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bicycles and survival

Am I alone or has anyone else considered bikes (as in the ones with pedals) as part of their survival kit? While they do have limitations, they don't run out of gas, are quiet, and are easy to conceal. Plus fixing a flat on a bike is much easier than fixing one on a car. I'll need to take pics of the bike that I'm preparing for dooms-day.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Shlomo ben Maved on September 22, 2014 at 15:36

Yeah, we all have mountain bikes for recreation and exercise that could be easily converted to BOV if necessary...Even have a couple of tow behind trailers that we used to carry all out stuff in when the kids were small. Easy to mount rack front and rear and make up (or buy) panniers.

Look at what the Viet Minh did with their's over the Ho Chi Minh trail carrying sometimes over 500 lbs of goods.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on September 22, 2014 at 15:43

Never thought about it, but it makes sense to have a mode of transportation that doesnt use gas/oil ect

Permalink Reply by Mike West on September 22, 2014 at 17:32

That is a very good idea, especially in a urban setting where traffic jams would occur.

Permalink Reply by Howard P Reynolds on September 22, 2014 at 22:44

No, but I have thought of a sulky (harness racing buggy). If you get an old wooden-railed one you can attach all kinds of hooks and lashings - light weight net "floor". Maybe a battle harness up front attached to the rails to pull the thing, and hard rubber tires on the wheels to avoid flats. Get rid of the seat, etc. If you have a family or a friend or two who will be traveling with you, there will be lots of room for gear, ammo, food, tent(s) water, etc. Here's one to start your modifications.

Permalink Reply by Shlomo ben Maved on September 23, 2014 at 6:08

Or you can buy or build one of these:

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on September 23, 2014 at 6:20

good ground clearance, Howard. I bet you could adapt skis to that.

Permalink Reply by Howard P Reynolds on September 23, 2014 at 10:49

Ground clearance was what got me interested in a sulky. A regular sized adult could pull the rig, standing straight, with a harness, and I figured, having read "The Road" , Cormac McCarthy, there will be situations that will keep you off roads, traveling overland, and good ground clearance will make it easier to get the rig over obstacles. Having a few adults along can be supported by the relatively large load capacity of the "deck", and that provides help to get over some obstacles as well as others to switch of to pull the rig. Of course, it would work really well if you could find a stray horse along the way. But then, in winter, in places where it gets cold, you couldn't feed the horse.

Tobias Gibson said:

good ground clearance, Howard. I bet you could adapt skis to that.

Permalink Reply by Shlomo ben Maved on September 23, 2014 at 10:58

No but the horse could feed you...Horse meat is quite tasty and is sold quite a bit in Europe.

While the sulky is a great idea I know that they are built light to not carry a lot of weight...The "tactical" wheelbarrow (ala Gunkid) that I pictured will carry over 400 lbs with ease...The one we built I modified by extending the metal handles by 18"/45 cm to make it easier to push from within the handles then to pull from without.

Permalink Reply by Howard P Reynolds on September 23, 2014 at 11:20

Hahahaha. Great point, Shlomo! One of the advantages of a sulky is that it was designed for a horse, which means that a human can pull the rig standing up straight, unlike the Gunkid wheelbarrow, and pulling seems better than pushing. Also, Gunkid-like options means that all the weight is on your arms, instead of pulling with your body, arms free, via a harness. Plus, getting hard rubber tires for the wheels will allow greater weight, and you already have a large surface area of the "deck" to distribute weight. Since it was designed for a horse, there might be enough room up front to attach two human harnesses, one behind the other, to get extra pulling power. While you really don't want to extend the "deck" forward, beyond the original design, because weight will get too far forward of the center of the wheels, the space where the horse would go, and will go if you find a horse, will be maintained and two guys should be able to fit the space. And, extending the deck behind the wheels, at least a little bit will give you more capacity, better weight distribution, and perhaps a better hand-hold to help get the rig over obstacles.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on September 23, 2014 at 11:30

Howard,

I do like the idea of a two man "team" being able to pull it. Not only does it give you the leverage and strength but something that is forgotten about many times. It instills the team mentality which becomes essential of there are multiple people travelling together

Permalink Reply by Howard P Reynolds on September 23, 2014 at 11:49

You make a good point, Jan. You really do need to travel in a group, for strength, protection, camaraderie, work distribution, etc. Desperation might be forestalled with teamwork. And hey, the sulky would make a good litter in case someone sprained an ankle or something.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on September 23, 2014 at 12:03

Hey, and for the record, I recall a harness race that featured William "The Refrigerator" Perry of the Chicago Bears. This was after his playing days and he well over 300 pounds at the time.