Catmandoo Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 (edited) Hiflier, I scanned my local Chevy Blazo stock. Pass. I don't need to rebuild the drive train/ running gear. Plus, it would have to tow a cadaver trailer. Pass on GM vehicles. Remember the great American fleece program to bail out the car manufacturers? Ford was the only company not in the bail out program. There are rebuilders that re-home interesting vehicles. Volkswagon Vanagons with transplanted Subaru engines = 'Subagon'. Expensive, can't haul a body, but body hauling is probably a once in a lifetime event. They are not 4WD. An outfit in Seattle rebuilds Landrovers. Old Landrovers ( not the new pimpy kind ), the type with rhinoceros dents, 4WD, gear ratios to climb trees, windshields that fold down ( so you can shoot forward without having to blow out the windshield but kind of noisey on the driver ) and very good ground clearance. Edited March 26, 2019 by Catmandoo add more text Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntster Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 2 hours ago, hiflier said: Carrying tracking a bit further, becoming a digital ghost- as I like to phrase it- doesn't stop at cell phones. Fully covert would mean owning a vehicle built before 1994. Black boxes which monitor vehicle performance and maneuvering were installed in a couple of test vehicles back in '74 but are now in all cars and trucks as of around 2002........ What? Government can track my 2001 Ford Expedition because of the vehicle computer? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catmandoo Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 2 hours ago, Huntster said: It seems like one really needs both the PLB and a remote communication device for the best insurance against remote disaster. A good strategy. I looked at ACR Electronics PLBs. Especially good if you are on the water. Some of the PLBs and remote communicators have a waterproof/water resistant rating but do not float. Will your phone float? The Garmin Inreach units have good reviews. Those units absorbed the DeLorme Inreach technology. I bought a DeLorme GPS unit prior to Garmin buying DeLorme and my unit is almost a brick now. The other 'rescue' item that I am considering is a Rescue Laser by Great Land Laser. Red or green colored laser light, works day and night. The reasoning behind the rescue laser light is that I believe signaling an aircraft will piss off every pilot in the area and they will want to find me quickly to administer a beating. Distress signals have 2 basic parts: alarm signal and location signal. If you do not have expensive electronic do-dads, a flashlight that can focus to a spotlight will help. This works on land and water during darkness. Set focus to spot and aim straight up. Maintain vertical orientation. If you have tree cover, you are limited. Weather is also limiting. The vertical light can be seen due to the suspended particulates in the air. In your travels, if you see a light shining straight up, go there. Whistles like the Acme Thunderer work day or night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigantor Posted March 26, 2019 Admin Share Posted March 26, 2019 38 minutes ago, Huntster said: What? Government can track my 2001 Ford Expedition because of the vehicle computer? No. You're vehicle, even new ones have to have something like GM's "OnStar" satellite system built in. My Jeep doesn't 'cause I didn't buy the option package, no GPS mapping either. They could track you via pavement sensors if you buy tires with RFID chips in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntster Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 1 hour ago, Catmandoo said: ........The other 'rescue' item that I am considering is a Rescue Laser by Great Land Laser. Red or green colored laser light, works day and night. The reasoning behind the rescue laser light is that I believe signaling an aircraft will piss off every pilot in the area and they will want to find me quickly to administer a beating........ With my luck, I'd flash it at a warbird and get ordnance dropped on me. 1 hour ago, gigantor said: .......They could track you via pavement sensors if you buy tires with RFID chips in them. Is it common for tires to have such devices in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigantor Posted March 27, 2019 Admin Share Posted March 27, 2019 14 minutes ago, Huntster said: Is it common for tires to have such devices in them. If your vehicle has a tire pressure monitoring system, you have RFID in your valve stems. You can remove them, but the tire monitoring will cease to work. Most manufacturers embed RFID tags inside the tires to track them through the manufacturing process. Here is a good thread about it. There are also sidewall RFIDs for retreads... http://www.tractionnews.com/michelin-introduces-rfid-for-all-truck-tires/ Here is a how-to for an RFID zapper. http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?431020-Now-even-your-tires-are-spying-on-you-RFID-Zapper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntster Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 19 minutes ago, gigantor said: If your vehicle has a tire pressure monitoring system, you have RFID in your valve stems......... That became mandatory between 2004 & 2007. My '04 WRX doesn't have them, but my wife's '07 Sienna does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigantor Posted March 27, 2019 Admin Share Posted March 27, 2019 You could always do what I do... Call the Goodyear store and ask them if they have your tires in stock. If they do, walk in and pay cash, give them a bogus name and address, they will ask. DO NOT have them mount the tires. Take the tires with you to your small neighborhood two-bay gas station and have them mount/balance, pay cash. They'll get the RFID signal, but they won't know who it is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntster Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Good trick. But all my rigs (not Mrs. Huntsters) are old; a 1997 F-350, a 2001 Expedition, and a 2004 WRX. None have tire pressure monitoring valves, and all have low miles. I'll be driving them for years, long after the SHTF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbone Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntster Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 So now thieves can simply steal your car from afar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted March 27, 2019 BFF Patron Share Posted March 27, 2019 There seems to be some misunderstandings about how the PLB's work. They are registered with NOAA. You send them a short list of contact persons to contact if they detect your PLB signal. You have to update the registration every 2 years. As I understand it NOAA calls people on the contact list first, yourself being the first of these, to find out if they know anything about you and why the signal is being broadcast. I believe that if the cavalry is sent out for a rescue it is because people on your contact list think you are missing and may need rescue or NOAA cannot get contact with anyone on your list. I have instructed the people on my contact list to call the Sheriffs Department because if I set off the signal it is something worse than a broken down vehicle. I would not trust NOAA to follow through on it. For all I know they do not even work weekends or holidays. After all they are part of the same government that runs the Post Office and Amtrack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madison5716 Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 I just bought this. It is very cool. I like firestarters and sharp, pointy things so this rocks! It works, too. https://www.uberleben.co/collections/fire-starters/products/leicht-fire-starter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbone Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 I made a height stick to use for reproducing height during witness interviews. We've used it twice on the Omaha Reservation this winter. It is simply an extending pole for paint rollers, about $15 at Menards. I marked it out from 6 1/2 feet to 11 1/2 feet but it goes to just short of 12 feet at full extension. I marked it to the bottom of the ball, in case I want to replaced the ball with one of a different size. I actually have two pole, one with a 4 inch yellow/blue foam ball and one with the orange tennis ball. I made this to go back and do a better job for my own report from May of 2018. Sadly, I have not been able to get in there to get it done, and now flood waters may have messed up my chances. The third photo is an actual investigation on the Omaha Reservation in February when Robin Roberts was in town. Witness said she saw something standing in that spot with it's head near those snow covered branches. We measured 11 feet tall. We were there to look at tracks, but they were overblown by snow. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted March 31, 2019 BFF Patron Share Posted March 31, 2019 Something like that is sure better than nothing in estimation or comparison to actual pictures. I think the BFRO has done enough investigation to know that most witnesses exaggerate the size of the BF they saw. I think the theory is that we are very used to guessing the height of children, and human adults because we are around them all the time and have feedback on how tall they really are. We know that cousin Frank is 6' 4" for example. But BF are so much bigger than humans, our estimations get way out of whack the taller they are outside of human norms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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