Survival Planning - Food, Labor and Materials,....Not Gold!

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received this this comment via e-mail: "I really appreciate the practical information on your site, without all the 'kill Bama' crap you get from most sources. I've done my homework and collected my emergency food, learned heirloom gardening, purchased a few firearms with ammo... But I can't wrap my head around the Gold and Silver.....I keep some bug out cash on hand, but after paper money has lost it's value... I'm having trouble picturing anyone trading a box of ammo for a silver coin. I certainly won't be selling any of my ammo for a hunk of metal. A bag of rice on the other hand? I just tend to think of food, tools and labor being the only real currency after TSHTF."

UrbanMan's comments: I rarely get around to other Survival Sites, but I have not seen any real radical written crap about anything including threats to President Obama. It would be unfortunate if Survival Sites became known for that as it would feed one common perception that people who are taking responsibility for their own lives and prepping for bad things to come, aka SHTF, are extremists or even racists. Nothing in my interaction with preppers leads me to believe that most of us are like that. Still you have Homeland Security reports about lumping gun owners, veterans and survivalists with extremists,.....go figure.

I think you are on the right track,...food, firearms, preparing to grow your own food. Keeping some Bug Out cash on hand is also a good idea. I look at Gold and Silver,..primarily Silver,..but the same concept,....as another necessary survival item. The long term value of precious metals is anyone's guess, but I am pretty certain that there will be a time span after the dollar starts to go south (more so than it is now) and before straight barter for food (primarily) and materials (secondarily) where Gold and Silver will be a commonly acceptable (and perferred) commercial exchange method.

Plus these are facts or opinions weigh on the side of having at least some physical silver or gold:

There will certainly be an instance or two of a survivalist bartering with another who does not really need anything, but precious metals may make the deal.

There are just way too many people, among the respected financial advisors and even the unknown that recommend buying physical gold and silver.

If and when QE3 is announced,....QE is Quantitive Easing, where the Government prints more money further reducing the value fo the dollar, .....gold and silver will just go absolutely bonkers. Just way too many people saying you have to own it.

Here's a recent article from Chris Martenson's site: Prepare for Bullion Prices to Go Supernova

I started buying Silver around 1980 or there abouts, when it was $4.50 an ounce. I was lucky enough to inherit a large cigar box of Silver coins as well......I'm holding onto these for their Silver Melt value. I have even bought small amounts of silver rounds at $33 an ounce, just before it went up briefly to $50.

None of this is for investments. This is for straight survival purchasing during or after a collapse. Silver and the small amount of Gold I have hold the same significance to me as does everything else I have collected in preparing for SHTF,....firearms, ammunition, solar power systems, water storage, seeds (both non-hybrid and hybrid), sleeping bags, manual tools, dehydrated foods, cases of MRE's,....as well as all the vacuum packed food and canned or dried pantry food that I stock.

It's just my humble opinion that the complete Survivalist's would hold some Silver (and maybe Gold) just "in case". How much is necessary? I don't know. But say ten ounces in your safe or Bug Out bag is better than not having any at all.

Urban Survival - Questions on Survival Priorities

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com receives anywhere from 6 to 15 questions via e-mail each week. I try to, but usually don’t answer all of them. Some I will answer and some of them I turn into articles or posts. However I think it is telling that about 75% of the questions I receive are for Survival weapons or firearms and on the procurement of Silver (and sometimes Gold). I am going to answer the majority of the last few week’s of e-mails in this post.

Question:   Silver is very high now (UrbanMan’s note: currently at $37.81). I can’t afford very much at all. I know I should have bought some when it was around $20 a ounce (or lower), but given the high price and the fact that many analysts think it will not higher, should I spend my sparse survival preparation dollars on Silver?

UrbanMan’s Answer:  Having Silver and/or Gold is important. Not so important to substantially do into debt to procurement or to otherwise leave other categories of survival preparedness empty. Silver may not come back down, at all, so how would you feel three months from now if Silver is $50 an ounce, then you thought “wish I would have bought some Silver when it was $38 an ounce”? I bought the majority of my silver when it ws $4.50 an ounce. Even today I still buy Silver, even though my last purchase was at $35.35 an ounce or so. In another couple weeks, I’ll head down to the brick and mortar store and buy what else I can. It may be 4 ounces,..it may be eight or ten,…not sure yet, but I will still buy some one ounce rounds. Junk silver,..that is pre ’65 silver coins for silver melt value, may also be an option for you. I also have a collection of old U.S. silver coins,….just in case. Isn’t that why we are doing all this survival prep for anyway?,…just in case?

Question:  If I had $1000 to spend on Survival firearms what would be the better way to go? Buy several lower end weapons such as a handgun, shotgun and .22 LR rifle, or, buy a M-4 carbine or battle rifle?

UrbanMan’s Answer:  If I did not have any firearms at all, I would be much more inclined to procure several different firearms to fill the diverse survival needs or protection, hunting and training, and, be able to equip more people with at least one weapon, then I would be spending all of my money earmarked for Survival weapons on one gun. $1000 will certainly buy you an M-4, especially if you shop wisely, however does not leave a lot of money for a stock of ammunition and a decent amount of magazines or other accessories. With that same $1000, you could (again shopping wisely, buy a handgun in a decent caliber (9mm, .40 S&W and such), a 12 gauge shotgun (preferably a pump action) and a .22 LR rifle and have enough money to buy a couple handgun mags and a decent amount of ammunition for all three.

Question:  I am looking at buying a dehydrator. However, I would also like a vacuum packing machine (UrbanMan Notes: Food Saver type device) and a solar oven. How would you prioritize these purchases?

UrbanMan’s Answer:  Good question. My priorities if I did not have any of these items for my survival plan would be: 1 – vacuum packer, 2 – dehydrator, 3 – solar oven, in this order. You can make a field expedient dehydrator and a solar oven, but would be hard to make your own vacuum packer. I use my vacuum packer quite a bit. My vacuum packaged foods are one of many branches of stored food I have stocked for the bad times ahead (MRE's, bulk items, pantry canned goods, dehydrated food in vacuum packed #10 cans and Mainstay bars are others). I can easily make a solar oven, but even then propane and wood cooking will be my mainstay. In fact, put some rice and beans in a zip lock bag or glass jar, fill with water and let stand in the Sun for a few hours will produce a warm, edible meal, especially if you had the foresight to store spices as well. A field expedient dehydrator is easy to make as well. So my priorities would be first the vacuum packer, which I also use to vacuum pack spare clothes and other items for Bug Out Bags or my Survival Gear Kit Bags.