Please Help Me Build My Super-Doomer Laptop

I've been thinking how important it would be to have a laptop that would serve me well WTSHTF, and while I'm not a "computer guy," I am good at using it as a research tool. I also want access to video messaging, news, maps and written communications from most anywhere and not only from home. I'm feeling more and more like this is a good prep item in case we need to relocate. I hate when I travel and have to use other peoples' computers, too, so this would put an end to that as well.

I did a search on the forum to see if building a super-doomer computer had been done before and the three combinations of title searches I ran came up with blanks. I'm sure there are a kazillion things some of you guys know that I haven't considered, or just plain don't know. Please feel free to chime in with your thoughts and advice. What it the best wrieless set up? I have AT&T dsl at home and wonder how that impacts my ability to access the web say in CA, or FL? Those are two trips I'm taking this summer before the Cubans and Mexicans reclaim them.

Any thoughts about ways a laptop could serve as a rescue device? For instance, I have Shane's CD's loaded onto my home computer, which would be downloaded onto my external hard drive, and available from the laptop. I have a prep library and my vital information I wouldn't want to leave at home, and it's kind of a funny thought to bug out with my home computer, though I do have a battery, inverter and solar panel.

It definitely has to have g version wireless (or better if there is such a thing), video phone, and be light but sturdy with good battery life and a cheap price. A DVD burner isn't essential, and neither is a 17" screen. As much as I hate to shell out another$150, I suppose the extended warranty is a good idea, but ouch!

I also have an external hard drive lined up to back up the home system so so anything I need will be at hand. My brother already picked out a good small one with 160 MB of space for $100. Thanks for sharing what you know!!

Bear in mind taht if TSHTF, there will BE no Internet and no cell phones. There will probably be no phone service PERIOD.

You should have one computer that you use to surf the net with and you don't care about and another computer that you keep personal and sensitive information on that never gets connected to the web.

I picked up a decent, refurbished one last year just to store SHTF info. Like Dennis said, if SHTF I don't expect to be surfing the net but I will want access to info without going thru a filing cabinet of papers.

what would be REALLY nice.. is to somehow build a portable solar panel , maybe only a foot by a foot in size that looks sorta like an old school set-top tv antenna .. in which one could charge up something such as a laptop...
otherwise, I think having a laptop could possibly be useless , if there is a problem with getting electricity.....

But ya it would be REAL NICE to have a lappy on the go.. even if, there were no net nor access to it, and even if u just had things stored on it as a database for information , such as all them army field and training manuals , first aid stuff , a pdr , map info .. and etc...

or even use to kill some time playing a few games , reading from a collection of e-books in pdf format to pass time if you are holed up somewhere... to watch avi movies you have stored.... pretty much anything u can think of..

so ya a lappy is nice to have if TSHTF , but only if you consider ways of making sure the battery can stay charged,,,


also having an extra battery or 2 always charged IS A MUST !!


Edited to add:
ALSO .. I would personally scan all important documents , such as birth certificates , ssi cards , drivers licenses , all that importants stuff from all family members.. to have JUST IN CASE !!
and have them in a folder password protected.. that only you and family members know

Wasn't there a way that you could get online via HAM radio posted here not too long ago?


Pass Go,

I have personally been looking at some Panasonic CF-28 and CF 27s'. Not much in the mhz/ghz range, but plenty hard for basic apps and websurfing. Expensive for what they are, but you can look around on ebay and craigslist and luck out sometimes.

I have a Tough Book.

That's the way I would go.

It won't work underwater but neither will you, anywhere else it will stand up.

Yeah, Sparkky, the key is having access to all the info on the hard drive I thought was important to organize for seven years. Before that I used to print everything out, and put it in notebooks. VERY bulky. If the internet goes down on us, does it go down on them, too? I believe you are right, Dennis. The last thing they want is us being able to freely communicate.

I have a generator, an inverter, three batteries and a solar panel. I'm pretty set for juice, Kemosabe.

Changed, why would you keep one computer off the web? Just curious.

I'm not afraid of the web, I'm more afraid of MicroSquash.

My PC is on a lot as I need to remote access it when I am out and about.

Firewall=1 or true and there should be no worries.

