Loss of transportation.

[LUNCHBOX]

Question....How mentally prepared do you think you really are to give up transportation?

Explanation....I just had some time consuming work done on my vehicle, 4-5 days worth. I have a motorcycle as secondary means but it is winter and I just did not want to man up. Thing is, are you really mentally ready to give up your main means of travel? I had a couple buddies pick me up and drop me off and of course I didn't need to go to the store. I really didn't need to go anywhere but I kept thinking how much it sucked just not jumping in the vehicle and going wherever.

I am sure some of you have been in this same situation in the past but there was usually light at the end of the tunnel. What if there wasn't? It isn't that we can't handle walking but I like my wheels. I am definately going to think more about this issue.

[4suchatimeasthis]

I was raised with a very similar lifestyle as the Amish. My sisters and I rode our horses or bikes EVERYWHERE. Seriously, it was normal to see one of us outside a place of business holding the reins, and the other two inside getting whatever. I know from experience the first few weeks I would be a little sore, but then I would be fine.

So the real question is, are my horses ready to be the families main mode of transportation. And no, they will be sore too, lol. Right now they do not earn their keep, so to speak, I just have them for recreation, not transportation. But if it comes down to it, they will earn their keep, and then some.

[Taz Baby]

4such you really do need to show the love to your horses and ride them. ;) If nothing else put the kids on them and walk them. You can put the baby in a box and hook up a rope to it and let the horse pull her around the yard. I use to do that , only the kids held on to the hoses tail.

[4suchatimeasthis]

Lol, Taz you are a hoot! We did that with our plastic sleds (or skies, that is crazy fun too!) and our ponies, when I was growing up. Of course, it didn't take those snotty ponies long to realize that a sharp turn would dump the sled, and then they ran back home....and we walked. Damn shetland ponies.....smarter than most people!

My horses do get rode some, but its nothing compared to the workload they would have to carry if they were used post-SHTF. There is only so much you can condition them for that kind of use (riding, driving, plowing, etc), without having to actually work them 8 hrs a day, and I just don't have that kind of time (or energy, hello, lol) on my hands right now.

Realistically, my appendix mare is so high strung, one of her main uses post-fan would be simply as an alert system. She knows before the dogs do if something is around, if something has changed, etc. That is because she is a prey animal, plus her very sensitive nature even for a horse. It's kind of a game with us, she senses something long before I do, and I try to become faster and faster at figuring out what it is she is hearing/seeing/smelling.

[ladyhk13]

Well, we have a Volvo...ok as long as an EMP doesn't hit. A Suburban...again ok if no EMP, an 84 Blazer bought especially for shtf, a 1 ton 84 Dually with a dump bed especially for shtf, some motorcycles, a couple of 4 wheelers, and I think an old bicycle that would need some work but it's too big for me to ride (a man's mountain bike). As long as we could keep enough gas stocked up we would be ok. And we have a riding mower and a couple of tractors. Guess we could drive them to town if we had to :)
Not in the best of shape if we ran out of gas supply but until we get moved there won't be any horses. That really stinks.

[4suchatimeasthis]

^^^ Or doesn't stink, from the distinct lack of manure ;) Not everyone loves the smell of sweaty horses and leather. Personally, I'd replace half of Yankee Candle's "flavors" with farm smells (leather, horse sweat, sweet feed, fresh hay, puppy breath, cowboy coffee...) but that's just me.

[mitunnelrat]

Question....How mentally prepared do you think you really are to give up transportation?

Explanation....I just had some time consuming work done on my vehicle, 4-5 days worth. I have a motorcycle as secondary means but it is winter and I just did not want to man up. Thing is, are you really mentally ready to give up your main means of travel? I had a couple buddies pick me up and drop me off and of course I didn't need to go to the store. I really didn't need to go anywhere but I kept thinking how much it sucked just not jumping in the vehicle and going wherever.

I am sure some of you have been in this same situation in the past but there was usually light at the end of the tunnel. What if there wasn't? It isn't that we can't handle walking but I like my wheels. I am definately going to think more about this issue.

I'm there now, so I've had the weekend to consider this in real time. I don't like it, but I think I'll be able to deal with it better if shtf takes it away. Life will change altogether then, and more of my activities will be local. For now though, the roads are too crappy to consider running my bike - as in a nice sheet of ice. I'd never stay upright.

Hopefully I'll have it all done by early tomorrow afternoon. I have to be to work at 3, and can't take any more time off, but there's no way I can drive with the gasoline waterfall I saw today... lol

[Jimmy24]

Question....How mentally prepared do you think you really are to give up transportation?

Explanation....I just had some time consuming work done on my vehicle, 4-5 days worth. I have a motorcycle as secondary means but it is winter and I just did not want to man up. Thing is, are you really mentally ready to give up your main means of travel? I had a couple buddies pick me up and drop me off and of course I didn't need to go to the store. I really didn't need to go anywhere but I kept thinking how much it sucked just not jumping in the vehicle and going wherever.

I am sure some of you have been in this same situation in the past but there was usually light at the end of the tunnel. What if there wasn't? It isn't that we can't handle walking but I like my wheels. I am definately going to think more about this issue.

Been thinking about this one for a long time. As you say, what if there wasn't a light at the end of the tunnel.... For me that would make it easier to crossover to no car/truck. If we have the proverbial TEOTWAWKI where we are backed up to the 1800’s, I see a lot of folks failing right off. At least in the big cities, can you imagine NYC, Chicago, LA, or Houston without transportation/utilities?

Though I can’t ride a bike anymore, I will find ways as others have said. Plus if I’m capable of staying at my BIL then I won’t have a lot of reason to leave anyway, as I can/do produce 80% of what I need. Along with the co-op I have with about a dozen neighbors, that missing 20% is covered. Hopefully it’s not EMP that strikes us down. Then my minor solar/wind power will provide me with some minor creature comforts. My little Yanmar tractor will, in the event of an EMP, become my transportation till the fuel runs out.

It’s something we should have figured out…and soon I would think.

Jimmy

[helomech]

Well if I have to go to work after loosing a vehicle I am screwed. I have 4 vehicles, but if something took them all out I can't continue to work where I do. I have to drive 200 miles one way to work, and I don't live near someone I can ride with. In a Shtf situation I don't plan on needing a vehicle. Even on horse a ride into a real town would take a long time. When I am at not at work I rarely leave my place.