What’d you work on today?

[Nashville Cat]

I am not against new tech, my F-250 is loaded with it, just used the 360 camera system to monitor towing the small tote tank to the dump station a mile away. New tech automatically changes 4x4 functions at the turn of a knob. But in reality I enjoy driving my 2005 and older cars more, they don't try to control my driving, that is my wife's job.
I work with tech, we are going a bad direction with AI very quickly.
Those who want hybrids and EVs can have them, not my thing.

Check the aftermarket. The Rav4 has affordable kits that turn off the driver monitoring.
I would check with stereo shops if you want someone to install it.
That's what i plan to do. They can permanently disable the driver monitoring camera.

 

[kmakar]

To a water source. To get food from a farm. To visit family and help them.
Just a few things I can think of.

Ahhhh, now it comes down to the nitty gritty..... so you realize water and food would be the first order of business.

What happens if nearby farms don't have any food they are willing to share? Looking for clean water? Going to be tough to find since most will decide to bath in those waters.....

We could go on and on, but the crux of it is, if the grid and fuel sources are down and gone, what's the point of driving somewhere? Where are you going to go? What's your plan when you can only go so far on a charge?

All points for consideration.....

 

[Nashville Cat]

Ahhhh, now it comes down to the nitty gritty..... so you realize water and food would be the first order of business.

What happens if nearby farms don't have any food they are willing to share? Looking for clean water? Going to be tough to find since most will decide to bath in those waters.....

We could go on and on, but the crux of it is, if the grid and fuel sources are down and gone, what's the point of driving somewhere? Where are you going to go? What's your plan when you can only go so far on a charge?

All points for consideration.....

LOL so you're just going to give up ? Doesn't sound like a plan ?
Of course I'd take any water i could get and heat it ; maybe throw in a pill of that bacteria killer.
I live near a large creek but a huge river is 5 miles away.

 

[kmakar]

LOL so you're just going to give up ? Doesn't sound like a plan ?
Of course I'd take any water i could get and heat it; maybe throw in a pill of that bacteria killer.
I live near a large creek.

I'm not giving up because I've already planned for those contingencies, but 99.8% have not. That's my point. Self reliance and planning.

 

[Nashville Cat]

I'm not giving up because I've already planned for those contingencies, but 99.8% have not. That's my point. Self reliance and planning.

Yeah, I wanted to drill a well but I'm planning on moving. Maybe at the next house ?
But it would be better to have property that has a creek/river bordering like DJ has.
Not many of those available.
Usually if you have 2+ acres , you're not in a subdivision and can drill your own well.

 

[kmakar]

Yeah, I wanted to drill a well but I'm planning on moving. Maybe at the next house ?
But it would be better to have property that has a creek/river bordering like DJ has.
Not many of those available.
Usually if you have 2+ acres , you're not in a subdivision and can drill your own well.

Drilling a well is your best bet.... clean filtered water from the ground as mother nature intended.

 

[Chevelle_Nut]

Check the aftermarket. The Rav4 has affordable kits that turn off the driver monitoring.
I would check with stereo shops if you want someone to install it.
That's what i plan to do. They can permanently disable the driver monitoring camera.

Ford give the option on the screen to turn the monitoring functions off.
I like to keep one newer car in the fleet, the rest can be older. It is cheaper to drive an older car than buy a new one, I still cringe at the price I had to pay for the truck, I am going to use it for what it was designed to do, not commuting but truck stuff. The Excursion could have never gone on the beach, it is 2WD.

 

[Nashville Cat]

Ford give the option on the screen to turn the monitoring functions off.

Toyota does too but I think it's buried in a menu ?
Here's what Ford makes you do. I will disable it. It's a PITA but I'm not going to scroll thru a menu everytime I drive

Steering Wheel Display Method

• • Press the menu button on the left side of your steering wheel.
  • Scroll to Driver Assist or Settings and press OK.
  • Select Driver Alert from the list.
  • Toggle the feature to Off. [1, 2]

SYNC Touchscreen Method

• • Tap Settings on your main center SYNC screen.
  • Select Driver Assistance.
  • Locate the Driver Alert option.
  • Switch the toggle to turn it off

 

[Nashville Cat]

Jonathan,
This says you can turn off the driver alerts yourself !

