Don’t Abandon a Disabled Vehicle
In every zombie TV show and disaster movie, we see plenty of abandoned vehicles. Some are in driveways or on lawns, while others are in ditches or on the road. As my friend, Orrin Knutson, would say, they’re nothing more than “road-kill” or “yard art.”
But the last thing you will want to do during a survival situation is abandon your vehicle. Instead, cannibalize it because there is much there you can use for survival. Let’s go over the elements Orrin tells me you can put to use from a disabled vehicle during a crisis.
Among the flammable fluids a vehicle has that can be used for fire starting, other than gasoline, are motor oil, power steering fluid, axle grease, brake fluid and transmission fluid. In addition, grease and oil can be used as a water repellent treatment for boots and other items. Pouring motor oil on a fire sends a black smoke signal to searchers, if you need that.
A disabled vehicle will also include several mirrors, which can be used as signaling devices when the sun is out. At night, you can strategically place mirrors so they magnify ambient light from your campfire or flashlight. Or, you can use a shard from a mirror as a sharp knife or spear point.
Some of the best uses for seat belts are as an improvised backpack strap, an adjustable waist belt, a tree stand safety or repelling harness, or as bindings.
Of course, there is plenty of wiring in a vehicle, and it can be used as cordage. Once you’ve stripped electric wiring of its insulation, it can also be fashioned into snares, fish lures and hooks. In addition, it can be used to bind a cooking grill together without burning away, as well as for secure wrap for mounting spear, arrow or gig points. It can even be used as webbing for snowshoes.
Then there’s a vehicle’s interior cloth or leather, which can be employed as bedding, clothing, backpacks, leg wraps in snow country, and rainproof or snow-proof shelter roofing.
Foam padding from inside the vehicle’s seats can be used to insulate makeshift snow boots, or as a mattress or bedding, or to tuck inside light clothing to turn a windbreaker into a parka.
Colored plastic from the vehicle’s lights and interior can be fashioned into flashy fishing lures, or into spear and arrow points. Extra-large pieces from the interior can be used for waterproof roofing on a shelter or firewood pile cover, or melted to be used as glue.
A lift jack can be used as a powerful lifting device for multiple tasks, while the tire iron can be used as a heavy pry bar or weapon. The long twist handle for a scissor jack can be made into a heavy spear or used for a turning spit over a campfire.
Once they are cleaned, small tanks designed for windshield wiper fluid and other fluids can be used to store drinking water as a canteen. They can also carry oil or gas if you must bug out.
The small, rubber tubing you find under a vehicle’s hood can be cleaned and then used to suck water from deep holes. It can also be fashioned into a slingshot or a tourniquet to slow serious bleeding, as well as cordage.
Tires, tubes and rubber hoses can be utilized to make improvised sandals or shoes. When tossed on a fire, rubber produces thick black smoke that is visible for miles. Inner tubes can be cut up and used for water carriers, bindings and other items.
Hubcaps can be turned into snow or dirt shovels, while older solid steel hubcaps can be used as cooking pots. The vehicle’s battery can be used to power existing vehicle lights, igniting fires or, together with a headlight, can be turned into a portable, high-intensity light.
Finally, you can remove the vehicle’s hood and use it as a strong snow sled or travois to pull supplies, children or an injured companion. It can also be utilized as a hard roof for a shelter or as a safe campfire pit.
Like what you read? There’s more where that came from. See how your stockpile stacks up… Click here!
No one has mentioned putting the alternator in a wind turbine or water powered (if you have creek, stream or river) set-up to recharge the car battery.
It is all fun & games until you find yourself broken down somewhere and no one is available to help or will help you out. This is why you want to have in your car various tools and food sources as well as water when you travel.
I was visiting a friend when I had two flat tires in the desert near Death Valley, California. My first flat tire I used the spare in the car. It was a doughnut tire. I was pissed because I thought that I had bought a regular tire instead of this crappy doughnut tire.
I replaced the first flat with the doughnut tire. I traveled seven miles when the doughnut tire went flat. The rim of this tire is very weak metal and it bent when I was traveling at 40 miles per hour. My I was screwed. It was 8:00 p.m. at night, I was in the desert where there were few cars traveling on a Sunday, and I had no cell phone.
I kept a gallon of water in the car and some roman noodles, energy bars, candles, matches, tools (hammer, Phillips-head screwdriver and a flat-head screwdriver, vice gripes, duct tape, flashlight and a $2.00 flashing strobe light (red).
The desert was cooling off. I had the noodles for dinner and a power bar for desert. I turned on my strobe red light and I stood outside the car with my flashlight trying to flag down someone to help me.
Three hours later, someone did stop for me. He drove me to the nearest town which was 50 miles away and I called my wife to come get me.
When my wife arrived we drove to my car and we used her spare tire (which I did replaced her spare with a regular tire.) I put her spare on my car, (they were both Fords and the rims would match up nicely.) Then we both drove home.
Lesson learned. Make sure you have a real tire for a spare tire. Be sure to have car supplies at all times (like I mentioned above), and check on them once a month. If you have a family make sure you have enough supplies for everybody. Also be certain to have several wool blankets and solar blankets. Just in case you have to spend the night in or with your vehicle.
All this other stuff like taking the car door off is just foolishness. You need to look at you vehicle as a survival tool and like Frank said earlier, look for things that will start a fire, give off dark black smoke to be used a signal, mirrors and flammable fluids and so on.
You shouldn’t sleep in a car when the weather is very cold, unless you have something to block the wind from going underneath. The wind over the top, as well as the bottom, could actually make you freeze. When cold camping, sleep on a tarp laid right on the ground. You will actually stay warmer. If you build a shelter on the ground, use the windshield as a roof. On a sunny, but cold day, your shelter could heat up to over 60 degrees with a glass roof.
Actually, a tarp on the cold ground is a bad idea. Put some wood, branches, or brush under it to keep the ground from sucking the warmth out of your body. Easy enough to block the wind from going under the car (or camper) which does dramatically reduce the loss of heat.
The only way a windshield could be useful as a shelter roof is if you don’t have to carry it far or move it from place to place. They are very heavy and breakable and not easy to carry. The support for it on your shelter would need to be very sturdy as well. It’s a good idea for a stationary, stable and well-built shelter, though, if you don’t mind drones, planes, or helicopters seeing you easily. If you’re going to build a shelter anyway, why not use the car body? It’s already there, it has seats which are usable as beds, it can be somewhat secured (certainly against most animals), keeps food and other needs more secure, and when the driveline is disconnected and excess weight is removed, can be pulled by horse, mule, a few bicycles, etc.
You are wrong. By staying inside your car your body heat will warm the vehicle up. So much so, it is a good idea to crack a window for fresh air and a bit of a thermostat. If it gets too cold you close the window until you warm up.
Did you know that you can warm the car up quickly with a candle even if it freezing cold outside? Always carry a candle in your car.
If there is any chance of getting it running again, older vehicles have a better chance of functioning after an EMP, from what I’ve heard. But also true, the vehicle could become a shelter. Much more solid than a tent.
Good point — I’m keeping at least one vehicle with the old points & condenser ignition system: Just in case!!
If you are in the desert, remove the door from the vehicle and take it with you, and when the mid-day heat rises, you can just roll down the window to cool off!
LOL! How much cooler depends on how fast you’re going. lol!
Take ALL 4 doors! It’s called 460 A/C, Roll down all 4 windows and go 60 MPH. Us old farm boys have used it for years.