Pass Go,

Here is something you can think about.

http://cgi.ebay.com/PANASONIC-CF-27...goryZ177QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

You could have that for about 100.00 FRNs'. Put another maybe 200.00 or so into getting it geeked out a bit and you would have one solid PAW laptop.

Pass Go said:

I've been thinking how important it would be to have a laptop that would serve me well WTSHTF, and while I'm not a "computer guy," I am good at using it as a research tool. I also want access to video messaging, news, maps and written communications from most anywhere and not only from home. I'm feeling more and more like this is a good prep item in case we need to relocate. I hate when I travel and have to use other peoples' computers, too, so this would put an end to that as well.
- snip

Click to expand...

if WTSHTF = "ordinary" type disasters, then you might be on the right track.
(winter storm, tornado, hurricane, earthquake, etc...)

New 29 Watt 45nm Intel laptop CPU chips coming out in June. (Montevina platform)

http://www.engadget.com/tag/Montevina/


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrino

They have Wimax wireless (50 mile range in perfect conditions)
* Almost no support at launch, will be useful in the future...

here is another prime example of what you can do with a little bit of time on ebay.

This guy has obviously bought some Govt. CFs' and totally geeked them....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Panasonic-Tough...goryZ177QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

NBCsurvivor said:

Pass Go,

Here is something you can think about.

http://cgi.ebay.com/PANASONIC-CF-27...goryZ177QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

You could have that for about 100.00 FRNs'. Put another maybe 200.00 or so into getting it geeked out a bit and you would have one solid PAW laptop.

Click to expand...

thats cool, i've been thinking about getting a second laptop for use as a digital teotwawki library, i have a mighty amount of pdf's & word docs , i wont need net access just excellent storage, what tweeks would you recommend, i wont need gps, wifi etc

kemosabe said:

But ya it would be REAL NICE to have a lappy on the go.. even if, there were no net nor access to it, and even if u just had things stored on it as a database for information , such as all them army field and training manuals , first aid stuff , a pdr , map info .. and etc...

or even use to kill some time playing a few games , reading from a collection of e-books in pdf format to pass time if you are holed up somewhere... to watch avi movies you have stored.... pretty much anything u can think of..

Edited to add:
ALSO .. I would personally scan all important documents , such as birth certificates , ssi cards , drivers licenses , all that importants stuff from all family members.. to have JUST IN CASE !!
and have them in a folder password protected.. that only you and family members know

Click to expand...

You can do all that with a Palm TX, Surf the web using Wi-Fi or bluetooth, store and read books, movies, music, store important documents, play games etc. I carry one in my pocket all the time with all of the above.

Marthanoir said:

thats cool, i've been thinking about getting a second laptop for use as a digital teotwawki library, i have a mighty amount of pdf's & word docs , i wont need net access just excellent storage, what tweeks would you recommend, i wont need gps, wifi etc

Click to expand...

There is only so far you can go on something like that. Max out the RAM. Get a DVD Drive. High GB HD (maybe 80-120 range for that). Maybe over clock the processor.

The components for those units cost. Big Time. Much more than regular Laptops. You would be pushing at or above for what I just proposed.

Say 100-120 investment in base unit.

Probably 200-300 in above upgrades (roughly).

Kent said:

You can do all that with a Palm TX, Surf the web using Wi-Fi or bluetooth, store and read books, movies, music, store important documents, play games etc. I carry one in my pocket all the time with all of the above.

Click to expand...

Great unit, but not above being ....

hit

spilled on

can stop a bullet...????

Want secure storage? REALLY secure storage? Follow this link:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/security/99f1/

Seriously. I've bought stuff from these people, and they are 100% legit.

NBCsurvivor said:

There is only so far you can go on something like that. Max out the RAM. Get a DVD Drive. High GB HD (maybe 80-120 range for that). Maybe over clock the processor.

The components for those units cost. Big Time. Much more than regular Laptops. You would be pushing at or above for what I just proposed.

Say 100-120 investment in base unit.

Probably 200-300 in above upgrades (roughly).

Click to expand...

sounds good, i can carry it around in my truck with my bob & means i can free up space on this laptop for serious stuff like gaming

Dennis Olson said:

Want secure storage? REALLY secure storage? Follow this link:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/security/99f1/

Seriously. I've bought stuff from these people, and they are 100% legit.

Click to expand...

"Ironkey works on XP and Vista only."

