There are things we take for granted in the country.  Lots of things actually, widely available food in a wide array of choices, functioning electrical grid, peaceful elections, so on and so forth. Today I’d like to focus your attention on what you take for granted right under your feet, or wheels.  Some of the best constructed roads, bridges and tunnels ever pumped out by a single country.

These systems are fantastic! If you’ve never been to a country with sub-par roads, you  may not appreciate the difference that 12 inches of re-bar, concrete and asphalt can make for your daily commute.  We can blithely zoom around at 60, 70 mph most everywhere, with no fear of the road being washed out ahead, the bridge being out or the tunnel flooded.

The thing is though, we were willing to pay the price for these back when we had more oil and iron than we knew what to do with.  Now that things have slid to the other side of Hubberts curve, the cost to maintain these treasures is becoming harder and harder to bear.  As a nation we’re trillions behind in infrastructure repairs.

What does that mean for a prepper?  - You need to take the failing of infrastructure into account for everything from your daily work commute to your BO plans.  How many bridges do you cross every day?  Are there alternate routes you can take if one of those is no longer safe to drive over? Is your commute still affordable at that point?  Can you get to and from your house or BO location if the main bridge or highway is impassable? Are there multiple ways to get to the local trading centers from your house or BO location? (Grocery stores, banks, markets, etc.)  You need to take into account the life spans of roads and what condition they’re in now to extrapolate how much longer you can expect to use them. 41% of Iowa’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, we have tens of billions worth of work that realistically won’t get done. That bottom 40% of our roads is likely to be the first to go out and not come back.

Worse scenarios than bridges collapsing  - Dams. Oh yea, nobody likes to talk about dams in this country.  There’s not a lot of good news on that front, even here in Iowa where we’re relatively flat and dry, we have 83 high hazard dams. (A high hazard dam is defined as a dam whose failure would cause a loss of life and significant property damage.) 95% of high hazard dams in Iowa have no emergency action plan (EAP). (An EAP is a predetermined plan of action to be taken including roles, responsibilities and procedures for surveillance, notification and evacuation to reduce the potential for loss of life and property damage in an area affected by a failure of a dam.)  You’d better know where such dams are in relation to you, and have your own EAP in place to handle their failure.  My Maine peeps, you have less to worry about here, fewer dams and only 8% of them are lacking EAP’s.  States like Colorado with hundreds of dams are much better about the EAP’s, but they have similar problems as the rest of the US about maintaining roads and bridges.

Mitigation strategies – Roads that won’t support cars and trucks probably will still be able to facilitate walking/biking and perhaps even things like horses or 4 wheelers if you have the funds for such things.  If bridges are out, it’s conceivable that local communities could band together to patch things together for awhile. The Celts in Ireland used to pole jump across streams. Tribes in regions like Pakistan and Peru use knotted bridges to get people across rivers.  Our kids will probably just have to get creative about things.

Check out states that are of interest to you here – thttp://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/states

- Calamity Jane

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I know what you’re thinking, you have a spare $489,000 laying around and you need a new vehicle, unsure what kind of SHTF ride to get. Well, Ranger Man is here to help. Introducing The Knight XV by Conquest Vehicles:

Conquest Vehicles describes this mac daddy of shtf stylish rides as such:

This one-of-a-kind, V10, 6.8-litre, Bio-fuel powered SUV was inspired by military vehicle designs and features security appointments that are unrivaled in today’s SUV marketplace. The production of the KNIGHT XV will be limited to 100 vehicles. Are you ready to be Knighted?

“Are you ready to be Knighted?” – LOL – I love the cheese factor! I might instead ask, “Are YOU ready to be Knighted?” but hey, whatever works. The important thing to note here is that production of this vehicle is limited to only 100 and I’ve already bought six, so you’d better buy yours soon.

This puppy is 3′ longer than the traditional hummer, holds a ballistic-tested steel plate exterior as well as aluminum body armor that can reportedly “withstand a barrage of bullets.” Not your traditional military style armored vehicle, however; this thing comes with all the latest fancy gadgets, including:

• oxygen survival kit
• escape masks for emergencies
• expedition heavy duty roof rack with folding ladder
• blast protection systems
• roof mounted search spot lights
• ASC Ballistic “run flat system” on all tires
• exterior night vision security cameras
• retractable LCD TV screen
• X-Box 360 or Playstation game console
• black box
• cigar humidor and a bar

Yes, the last line is completely true, it comes with a bar – why else did you think I bought six? Interior view:

Imagine rolling out to your TEOTWAWKI retreat in one of these bad boys. Yes, with only 100 getting made spare parts will be hard to come buy, but that’s the whole point behind buying more than one – spare parts. Like I said, their starting price is only $489,000. Go out and buy your own Knight XV six pack – today!