No commercial plug-and-play aftermarket "kit" exists to fully disable or bypass the infrared driver-facing monitoring camera on Ford pickups without losing advanced driving features. Because the camera is tightly integrated into Ford's safety and data networks, completely unplugging or blocking the camera physically will result in a permanent "Driver-Facing Camera Fault" error code and will immediately disable BlueCruise and hands-free driving capabilities. [1, 2]
However, depending on what specific "monitoring" aspect you want to eliminate, there are a few established software workarounds and settings changes used by Ford truck owners.

1. Disable the "Watch the Road" Camera Alerts (While Keeping Adaptive Cruise)
If you want to use cruise control without the infrared camera constantly scanning your eyes and nagging you, you cannot do this via a physical kit, but you can change how your cruise control functions: [1]

• • The Method: Turn off Lane Centering / Active Assist in your vehicle settings.
  • The Result: Your truck will drop back to standard Adaptive Cruise Control (which maintains distance from the car ahead). Standard Adaptive Cruise does not use the eye-tracking camera, effectively silencing the eye-monitoring system completely. [1, 2, 3, 4]

2. Turn Off General "Driver Alert" (Drowsiness Monitor)
If you are trying to stop the truck from buzzing and showing a coffee cup icon when it thinks you are tired or drifting, this can be permanently disabled right in your factory settings menu: [1]

• • Go to your SYNC Screen.
  • Select Settings > Driver Assistance.
  • Toggle Driver Alert to Off. [1]

3. Disable Ford Driving Behavior & Data Tracking
If your concern is "Big Brother" monitoring your driving habits, speed, and braking metrics (which Ford can share with insurance aggregators like LexisNexis), you do not need a kit; you can disable telemetry directly: [1]

• • Open the SYNC Screen and go to Settings.
  • Select Connectivity > Connected Vehicle Features.
  • Turn Share Vehicle Data and Driving Data to Off.
  • Note: For owners who want to completely physically blind Ford's remote cellular tracking, some pull the dedicated Telemetry Gateway Module (TCU) fuse, though this permanently kills the FordPass app functionality and remote starting

 

[Derek69SS]

Short sided thinking. If the rest of the world is without gas or diesel, where would you need to go? Work? No one else would be there. Grocery store? No food would be in the stores because none was delivered. So where would you need to go?

My relatives with beef and hog farms are 40-45 miles away. So are my parents. If I had 100 miles of range, I could replenish food stock in a couple hours. I can also bring tradeable goods to wherever trading occurs.

If power is out, communications will be out as well. Might need to go somewhere just to give/receive messages to relatives.

My solar is big enough that I can do welding/repair/fabrication on a sunny day. My well and septic will all continue to work. Neighbors could come plug stuff in, take a shower, refill water jugs, etc. in trade for whatever they might be able to provide. I can repair their machines to plant next year's garden. Hell, I could use it to bring freezers from neighbors to help keep their food from spoiling.

Mobility gives you options. Maybe that option is to escape to a safer place if violent gangs start to get too close.

Being the only home in the neighborhood with power also gives options. Energy and mobility combined gives way more options than most have.

 

[kmakar]

My relatives with beef and hog farms are 40-45 miles away. So are my parents. If I had 100 miles of range, I could replenish food stock in a couple hours. I can also bring tradeable goods to wherever trading occurs.

If power is out, communications will be out as well. Might need to go somewhere just to give/receive messages to relatives.

My solar is big enough that I can do welding/repair/fabrication on a sunny day. My well and septic will all continue to work. Neighbors could come plug stuff in, take a shower, refill water jugs, etc. in trade for whatever they might be able to provide. I can repair their machines to plant next year's garden. Hell, I could use it to bring freezers from neighbors to help keep their food from spoiling.

Mobility gives you options. Maybe that option is to escape to a safer place if violent gangs start to get too close.

Being the only home in the neighborhood with power also gives options. Energy and mobility combined gives way more options than most have.

The idea was to make you think.... EV and Hybrids are not the only option, but it made you think didn't it?

I'm not a doomsday prepper, I'm a realist. I live where I do specifically for this reason. Like minded people who know what it takes to survive.

Look into alternative fuel sources like WMO and the like..... you don't need an EV to survive. I processed WMO for 2 years and that's how we fueled our vehicles (all diesel).

 

[Derek69SS]

The idea was to make you think.... EV and Hybrids are not the only option, but it made you think didn't it?

I'm not a doomsday prepper, I'm a realist. I live where I do specifically for this reason. Like minded people who know what it takes to survive.