More choices here: http://www.computerworld.com/action...rticleId=9062527&taxonomyId=19&intsrc=kc_feat

If it works with XP, it'll work with Win2K. And I believe it'll work with Linux boxes too. Anything that'll address USB ports.

A doomer laptop?

Shows how much we THINK we really need these computers. Put everything in print and put it into a good safe. Not one of those cheap firesafes that cost 20 bucks. Something that weighs several hundred pounds and has thick walls.

The company I work for is almost 100 years old. For 80 of those years they used good old paperwork for billing, tracking of work etc. Along came some genius manager in the eighties who thought that converting to electronic billing and work tracking would just be so cool! Now the computer staff has swelled to be one of largest in the company. We don't have that many more customers, but thanks to having so much information now stored electronically they are now worried about hackers, the internet etc. If they had just fired that stupid manager 20 years ago and continued along with the system they had they would have far less payroll costs.

These things are toys for most people. Having a computer as a prep item is certainly not on my list.

Dennis Olson said:

If it works with XP, it'll work with Win2K. And I believe it'll work with Linux boxes too. Anything that'll address USB ports.

Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Some have specific drivers to work with the security features, and don't work on anything older than XP. I'd check to make sure before I plunked down a chunk of change.

gelatinous said:

A doomer laptop?

Shows how much we THINK we really need these computers. Put everything in print and put it into a good safe. Not one of those cheap firesafes that cost 20 bucks. Something that weighs several hundred pounds and has thick walls.

The company I work for is almost 100 years old. For 80 of those years they used good old paperwork for billing, tracking of work etc. Along came some genius manager in the eighties who thought that converting to electronic billing and work tracking would just be so cool! Now the computer staff has swelled to be one of largest in the company. We don't have that many more customers, but thanks to having so much information now stored electronically they are now worried about hackers, the internet etc. If they had just fired that stupid manager 20 years ago and continued along with the system they had they would have far less payroll costs.

These things are toys for most people. Having a computer as a prep item is certainly not on my list.

Click to expand...

To each his own. Maybe you don't think you need one, but don't slam those who want to have one, for whatever reason.

If I have to "grab-and-go", a 6 pound laptop is a lot quicker and easier to carry than 100 pounds of paper, and a lot more portable. When you've got to go, space and weight are usually at a premium, as is time.

dupe

gelatinous said:

A doomer laptop?

Shows how much we THINK we really need these computers. Put everything in print and put it into a good safe. Not one of those cheap firesafes that cost 20 bucks. Something that weighs several hundred pounds and has thick walls.

The company I work for is almost 100 years old. For 80 of those years they used good old paperwork for billing, tracking of work etc. Along came some genius manager in the eighties who thought that converting to electronic billing and work tracking would just be so cool! Now the computer staff has swelled to be one of largest in the company. We don't have that many more customers, but thanks to having so much information now stored electronically they are now worried about hackers, the internet etc. If they had just fired that stupid manager 20 years ago and continued along with the system they had they would have far less payroll costs.

These things are toys for most people. Having a computer as a prep item is certainly not on my list.

Click to expand...

I have a couple of thousand pdf's, converted into paper i would need a 2nd home instead of a 2nd laptop, also the reason for the laptop is portablilty, have you read Lucifers Hammer, if so do you remember Dan Forester filling the septic tank with various books & how to manuals for rebuilding civilisation, now imagine that in the package of a laptop that you can carry on foot with a bug out bag

Pass Go said:

...
It definitely has to have g version wireless (or better if there is such a thing), video phone, and be light but sturdy with good battery life and a cheap price. A DVD burner isn't essential, and neither is a 17" screen. As much as I hate to shell out another$150, I suppose the extended warranty is a good idea, but ouch!

I also have an external hard drive lined up to back up the home system so so anything I need will be at hand. My brother already picked out a good small one with 160 MB of space for $100. Thanks for sharing what you know!!

Click to expand...

