What if.... (a critical thinking exercise)

Codger_64

Codger_64

Moderator
Joined
Oct 8, 2004
Messages
62,324
You are deep in the bush (mountains, swamps, desert, etc.) and making a planned trek of two weeks from point A to point B. Halfway thru the trek you loose your kit (fire, flood, theft, acts of nature), but later that same day you come across an abandoned, derelect truck with saplings growing through the bed, floorboards and engine compartment. Checking it out closely, you can tell it has been there quite some time but, other than the upholstery, it is fairly intact with a broken axle. Among the leaves in the rusted out floorboards are a small assortment of tools. An adjustable wrench, screwdriver, a pair of slip joint pliars that still move though quite rusty.

With broken windows it won't offer much shelter, and you need to keep moving anyway, but it dawns on you that in that old rusted truck is your new kit. What items would you remove and carry with you and why? What would McGuyver do? :D

Codger
 
First, I would figure out what 'stuff' I need to accomplish (Carry water? Protect self from cold/heat/rain/snow? Fend off predators?). Then, I would harvest from the vehicle whatever could address those needs, or be modified to address my needs. For example, if I was in an arid region, it might be worth it to carry some kind of container from the truck to carry or catch water. If I was in a temperate area with lots of trees, I could probably fashion shelter from natural materials so the truck's upholstery would not necessarily be helpful, but one of the truck's leaf springs ground into a crude machete would help me chop down small saplings or tree limbs.

Everything would be predicated by the environment.
 
OK, off the top of my head:
tools- when I leave the tools come with me
water carrier- maybe the washer reservoir, maybe coolant overflow reservoir (well rinsed)
wires- cordage
mirror- signalling
tinder bundle- IF there is any spark left in the battery start a tinder bundle smouldering, then wrap it tightly and in layers for transport.
floor mats or seat cushion- insulation
license plate- easily workable metal for utensils or whatever.

Lastly I would completely ransack the rest of the truck, especially the interior. If I found tools, I might find other goodies too.
 
I don't see any practical way to get a leaf spring off & convert it to a chopping blade in these circumstances. Sheet metal from the body might be workable if you can find a piece that already rusted about to the shape you need... Might be worth checking to see if there's still any viable flammable liquids. I would use the tools to help me salvage what I wanted, and hopefully to improvise more tools on the spot. After that, I don't see much point in lugging them around. Fabrics & foam cushion might also be useful to help pre-filter water in addition to insulation. If it's got big naugahide (sp?) bench seats, they might be big enough to use as a tarp or roof for a small improvised shelter.

If anyone wants to try this mental experiment for real, we have plenty of old vehicles sitting out behind the farm that fit this description. :)
 
Within half an hour, McGuyver would have repaired the axle by forge welding it in a camp fire using a rock for a hammer...then he would have miraculously hot-wired the truck and be going sideways around corners evading his pursuers...with a spunky red-head cuddled up beside him.

Let's see... how about...

-Metal hubcap for cooking and gathering.
-Wiring for snares and various 'cordage' jobs.
-Upholstery is stuffed...but maybe the roof lining can be pulled out to make a cape, or something to bundle up your gear in.
-Screwdriver could be ground on a rock to be sharp like a chisel (weapon, knife, lever).
-Pliers could be handy for picking up hot hubcap etc if not overloading yourself.
-Windscreen washer resevoir for water carrying if you can successfully block the outlet.
-Headlamp glass could be used for cutting, but the sharpened screwdriver is probably more practical.
-If you could be bothered, and had the time, small bits of steel like the hood prop could be forged between tough rocks to make a blade or spear point etc.
-Wheel nuts for bola weights (if you could undo them....)
-Inner tube for slingshot rubber (if it isn't perished, and if you can successfully get the tyre off first). And maybe it would be useful for firelighting, although you still have to find a way to get a spark or flame.

That is all that springs to mind right now.

I guess there had to be some sort of a road nearby in order for the truck to be there... perhaps this is food for thought. A homestead nearby? Alternative access?

This reminds me of the joke about the explorers' car breaking down in the desert. They decide to abandon it and carry the essentials with them. One guy removes the car door and hoists it on to his back. When questioned he says "If it gets hot I can wind the window down".
 
Lets see first fire. I would try and find a piece of metal that i could use to strike spark with. Im thinking of the mountains so next in line would be something to cut with. Im sure i could find some metal and with a tool like a file give it an edge. Now my main concorn would be a way to boil and carry water. I would pull as much wire as i can use. Would be good for shelter building. I guess im going back to fire shelter water food. I just walked outside and looked over an old truck sitting in the lot. If i take a day to go over that truck i could make lots of usefull things of it. Fire would be up there with water for me. I also would guess there is no plastic in the car to use to carry water.

