What computer would you pack in your bug out bag and what data & applications would you have on it so that you can engineer your way back into a late 20th century lifestyle? Please don't suggest a tablet, the device must be capable of running a general purpose operating system such as Linux or Mac OS X.
The computer's shell would have to be made out of metal to protect it against things such as gamma ray bursts, solar flares, and EMP blasts. I think the MacBook 12 inch would be ideal since it is build into a unibody aluminum frame that would act as a faraday cage, as long as you keep the lid closed it would survive an EMP blast without question (the wifi and bluetooth radios could get fried but the computer will still work without them). Also it's small, lightweight, fanless, low wattage, and can be powered directly from a USB-C battery pack. It's aluminum shell also makes it fairly ruggedized, although it's not waterproof. It does have one critical drawback thought, it doesn't have any I/O ports that you can use to directly interface with USB sticks and flash cards. I would envision keeping all of the data backed up on USB sticks or SD cards that I can keep in a waterproof mylar antistatic bag, so I would want a device with multiple USB ports (that have independent controllers for redundancy) and preferably and SD card slot and a removable SSD in an M.2 form factor size to save space and energy. Due to the volume of information that needs to be retained, a high areal density mechanical hard drive might need to be considered, but I would prefer not to depend on a mechanical device that can be damaged by degaussing, physical impacts, dirt, and liquids. Solid state electronics is definitely the way to go from a reliability standpoint.
My ideal computer would run Mac OS X or Linux. It absolutely must have a bash shell and a full programming suite to write my own programs... I envision having plenty of time on my hands after I get my basic needs met and establish a reliable power source. I could probably scavenge more solar panels, but you can't assume that the sun will be shinning in a post shtf event (think nuclear winter or dust cloud that blocks the sun). The device has to be extremely low power and efficient with the best possible performance per watt and supporting the latest and greatest dynamic frequency scaling and power saving states. I'm thinking an ARM based processor running Linux would be ideal. Built-in GPS would be nice. It should also be fanless, dust and rain resistant. It would be easy to keep it stored in a waterproof bag, so I'm not really worried about it being totally waterproof.
As far as applications I would need a word processor, spreadsheet, and database applications. Engineering/scientific/graphical calculator applications. Unit conversion applications. Programming IDE. Morse code encoder/decoder application (computer would need to have built-in microphone and speaker). I would also want MultiSIM, a mechanical drafting program, flow diagrams, charting and graphing and plotting. Calendaring and scheduling. Address book. Recipe book. Inventory management. General ledger. A statistical analysis suite such as the R programming language, and Mathematica, and MATLAB could also come in handy.
A computer with a built-in GPS receiver would be great, the computer could have street, topographical, and satellite maps and cartography applications installed. Astronomical maps and charts would also be necessary to navigate using the stars. A map database listing the addresses of major wearhouses, fright, rail, intermodal, and shipping yards were you can finds supplies would be great to have... and lumber yards, mills, foundries, coal mines, etc.
In summary, I think the needs are:
* Full general purpose notebook computer.
* Full metal shell to ruggedize and protect the electronics from EMI.
* Ultra low power (less than 30 watts max draw) and can be powered directly with DC.
* Long battery runtime, 10+ hours.
* Ultra portable and light, but full size keyboard and at least a 12 inch screen.
* Multiple independent USB ports and SD card slot.
* User serviceable M.2 SSD slot, or possibly 2.5 inch SATA bay.
* High efficiency processor, most probably an ARM based cpu.
* Built-in GPS receiver.
* Built-in microphone, speaker, camera.
As far as data, here are some thoughts I have so far...
* Basic survival information to get you through the first few month.
* Music.
* Download a complete dump of wikipedia. (about 32GB)
* Botany, gardening, crop farming, and land management books.
* Fishing and hunting books, field dressing and butchering books.
* Cookbooks.
* Animal husbandry and veterinary books.
* Books on food preservation.
* First aid and nutrition books, and comprehensive books on medicine, surgical operations, anatomy, physiology, biology, and biochemistry.
* Applied chemistry guides for daily needs, and advanced chemistry textbooks for reference.
* All of the episodes of The Woodwright's Shop.
* Carpentry and cabinetry books.
* Metallurgy, forging, metal casting, and blacksmithing books.
* Detailed plans of how to build a metalworking lathe and milling machine.
* Gunsmithing books and books on how to make KNO3 and alternative blackpowder recipes.
* Fundamentals of internal combustion engines and various ICE service manuals.
* Automotive service manuals.
* Tractor, combine, and other farm equipment operations and service manuals.
* How to produce fuel. i.e. biodiesel
* Fundamentals of heat engines and a comprehensive set of build plans for various types of engines.
* Electrical motor textbooks, applied and theory.
* A treatise on how to convert automotive alternators into generators and salvage batteries from vehicles to create a battery bank.
* Fundamental of how batteries work and how to make them from improvised materials.
* Construction, Architecture, and Civil Engineering books.
* Electricians books. NFPA codes, in particular the National Electric Code.
* How to frame a house and basic building codes.
* Plumbing books.
* All of mathematics, mathematics is the crowning achievement of man.
* All of physics, physics is the other crowning achievement of man.
* Electrical, electronics, and computer engineering textbooks.
* Other applied engineering textbooks.
* Programming textbooks.
SHTF - Engineering Computers & Knowledge Caches
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