802.11g I could see needing. Video Phone? Not a necessity (who are you going to talk to?). Forget "light AND sturdy", they are inversely proportional, you will get one, but not the other. My Toughbooks are heavy, but, as the name implies, they are tough. After TSHTF, you will want TOUGH equipment, since, unless you are able to repair it, if it breaks it may NEVER get fixed. Tough is good, broken equipment sucks. Oh, and while I am on that theme, scrap the idea of the extended warranty, if TSHTF, the "Geek Squad", "FireDog", and "Rent-a-Nerd" will not be coming to your BugOut location to fix your laptop (they will probably be dead). If you have equipment, get used to the idea of you being the ONLY service person that will be working on it. This is the main reason that I tell people to learn everything that they can NOW, while they can, and PRACTICE what you learn. (sorry for the rant).

As far as the CD or DVD burner, I would STRONGLY suggest getting one, so that you can SHARE the data, as well as back up the data that you end up collecting. Do skip the larger screens though. Also, make sure that you get a fairly descent digital camera that is easy on the batteries (AA batteries are best). I have a HP Photosmart E337 for that purpose. This way you can document EVERYTHING that you will see and hear. Remember, that the revisionists of history LOVE to put spins on things...

As far as the extra external hard drives, yep, get them. I keep two 1TB (3.5") ones, as well as two 160GB (2.5") ones to go along with the 500GB that are in the laptops.

Also, make sure that you get a Kensington AC/DC power supply and the right tips for the laptop. I bought a few of their 70W models (#33234), which work great with both the Sony PCG series, as well as all of my Panasonic Toughbooks. It works just fine on DC from 10V to 18V, even though it is rated for 12V-16V (I run it from my solar panels directly).


Another good choice, even if slightly underpowered as far as "real" laptops go, is the NEC Mobilepro 880 series (Windows CE 2.11, MIPS processor). It only takes 7 watts and will run on 11-17 volts DIRECTLY (no adapters, just feed away). It will work with my USB external hard drives (including flash drives), as well as all of my USB to serial devices (including my Kantronics KPC3+ and my Motorola RAZR to connect to the internet). It has 802.11b WiFi, as well as a built in 56k modem / fax that I can use with my alligators if needed. I keep one of mine in my BoB (pictures posted on the BoB thread), along with a small AGM battery and three 5watt folding CIGS panels.
_____

Dennis Olson said:

Bear in mind that if TSHTF, there will BE no Internet and no cell phones. There will probably be no phone service PERIOD.

Click to expand...

Yep. As well as no power, and the internet needs power to keep working, so even if the actual data lines are OK, they won't be for long.

_____

Pictured below is one of my main setups.

Toughbook CF-28, Touchscreen, 512MB RAM (soon to go to 768, Kensington's 4 chip 512MB PC133 SODIMM will work in it just fine), 500GB HD, hacked out internal cardbus slot for 802.11n, wired Ethernet, and modem still inside (both miniPCI). (Wired Ethernet and modem separate units are about to be replaced with a single IBM modem/Network single MiniPCI card, and a new 802.11m MiniPCI will fill the freed slot. This way I can be attached to one network and monitoring another, or even act as a bridge on the fly (think Wireshark, man_in_middle).
Two external 1TB drives, as well as two 160GBs, and a USB to SATA and PATA (both 2.5" and 3.5") fly cable (silver and blue at the bottom).
Two 802.11 cards (one b and one b/g) that are "MAC agile" The b/g has been modded for my amp and bigger antennas.

Off to the left of the laptop is oen of my 100W solar bags (see BoB thread).

And as far as the CF-28's go on the hackability scale, they are rounding the corner past 9 on the way to 10. They not only have two external Cardbus/PCMCIA slots, a USB, parallel, serial, VGA, Irda, modem, Ethernet, Kbd/Mouse, sound, and GPS, but they have a hidden internal Cardbus/PCMCIA, USB, and serial set of ports.

IMHO, Skip the "light" laptops, go for the Heavy (think of heavy duty) ones.

Loup

Oh, and the links to a few good miniPCI 802.11n/g/b cards:

http://www.wlanparts.com/product/EMP-9701/MiniPCI_EMP9701_Wireless_MIMO_80211n.html
http://www.sparklan.com/product_details.php?prod_id=148

Loup

Loup, how much would a set-up like that cost?