Look into alternative fuel sources like WMO and the like..... you don't need an EV to survive. I processed WMO for 2 years and that's how we fueled our vehicles (all diesel).

Believe me, I've thought about all of this before. Certain situations like hackers or an EMP shutting down my solar, are real possibilities that I'm not really prepared for, and I'm aware of that. Same could be true of a modern EV.

Mobility is something we take for granted, and will be one of the first dominoes to fall. The ability to network with friends, relatives, and neighbors increases survival for all. Mobility increases the size and speed of that network.

None of us know how/when/if things will go down. Sitting on a stockpile of supplies might work for you, or might make you the first target of someone less prepared, desperate, and you thought you could trust.

 

[Nashville Cat]

Believe me, I've thought about all of this before. Certain situations like hackers or an EMP shutting down my solar, are real possibilities that I'm not really prepared for, and I'm aware of that. Same could be true of a modern EV.

Mobility is something we take for granted, and will be one of the first dominoes to fall. The ability to network with friends, relatives, and neighbors increases survival for all. Mobility increases the size and speed of that network.

None of us know how/when/if things will go down. Sitting on a stockpile of supplies might work for you, or might make you the first target of someone less prepared, desperate, and you thought you could trust.

It's a good idea to have a backup inverter in a box. The new all-in-ones have come down and are pretty cheap ($2000-$3000).
And maybe spare breakers and small parts to repair your solar setup.
I've never viewed solar as a money saver. It's like owning life insurance ; when you need it it's really important to have.
And a disaster if you don't have it.

 

[DJ’s Garage]

If there’s no fuel (diesel) there are no farms. Very few people do any planting or harvesting without equipment, those who do import the pickers which won’t happen without fuel. I’ll have fuel long after most run out but have no plans to leave my place.

 

[Nashville Cat]

If there’s no fuel (diesel) there are no farms. Very few people do any planting or harvesting without equipment, those who do import the pickers which won’t happen without fuel. I’ll have fuel long after most run out but have no plans to leave my place.

It will be good to live outside of cities. Most won't survive if the power is down longer than one year.
I could make it a year but longer than that would be tough.
Deer would go fast LOL

 

[kmakar]

Believe me, I've thought about all of this before. Certain situations like hackers or an EMP shutting down my solar, are real possibilities that I'm not really prepared for, and I'm aware of that. Same could be true of a modern EV.

Mobility is something we take for granted, and will be one of the first dominoes to fall. The ability to network with friends, relatives, and neighbors increases survival for all. Mobility increases the size and speed of that network.

None of us know how/when/if things will go down. Sitting on a stockpile of supplies might work for you, or might make you the first target of someone less prepared, desperate, and you thought you could trust.

There are still a multitude of things you can do such as EMP protection for solar (yes, they make it), and EMP protection for vehicles.... these are all things that could happen, and I pray to God they don't, but anyone closing their eyes to what could happen is tempting fate and sticking their head in the sand.

Playing devil's advocate was to get everyone to think, that's all. I started many years ago planning when all my kids lived at home. I do have spares of everything for my solar, and this year I intend on having another well dug. Lisa's been planting gardens to get a handle on things and we have been freezing fresh produce.

Each person will find their own path.

 

[kmakar]

It will be good to live outside of cities. Most won't survive if the power is down longer than one year.
I could make it a year but longer than that would be tough.
Deer would go fast LOL

Most won't survive if power is down for 1 month. No food, no water, no hope. Many in the cities will die because they don't know how to survive.

 

[DJ’s Garage]

Most won't survive if power is down for 1 month. No food, no water, no hope. Many in the cities will die because they don't know how to survive.

Agreed. My most pressing concern is security, good neighbors all around (in good times) may not turn out that way in the end. 3 Marine Vets within 8 driveways of me, a little more comforting as they are from this place, born on this road.

 

[kmakar]

Agreed. My most pressing concern is security, good neighbors all around (in good times) may not turn out that way in the end. 3 Marine Vets within 8 driveways of me, a little more comforting as they are from this place, born on this road.

Security is a major concern of mine, but the neighbors are all good and I trust them. Most have already said when the SHTF they know where they are going, and I'm okay with that as long as they bring something to the table like helping and assigned chores.

I have the infrastructure, but they must adhere and provide as well.... they are not guests, they are "members" who'll share the load.

 

[Derek69SS]

I'm about 3-4 hours walk from 5,000 Somalians, and a little more than a day's walk from 85,000 of them. Mobility may be more important than security.