I also have been looking for a means of transportation that will be quiet. Sturdy and not use gas. I figure horses are gonna be my best bet. Since I dont want to be reliant on fuel, cause I think if the shit hits the fan there isnt gonna be much if any....I figure horses and mules are gonne be the best way to do it. I have been looking into nomads. Alot like the goatherders we used to make fun of in iraq. But these people live in the middle of the desert for long periods of time and are self sustaining...
I have already began planning for a hand powered backpack reverse osmosis water purification system and am trying to design/build a pump that you could just toss into a river or large stream that would pump the water through the system. The hand pump would be for areas of standing water like lakes and ponds...The other would be for moving bodies of water.. Already I have figured an alice pack frame with a Hose that has a strainer at the end, then on the frame owuld be a whole house filter to remove sediments and larger particles....Then into the reverse Osmosis system. The filters are reasonable in price and most will last around 6 months in your house. They are lite, but bulky... The biggest drawback is that the RO system uses a large tank, I need to find a smaller tank to make it fit on the back-pack.....And I am a broke joker.....so I cant just shell out 150$ for the RO system without the wife losing her mind...