Kathleen

All depends on how much you can find "cheap" or "free". If you had to buy everything:

Used CF-28, $50-$200 (eBay)
Drive caddy (most of them on eBay are missing them, since they are a PAIN to get into and get the old hard drive out, so it is just easier to destroy the old drive IN the old caddy. The Caddy is silicone gel protected as well as HEATED so your drive will spin up in sub zero weather.) (eBay usually around $100)
128MB or 256MB PC133 SODIMM (the base MBD has 256 on it, and depending on your OS and programs, that may not be enough. (check eBay, but usually under $60)
500GB 2.5" HD (under $150-$200 if you check around)
Kensington AC/DC PS, $109
Wireless Cards, $20-$60, plus sweat equity modifying them
USB to SATA/PATA cable $39
Drive Enclosures $29-$39 each
1TB 3.5" Drives (NewEgg, $199-$349 or my local wholesaler, $179 )
160GB 2.5" Drives (local wholesaler $69)


My Solar bag has five 20W flexible (roll up) panels that were purchased for around $630, and a 7amp charge controller, as well as cables and other things. I just checked on eBay, and "vitabon" that normally sell them is OUT (a DOT in my book, BTW), so things might be getting tight in the cheap solar field now.


ETA: The NEC Mobilepro can be seen here:
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2549556&postcount=103


Loup

Loop, you're awesome. As far as the extended warranty, I guess that depends on how big a doomer you are. 2012, if you think we can get that far, is still a few years away. I think I'll go for the the warranty, and hope for the best because I'm an optimistic SOB.

Also, make sure that you get a Kensington AC/DC power supply and the right tips for the laptop. I bought a few of their 70W models (#33234), which work great with both the Sony PCG series, as well as all of my Panasonic Toughbooks. It works just fine on DC from 10V to 18V, even though it is rated for 12V-16V (I run it from my solar panels directly).

Another good choice, even if slightly underpowered as far as "real" laptops go, is the NEC Mobilepro 880 series (Windows CE 2.11, MIPS processor). It only takes 7 watts and will run on 11-17 volts DIRECTLY (no adapters, just feed away). It will work with my USB external hard drives (including flash drives), as well as all of my USB to serial devices (including my Kantronics KPC3+ and my Motorola RAZR to connect to the internet). It has 802.11b WiFi, as well as a built in 56k modem / fax that I can use with my alligators if needed. I keep one of mine in my BoB (pictures posted on the BoB thread), along with a small AGM battery and three 5watt folding CIGS panels.
_____Loop


That's what I'm talking about. Super-doomer stuff, folks, because I believe we're gonna need it. Heavy laptop it is.

Gelatinous, I copied stuff off the web and saved it in notebooks for three years, but it is totally unmanageably huge, and not practical. That's the reason for this thread. I don't want to be without the resources available today when I'm going to need them tomorrow.

Rich, the CF-28 is exactly the kind of unit I had in mind, so thanks for the link to that. It's on my "watch" list.

Dennis Olson said:

Bear in mind taht if TSHTF, there will BE no Internet and no cell phones. There will probably be no phone service PERIOD.

Click to expand...

+1

Wireless would just serve to pin-point your location in a world that was relatively radio wave silent.

Dennis Olson said:

Bear in mind taht if TSHTF, there will BE no Internet and no cell phones. There will probably be no phone service PERIOD.

Click to expand...

And I thought I was a doomer! No phone? No internet? Big ca ca all over the fan!! Imagine.

No I wouldn't think so.

However Ham Radio might still be up (if Fed's haven't prohibited it for some reason. They did during WWII)

With Ham radio you can have digital Packet radio communications, not to mention Ham radio via their own Satellites. YES radio HAMs have their own Satellites in space. Also you have digital Meteor Burst communication over distance.

This does not cost an arm and a leg. I've seen guys do Satellite communication with a Dual Band HT and a hand held external crossed-dipole antenna

Put everything in print and put it into a good safe.

Click to expand...

Thats the plan?

And how big is this safe?

Mine would the size of a large living room.

These things are toys for most people. Having a computer as a prep item is certainly not on my list.

Click to expand...

For those of us that made through the 20th century, they are pretty handy.

A working laptop, with cd's are going to be worth more than their weight in gold.

I would plan for a library and not a comm tool.

Bob

Thanks to you all for the input. I am going to go with the Panasonic cf28 toughbook. I'm bidding on Ebay right now for this set up:

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-ULTIMATE-To...goryZ177QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This looks like the rig to me. Lemme know what you think.

