RV for Survival

This is from RV Blog, I don't remember if it's been posted before but, anyway here's the link

http://blog.rv.net/2010/05/using-your-rv...dium=email&

Mike

Great post! An RV could be the ultimate Bug-Out Vehicle!

Assuming you get enough gas to move that monster. Well, a full size one. It would probably be OK to shelter-in-place, but good luck fleeing Katrina or something.

An RV or trailer have excellent potential for preparedness -- depending on the situation and the RV/trailer, of course.

We camp a lot and have been surprised at the decent gas mileage some of the smaller RVs (Class C - around 20') owners report getting, especially the diesels. Carry extra fuel and for evacuation some of the Class C's make more sense than some SUVs or pickup trucks.

RV kitchens and bathroom facilities are backups when home utilities are disrupted.

In earthquake country, an RV would be a very nice alternative to a damaged home.

One of the best aspects of an RV is having the vehicle permanently packed. Even my little "teardrop" trailer would be a tremendous asset in an emergency if I had to leave here. It's always packed with clothes, camping and hiking gear.

Thanks for the link, kd.

A fifth wheel is part of our bug out plan. It's fun for vacations or long weekend getaways too.

There's one issue with RV bathrooms - every so often you're going to need to dump the black water tank.

An RV is fine for hurricane evacuation as long as you don't wait until the last second to get fuel. An RV means you have a roof, a bed, and a hot meal even if the hotels are full inland. Hurricanes give a lot of warning these days so I don't think this is a bad strategy.

RVs are fragile compared to any building. No way do you ever "ride out" any weather in one. If it survives outside it's useful to have afterward, but you never shelter in one.

Finally, almost all RVs have serious weight problems. When my family was shopping I found several 40' RVs that went over the chassis weight limit by merely filling the fuel & water tanks & having a fat driver. Most RVs can carry a few hundred lbs of cargo total, not per person. Diesels are worse because of the weight of the engine.

An RV can certainly be a good choice and has many advantages.

On the other hand my bias is more toward a trailer, fifth wheel or dis-mountable camper shell. the advantage of those is that you can separate the motor carriage from the hotel function. On a typical RV wherever you drive you have to take the hotel portion with you. And accept the liabilities it imposes on mileage, handling and stability.

We have a 30' Born Free RV, which is one of more drivable of the RVs of that size. I find it usually has a 2:1 fatigue factor: I can go about half as far per day as I could driving a sedan (a truck driver or someone used to piloting a large sail on the highway wouldn't have a problem). On gusty days it is much worse.

One other thing: with most RV's you only roll them over once. After that, you're not rolling anything over again. The Born Free has roll bars which was a big plus for me when buying, but I'm not optimistic about survivability. *Any* towed scheme is safer.

The Born Free uses a Ford E450 platform. I think it's a much safer and sturdier platform than anything else until you get to a converted bus, but beware the weight capacity limits if you get a diesel engine.

I guess I should have mentioned (since I put up the post)
24' Companion by Kit
40 gal fresh water
30 gal grey
30 gal black
2 40# propane tanks
DW says we could survive two weeks with what's in trailer already
and we haven't gotten it ready for summer yet.

You could always try one of these.
http://sportsmobile.com/index.html
http://www.earthroamer.com/

Sorry I just saw the price. I remembered the van one from the newspaper so I searched & found the other.

Those Sportsmobiles are sweet! Roadtreks, too.

When I get a vehicle (4x4 SUV or truck) with a bigger engine I'll be looking for a small travel trailer. 16' or shorter.

Meanwhile, it's a 4cyl Honda Element + teardrop trailer.

Its great that those are run completely off of diesel and solar. One fuel type greatly simplifies things.