Desperado,I agreewith you that you REALLY have to want it.That is why I would make my coffee the night before.I would then put it in a Thermos and keep it my sleeping bag with me.Morning Joe near at hand...
BOATMAN
John

A quick 20 min nap is the best way to avoid a problem. Many many times I had been driving late/early and found myself starting to doze. I pullover into a rest stop and a 20 min nap and I was good to go.

20 mins seems to be the key. Any shorter/longer and you don't seem to shake the fuzz off. Unless the longer is several hours... ;-)

Caffeine is only if you must absolutely keep going under all cicumstances. But that brings in other problems like being jittery, shaky, headaches, and other things that may influence judgement.

IMHO...

I personally would never drive that tired.I did one time and results were not good.Fell asleep behind wheel after a long day and working third shift.I was much younger then and felt I could handle it.Head on colision with a pickup truck.Thankfully no one was hurt.So I whole heartedly agree on not pushing it while driving.More people are killed by cars than guns.But if you are hiking/walking then by all means go for it...

BOATMAN
John

+1.

I have found that my best strategy for not feeling tired while driving and it might be a danger is to drink a lot of caffeinated soda. More so than the caffeine, the need to remove the quantities of liquid from my body has kept me awake. I've found that an urgent need to pee keeps me from wanting to nod off.

I did this mostly in my younger days. Now, I use it some, but when I feel the first nod coming on, I am looking for a nap, usually in a hotel room.

I have sleep apnea that, due to lack of real sleep, causes me to fall asleep at inappropriate times - like driving. My doctor recommended that I keep peppermint gum on hand. The combination of the chewing activity and the peppermint keeps you away. I've used it many times when I begin to feel drowsy when driving and the gum works every time. No bad side effects, either.

I keep a sachet of Stay Alert Gum along with a First Strike Bar, from a First Strike Ration, in the same pouch as my PKS attached to my body armor (IBA). Stay Alert Gum is great for those early morning flights along with those days that never seam to end, when a hot cup of coffee in nowhere to be found.

Cheers,
W-W