Pass Go said:

Thanks to you all for the input. I am going to go with the Panasonic cf28 toughbook. I'm bidding on Ebay right now for this set up:

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-ULTIMATE-To...goryZ177QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This looks like the rig to me. Lemme know what you think.

Click to expand...

You might want to think about that one. "Klaatu" does a nice job in "Pimping My Toughbook" (see post 3 on http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=202586 ), as do a LOT of other people out there, but most of them also have a reserve of over $1,000 (usually $1,200 to $1,400). If you are willing to spend that amount and want a professionally done unit, then you will be getting a good system for not a bad price.

If on the other hand, you want to save some money (think, spent on solar/batteries maybe), and learn what is inside your laptop, you can go the DIY route. You can find used CF-28s for under $100, and start that way...

Also, you might want to read up on both the CF-28s and the rest of the toughbook line. Here are some good places to start:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1012
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/toughbooks/


Good place for parts and refurbished systems if you can't find them on eBay:
http://www.bobjohnson.com/_store/DeptProduct.asp?DeptID=178&Action=dept&deptlistcode=178
http://www.toughbookxchange.com/products/category.php?CA=18&sb=1


Also, a note about the two main types of screens on the CF-28s (and a few others)... The smaller (12.1", 800x600 resolution) one is transflective, meaning that while it has a backlight, it also has a sensor (that little hole in the upper left side of the screens frame) that will turn off the backlight when out in the sun or bright light. The larger 13" screen is TFT (active matrix), and has a resolution of 1024X768, HOWEVER, it is pretty useless in very bright areas (like out in the sun). Keep this in mind when looking at the models, since if you might be using it outside, a TFT is not going to work well unless you put a towel over your head and the laptop's screen to shield the excess light. I have the smaller transflective screen on most of mine, and while I have to live with the lower resolution, it does make it nice when I need to use it outside.

The other thing to look at is the keyboard. Again, there are two main types, the water resistant, "real" keyboard (like "klaatu" is selling) that use keys that look and act more like a normal keyboard, and the type that is a rubber membrane that is truly sealed against everything. I have a few of both, and the "feel" is 180 degrees opposite of each other (I do like the rubber membrane better, but it takes some getting used to). The normal one is rather sensitive and would work great for a touch typist or higher speed typist. The rubber membrane one is fairly fast (I can keep up a good 60WPM on mine), but it will give your finger muscles a good workout as it is a bit tougher to "whack the keys".

Both keyboard types come in both standard, as well as backlit styles. I have the backlit ones, and use that feature fairly often so I can type while in the dark (saving electricity / drain on the solar batteries).


Loup

Kent said:

You can do all that with a Palm TX, Surf the web using Wi-Fi or bluetooth, store and read books, movies, music, store important documents, play games etc. I carry one in my pocket all the time with all of the above.

Click to expand...

What's your plan for keeping that charged?

Monty

For charging I have solar panels (briefcase-style), and a few inverters which can be used either in the vehicles or on the deep-cell batteries (Thanks, Loup!). Aside from that I have a generator, and I'm working on getting another.

Do I sound like I don't wanna be without power?

I'm sorry if my post came off as a little strong and I didn't mean it to be offensive.

Call me old fashion, but putting faith that current technology will still be operational in the event of a major emergency is false hope. A mil spec laptop might be able to survive longer than a standard Chinese cheapie, but to what end? All communications will be out with the exception of possibly ham radio, which proves itself over and over. Access to the Internet will be gone. If you have all of your important docs on this machine, pray that the hard drive doesn't crash, or your CD/DVD's survive emergency conditions. The deed to your land and the title to your vehicles are just two important docs that you need physical proof of. That LEO isn't going to believe the screen of a laptop that you show them.

The library concept is probably the one thing in this thread that would be valuable IMHO. Having electronic media of good prep books would be handy, but again if the machine crashes....hmmmm....all gone. And if you need to print something? I doubt if that's in the bug out bag.

All my important docs are copied and printed. Yes we have electronic storage of it also. All this fits into a couple of manila envelopes ready to go.

Loup, what would YOU charge to assemble such a set-up? I know how to use a computer for basics, but I'm a technaphobe when it comes to installing/upgrading.

Do you have a store on ebay, also? Could be another side-line for you, along with all-in-one portable solar systems. I'd be a customer, and I'm sure several others here, also.

cr