Looking at Vehicles

Back in November I made a post about transportation during disasters. At the time, I only concluded that a good pair of boots should be part of any travel plan.

Over the past month (you know – the period where there were no new posts!) I have been looking at and pondering the appropriateness of different vehicles. This endeavor actually has roots back in August when I was preparing for fire season and realized I had no effective means to evacuate the area with my supplies. Yes, that is when the Decision Matrix I posted on 12/28 started to take shape. That Matrix will be an ongoing work-in-progress as my insight grows.

That Decision Matrix begins with a question of Awareness or Warning. If you get some advance warning of a situation, you then can properly Evacuate. However, disasters such as earthquakes or industrial explosions provide no real warning. Your option is only to prepare for Escape after the disaster creates complete havoc in your area.

My trailer in use at the 2012 Overland Expo.

The "kitchen" box rode nicely on top for this trip.

My current means of transportation is a large BMW Dual Sport motorcycle with a trailer constructed out of a Dragon Missile Transport box. This was designed as an Escape Vehicle. It can clamber over various terrains (limited more by my skill as a rider than by the vehicle!) and negotiate paths through stalled lines of traffic due to its narrow wheelbase. The bike has a range of 200 miles on 5 gallons of gas. Strapping more fuel on the trailer quickly extends this range.

While this vehicle is probably the best all around option for escaping a congested area, it has limited capability to carry a lot of supplies. In addition, it does not function well as an emergency shelter!

What is the best vehicle to meet daily transportation needs, capable of easily loading and transporting a good mass of supplies (evacuation focus), can be lived in as needed, and can be relatively unobtrusive in appearance?

I have been thinking about NPR trucks for several years. There are so many of these on the road that there are tons of spare parts and nobody gives them a second look. However, they are too big for parking garages and stand out too much in many neighborhoods. I am also concerned that the tilting cab makes it very difficult to have direct access to the back storage area. In addition, the height of the bed is very high for loading (really want to take my motorcycle).

Last month I stumbled upon a converted school bus. It was 28’ long with a living/sleeping area in the front and the back set up as a “garage” for 5 dirt bikes. That is pretty cool. However, it was very old and the back door was too small for my cycle. Obvious parking issues too! But wow – like that rear garage concept. As my one son stated, any vehicle that can spit out another vehicle is always cool. Maybe we have watched the Batmobile convert to the Bat Cycle a few too many times?

After that I found a great vehicle – a 24’ step van. A step van is like the big square bread trucks or UPS trucks. They are very popular now with the food truck crowd. The nice thing about these vehicles is that they have strong suspensions for carrying heavy loads, a low floor for easier loading, and a very square shape which makes for simpler shelves and maximum storage potential. There is also completely open space between the lower sides and the frame rails where you can mount water tanks, solar battery banks, generators, and extra storage. The wide back doors also make for easy loading. Add a good ramp and you are good to go. But damn they look big sitting in a parking lot and heading down the highway. Still, I see a whole lot of potential here.

From there I looked at a box van. This one had a cube about 6’ high, 8’ long and perhaps 6’ wide. It was completely set up as a stealth camper. I loved it – even though it was still too high to fit in most parking garages it would easily fit in most parking spaces. Like the step van, there was plenty of protected space underneath for storage – in fact fresh water and grey water tanks were already in place. But where do I put the Bat Cycle?

Time to help someone move. I decided to rent a regular cargo van (good thing since it was raining!). Very discreet, reasonable gas mileage due to the shape (versus the big boxes I had been looking at), easy to load gear into, and good accessible shelter – though a bit tight. These are great all around vehicles though you may not want to plan to spend too much time living out of one due to the tight space. Perhaps adding a small “toy hauler” to this would make sense but I would like to avoid having to deal with a trailer.

So much to consider – and in the end there is no choice but to make major compromises. I haven’t even addressed the capability of 4-wheel-drive or what type of fuel system may be best. We will see where this ends up. Never was an actual Bat Truck!

Teaching / Learning; Sharing / Listening

Over the past several months I have been invited to groups where I have been a Presenter, Instructor, Participant, or Student. Strikes me that most people do not understand the roles they are to assume in these scenarios. Reminds me of a martial arts lesson from years ago where we were forced to take the role of leader to make us better followers; and forced to take the role of follower to become better leaders. Experiencing the opposite side of the relationship helps you understand the frustration that poorly oriented individuals create.

Let’s go back a couple months were I was asked to do a presentation on preparedness. The presentation ran over as participants felt a need to interrupt to add more ideas. Some of the additions were well founded – but problematic in keeping us on track. Others had no value to the group at all as a few participants wanted to share what they felt were amusing stories.

A few weeks later I was at a dinner with a group of preppers. As a sit down session, it became pretty clear that there were a few individuals who (quite arrogantly) tried to put down those around them to push their own viewpoints. What should have been good, open discussions and idea sharing became a bit limited. Most frustrating was catching little bits of comments a few seats down that sounded like they may be more valuable to your current status. Some of this was resolved as we exited the location by sharing emails and inviting follow-discussion with those you were not able to adequately listen to.

Last week I attended a self-defense class for preppers. I have a lot of training in this area but committed to approaching with an open mind and “empty cup.” The 2 leaders clearly had a planned agenda. 2 hours later I don’t believe they covered more than 15% of their material as the group kept interrupting to share their own information.

Yes, something can be learned from virtually anyone. Yes, some of the added comments had value and added a bit of clarity. However, the constant interruptions robbed the group of a better learning situation.

Several years ago there was a drive to understand and develop active listening skills in the business world. I am seeing the flip side of that in some of these meetings. Everyone wants to be seen as an expert. Everyone believes expressing their opinion is more important that allowing the group to learn a more complete lesson.

My suggestion is to set up sessions where each participant is given 10 minutes to present an idea or concept that they feel would be of value to the group. Everyone else listens and participates appropriately with the understanding they will have an opportunity to provide their own ideas in a respected structure. Any odd questions and request for more in-depth information can be handled in a more relaxed social structure immediately following the conclusion of all presentations. At that point each participant knows who has information that correlates to your current needs. Best of all, if one of the topics or presenters is completely out of line with your personal needs, you only need to politely wait 10 minutes for a new presenter.

Hmm, perhaps my suggestion above is out of line. In rereading this, I am trying to provide structure to cover the lack of respect and manners among participants. Somehow we must actually restore the sense of personal respect to others to overcome the sense of self-importance and arrogance that has permeated our society. Can we solve the problem instead of just controlling it with band aid processes? It begins with each of us being willing (and emotionally strong enough) to accept where we fail our roles and work to accept them. Note, I am not suggesting moving forward as sheep in assigned roles. I am saying we must be respectful of others providing opportunities to learn. We do not need to be arrogant fools in an attempt to prove we are not puppets.

There was one fortune cookie message that I have kept in mind for many years: “The smart man knows what he knows. The wise man knows what he doesn’t know.” Are you the smart man who is proud of his knowledge, or the wise man who understands there is always much more you can learn?

Having been a presenter, I have become a better learner. Having been an instructor, I have become a better participant. Where do you fail in filling a role?