I mean, just watch it rollin’ down the highway, it’ll attract all the doomsday babes …

- Ranger Man

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Well aren’t you all lucky. You would’ve received a post a day or so ago, but alas the database to SHTFblog went all crazy and shit and wouldn’t let me access the admin account – no way, no how. Shit hit the fan at SHTFblog. I tried getting a new password, it didn’t recognize my e-mail address, all kinds of nothing was going on for the past few days, and I seriously thought – this is the end. In some ways it was a blessing in disguise, because part of me is always leaning toward some other project since I don’t make much at all from the effort I put into this thing, and fewer people seem to be using the Amazon search bar for their shopping, so it’s kinda like . . . whatever. But then I read comments from Flower Man and feel great inspiration, so this blog is always a love/hate kind of thing. *sigh*

Obviously the blog survived that TEOTWAWKI attack on the database, though. Not sure what happened to it, but in order to resolve the problem I had to go into uncharted territories . . . into the database of doom. Yep, the inner workings of a database is not something I’m all that familiar with, and I hope I don’t have to go back there again, but some how, some way, I managed to change my password inside the database. It was crazy, it was nuts.

Now, a guest post from “Angry Mike” of MREsource.net. His site has numerous SHTF items. If he runs his business like he runs his guest posts, you get full service. Two things, Angry: 1) I think this is one of your best posts yet, and 2) when you send them, please try sending as Notepad file versus Word. When I copy and past with Word, the post gets filled with piles of lousy HTML. (Not that I don’t appreciate your posts however you send them.) Take it away, Angry.

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hy·brid
n

1. The offspring of genetically dissimilar parents or stock, especially the offspring produced by breeding plants or animals of different varieties, species, or races.
2. Something of mixed origin or composition.
3. Something, such as a computer or power plant, having two kinds of components that produce the same or similar results.
4. A word whose elements are derived from different languages.

hoopty
n.

Basically, a piece of shit car. Usually cheap and/or broken down. Can be any size, make or model, but must (or should) be embarrassing to drive for some reason, such as when you bump the stereo all the plastic “effects” you have hot-glued to the exterior rattle, instantly betraying the cheapness of your bling.

A hoopty can be anything from a ’78 Cadillac Brogham with the panels missing in front of the brake lights (but replaced on only one side with duct tape), to a fine purple two-year old Hyundai Elantra with three spinner hubcaps and a vanity plate that reads BBY GRL.

The term has also been used in certain circles as an insult to one’s boy or girlfriend, as in scrub or hoochie mama.

1. Can you believe he be gettin’ all mad whenever somebody lean up against his old stupid hoopty.
2. I can see now you ain’t nothin’ but a hoopty.

Now that we have a clear and informative definition for each lets examine them both! I am trying to keep all things as even as possible, which simply isn’t possible in this comparison. I am basing this on one hoopty I previously owned against the ever popular Toyota Prius Hybrid.

First we have the Hoopty. The Hoopty in question is a 1979 Ford Fiesta in factory fluorescent Lime Green trim, once owned by me. This fine specimen of a Hoopty was purchased for a whopping $300.00 with 150,000+ miles on it. Its options package included a steering wheel, rusty shifter handle coupled to a somewhat synchronized 4 speed trans, non-reclining custom bent bucket drivers seat, intermittent wipers (they intermittently worked), 260 Air Conditioning (2 open windows, 60 MPH), rust covered steel wheels, scratch and dent glamour package and a wobbling right side head light for intersection and pedestrian safety.

The “Shower and Go” option was courtesy of a rust hole on the roof at the edge of the windshield. Sadly this feature was only available when it was raining and only washed you from the chest up. There was not a factory towel included either. No amount of Bondo, duct tape or silicone sealant would keep this option from working. It was there to stay! No radio, electric anything or climate control package was offered on these piles to my knowledge and there was no way I could find to install anything, including a radio.

This child molester-esque automobile saw me through another 90,000 well beaten miles. I tried to beat the ugly out of it, but was unsuccessful. It died as ugly as it was born with over 240,000 miles on the odometer. The average miles per gallon with the pedal to the metal all the time was around 32-35. It was a fast little car for what it was and well capable of getting out of its own way. The manufacturer boasted a 0 to 50 time (yes 0-50) of 9 seconds. Top speed was around 90 MPH if you had the guts to drive it that fast and were not very concerned with your life. I did once. It was not something I was willing to attempt twice. I think the lack of any accessories or options aided it in speed and fuel economy.

