Survival Planning - Gold Confiscation Possible?

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received this analysis from one of our financial advisors on what he thinks is likely to happen this calendar year:

There is much talk on the internet about possible Gold confiscation by the U.S. Government. A series of factors will influence this: the devaluation of the U.S. Dollar due to excessive printing of this fiat currency in a misguided attempt to increase the monetary supply and supposedly the economy; the ever increasing debt of the U.S. Government; the International Monetary Fund (IMF), France and China (among other countries) working to remove the U.S. Dollar as the World’s currency; and, the fact that oil commerce today is accomplished using the U.S. Dollar as the mean trading unit. Once the Dollar is not longer the World’s reserve currency, the U.S. will not be able to purchase crude oil at the prices we are seeing today.

Other factors may be what the new world’s reserved currency will look like. Will it be the Chinese Yuan or a conglomeration or mix of many different currencies? Will the new world’s reserve currency be forced to hold physical assets, such as gold, in a sort of escrow to ensure it’s credibility and ability to hold value? Will any new U.S. currency be linked to gold?

There is good theory out there that predicts that once gold hit’s a certain value per ounce, say $2,000, then the U.S. Government will move quick to avert full fledged slide of the U.S. dollar by requiring an exchange of privately held gold for U.S. currency, albeit at a rate they determine, Enforcement measures have already been put in place with Obamacare’s new 1099 form requirements which mandate gold/silver vendors to place all precious metals transactions over $600 on an 1099 form.

Additionally, confiscation implementation will probably also come from confiscatory taxes. High taxes, 80% to 90% on any profit from precious metals will discourage investment and holding of PM’s.

So what am I saying?

One – Inflation is going to hit and be severe; all commodities will increase in price and decrease in availability.

Two – Congress will be half stepping to avert forfeiture of the U.S. gov’t on the debt and the U.S. Dollar from being removed as the world’s reserve currency.

Three – Gas will hit $5 without the U.S. Dollar being removed as the world’s currency; $7 a gallon is the IMF and China get their way.

Four – Gold will hit near $2,000 an ounce and the U.S. Government will be forced to secure or confiscate Gold to avert a total disaster and will set the new gold price, relative to the existing U.S. Dollar or a new currency, around the $250 per ounce mark.

Five –Ensure you have silver is your survival planning; silver is much more harder to confiscate however see the part of 1099’s!

Six – If you have precious metal assets you should think about not having them if someone from the Government comes to your door.

This is the Counter Confiscation Argument:



What UrbanMan thinks: I think Gold and Silver will continue to climb. I think the U.S. Dollar will continue to plummet and prices for commodities will rise, particular fuel - this will skyrocket. When this gets to the tipping point, the economy will tank. The USG will not confiscate Gold. They may heavily tax gold and bar future private ownership, but will not confiscate gold. The USG may interview people, reference to tax code from 1099's on Gold and other PM acquisitions on abeyance in reporting. But don't look for confiscation. Even then, be prepared for all threats.

Reader Question on Survival Prepping (without Family Support)

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received an the following comment on the post – The Urban Threat – Why the Need for Urban Survival Prep”: “ I am SO overwhelmed right now. It is sad because I come from a family of people who have always been somewhat prepared and interested so I'm not completely new to the concept but I've spent my time being lost in depression and complacency. Hoping that things will just 'be okay' as I fought stupid battles with my ex husband and tried to keep my head above water.

Now, it feels too late. I have joint custody with my ex husband. If two of my four kids are with him when it comes down to hunkering down, bugging out or whatever is on the menu, I won't be able to leave them. He has never cooperated with me on anything, choosing instead to use any moment to extract often oddball methods of revenge...meaning, I can't trust him. My oldest daughter is off living with her bf. I love her but she is a huge flake and cannot be counted on not to talk too much. Do I prepare for her just in case? My stupid dogs bark at everything and I even have a rooster that crows literally all hours of the night and day although the night thing has tapered off since I told my mil that she absolutely had to turn off her bedroom light at night instead of leaving it on all hours...her light faces the coop and was confusing the rooster.


Don't even get me started on my mil. There is absolutely NO WAY I can even begin to afford to prepare for her in a hunker down situation and when bug out becomes the game, I could not take her. My parents live behind me, they are both in their early 70's but are tough as nails, country folk, armed and proficient.


