[bruin]

What has been your biggest change to prepare for PO?

In other words, what real thing have you done because you have learned
about peak oil that you would have NOT done otherwise.

I think it would be interesting exactly how influential the information you have found here really is.


For me, it was selling the 3rd car, an SUV. I probably would have fixed and kept it in the driveway otherwise. But I learned now was the time to get rid of such things. In hindsight, even without PO, it has saved us some money without it anyways.

Also, (pretty small change) I bought "Twilight in the Desert". Wouldn't have bought that book without getting involved here.

[The_Toecutter]

My PO preparations would be in progress regardless of PO, but I'd say the biggest of them, which isn't complete, is the construction of my electric car.

Even with gas dirt cheap, it will still be less expensive to run than a gas car. Not only that, but even with electricity from a coal fired plant, it will still be cleaner than most cars(and when I eventually get solar panels and wind generators, effectively zero emissions). Not to mention the fact that I'll be able to out-gun Porsche Boxters, BMW Z4s, and Audi TTs with it and hit 140 mph(or more) on the race track. Range? About 100 miles. Really, that's 1/2-1/3 the range of a gas powered car, and I never take trips longer than 50 miles anyway. Daily commute is 30 miles, so how much range do I really need?

It's one way of powering down that will net me a standard of living increase, so regardless of PO, I'm going to do it anyway. It will dramatically cut the amount of money I put into the economy over the long term, but up front, this thing is costing me $10,000-12,000 or so to build. For this particular high performance sports car when converted(Triumph GT6), the break even point with my current gas car(Ford Contour) will be about $1.50/gallon, with electricity at $.10/kWh. This factors in battery pack replacement(30,000 mile battery pack life, if I replace them at that point and later get lithium batteries. If not, cycle life charts have the batteries lasting 50,000+ miles, which brings the break even point more closer to $.80/gallon), motor brush changes every 15,000 miles, brakes, tires for the electric, and engine maintenance, brakes, tires for the Ford.

Gas is currently $2.30. Well past the break even point for the electric to save money on a per mile travelled basis. It'll pay its build cost off in gas/maintenance savings in just a few years, and if peak oil is especially dreadful, with say $9/gallon, it will pay itself off very fast.

Think about it. The motor will last over 500,000 miles, and never need tune ups, servicing, oil changes, and all of that shit. Just one moving part: the rotor.

I'll never need to let the motor warm up in cold weather. Heating? I won't need to build up extra engine heat for venting into the cabin, I can simply crank on a ceramic heater and have instant heat into the cabin, no delay waiting for any engine to warm up. Refueling? Never go to the gas station, every time I drive home, simply plug it in, and every time I go somewhere I'll have my batteries full. No more sitting out in the cold winters pumping gas. Ride quality? With no engine noise and no engine vibration, it's going to be smoother than silk on a road in good condition(racing suspension will negate that on a bumpy road, but if I were to replace the suspension with something more street oriented, ride would be far smoother than a typical car). Further, with no noise from the motor, any music played in the car will sound much clearer. Fuel shortages? Whether they are from natural disasters or peak oil, won't be a concern of mine as far as my own personal transportation is concerned. I'll never have to wait in any gas station lines should they occur.

Oh, and the acceleration. 0-40 mph would be comparable to $250,000 Porsches and Ferraris, although 0-60 would be more comparable to $50,000 Porsche Boxters and Audi TTs. At quick stoplight drags, nothing would be able to touch it. And at high speed racing, it will still embarass a good majority of cars. Got to love making peak torque at 0 rpm along with instant throttle response(electrons would travel the speed of light without resistance, with resistance in copper wire, about 4,000 miles per second, far faster than any mechanism can inject fuel to an engine).

Really, what's there NOT to like? I get to reduce my ecological footprint, dramatically reduce my contribution to this energy crisis in progress, run it on renewable zero emission energy when I get the proper equipment, increase the convenience factor of driving, and see a large increase in performance over my current car. It doesn't just prepare for peak oil, but it will slightly improve my life while reducing its negative impact.

