner or later, you're back to all of the problems of daily life in two weeks, two months, or two years (depending on the nature of your plan).

 

[lqdchkn]

1st rule of Prep Club: Dont talk about Prep Club

 

[Old Pro]

A interesting survival solution...

I made a quick search on the forums here for Prepper/Survival related comments, I did not find much at the time so I offer this thread.

I did see Elon Musk (EM henceforth)comments regarding being "A leader in post apocalyptic technology. I assumed this was EM's amusing sense of humor, but I quickly realized the potential the Cybertruck (CT) has.

So in this post I would like to discuss some of the negative and positive potential the CT has as a Survival Related Vehicle (SRV) for when the "Sh1t hits the fan" (SHTF).
Now I completely understand why there may not be many prepper comments here (and yes I understand that I am generalizing "prepper" into a broader "survival" context) as many preppers tend to reserve disclosing their preparation plans for disastrous (SHTF) events to others for good reasons. My initial post intent was to address this as more of a prepper "emergency" use SRV, and less as recreational "survival" uses. I want to discuss the potential features that could be integrated into the CT platform to improve/enhance its SRV abilities. I will discuss potential Tesla Power Wall application/integration also.

It was obvious from the start how useful as a SRV the CT could be, Bullet resistant exterior, high ground clearance(includes off-road capabilities),integrated solar re-charging, portable electric power (AC), secure covered storage, quiet HVAC. Some detractors are overall range, the size of the CT, general dependence on electronics. With the addition of run-flat tires and a durable brush-guard(and maybe powered winch) its SRV SHTF capabilities are improved.

It would be cool if Tesla offered a SRV options package on the CT providing some options that would be useful to campers and hunters as well.

So let's start.

Ponder these Ideas for now and let us know in this thread of any other SRV or prepper specific feedback and/or suggestions

Your mission, Elon, should you decide to accept it... As always, Should you or any of your CT Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions... this thread will self-destruct in 3,2,1... Goodluck

I just wanted to comment on the picture of the German Shepherd. My Shepherd is now 11 years old and his "Wheels" are not what they used to be. Currently he rides in the backseat of my 06 Tacoma because he is no longer able to jump onto the tailgate and truck bed. One feature of the CyberTruck that caught my eye is the ramp tailgate? Can hardly wait to see if that feature returns my buddy "Santino" back to the glory of riding in the truck bed.

 

[Frankenblob]

A interesting survival solution...

I made a quick search on the forums here for Prepper/Survival related comments, I did not find much at the time so I offer this thread.

I did see Elon Musk (EM henceforth)comments regarding being "A leader in post apocalyptic technology. I assumed this was EM's amusing sense of humor, but I quickly realized the potential the Cybertruck (CT) has.

So in this post I would like to discuss some of the negative and positive potential the CT has as a Survival Related Vehicle (SRV) for when the "Sh1t hits the fan" (SHTF).
Now I completely understand why there may not be many prepper comments here (and yes I understand that I am generalizing "prepper" into a broader "survival" context) as many preppers tend to reserve disclosing their preparation plans for disastrous (SHTF) events to others for good reasons. My initial post intent was to address this as more of a prepper "emergency" use SRV, and less as recreational "survival" uses. I want to discuss the potential features that could be integrated into the CT platform to improve/enhance its SRV abilities. I will discuss potential Tesla Power Wall application/integration also.

It was obvious from the start how useful as a SRV the CT could be, Bullet resistant exterior, high ground clearance(includes off-road capabilities),integrated solar re-charging, portable electric power (AC), secure covered storage, quiet HVAC. Some detractors are overall range, the size of the CT, general dependence on electronics. With the addition of run-flat tires and a durable brush-guard(and maybe powered winch) its SRV SHTF capabilities are improved.

It would be cool if Tesla offered a SRV options package on the CT providing some options that would be useful to campers and hunters as well.

So let's start.

Ponder these Ideas for now and let us know in this thread of any other SRV or prepper specific feedback and/or suggestions

Your mission, Elon, should you decide to accept it... As always, Should you or any of your CT Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions... this thread will self-destruct in 3,2,1... Goodluck

1) UPTIS/TWEEL tires ( if one cannot afford or wait for this then use a good 'puncture foam"-- "Project Farm" on youtube does fantastic videos on comparing/competing various brands, including tire foam, against each other.
2) various items of Military gear - quality and longevity.
3) Solar panels/equipment.
4) magnifying glass/hand mirror or Ferro rod, even learn the old tecniques of fire starting.
5) snare wire, crossbow, fishing rod....
6) electric chainsaw, hand saw, axe....

Avoid any and all "grid tied" equipment INCLUDING the "Powerwall" ( I enquired - when it first came out-and was told that it needs to get back in touch with the grid/internet after being offline for x-amount of time, but this may have changed now.)