My husband is not nearly as serious as I am so it feels as if I carry this alone but I realize it isn't quit that way. He has a daughter, ex wife and her two little boys that he would want to get to. They live a long enough distance that it seriously bothers me as they are NOT the kind you can talk to about this stuff ahead of time, so no preparation on their part, no monetary aid in making food preparations etc and then having to either wait on them or go get them which reduces the efficiency of my planning and my family's strength. Plus again, their health needs run insulin dependent diabetes and morbid obesity? WTH am I supposed to do with stuff like this? How do I pick a place to try to go to? Oh, did I mention that I have very little money to work with? It's a tiny piece at a time and I hope to god I'm not too late. –Lost at the End (Stephanie)

UrbanMan replies: Stephanie, I am going to use a post format to reply to you as used the comment box rather than the e-mail function to contact me. A lot of us can see ourselves in your comment. In fact when I read your comment the first time I saw a friend of mine in my mind’s eye who also had a divorce type scenario with three children. His ex-wife was a pain for him in keeping the kids for a weekend and told everyone that my friend was crazy, trying to ruin his rep around town. When these kid’s were in their early teens, he constantly stressed to them that his house was the safe haven, from all threats. He wanted them to have a pre-programmed response to get to his house if anything happened. He exposed them to firearms and shooting, and they were trustworthy enough to know where he kept the guns and could get to them if necessary.

My friend also exposed his kids to his survival food supply which, back then, mainly consisted of cases of canned soups, and dried pasta, rice, beans. His Bug Out plan was to get his family to his new wife’s boss’ farmhouse about 4 miles outside of town….where a well, pond and above ground swimming pool existed,……you gotta have water! The kid’s were brought to the farm several times, knew the route to it, and told this was the backup place to go. My friend’s kids are now beginning college and one is in the last year of high school, which is a lot of my friends back, but do parents ever really stop worrying about their children? I took all this as building trust between him and his kids and developing a response to come to him in an emergency.

A little note on diabetes: Adult on-set or Type II diabetes is controllable through nutrition…until you get to the point at your pancreas does not produce any insulin. Insulin dependent diabetes, even type II,……well, sucks because you have to have diabetes. In a post collapse world where a lack of processed foods and sugar, the diabetes rates will plummet, as will obesity. The novel, “One Second After”, by William Forstchen has a character with insulin dependent diabetes. This is a good book to read as it clearly displays the consequences of no survival planning.

Really the only things you can do is to continue dripping the necessity of survival (or disaster) prepping. My wife, who was initially put off and scared that I was a loon, is now much better about it. I think you can also continue to prep, whatever your budget allows. I would just continue on. That’s what I do. When I reached my goal of stocked food for six months, then my goal shifted to nine months and so on. Also ensure you cover all necessities. The list is endless so the objective is to get better across the board, incrementally as you can.

I would assume you are in charge of the house. If your current husband gives you any grief over prepping then give him the LOOK,….you know,…..that LOOK women give men to get them to back off. Good luck.

Survival Preparation - Big OPSEC Violation Example

We often talk about trying to get our family and friends to be Survival Prep oriented. We discuss hints and approaches basically because we want these people to be prepared and to not be a burden on those of us who have prepared but not prepared to the extent to take in a bunch of stragglers.

Some of us undoubtedly keep quiet as to not appears as some loony, camouflage clad, rifle toting extremist (my apologies to those of you who wear cammies). Some of us are also careful for another reason, as to not advertise the fact that we have stocks, even substantial stocks. of Survival gear, material, food, firearms and in some cases precious metals.

The Operational Security (OPSEC) effort required to protect the knowledge that you are preparing in any way is a huge undertaking. Risks may come from the UPS or FEDEX delivery man noting one time or multiple deliveries of ammunition, precious metals, and other survival oriented material simply from the shipping tags or the warning labels (ammunition); maybe a loose conversation from your wife to a friend,…”My husband is scaring me,…buying all this silver, food, sleeping bags, water purification stuff. He thinks the world is going to end!” Knowledge and innocent remarks can be very real violations of OPSEC. Please warn, brief and train your family and friends to use discretion.

