This is a topic that we haven't had discussed here in a while, and filling up my truck yesterday made me think about it.
Personally I have just about a zero chance of needing to bug out. We’re extremely rural, with a crazy low population density for miles around our home, no roads greater than two lanes within fifteen miles of us, and no railroad tracks that I’m aware of for more than 30 miles. It would have to be a very specific, localized thing for us to need to leave – an out-of-control forest fire, a planeload of toxic chemicals crashing near us, or something equally rare and unlikely. Frankly, even a forest fire is something we could ride out in place if need be.
That said, when I filled up my truck yesterday (a 2019 F150) it struck me that it could actually be considered a very good bugout vehicle; especially for one surprising (to me) reason. The typical BOV things are as you’d expect; 4WD capability, very good cargo capacity, ~7500-8,000 lb towing capacity, room for more people in the cab than live in our house, etc. But the thing that really struck me about it was the range that can be had on a tank of gas. It has the small V6 engine with their ‘eco-boost’ turbo, and with the 36-gallon tank on it, it has a range of more than 900 miles between fillups. (In normal conditions – if going cross country, running constant 4WD, etc, that would obviously suffer; but it’s still a crazy high number to start out with.)
I knew when I bought it that it ‘should’ get better mileage than my old truck, but had no idea what current ones are apparently capable of. Only had it for four months now, but very happy with it and have come to trust it enough to serve “bugout” duty if need be, probably even preferable to my wife’s jeep wrangler.
Personally I have just about a zero chance of needing to bug out. We’re extremely rural, with a crazy low population density for miles around our home, no roads greater than two lanes within fifteen miles of us, and no railroad tracks that I’m aware of for more than 30 miles. It would have to be a very specific, localized thing for us to need to leave – an out-of-control forest fire, a planeload of toxic chemicals crashing near us, or something equally rare and unlikely. Frankly, even a forest fire is something we could ride out in place if need be.
That said, when I filled up my truck yesterday (a 2019 F150) it struck me that it could actually be considered a very good bugout vehicle; especially for one surprising (to me) reason. The typical BOV things are as you’d expect; 4WD capability, very good cargo capacity, ~7500-8,000 lb towing capacity, room for more people in the cab than live in our house, etc. But the thing that really struck me about it was the range that can be had on a tank of gas. It has the small V6 engine with their ‘eco-boost’ turbo, and with the 36-gallon tank on it, it has a range of more than 900 miles between fillups. (In normal conditions – if going cross country, running constant 4WD, etc, that would obviously suffer; but it’s still a crazy high number to start out with.)
I knew when I bought it that it ‘should’ get better mileage than my old truck, but had no idea what current ones are apparently capable of. Only had it for four months now, but very happy with it and have come to trust it enough to serve “bugout” duty if need be, probably even preferable to my wife’s jeep wrangler.