A few days ago, Task & Purpose shared a video about hybrid and electric e-bikes and motorcycles in warfare. It’s a fascinating story that can teach us a lot, but after the video I want to discuss the things individuals and small groups can apply to their own situations.

The environmental advantages to these kinds of bikes is very real, but for emergency and fighting situations, the other advantages are far more important.

The biggest advantage is that they’re quiet. Instead of making a bunch of noise, you can move around without alerting the wrong people to your presence. This is extremely useful for anti-tank missile personnel and snipers in Ukraine. But, even if you’re not fighting a war, you’ll be able to do things like go to the top of a hill to get better radio signal without getting unwanted attention.

Another advantage to these silent bikes is that you don’t need to rely on a supply chain or lines of communication to operate one. No matter how much gasoline you store in gas cans with fuel stabilizer, once that fuel is burnt up, you’ll need to come up with more. Electric bikes can charge with just 200 watts of solar panels, and electric motorcycles can charge on 1000-1500 watts. Plus, you can still use gas, diesel, propane, or any other fuel a generator can burn to charge one. They’re the omnivores of transportation.

Finally, e-bikes give you the option to pedal if you run out of battery or want to save the battery power for later. So, even with no fuel, you can still go a lot faster than you would on foot. So, not only are they omnivores, but they can run on nothing at all.

The best thing is that it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to get into this important form of resilient transportation. A basic but reasonably good off-road e-bike can be had for as little as $900.