THE VEHICLE PYRAMID
THE VEHICLE PYRAMID
From Pedals to Power: How Each Machine Shaped My Freedom
People think vehicles are about transportation.
To me, vehicles have always been chapters — entire eras of my life.
Every machine I’ve ever owned, ridden, built, or lived out of changed me.
Some saved me.
Some broke me.
Some taught me lessons nothing else could.
Some carried me into places I didn’t know I needed to be.
This is the Unencumbered Vehicle Pyramid — not a ranking, not a hierarchy — but the progression of mobility that shaped my life and my philosophy.
It starts small.
All real freedom does.
LEVEL 1 — THE BICYCLE: WHERE FREEDOM BEGINS
My first vehicle wasn’t a Bronco II or a motorcycle — it was a worn-out BMX bike in Dallas, Texas.
It was the first time I realized I could move under my own power, on my own terms, without permission.
I’d ride farther than I was allowed.
Past streets my mom never wanted me crossing.
Through drainage ditches, under bridges, into parts of the city I had no business exploring.
Looking back, that little bicycle taught me two things:
Freedom is felt, not given.
Distance changes the mind.
A bicycle is honest.
It doesn’t hide your weakness or your strength.
It asks nothing but effort and gives everything back in return.
Even now, I think every single person should own a bicycle.
It grounds you.
It humbles you.
It teaches you movement in its purest form.
LEVEL 2 — THE ELECTRIC BIKE: THE LOOPHOLE TO MODERN FREEDOM
Electric bikes didn’t exist when I was growing up.
If they had, I would’ve vanished into the horizon and worried everyone even more.
Today, EBikes are the biggest loophole in the modern world.
No registration.
No insurance.
No license.
No inspections.
No one enforcing anything.
No limit to where you can go.
It’s the closest thing we have to unregulated freedom.
And for survival?
An electric bike is a game changer.
Silent.
Capable.
Affordable.
Easy to charge.
Easy to repair.
Able to carry gear.
Able to outride danger.
Able to slip through places a truck never could.
In a world full of rules and regulations, EBikes are the crack in the wall — the little break in the system where freedom slipped through.
If I had to pick a modern “starter” survival vehicle for anyone today, I’d say this:
Start with an EBike.
It will change your world more than you expect.
LEVEL 3 — MOTORCYCLES: THE CHEAPEST WAY TO REAL CAPABILITY
Motorcycles changed everything for me.
I couldn’t afford a Ferrari.
I couldn’t afford a Corvette.
I couldn’t afford any of the cars I dreamed about.
But I could afford a motorcycle.
I could buy one, fix it up, sell it, buy a better one, fix it up, sell it… and before long, I was riding machines most people only saw in magazines.
Aprilia RS250.
Ducati superbikes.
Yamaha R6s.
Race bikes that demanded skill, not money.
Motorcycles gave me:
Precision
Awareness
Instinct
Respect
Mechanical understanding
Confidence
Discipline
And motorcycles are honest.
Brutally honest.
They don’t let you lie to yourself.
They don’t forgive arrogance.
They don’t tolerate distraction.
When you ride, you’re forced to be completely present — and in a world full of noise, presence is rare.
Motorcycles are freedom concentrated.
They turn the entire world into a possibility.
LEVEL 4 — ATVs & SIDE-BY-SIDES: THE TRUE OFF-ROAD MACHINES
ATVs are a different kind of freedom — closer to the land, more raw, more connected to terrain.
These machines don’t follow roads.
They make their own.
I’ve taken ATVs where trucks can’t go — steep hills, washed-out trails, riverbeds, deep woods, alpine passes. They teach you traction, body position, balance, terrain reading, and humility.
ATVs taught me this:
In nature, capability matters more than size.
A small machine with guts and traction can outperform a $70,000 truck any day of the week.
Side-by-sides?
Those things are mountain goats with roll cages.
They’re the closest you can get to a “land survival pod.”
And someday, we’ll build our own Unencumbered ATV — because I have ideas that nobody has done yet.
But that’s later.
LEVEL 5 — OLD TRUCKS: THE KINGS OF SIMPLICITY
There’s something special about older Fords — the 80s and 90s Broncos, Bronco IIs, F-150s, and E-150 vans.
I’ve owned many of them.
I still own them.
And I’ll keep owning them.
Here’s why:
They’re simple.
They’re cheap to fix.
They’re easy to work on.
Parts are everywhere.
They don’t have the electronic failures modern vehicles do.
They’re emissions-exempt.
They’re reliable in ways modern trucks can’t match.
You want a survival vehicle?
Give me a Bronco II or a square-body F-150 any day over something modern.
A modern truck might be more comfortable — but comfort isn’t capability.
Simplicity is capability.
And simplicity is freedom.
LEVEL 6 — THE VW BUG & BUS: THE SECRET OFF-ROAD WEAPONS
Most people laugh when you talk about a VW Bug on off-road trails.
They laugh until the little Bug passes their 4x4.
Rear-engine traction.
Low weight.
Simple mechanics.
Parts you can carry in a backpack.
An engine you can rebuild on a picnic table.
And the Bus?
Man, the Bus is an icon.
Lift it a little.
Put good tires on it.
And you’ve got one of the coolest survival vans ever built.
These machines are proof that freedom doesn’t have to be expensive.
LEVEL 7 — THE SURVIVAL TRUCK: MY TACOMA
My Tacoma wasn’t a vehicle.
It was a chapter of my life.
TRD supercharged.
Camberg arms.
Fox suspension.
Racks.
Armor.
Kitchen.
Living space.
Storage.
Everything I needed.
I lived in that truck for three years.
I towed my little black trailer with everything I owned inside it.
I slept in it under storms.
I drove into the mountains for months.
I rebuilt myself in that truck.
It wasn’t just a machine.
It was a companion.
A home.
A survivor.
A teacher.
That truck took me from collapse to clarity.
From society to nature.
From confusion to purpose.
From being broken to becoming Unencumbered.
I’ve owned faster machines.
I’ve owned more expensive machines.
But I’ve never owned anything that transformed me more than that Tacoma.
LEVEL 8 — THE VAN: THE HOUSE THAT MOVES
A van is not a vehicle — it’s a lifestyle.
It’s the closest thing to saying,
“I don’t belong to any piece of land. I belong to the world.”
A van simplifies your life.
Forces you to get rid of everything you don’t need.
Gives you the ability to sleep anywhere, go anywhere, start over anywhere.
A van says:
“I am not stuck.”
“I am not anchored.”
“I move when I choose.”
“I live where I want.”
“I go wherever life feels right.”
A van is liberation on wheels.
THE REAL PYRAMID
This isn’t a hierarchy.
It’s a progression of freedom.
Each level prepares you for the next.
Each level sharpens a different part of you.
Each level teaches a different form of survival.
Bicycle → teaches freedom
EBike → teaches range
Motorcycle → teaches instinct
ATV → teaches terrain
Old trucks → teach simplicity
VW Bug/Bus → teach creativity
Tacoma → teaches independence
Van → teaches life
Together?
They create a person who is mobile, capable, confident, and unencumbered.