Urban Survival Answers Reader Question on Gold and Silver

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received the following comment: "Anonymous said...roger dodger on the coming economic crisis. What do you say about those people that council against buying gold and silver. I would hate to take money out of my 401K to buy gold and silver and have to store it and watch over it if I didn't use it. bye, Mitchell K., Denver, CO."


Mitchell, I cannot give you financial or investment advice. I will tell you that there are many trains of thought out there on Survival Financial Planning.

Over the last couple of days I reviewed several Financial and Survival sites, again many different opinions, however most of them, as I do, recommend having some Gold and Silver.

Many sites, both Financial and Survival, advocate buying Gold. Not the paper Gold where you own shares and can redeem when necessary (if that is possible at the time you need to!), but Gold Bullion in coins one ounce and less. However, Gold is problematic as it is hard to break one ounce rounds into smaller pieces for smaller exchanges. Silver would seem to be not only an easier buy but much more usable in a Survival commerce - barter type environment. In fact Silver rounds are now available that are cross scored in order to break them into 1/4 ounce triangle pieces - this is a good idea.

Many Survival blogs comment about Gold and Silver, also called precious metals or PM's. I suggest you read them all. Probably most think that "you can't eat Gold or Silver", meaning that both tangible food sources may be a better investment, and, there will probably be a period of time after a collapse where PM's won't be accepted (pure barter environment). I agree to the point that there will most likely be distinct periods of time after a collapse or even during a slow gradual collapse where barter items will be a easier mode of commerce.

Others think that due to the price of Gold and Silver, it is too late to start procuring Gold and/or Silver. I disagree. It is only too late when you can't get it.

If you look at the Economic collapse videos I have linked at the top left of this site, you'll see the main actor in the video unable to buy fuel. Fuel will be very important to have, especially to execute a Bug Out plan to your Safe Location. You do have a Bug Out plan don't you? If a collapse hits suddenly and debit/credit cards are not working or not accepted, you'll need to be able to buy fuel. That means cash (in the immediate aftermath of a collapse) and PM's shortly after.

So Mitchell,....I suggest you do have Gold and/or Silver, particularly Silver, probably both bullion (in one ounce rounds) and Silver coins for the Silver Melt value in your Survival Plan. I can't tell you to cash in any or all of your investments, in fact that may not be necessary if you purchase just a little Silver a month, such as a few one ounce rounds, or some silver coins. But I would surely have some on hand. Be Safe.

Urban Survival Tools - Knives re-visited

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received the following comment: "Anonymous said.....Hey Urban Survival Skills. Thanks for the education. Do you have a Survival Knife recommendation? If so you can write about it on this web site?"

I have written an earlier post on tactical folding knives, you can see it here. In that post I favor the Columbia River Knife and Tool products, because they are both well made and inexpensive. I own several of them. I own one Benchmade tactical folder as well.

However, the knives I mostly carry each and every day are fixed blade knives. The advantage of fixed blades knifes are they are usually stronger, available for one handed use, and you eliminate the opening the blade sequence which often leads to sliced fingers. Sliced fingers in a Survival environment may mean infection which most of us could not afford with reduced available medical services and anti-biotics.

I carry a couple of custom fixed blades. For off the shelf fixed blades knives, I would recommend two types: one with a small, say 2.5 to 3 inch blade used primarily as a utility knife and a longer 5 to 7.5 inch blade to be used as a field knive.

Ontario Knives, makes a RAT-3 knife, 3 inch fixed blade, full tang, micarta handles with suits my needs. Another choice would be the Gerber LMF-II Infantry fixed blade. I have seen the Gerber LMF-II but have never used one.

For the larger knife I have both a SOG Specialty Knives SEAL Pup Elite, with a 4.85 inch blade, which is just a hair too short as a primary field knife especially when you carry a smaller fixed blade. My primary field knife is the excellent SOG Specialty Knives Agency Hardcase, which is designed like a Randall Model 1 Fighting Knife and has a 7.5 inch blade. Both SOG knives use AUS8 Stainless steel for the blades.

You can see these knives by clicking here

Wilderness Survival Task List

I have a couple of people who routinely talk to me, face to face, about Survival Preparation. Sometimes the discussion becomes one of training and skill sets, rather than Survival Gear and Equipment procurement, that would be necessary to survive in really decayed circumstances. Think The Road scenario.

Aside from having some Survival Reference material like the excellent US Army Survival Field Manual or John Wiseman’s SAS Survival books, the prepared Survivor needs to have some practical skills learned through hands on training.

In order to be able to survive various environments without the advantage of a prepared Survival location, stockpiled food and such, the prepared Survivalists should consider the below tasks list as a template on what field Survival skills would give him or her the best chance of surviving a decayed environment or wilderness type survival scenario.

These are what I think of as the Wilderness Survival Skills Tasks List:

* Build a field expedient shelter
* Procure/produce potable water
* Construct a water filter device
* Build a fire using matches, butane lighter
* Identify edible plants and prepare for food
* Identify poisonous plants
* Identify poisonous animal life
* Build a trap or snare
* Prepare an animal (field clean and quarter) and cook over a fire
* Build and employ field expedient fishing means
* Build a fire using matches, butane lighter
* Construct field expedient hunting/food procurement tools
* Utilize camouflage and concealment methods to minimize compromise/capture
* Use field expedient methods to determine direction; stick and sun shadow and watch method
* Define Terrain Features
* Determine position on a map using terrain association
* Read map margin information
* Determine magnetic azimuths using a compass
* Determine grid azimuths on a map
* Utilize G-M angle and convert grid azimuths to magnetic azimuths and vice versa
* Determine distances on a Map

I would be interested to hearing from my readers about what skills they think I forgot or what skills are important to them.

Uurban Survival - General Douglas McArthur Speaks To Us From The Grave

General Douglas MacArthur of World War II Philippines and later Korean War fame was a very insightful man. Here are just a couple of quotes from him. I know what they mean to me.....what do they mean to you?

“I am concerned for the security of our great Nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within."

“The best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself."

"The history of failure (of war) can almost be summed up in two words:......... ......too late....
Too late in comprehending the deadly purpose of a potential enemy,
Too late in realizing mortal danger,
Too late in preparedness,
Too late in uniting all possible forces for resistance,
and,
Too late in standing with one's friends."

Don't be what Gen MacArthur warned us about,...too late in preparedness.