My attempt at creating a post-apocalyptic story

[Zeppelin Kapitan Fritz]

     How does one go about rebuilding civilization after the apocalypse? I am imagining a post-apocalyptic world which may or may not turn into an actual story.

     One thing I decided is that all vehicles will run on wood alcohol. For a time in the 20th century, this was actually more popular than gasoline. You can also make it yourself in a process that very much resembles a moonshine still. The main protagonists' vehicle is a Pinzgauer (one of the most capable offroad vehicles in the world) modified to run on wood alcohol.

     Obviously factory-made ammunition for firearms will quickly run out. The main characters possess a large collection of antique muskets and rifles and make black powder (there are recipes available for making saltpeter) and primitive forms of smokeless powder (I have heard about people in Afghanistan making smokeless powder using old film) themselves. They also very frequently use slings. A sling is extremely simple and reliable, much deadlier than it looks, and you can use almost anything as ammunition.

     I am still wondering what they would eat. Canned goods is of course the classic, I am wondering if they could can their own food. Seems like it would take up a lot of space in the Pinzgauer though. There is probably a less space-consuming alternative.

     Looking for advice and feedback from people more knowledgeable than me.

[Zeppelin Kapitan Fritz]

     I have a feeling that this discussion has the potential to turn into something either extremely interesting or excruciatingly boring.

[Gunner Gregson]

How did the apocalypse come about?
If it was a 'Nuclear' Apocalypse then it more than likely results in total decimation of the environment. That rules out hunting for food, seeing as wildlife would slowly die out.
I sort of imagine food to be grown by colonies, the only way to survive would be to re-establish a new world.
Growing food in the back of a truck isnt exactly ideal, so that idea is slightly redundant.
Food is always going to take up space no matter what (Freeze dried could be an option depending on era) Restocking every so often is high on the list of feasability, considering the roaming nature of the protagonist.

[Atterton]

I'm not sure why they would want to can their own food. It can make food last for a long time, but in this situation it seems unlikely you would get enough food to start keeping storages of it.Also you risk botulism and heavy metal poisoning. Eating canned food from earlier however would be a good idea, if there had been a nuclear war. The food inside should remain uncontaminated.
More likely they would pickle, salt or dry their food, for making it stay eatable for shorter periods of time.

[Zeppelin Kapitan Fritz]

     The Apocalypse is that climate change has reversed the Gulf Stream current in the Atlantic, so most of Europe is now a frozen wasteland. The main characters are supposed to be nomads that are part of some sort of trade caravan. The few scattered settlements in Northern Europe are mostly situated around hot springs and nuclear power plants. Food is grown in greenhouses. The world's oil reserves have long since run dry, necessitating the use of alternative fuels like wood alcohol. Most of the area around the Mediterranean is boreal forest/ taiga and Europe's wood supply comes from here. In hindsight a snow-cat might have been a better choice than a Pinzgauer for this environment.

     The actual apocalyptic event is not intended to be plausible at all, the aftermath should be somewhat plausible however.

[Atterton]

It would appear that meat can actually be preserved by burying it in the mud that you find at the bottom of small lakes. That might be something you can use.

[Lady Chrystal]

Bit of background reading - Kim Stanley Robinson's excellent trilogy:

Forty Signs of Rain
Fifty Degrees Below
Sixty Days and Counting.

It's about the almost-apocalypse that may have resulted in your scenario. At one point they find that the Gulf Stream has stopped (not reversed). I think you'll find it interesting reading that may clarify your own ideas.

(I'm NOT suggesting writing a sequel or a work of fan fiction, just that you may like to treat this as research.)

[Narsil]

I think that any post apocalyptic scenario is very sensitive to context.

Generally they seem to be a series of transitional states, dealing with individual and group survival over increasingly long time frames.

From a fictional perspective one of the key decisions is whether your looking at rebuilding and getting back to something approaching the pre-apocalyptic situation in the foreseeable future or starting from scratch. which seems more likely depends largely on the degree and nature of the apocalypse.

For example something like a global EMP event would have a pretty devastating effect on infrastructure for a while but might reasonably bee seen as recoverable within a generation, whereas a global pandemic might take a big bite out of the population but leave a lot of the infrastructure intact. A nuclear war on the other hand would have a big effect both on urban infrastructure and population. There are also a whole variety of gradual but inevitable decline scenarios.

[Zeppelin Kapitan Fritz]

     I am about to give up on this story though. I have so many other stories that I want to write, and this one is pretty low on the list.

[akumabito]

Before you can work on any sort of plausible scenario, you first have to work out a timeline of events..

Your apocalyptic event is essentially a drastic climate shift. How long did the transition take? Was it a gradual change spanning a century or so? This would give people time to prepare or move out of the way to better climates.. was a certain climate threshold reached and was the change rather abruptly? Different story altogether - an ice-age setting in over a period of a decade or so is utterly disastrous.

If you're going for an abrupt change - how long since the event? Did it just happen and are people still scrambling for goods and safety? Or was it long enough ago for new colonies and societies to form?