Best of all, if PO is very disasterous and no one can get gas(or gas becomes outrageously expensive), I'll have the highways to myself to terrorize at my liesure in this fucking demon. With wind and solar panels, I'll always have fuel for it!


I'd forego using a car for daily transportation altogether, except for the fact that mass transit in my area sucks, and is overpriced, and to break even with my gas car, gas would need to be over $4/gallon. Factor in a 2.5 mile walk to the Metrolink station, and another mile to the university, to be repeated again on the way home, and you can see why I drive. Mass transit systems in America doesn't need to be in such a sorry state, but it is since the auto and oil companies bought out all the trolley systems in the 1940s and tore them down to force car reliance.

So if I am to be car reliant at this time, I might as well have a car that doesn't transfer my money to these industries and a car that drastically reduces my environmental footprint.

Bicycle? I've almost been killed by idiots in vehicles on numerous occassions. One bitch in an SUV pulled a hit and run. If PO happens to be disasterous and takes the cars off the road, the bike will become my main form of transit again, and the car will stay relegated to racing and occassional fun on the(would be) abandoned roads, perhaps taken out once or twice a week. Really, nothing compares to the environmental impact of a bicycle, as it's virtually nil. Cost to operate? Aside from tires, chain, and wheels, virtually zero. I'd especially love to build a fully fared bicycle that relies on the principles of laminar flow, as a bike like that can be pedalled to over 60 mph on 250 watts of human muscle. Basically one person riding.

[AmericanEmpire]

Not a damn thing. I'm as good as dead when peak oil hits so I'm gonna enjoy the party before everything goes to shit.

[Ayoob]

I traded in my life for a new one. It took me about six months to work up the courage, but I just dumped everything and rebooted. All gone. It's been crazy, but it's great.

Honestly I think that if PO wasn't true I'd have just sleepwalked through my whole life considering myself a connoisseur of entertainment.

Since then, I've traded in my career as a stockbroker for a wholly different one as a nurse. I've picked up one cottage industry as a hobby that I've gotten passably good at and could probably make a living at if it came to that. And, amazingly enough, I ran into a guy that's going to show me how to make a bow out of a stave of wood! For free! Just for fun, he's going to hand me the secrets of how to make a bow!

Apparently it takes $6 worth of wood and tools that can't be more than $100, and I can knock one out in about four hours. I can't believe it's true but apparently it is!

It's pretty weird to be optimistic about the future what with industrial civilization coming to an end and whatnot, but it's hard to say that my life is going to suck relative to the majority. I think things are going to go rather well for me, considering.

I'm triple-suited heading in to a collapse. Ten years of sales experience have taught me that any one of these skills is sufficient to see me through but with three, I should be sitting pretty.

[jesus_of_suburbia_old]

I dropped after the spring semester out of college to pursue a career in fire/ems.

I hope to start paramedic school in July of this year if I don't die of bird flu in the next three months.

I think I may learn how to play the pan flute, too.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'H')onestly I think that if PO wasn't true I'd have just sleepwalked through my whole life considering myself a connoisseur of entertainment.

[PenultimateManStanding]

I've lived in half a century of peace and stability in a prosperous county and find myself very comfortable; a change of this sort is not welcome to me at all. It's bound to drive alot of people over the edge. I got used to the idea everything could fall apart 7 years ago, Y2K; I didn't work in the industry so it seemed dangerous, potentially. As a result of that I still have things stocked that could help soon for all I know about this coming problem. Haven't done much recently except ordering seeds and stocking up 5 gallon buckets for when the water begins to come intermittently. Food is next. As for the connoiseur thing, it's not half bad. Lots of choices for everybody.

[killJOY]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JESUS', 'I') was slated to get my English degree next year. I probably would have ended up as assistant manager of a Best Buy for the next twenty years, then commited suicide.

[rostov]

Two.

(1) Migrate
(2) Change my childrens outlook for the future. Think ground up approach without energy...