The engine was of the Euro trash variant which I believe was a joint venture between Ford and Opal, somewhere in the 1.5L-1.8L displacement range. Tune ups were excessively cheap at around $65.00 for parts, including an oil change if I did it myself. While browsing Ebay recently, I found a full set of brand new front disc brake pads for this car for $7.00. That’s cheap by everyone’s standards. Anyone with some fair mechanical knowledge and a set of hand tools could fix this car, regardless of what went wrong. The manual brakes on this mean machine were about as large in diameter as the disk brakes currently used on high end all terrain bicycles.

Going was no problem. Stopping was an all together different skill set. During an emergency stop at highway speed, the proper procedure was to down shift directly to second while mashing the manual brake pedal with every ounce of pressure you could muster. You could then expect some wild under steer followed by oversteer and serious brake fade. In other words the car went where it wanted to and did everything it could not to stop. I stopped riding amusement rides at this point in my life as my little fun house on wheels was more excitement than any one should have. Having the entire brake system replaced had no effect on stopping control or distance.

In order to keep your dignity in this hoopty you needed to wear a ski mask and sunglasses 365 days a year. The Lime Green paint was impossible to miss or laugh at. It wasn’t until my hoopty was near the end of its life that I and it, were vindicated. I was tooling down a traffic light filled two lane highway when I noticed a peculiar sight. A fluorescent Yellow and a Fluorescent Orange Ford Fiesta revving up at the light, ready to race to the end. I of course pulled up on the shoulder in my Lime Green specimen and asked them if they wanted to run it. Everyone pulled off their masks as the Rainbow Bright drag race to 75 MPH began. Uproarious laughter could be heard over the sewing machine engines for several miles and a dozen or so traffic lights until one by one, we parted ways.

So goes the saga of the little Hoopty that could and did. Total investment including repairs, around $1900.00 for the 2 years I owned it. Thankfully it wasn’t my only car but it was my only fuel efficient car at the time.

Enter the Prius Hybrid! Toyota’s MSRP starts at $22,000.00 and goes up to $24,270.00 for additional trim packages. The estimated miles per gallon on these vehicles are 48 City/45 Highway. This vehicle has a basic warrant on 3 years/36,ooo miles on “all components other than normal wear items.” This pretty much means brakes, tires and other parts that may wear out during normal use. The same coverage applies for any Toyota accessories purchased at the time the vehicle is purchased. For dealer installed items such as spinners or other types of bling there is a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty.

The power train warranty is for 60 months/60,000 miles and covers the engine, transmission/transaxle, front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, seatbelts and airbags. Rust through protection is for 60 months/unlimited miles. Hybrid related components have an 8 year/100,000 mile warranty but the HV battery warranty may be extended under emissions warranty. All of these are fair warranties in my opinion.

My experience is very limited with these types of vehicles as is my knowledge so I will go on hear-say of a former owner of a Prius as well as the words of a salesman trying to sell me a Prius. According to my friend the battery on these things charge one of two ways. You can plug it in to the wall and watch your electric meter spin so fast it starts to smoke or drive the vehicle at highway speeds for at least an hour.

While chatting with a rather inept salesman I asked about the HV battery and the cost of it, if it were out of warranty. He informed me it was “only” around $5000.00 and told me the vehicle would not run without it. I don’t know if the salesman was correct but I know Ford Escape Hybrid batteries were in the same range. He then went in to detail, as best as he could, on the processes, computers and mechanics with specialized training it would take to repair this vehicle.

The only thing(s) I was thinking at this point was $5000.00 for parts…probably $2000.00 for labor and I could have the vehicle running again and I have to make my commute a half an hour longer everyday to keep this golf cart fully charged. And what about an EMP? I’m sure that is not covered under any warranty.

It was then that I decided that the Hoopty is my choice of vehicle. Even if SHTF day never comes. Besides, all of the Hybrid drivers (along with Volvo drivers) seem to love the fast lane and always drive 10 mph under the speed limit and I don’t want to be stereotyped!

~ Angry Mike

Ranger Man BTW: What do you all of think of Sarah Palin?

Is she good – Palin for VP

Or is she bad – PalinSucks.com

As I type this I hear a mouse in my living room wall. :-S Cold weather is approaching. Time for my ultimate mouse trap!

Lastly, the U.S. is selling 1,000 “smart bomb” bunker busters to Israel (read it). Gee, I wonder what country is going to be on the receiving end of these babies.

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