If you cannot stock your supplies in a hidden manner, be prepared to use disinformation or just plain excuses. I recently had a plumber fixing my hot water heater and he stood in my garage looking at shelves of stacked boxes of dehydrated foods. He asked “Is that all food?”. I said "I got the boxes at work, but I have excess clothing in them that I collect for good will and the salvation army.” I said it nonchalantly, and he just replied “Oh”. Maybe I fooled him, maybe not. For the people I don’t fool and who intend to take what I have, I have motion lights, entry sensors, several dogs, constant situational awareness and the final option, flashlight equipped firearms within arms reach.

Below is an article from Canada detailing the silver bullion robbery of someone who did not have tight OPSEC.

Article from Resource Investor.com, by Roman Baudzus, Feb 2011

Robbers Make Off with $750,000 in Silver Bars

A man who decided to store his precious metals in a vault at his home in Chilliwack, Canada, was robbed of US $750,000 worth of silver bars in broad daylight. This case, which was first published about two weeks ago, shows that storing large amounts of precious metals at home is a very risky undertaking.

The 52-year-old victim is still traumatized after burglars intruded into his house where he had stored his life savings in silver bars. Based on the current silver price at the New York Comex, the silver was valued at about US$750,000.

Two burglars entered the house and attacked the man with a knife before tying him up. One of the thieves also carried a gun. The intruders were dressed in fake police uniforms and told the victim that they were investigating a crime and needed to ask him some questions. Once inside the house, they attacked the man and forced him to provide the combination for his vault. They then headed directly for the vault, which contained several thousand ounces of silver. After they had emptied the vault of the silver bars, the two robbers disappeared without a trace.

The victim is now wondering who could have provided the intruders with hints about the silver bars stored at his house. Friends, neighbours and relatives are the main suspects. Someone might have mentioned something to the wrong people, thereby letting the burglars find out about the silver bars, or they might have been informed by a third party.

The culprits are expected to try selling the metal to various precious metals traders. The victim did not say how much he paid for his silver stocks. Within one year the silver price has almost doubled from US $17 to US $33. A bank had refused to arrange for the storage of the silver for practical reasons, since it did not have enough space to store several thousand ounces. Moreover, the silver was not insured because the insurance cover had been too expensive.

This incident clearly demonstrates the importance of secure and insured precious metals storage to efficiently protect your precious metals from risks such as theft.

Reader Question on Body Armor for Survival

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received the following e-mail request: ”Hey urban man. just thought I'd drop you another line. I was wondering if Kevlar vests would be a practical piece of your survival kit. I seem to be one of the few in my circle to think so, I made the argument it weighs close to nothing and will quite literally save your life on multiple occasions, but nobody thought it was worth spending the extra money on it. I’ve done a little research on it and come to find out a plain old kevlar vest that stops up to a high velocity 5.56 FMJ bullet is only around 350$-650$, so I guess is do you think its worth it? Get back to me man and stay prepared.”

UrbanMan replies:Before I answer that lets review the levels of body armor under the National Institute of Justice Ratings for Body Armor,.....NIJ Standard 0101.03, 0101.04:

NIJ LEVEL I: This armor protects against .22 caliber Long Rifle Lead Round Nose (LR LRN) bullets with nominal masses of 40 gr impacting at a minimum velocity of 1050 fps or less and 380 ACP Full Metal Jacketed Round Nose (FMJ RN) bullets with nominal masses of 95 gr impacting at a minimum velocity of 1025 fps or less.

NIJ LEVEL IIA: Lower Velocity 9mm, .40 S&W. This armor protects against 9mm Full Metal Jacketed Round Nose (FMJ RN) bullets with nominal masses of 124 gr impacting at a minimum velocity of 1090 fps or less and .40 S&W caliber Full Metal Jacketed (FMJ) bullets with nominal masses of 180 gr impacting at a minimum velocity of 1025 fps or less. It also provides protection against Level I threats. Level IIA body armor is well suited for full-time use by police departments, particularly those seeking protection for their officers from lower velocity .40 S&W and 9mm ammunition.