[lardlad]

Bought gold.

Had no debt at all for 15 years. Lots of cash, not sure what to do with it yet.

Bought spears and other durable, non-tech reliant weapons.

Relocated to safer area of planet (Australia, from USA).

Had only one child, now 24yrs old (as you can see, I started planning LONG ago. I've always anticipated PO )

[Madpaddy]

1.) Moved from the city to a house on an acre in the country - 7 minute commute to work. (I was going to do this anyway).

2.) Bought a diesel car.

3.) Put solar panels on the roof for hot water.

4.) Started growing vegetables, making nettle soup/ nettle beer, jam etc.

5.) Bought and started practicing with a sling shot.

6.) Implemented many energy saving measures where I work and have coursed up on renewable energy systems.

[Madpaddy]

Hey Lardlad,

You only joined PO.com and are heavy crude already.

You post too much LOL.

[lardlad]

I have some spare time at he mo'. Be gone again soon, I think.

[AmericanEmpire]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')ot a damn thing. I'm as good as dead when peak oil hits so I'm gonna enjoy the party before everything goes to shit.

[SinisterBlueCat]

lots, and some of it sucks, but I did it anyway. Before, I have consolidated everything around my small town area. I used to drive 30 minutes on way to get to my horses, which were at a wonderful facility, now that are at a ok facility, but it is short distance away.

I am learning how to seed save. This was my first year, so next year will be the proof of the pudding...keepin fingers crossed that they grow!

I learned how to can

I have always been a quilter, but now I am practicing making clothes by hand...I want an old manual sewing machine. hmmm, I need to think more about that.

I also want to get a manual typewriter.

these threads are good for making people rmeember what they have recently forgotten

[Jake_old]

Stopped drinking beer at home (having been used to drinking every night), but will still drink in the pub now and again.

This is not just a glib statement, it has changed my view of everyday life. I get much more done at the moment.

A close second is getting an allotment. This year is the first full year, lots of healthy work to do.

[eastbay]

This topic should be raised from time to time as the situation deteriorates...

I agree that a changed mind-set is the most important preparation. We know what's coming and are planning for a fairly moderate paced economic and societal collapse; maybe a 10 to 20 year crunch.

To help get us through the initial period, we've planted as many fruit trees as our backyard can reasonably handle. The backyard veggie garden is now about 250 sq ft, certainly not enough to feed the four of us, but enough to put a nice dent in the budget. We live where there's no need for heat or air con. My work requires a commute and there's nothing I can do about that for now, other than drive my nice 45 mpg non-hybrid car or ride the 50 mpg bike.

We've done little to get ready for the more 'interesting' final stages and will deal with that when the time gets closer.

This should be mandatory: Increasing violence will accompany the entire deteriorating situation and we are preparing for that. All the planning in the world will quickly turn to vapor unless you are willing and prepared to prevent others from taking it away from you. A few hours a week is all it takes to keep fit, learn a martial art, and become proficient in weapons.

[Princess]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bruin', 'W')hat has been your biggest change to prepare for PO?

[The_Toecutter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')y work requires a commute and there's nothing I can do about that for now, other than drive my nice 45 mpg non-hybrid car or ride the 50 mpg bike.

[Schweinshaxe]

I'm utterly confused here...

When I read the first post I thoght that finally I understand irony. I mean the guy just said that he just got rid of his third car (an SUV) and bought a book on the subject PO. I was laughing a little until I continued to read the thread.

Because then the thread continues with how people buy gold, spears and emigrate in order to prepare for PO. Taking this post seriously I mean...

WTF!!! Are we Europeans so different from you Americans? What the hell is a third car? Which household has THREE cars? Who's driving the third car? I know many upper middle class families here in Germany and none of them have three cars. They may have a second car but that's normally a cheap, used small car. I've never heard of a family with a Hummer as a third car.

You have to excuse me but I demand an explanation! What's the third car used for?

[SinisterBlueCat]

the third car is there in order to keep up with and with a little luck surpass the Jones'.