Survival Wagon Idea - Recreation Or Reality TV

[Turtle]

___A concern I have held for some time Infamous! :) The pneumatic tires have some flotaion, as does the hermetically sealed steel box aboard. I figure if I empty my water containers (about 10 gallons), I may have sufficient buoyancy to stay afloat. :lol:

___Have you started a wagon yet? What do your friends think of the idea? Shall we plan a wagon trip in the Northwest for next year? :D :)

[infamous]

___A concern I have held for some time Infamous! :) The pneumatic tires have some flotaion, as does the hermetically sealed steel box aboard. I figure if I empty my water containers (about 10 gallons), I may have sufficient buoyancy to stay afloat. :lol:

___Have you started a wagon yet? What do your friends think of the idea? Shall we plan a wagon trip in the Northwest for next year? :D :)

No I'm sad to say, I haven't started building mine yet. I'll be turning 63 in a couple of days and most of the adventure in my life has already taken place. If I were a little younger I would absolutely build one for myself. BTW, everyone I talk to about this idea thinks it's a cool idea. Listen, if I were 20 years younger I'd be making that trip with ya, but unfortunately I don't think my health would allow it. It's a tempting thought Turtle, I only wish it were possible.

[Buffy]

Hey you could add some collapsable struts to the outside and wrap a big rubber tarp around the bottom: the struts would expand the volume of water the thing displaces and keep it afloat even if you don't empty the water jugs (which you really are not going to want to do for survival!). You'd really need to engineer it well though to make sure the struts (and probably lateral hoops for support) did not collapse, but I'm sure it could be done!

 

Cheers,

Buffy

[Turtle]

___I think you may have something there Buff. I have tarps on board (big camo ones, the hunting camo kind that is sooo cool :) ), & I can tie my collapsable bridge on the wheels for struts. Sounds like a science problem: Turtle has a wagon 4ft. long, by 26" wide, by 4 ft. tall. He wraps it with a tarp to 3 ft. from the bottom & loads the wagon to 350 pounds; how far does the wagon submerge? :lol:

[Boerseun]

Neat idea!

 

However, a wagon implies having to go through an urban disaster, or something where your wagon can comfortably roll over the land, i.e. roads or sidewalks. So I suppose if you wanna take it off-road (either to go around a huge traffic pile-up or take a short cut) you'll need fat tires so it doesn't sink or get bogged down in the soil.

 

So why not go completely minimalistic and kit out a decent backpack? Then you can bypass the urban chaos completely in the wake of any such disaster that would require a survival wagon? Maybe build a little frame with small wheels like luggage has got to pull it around airports, so that you can pull it when the terrain allows, but when you have to go completely off-road, you can just heave it and go!

 

As a reality TV-show idea, we should have a face-off! Your wagon pitted against my backpack! And then afterwards we can have a survival wagon/backpack makeover! :lol:

[Turtle]

___Good points all Boerseun; that's getting into the spirit. Besides an obsession with gadetry as a reason to have a wagon, the last disk in my spine is crushed & I can't bear the weight of a heavy pack. Ergo, a wagon, which I can pull with a belt around my hips & so avoid the bad disk.

___My wagon has fat tires (I will get some blurry stills up for you all) & I have tried to account for the roughest of terrain. I have a hand winch, an electric winch (both 2,000 pound capacity) & over 800 feet of rope. I have added my own eye bolts for securing hauling lines & made an effort to have everything tied or strapped down. I have a bridge that collapses (only 6 feet so far) & as we have discussed, I think it will float & if not it is waterproof enough to pull across a stream submerged.

___Then I have a tent, tarps, tools, water filters, weapons, & assorted camp gear. A 60 pound pack is a good load for someone in shape, but my deep cell battery weighs 52 pounds by itself. Now I do have a pack fram (well suited as a pulling belt because of the hip band) & as a trip progresses, anything is subject to leaving behind up to & including everything. (leaving you naked with a stick :) )

___For a contest, we may simplify by simply requiring each team carry 500 (2 people) pounds of gear; then it's up to the team to decide how best to do that. :lol:

[Turtle]

___A photo montage of my wagon:

http://hypography.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=470

 

:) :lol:

[Turtle]

___The idea here is to take as much technology as possible in a wheeled conveyance that is pulled, pushed, dragged or otherwise moved from without by a person or persons.