NIJ LEVEL II: Higher Velocity 9mm, .357 Magnum. This armor protects against .357 Magnum jacketed soft-point bullets with nominal masses of 158 gr. impacting at a velocity of 1,395 fps or less and against 9mm full-jacketed bullets with nominal velocities of 1,175 ft/s. It also protects against most other factory loads in caliber .357 Magnum and 9mm as well as the Level I and IIA threats. Level II body armor is heavier and more bulky than either Level’s I or IIA. It is worn full time by officers seeking protection against higher velocity .357 Magnum and 9mm ammunition.

NIJ LEVEL IIIA: .44 Magnum; Submachine Gun 9mm. This armor protects against .44 Magnum, Semi Jacketed Hollow Point (SJHP) bullets with nominal masses of 240 gr. impacting at a velocity of 1,400 fps or less and against 9mm full-metal jacketed bullets with nominal masses of 124 gr. impacting at a velocity of 1,400 ft/s or less. It also provides protection against most handgun threats as well as the Level I, IIA, and II threats. Level IIIA body armor provides the highest level of protection currently available from concealable body armor and is generally suitable for routine wear in many situations. However, departments located in hot, humid climates may need to evaluate the use of Level IIIA armor carefully.

NIJ LEVEL III: High-powered rifle. This armor, normally plates of hard or semi-rigid construction (steel, composite armor, ceramic), protects against 7.62mm full-metal jacketed bullets (US military designation M80) with nominal masses of 150 gr. impacting at a velocity of 2,750 ft/s or less. It also provides protection against threats such as .223 Remington (5.56mm FMJ), 30 Carbine FMJ, and 12-gauge rifled slug, as well as Level I through IIIA threats. Level III body armor is clearly intended only for tactical situations when the threat warrants such protection, such as barricade confrontations involving sporting rifles.

NIJ LEVEL IV: Armor-piercing rifle. This armor protects against .30–06 caliber armor-piercing bullets ( US military designation APM2) with nominal masses of 166 gr. impacting at a velocity of 2,850 ft/s or less. It also provides at least single-hit protection against the Level I through III threats. Level IV body armor provides the highest level of protection currently available. Because this armor is intended to resist “armor piercing” bullets, it often uses ceramic materials. Such materials are brittle in nature and may provide only single-shot protection since the ceramic tends to break up when struck. As with Level III armor, Level IV armor is clearly intended only for tactical situations when the threat warrants such protection.

You can see that to protect against 5.56 (.223 Remington) you’ll need Threat Level III protection. Very few companies offering Level III armor under $650. You need to check your state laws. A lot of disinformation out there on whether or not body armor is legal to own. Best to get your local and state laws. Another issue is many that companies will not sell armor to people without a law enforcement nexus or certification,...... and possibly require a supervisors approval on agency letterhead, although Level IIIA (one step lower than Level III and will not stop 5.56mm) is commonly available but starting around $400.

A lot of personnel are wearing Level IIIA armor with Level III plates in an insert over the chest and in the back. There has been a lot of technological improvement in body armor from steel plates, to composite plates to ceramic plates. In the old days, we used to cut steel and use that as surrogate armor for our vehicles, even then 5.56mm ball and tracer would penetrate one-quarter inch mild steel. When we used a harder steel, such as T1 or T520, 5.56mm ball and tracer were defeated, but not 5.56mm SS109 steel core penetrator, whic punched right through unless you went to a thicker and much heavier chunk of steel. We used to buy pepper popper targets and IPSC sized steel target as they fit behind our seats for rear protection from small arms fire coming from our six.

It's probably more common for personnel to wear Level IIIA or even the lower rated Level II, under their shirts, then wear a plate carrier Molle platform to carry plates and gear pouches. It will be hard to buy plates. They are expensive. An enterprising individual could make his own plates, buying the appropriate hardness steel plates then having them cut to size to fit the plate carrier pocket. You could even coat them liquid rubber coating which hardens to a rubberized surface for easier handling. These field expedient plates are necessrily going to be heavy.

Body armor has an expiration to it, usually 5 years if stored correctly. After that it is de-certified, therefore hard to get second hand as nobody wants the liability. I think if you store it correctly (flat and in a humidity controlled environment) that it can be viable years after,..hell I’m counting on it.

To answer your question, yes, body armor is essential item of kit. Just usually outside the procurement capability of most people. I particulary like wearing II or IIIA soft body armor ovr my t-shirt and under my work shirt, then adding a molle plate carrier.