MakeSafe International's M925A2 Systems Command Vehicle thread

[MakeSafe International]

MakeSafe International is a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide EOD and EMS services to citizens residing in austere, hostile and less permissive environments around the globe. In layman's terms, we'll operate in areas with limited infrastructure to provide aid by removing landmines, clearing unexploded ordnance and assisting in the improvement of emergency medical services systems. Due to the nature of our work, we must be nomads in places where roads are a luxury. In places without roads, clean water and power usually aren't a thing so we needed a self sustaining vehicle that could handle whatever we threw at it. We found one, but as awesome as it is already it still needs a little work before we're ready to ship it out to Tanzania.



I figured I would post up a thread here to document our build progress and eventually post mission updates once we put it to work! This is going to be a big learning experience for me and the rest of my team so we will probably need a lot of advice from you all. This site has been a wealth of knowledge for us already and I greatly appreciate the work you guys put in to make this community what it is!

Anyway, here is a list of things we need to fix or upgrade before we ship out:

Cabin

Air Conditioning

Weather stripping

Vehicle wrap (For identification and to advertise sponsors)

Communications Suite

Sound dampening

Improved seats

FLIR viewscreen (If permitted)

Gauge cluster lighting upgrade

Fix fuel gauge / Sender

Cabin lighting

Anti-theft system

Passenger side hood clamp replacement

Power steering leak (Class 2)

Trailer

Solar (Really hoping I can find a way to fit 1000 Watts on it somehow)

Lithium Ion battery bank

Replace propane refrigerator with 12v

Composting toilet

Convert blackwater tank to additional fresh water (The trailer is brand new, the blackwater tank has never been used)

Sustainable water purification system

Roll cage

Reinforced cabinet latches and mounts

Bike mount

Electric stovetop (?)

4G signal enhancer

 

[MakeSafe International]

(Reserved for updates)

 

[fsearls92]

Make sure to take extra tires and parts with you. I don't think they would be to easy to come by in Africa.

 

[WillWagner]

Stay away from a dc only refrig. The batteries will be sucked dry.

 

[Tinstar]

Make sure to take extra tires and parts with you. I don't think they would be to easy to come by in Africa.

It wont matter
Truck will be taken as soon as it arrives or shortly after.

 

[MakeSafe International]

It wont matter
Truck will be taken as soon as it arrives or shortly after.

We will be arriving with the truck. We know how this works, this isn't our first rodeo.

 

[Tinstar]

We will be arriving with the truck. We know how this works, this isn't our first rodeo.

Not my first either
Was there two years ago.

Quite a number of places that, if someone wants it, it will not matter if your with it or not.
Not trying to start anything, but that's the harsh reality
Normal reason and rule of law are out the window there.

I am 100% for what you are doing.

Africa is a very dangerous place.
The areas the state department recommends to avoid isn't always up to date.

 

[Ford Mechanic]

Good luck and best wishes, it sounds like you might need it.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[MakeSafe International]

Not my first either
Was there two years ago.

Quite a number of places that, if someone wants it, it will not matter if your with it or not.
Not trying to start anything, but that's the harsh reality
Normal reason and rule of law are out the window there.

I am 100% for what you are doing.

Africa is a very dangerous place.
The areas the state department recommends to avoid isn't always up to date.

No offense taken! I appreciate your concern and you are certainly not wrong. I can't get too much into our SOP for receiving shipments without violating our OPSEC policies. What I can say is that our intel is current and we are well connected in our AO. Shipping vehicles is the easy part, it's the pharmaceuticals and medical equipment that tend to go missing.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]

Stay away from a dc only refrig. The batteries will be sucked dry.

[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]That's the downside. On one hand, I really want to do away with propane altogether but it might be difficult to eat the cost for electric. There are some pretty efficient AC refrigerators, but still. [/FONT]

 

[74M35A2]

How are you going to keep the truck from walking away? I think you would need to take the front and rear driveshaft off nightly, or go BMG 50 cal ring mount and staff it 24/7, but you may still lose it. Not really mine-proof. MRAP a little better at that with V bottom hull, but unable to purchase privately. AK-47's and the value of life is cheap there.

I donated one of my 24v PortaCharger high current generator units to a girl orphanage in Haiti to pump drinking water. They had a solar system doing it great, but a tsunami wiped out a city and parents, the orphanage became over-crowded, and they needed 2 additional hours of water pumping time per day to keep up over what the sun could provide. The charity rang up my business with a credit card to purchase it immediately, and once the unit was done, I discarded their payment info, had my kids sign the fuel tank, and off it went. They sent back a letter of appreciation and pics of it in use. That felt amazing. Through their initial offer to pay, I knew it was urgent. They never asked for it to be donated.

Good luck, I get it.

 

[MakeSafe International]

How are you going to keep the truck from walking away? I think you would need to take the front and rear driveshaft off nightly, or go BMG 50 cal ring mount and staff it 24/7, but you may still lose it. Not really mine-proof. MRAP a little better at that with V bottom hull, but unable to purchase privately. AK-47's and the value of life is cheap there.

I donated one of my 24v PortaCharger high current generator units to a girl orphanage in Haiti to pump drinking water. They had a solar system doing it great, but a tsunami wiped out a city and parents, the orphanage became over-crowded, and they needed 2 additional hours of water pumping time per day to keep up over what the sun could provide. The charity rang up my business with a credit card to purchase it immediately, and once the unit was done, I discarded their payment info, had my kids sign the fuel tank, and off it went. They sent back a letter of appreciation and pics of it in use. That felt amazing. Through their initial offer to pay, I knew it was urgent. They never asked for it to be donated.

Good luck, I get it.

We have an armed PSD complement and will have the vehicles under guard at all times. I wish I could drop a .50 in the cab but that would not fly in Tanzania. As far as the V-Hull is concerned, the area we'll be operating in has heavy animal traffic so UXO is not prevalent and there is no IED activity down there. Though I would like to get my hands on one of those cab protection kits they were using in OIF II We'll start having to worry about that more as we expand north and west though, but for that we won't be using a monster like this. For that we would be sticking to the recommended low profile approach.

As for the PortaCharger, that's awesome! I bet that made life a whole lot easier for those kids and sent a lot of good karma your way. Life in Haiti is definitely never easy.

 

[Tinstar]

No offense taken! I appreciate your concern and you are certainly not wrong. I can't get too much into our SOP for receiving shipments without violating our OPSEC policies. What I can say is that our intel is current and we are well connected in our AO. Shipping vehicles is the easy part, it's the pharmaceuticals and medical equipment that tend to go missing.



Good to hear
It's a completely different ball game when your not under the DOD umbrella.