___One of my multifunction pieces of technology I still have to work on, is a 12 Volt auto fan. I plan to attach ducts (big coffee cans) to either end & with multiple inlet/outlet caps (the platic lids with special holes) use this for several purposes. Attach filters to inlet & pressurize my tent with clean air; attach a hose to outlet & use it as a bellows; keep cool; & other blowing air stuff like bubbles in an old growth forest! :shrug:

[Fishteacher73]

Perhaps rig an alternater to the wheels to recharge the battery when being moved?

[Turtle]

Perhaps rig an alternater to the wheels to recharge the battery when being moved?

___That might just work! Maybe a small one from a mower or RV? A rubber wheel instead of gears & just bracket it to bear on one of the tires? Flip it on going downhill to charge battery & add breaking; flip it off going up hill. Flat ground optional. Maybe also a way to pedal or handcrank it seperately? This also works at night when the solar photovoltaic panel doesn't generate!

___Great idea FishTeacher! I get a lot of parts from yard sales & also bargain harware outlets so now I know what else to keep an eye out for. :shrug:

[Boerseun]

One more gadget for your wagon:

 

Rig up one of those digital speedos for bicycles with a magnet on one wheel so you can keep track of distance covered, miles per day, etc. - it might just be necessary if you've got to ration your food or something similar, and need to keep track of your energy consumption.

 

Or, alternatively, if you're in strange country and need to navigate on distance.

 

Keep in mind, your GPS will only work as long as the GPS constellation stays in the sky and keep running. So, depending on the particular catastrophy you've gotta wade through, your GPS might actually be worthless!

 

Besides, a wagon with a speedo is cool, okay?

[Turtle]

Besides, a wagon with a speedo is cool, okay?

___Yes, cool is OK. Cool is only second to the actual survival part. I painted the wagon black just for the sake of cool! May I paint your speedo black too? It'll make it double cool; ccooooll. I also have maps & compass & enough working knowledge of astronomy to navigate on any planet.

___I now realize these alternators work at at least 200-400 RPM so some gearing is needed. :shrug:

___See now how much fun a race, or tour might provide? Everyone checking out the other rigs, keeping secrets, telling lies, & otherwise hobknobbing with like-minded folk? Which guy has a beer fridge? ;) Electric oven? Microwave? Any body have a soldering iron? Moto tool? Frizzle-frazzle?

[CraigD]

... Keep in mind, your GPS will only work as long as the GPS constellation stays in the sky and keep running. So, depending on the particular catastrophy you've gotta wade through, your GPS might actually be worthless! ...

Definitely, no survival wagon worth its sealed bearings should rely on GPS. Most of the popular end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenarios begin with some nation shooting down most or all of the GPS birds.

 

I recommend a rugged sextant, with top-notch optics, a decent amount of low-power computer in it, and one of these nifty new chip-size atomic clocks (well, a good quartz clock is accurate enough for getting a longitude with any portable sextant, but there’s something about having a +- 1sec/300 year clock that’s irresistible)

 

I’m dreaming, though – no such sextant can be purchased. LORAN, then GPS has caused the evolution of the “modern sextant” to become frozen in a 19th century form – a pity, as even with this antique technology, a skilled navigator can fix his position to within about +-2km. If 21st century know-how were put to the task (electronic image stabilization, a star map allowing tens of star sightings, etc.), I bet an accuracy better than 100m would be possible.

 

If you don’t know it already, I strongly recommend leaning celestial navigation. If you ever find yourself halfway to Bermuda with a yachtsperson completely dependent on a defunct handheld GPS, it could save your life!

[Turtle]

___Good ideas Craig. A $10.00 Swatch is more accurate than a Rolex winder!

___Here's some more to consider on generating power; a generating backpack!

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050905/full/050905-14.html

:hihi:

[Turtle]

___I may just need the wagon soon! I have found that the 800 Watt inverter won't run a 750 Watt heater or hotplate! Rats! Substitute a 380 Watt rice-cooker for now.:)

___Any of you built up a wagon since I last posted in September?

___My main concern now is the wagon is parked in the garage & that is the first part of my house I expect is going in the landslide. Mon dieu!:singer:

 

___Wagon race anyone?!

http://hypography.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=470

 

 

:cup:

[InfiniteNow]

your link was broken Turtle...

[Tormod]

Turtle's URL Fixed.