Well... it would definitely depend on who you were commandeering them from. The previous owners MAY have alternate plans for them after all...LMAO

In a true, end of world/society situation I would avoid kicking another family out of their vehicle. I would instead be looking at the local dealerships (or farm/construction equipment dealerships) for what needs to be commandeered. Their employees will be long gone worrying about their own families.

That's assuming the vehicles still run and the roads aren't clogged with abandoned vehicles.

Hmmmmmmm.......I figure most people will be the panicy, just come out from a state of denial types who will be desperate to evacuate. I think it will be the perfect idea to bunker up and wait out the mass exodus scramble and bug out when the chaos dies down! 🙂 What do you think?

Absolutely Dangphool, I would not take stuff from other survivors! 🙂 I Was thinking of the tricked out offroad promotional hummer from the auto parts place upp the road and maybe comendiering the shooting range a few clicks from home which is like a bunker already which I know how to get in in a way that I know but the owners don't! 😎
The owner and staff I feel will be in the rush to bug out early! 🙂

Thinking off road travel is the way?

Sorry guys I have to disagree. You may disguise your intentions with words like commandeer but it still theft. If you base your plan on the premise of theft you do not have a plan. What is more you are not a prepper. You relegate yourself to the ranks of those that society has to defend itself against. Now we have law enforcement and a judicial system to prevent "commandeering". After a SHTF event I would bet that there would be a much rougher, tougher and expedient form of justice applied. Develop a plan that suites your needs and do it with your own purchased resources. It may take you a while to reach your goals but it will be worth it. Don't include theft in your plan. If you do you are not part of a solution you are very much part of the problem.

Agree with ICRCC on this one - once you start down the "comendiering" road - Where do you stop!

Where do you draw a line in the sand of whats right and whats wrong?

I was speaking in terms of the abandoned things and buildings left behind by those who have bugged out, not throwing someone out of their car and stealing their vehicle and supplies leaving them for dead! =0 HUGE difference between comandeering the abandoned left behind and steal things from people that which they want and need! 🙂
Although maybe comandeering was a poor choice of words! =0 *L* Taking or makinf use of abandoned shelter and vehicles to survive might be a better discriptive! 🙂

Hmmmmmmm.......I figure most people will be the panicy, just come out from a state of denial types who will be desperate to evacuate. I think it will be the perfect idea to bunker up and wait out the mass exodus scramble and bug out when the chaos dies down! 🙂 What do you think?

Absolutely Dangphool, I would not take stuff from other survivors! 🙂 I Was thinking of the tricked out offroad promotional hummer from the auto parts place upp the road and maybe comendiering the shooting range a few clicks from home which is like a bunker already which I know how to get in in a way that I know but the owners don't! 😎
The owner and staff I feel will be in the rush to bug out early! 🙂

In my opinion, if you feel you need a tricked out Hummer, or other off road vehicle, then you should have your own. Who's to say that the owners of this vehicle won't be taking it with them when they bug out...I sure would!
As for taking over a shooting range, why would you not prepare your own home to suit your needs.
The very fact that you have scoped the place out to the extent of being able to get in without the owner's knowledge is disturbing and calls your integrity and trustworthiness into question!
Being a prepper means preparing to take care of yourself and having the ability to defend your location and preps...not finding out what you can take from others.

Sorry guys I have to disagree. You may disguise your intentions with words like commandeer but it still theft. If you base your plan on the premise of theft you do not have a plan. What is more you are not a prepper. You relegate yourself to the ranks of those that society has to defend itself against. Now we have law enforcement and a judicial system to prevent "commandeering". After a SHTF event I would bet that there would be a much rougher, tougher and expedient form of justice applied. Develop a plan that suites your needs and do it with your own purchased resources. It may take you a while to reach your goals but it will be worth it. Don't include theft in your plan. If you do you are not part of a solution you are very much part of the problem.

I agree 100%. The idea is to prep............. not be a predator of others who are struggling to survive. That is taboo as far as I am concerned.

Sorry guys I have to disagree. You may disguise your intentions with words like commandeer but it still theft. If you base your plan on the premise of theft you do not have a plan. What is more you are not a prepper. You relegate yourself to the ranks of those that society has to defend itself against. Now we have law enforcement and a judicial system to prevent "commandeering". After a SHTF event I would bet that there would be a much rougher, tougher and expedient form of justice applied. Develop a plan that suites your needs and do it with your own purchased resources. It may take you a while to reach your goals but it will be worth it. Don't include theft in your plan. If you do you are not part of a solution you are very much part of the problem.