Sasha
 
If the truck set long enough to have trees growing out of it. There would be no plastics left to carry water. I been to a few junkyards in my line of work. Most of the time there isnt much left of them in the field. A hub cap would be great find. You can take most of the sheet metal and break it off the body with little work. A leaf spring you better have some power tools to get the bolts off, well you might get lucky too.
 
If the lights have a reflector, this could be used to light a fire in good sunlight. Place (on the end of a wire) some tinder at the focal point and aim at the sun.
 
This scenario has it's roots in a challenge submitted some years ago on a site dedicated to panfishing. The challenge was to go to a junkyard and select an old (1950's-60's) truck and scrounge it for the materials to make fishing flies, lures, weights, line, floats and hooks to fish with. Some of the results were amazing.

No one has mentioned flammible fluids and lubricants yet. Or lead wheel weights and battery posts. And there is the acid from the dead battery and the antifreeze in the radiator/block. And copper tubing. Metal linkages just begging to be sharpened into knives, scrapers. And the copper windings of electrical motors. Then there are magnets. Radiator hoses and tubing can be closed off to make containers.

Keep going guys. You get the idea. :thumbup:

Codger
 
Let us not forget trucks do not find themselves in the middle of the woods, an old roadbed must be nearby and that should lead to civilization.
 
Might be worth checking to see if there's still any viable flammable liquids.

Didn't see ya there playin' possum, Possum! :p
 
Skip MacGuvyer- half his stuff wouldn't work in the real world and he had perfect hair, he was a cream puff. Think like Les.

awgordon60 said:
Let us not forget trucks do not find themselves in the middle of the woods, an old roadbed must be nearby and that should lead to civilization.
Click to expand...

+1 on that. Even a 50 year old logging road can be followed.

-Glass from the windows, as cutting tools.
-If it is that rotted out, the battery is probably dead, but worth a shot.
-The seat belts, if it has any, might still be decent as webbing.
-Wires, all you can reach
-Mirrors for, well, mirrors.
-Any fuel has long since turned to goo or evaporated off entirely, but the oil pan might still have an ounce or two of usable tar in it.
-Hose clamps
-Hub caps
-Depending on the type of reflector in the headlight, they might work as a parabolic fire starter
-Tires, hosing, inner tubes- fuel, smoke signal. If inner tubes still intact, float for gear (or you), or cut open with one end then heat sealed to serve as the nastiest water bag you'll ever use
-Depending on age, it might have never had glycol in the antifreeze, just water and alcohol- water vessel from the over flow container, and from the wiper fluid container.
-Search under the seat and in the back for old bottles and cans
-If the upholstry is raggedy but mostly intact, use it as part of a shelter or as a pack
-examine door and hood releases- might be usable as spear heads with grinding, as might other parts
-turn signal switch, lights, et al from the steering column, for use as a trap triggers
-beat on stuffing, then pull it out- this old, it will have been used as a nest, someone might be home. At the very least, you get mouse nests
-if possible, exhaust pipe, to use as chimney in pit fire or to use as part of shelter (assuming you fit under there)
-fuel line, either as kindling if it synthetic, or as light copper tubing that can be rinsed well
-wheel weights, as weights for various reasons- leave them if you can't find a good use for them immediately, too heavy
-tail lights, even without internal light they still would reflect red past the usable range of a searchlight at night
-since it probably has a bench seat, the heavy wires under the stuffing of the seat, to be straightened and used as needed
-floor mats, if intact, to be used as burnable rubber and/or trevois padding
-accelerator, throttle, break and clutch cables, with the pins, very strong
-fan, blades can be broken off and sharpened easily for use as scrapers or blades
-air filter housing, to use as firebowl
-is the tire iron still there?
-hood, can be used to form travois, part of shelter, or for other purposes
-wheels, remove and use with a tree for an axle to convert travois into cart

Parts you can't really get to or get into with these tools-
-fuel tank, remove and CAREFULLY burn out, turn into stove
-a number of gaskets in the engine that are undoubtedly rubber that the oil is still soaked into
-if it has one, the catalytic converter- the platinum is top notch salvage right now.

And always, check the glove compartment. You never know what you might find.
 
If I were injured during whatever caused the loss of my gear(functional and mobile enough to find the truck, but now more than a week's hike out) I'd probably consider lighting the tires in the bush on the downwind side of the road/track that got the truck there. Wildfires are always fought aggressively here.

Were I uninjured and therefore only a week out, I'd probably just grab insulation (seats, headliner,hood /grill blanket, whatever) and keep going rather than spend time making tools and finding food. Keeping in mind that I don't think I've ever seen a wreck in the bush that didn't show some signs of a tasty resident or two...

Good question !
 
Oh, I just remembered another thing about the tires-- once you get them going they're pretty damn hard to put out, and even then they'll smolder for hours. You'd want to be sure you have a way to extinguish them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top