I agree 100%. The idea is to prep............. not be a predator of others who are struggling to survive. That is taboo as far as I am concerned.

Perhaps I wasn't clear in my response. I was referring to abandoned equipment or vehicles as I said, 'after collapse of society'. Perhaps the OP shouldn't have used the term 'commandeer' as that is not the picture he was painting in the initial discourse from my perspective. And you were correct when you suggested that we(all preppers) should have our shit together, including vehicles, before it hits the fan.

That being said,
I have 2 4x4 trucks; one can tow our small holiday trailer and the other our small utility trailer. If one breaks down and there is a Ford dealership sitting there with no one around; would you honestly leave behind literally a tonne of supplies rather than picking up a second vehicle? IF someone was there, I'm sure I could find something useful in my bartering goods to trade; but that wasn't the scenario.

If you are stating here and now (with his comment earlier in the thread; Denob included with the above quotes) that your integrity is so concrete and your decisions so black and white that you would not rummage through the wreckage of a hospital or pharmacy post wrol for a vial of penicillin because your kid has an infection; then I consider you a liar or a fool. That penicillin would still be the property of the AB government or Safeway and so beyond your sanctimonious hardline on theft and predation. Myself, I would take from that abandoned property post-shtf because I put more value in life than in property; you can have the funeral instead. My father will be dead from the morphine withdrawal soon enough and I don't want to add more funerals than I will already have to because I viewed the world as black and white.

I took 2 days to respond to this because I wanted to respond calmly but I don't think I succeeded.

Ya know, I had just typed up a long and well thought out response and then decided to simply state this...

If and when you find yourself in a WROL situation when there are no people around, but miraculously the ford dealership, hospitals, and grocery stores remain standing and fully in tact, including vials of penicillin, then by all means go for it.

The initial post was;

"What do you think of commandeering vehicles and buildings for shelter and escape when the SHTF?"

Perhaps it could of been worded better.

In a collapse and anarchy situation the rules would alter. I would and could not condone another commandeering another persons/families survival tools. I would in honesty temporary throw in to help them keep what little they have - then wish them the best and continue on my way for three reasons -
1) they would slow me down
2) they allowed themselves to maybe get in this position of being on the defensive due to stupidity
3) I would assist them in the event that should I slip up and make an error of judgement and find myself also at risk like that then someone would return the favour - this is called Karma.

But on the other hand, if we are talking total breakdown of society, anarchy, law of fang and club - then things like supermarkets, hardware stores, pharmacy's, would be looked at as possibly having things that increase my and my groups survival chance.

These are different subjects we are talking of from what I can see that have branched out from the initial post.

History has show that in true survival situations - people do some of the things I am sure they would of denied and been horrified at prior the change in their survival situation needs.
The severity of that situation will alter peoples concepts of what is and is no longer acceptable.
I use the air flight that crashed in the Andes mountains in 77 with a soccer team on board ( hope my memory is fairly accurate on this time and it's participants) - to survive - they ate the dead.

Something I am sure they would of been horrified by in their life prior to this new situation they were in.

In the situation we are, I think referring to, I would also look at what I could get from abandoned car yards, hospitals, pharmacy, farm centres and anything else of survival value.
I doubt if any one would not take this stance - if they did then they must have one hell of a stock pile of gear.

These are the two different types of situations we could face in the future, one is total anarchy, which will snowball in a downwards spiral of gangs and territories claimed.

Then we have a temporary crisis situation that eventually will have some semblance of law and order return.

These are two possibilities from the opposite end of the spectrum and are fare from being in the same category - the difference would be afterwards - can you still look in the mirror and still like what you see?

Yes, wording is important. The OP started this with a one liner and the word commandeer.......... which to me means to seize or take something by force. That does not suggest abandoned or everyone is dead, including the actual owner of said goods.

Using words like "liar", "fool" and "sanctimonious" take this beyond a friendly discussion and into the realms of being rude and condescending. I have better things to do with my time.

It has been a slice.

In a serious SHTF situation say continent wide there would be a complete breakdown of law and order along with society. The very first targets will be liquor stores and pharmacies and locations that sell cigarettes. There is an element of society that will run havoc once the civilities of society dissolve. Followed very shortly by food stores. This time the perpetrators will be everyone else, the general population who are starving and have not made plans and preparations for such a situation. Anything of value will be picked meticulously clean in the first few weeks. Not a nice thought but never the less realistic.

The only chance to "obtain" anything of value will be in the first few weeks after the collapse. Would I be out there during this time? Not a chance. Call me what you will but I stand firmly behind my earlier statement "Don't include theft in your plan. If you do you are not part of a solution you are very much part of the problem".