Evaluating a Reader's SHTF Preps

I recently received this via e-mail: "Urbanman, please give me some feedback on my preps: For firearms I have: a Colt 5 shot 38 special snubnose and 400 rounds of ammunition; a Woodsman 22 LR with 4 magazines and two bricks of ammunition which is 1,000 rounds; a 12 gauge ITHACA riot slide action shotgun with 150 rounds of mixed buckshot and slug; a 1903 Springfield rifle and 120 rounds of .30-06 ammunition; a Mini-14 rifle with four magazines and over 400 rounds of ammunition. I have a extra custom gastank in my truck bed so I can carry an extra 40 gallons. I have enough canned goods to easily last 30 days plus I have enough survival food in dehyrdated packs to last six months. I have a good tent and some sleeping bags but my main plan is to head to my wife's uncle's farm is about 340 miles away if the chaos is bad enough. What do you think?"

UrbanMan's comments: HTM, I am posting your e-mail and using it to push the agenda that equipment and material does not readiness to survive SHTF make. It takes more than equipment, guns and food. It takes long range planning, and contingencies in case those plans are not executable. While you have a good start on a Survival battery of firearms, taken the initiative to make your vehicle capable of longer road time, are on the way to a decent amount of stored food, and have a Bug Out location (Uncle's farm) which is probably a rural area reducing threats from a population gone mad, I don't have enough information to render a good opinion. Not do I want to know more and you should protect information (practice OPSEC) about your capabilities, preps and planning.

However, I would ask these questions to provoke thought on your end:

How many routes do you have to the farm? Have you thought about mechanical or other failures on your truck which would force you on foot? If so, could you get to the farm via other means? Have you thought about caching some supplies along the route and at the farm? Can you get everything you need into/onto your truck (in a hurry) to take with you?

Who else would show up at the farm? Is the Uncle and wife's family also prepping? Are they as prepared as you?

Is there a full year water source at the farm? Can you grow crops there? If so, do you have a stockpile of non-hybrid seeds? Can you build a greenhouse and grow some crops during cold weather months? Have you considered how you would store your harvest, such as canning?

What about your stocks of first aids items,..bandages, disinfectants, anti-infection creams, medical tape or cobain wrap, etc.

Is there sufficient hand tools at the farm? What about common tool sets and a decent supply of nails, screws and bolts?

Do you have a power supply at the farm? Such as solar or wind generated power for small power needs like re-charging batteries, running low wattage lights?

Do you keep any cash on hand for immediate purchases before the U.S. dollar is no longer acceptable? Do you have any precious metals such as silver or gold?

Concerning the firearms,....I would get a few more Mini-14 mags,...I would have much more ammunition on hand, especially for the Mini-14. Neither handgun you have are really suitable as a defensive handgun, but the first rule of a gunfight is to have a gun.

Don't take offense to my questions as they are given to create thought,.....we can all get better and to continue getting more prepared is the name of the game. Good luck.

Should I Buy Gold for SHTF?

I recently had a friend of mine, not in my immediate survival group, but a prepper none the less, ask me if he should buy some Gold, and if so, should he buy one ounce rounds, or smaller weights. He had around $6,000 to spend. Part of his question was should he wait awhile as Gold and Silver prices seemed to be going down.

I told him that trying to time the market now would require some constant observation and some luck. Sure, Gold and Silver may yet go down more, in light of some good economic news the last few weeks, but that "good" economic news was really just "not as bad of news as usual".

I told him that while the Greece, Italy and Spain economic problems seemed to have leveled off, we will certainly see more bad economic news in the very near future. I told him to watch for more banks defaulting, instability in the U.S. and Foreign exchanges, higher U.S. deficit and national debt, worsening unemployment, lower oil imports, higher oil prices, higher inflation and downward spiral of the housing market all would be factors signaling a rise in precious metals.

This conversation was about two weeks ago and now we are seeing the following headlines:

World stocks fall amid economic reports from the largest economies forecasting a global downturn.

Job growth much lower than expected and fears of heightening unemployment amid reports that applications for unemployment benefits jumped to the highest level in nine months.

Housing gloom ahead as sales of previously owned homes fell 1.5 percent in May and are forecsted to be even lower in June and July.

Eurpoean leaders are trying to work out a solution to a spreading financial crisis across the European Union and global lessening confidence in a solution and the value of the Euro.

Major banks being downgraded. Moody's lowered the credit ratings of 15 major banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, saying their long-term prospects for profitability and growth are shrinking.

So yes, the time is right to buy Precious Metals. However I would not put all of the $6,000 into Gold. I would spread it out with Silver bullion and maybe some junk silver as well. All this would depend upon how much precious metals I already had and any other holes or lack of essential equipment, material and supplies in my Collapse Preparation Plan.

Maybe one ounce of Gold, 4 one-quarter Gold rounds, $1,000 into Silver rounds and the rest in long term food maybe a good choice for my friend as I know he primarily focusing on survival guns and gear for SHTF and is well preparaed in that aspect.

Him having some viable precious metals for bartering and some long term food would also possibly benefit me as he is one of the families on a short list my survival group keeps of possible recruits or straphangers we would accept into our group as his ethics, morals and skills are known to us. Anyway, if you don't have very much or any precious metals at all, then what are you waiting for? An invitation? Okay, consider this an invitation.

Prepared Society's Chicken Forum

Prepared Society, which is a emergency preparation and survival forum, asked me to notify readers about their new chicken forum for people who are keeping chickens.

I am not currently keeping chickens, although two other members of my survival team are. I have enjoyed eggs from their efforts and during a collapse fresh eggs are great food as well as a barter item. 

I do however have a pre-made chicken hootch still in the box as well as some other materials on hand so if I have enough time when the warning signs for the collapse are imminient, or if survival team members arrive at my site, I can house and raise the chickens.

Here is the link to Prepared Society's Chicken Forum

U.S. and World On Edge of Collapse

The bandwagon is getting more crowded week by week as financial experts joint the chorus on an
impending world and U.S. financial collapse.   Paul Krugman and Chris Martenson are among
prominent analysts.

The latest is the former co-manager of the GLG Global Macro Fund, Raoul Pal,  who believes  that a
global banking collapse and massive defaults will bring about “the biggest economic shock the world
has ever seen” — and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.

China, for one nation is trying to make the U.S. dollar collapse.  They are buying not only the world's
gold. but the gold mines as well, to prop up their currency, the Yuan.   Their attempt to corner the
world's gold market is to weaken, then replace the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency.   The
dollar has been weakening abruptly since 2010.  And not only China is wanting the dollar to collapse,
the U.S. gives refuge to George Soros who is also actively seeking the U.S. dollar's demise.  Figure out that crap?!?  

If the Dollar ceases being the world's reserve currency, the demand for dollars would evaporate leaving
a glut in dollars and therefore the value or buying power would plummet resulting in high inflation
or hyper-inflation.  You think food and gas prices are high now?

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, funded and/or financially supported largely by
leftist/liberal groups such as Open Society Institute (now called the Open Society Foundation), Media
Matters, The Tides Foundation, Alliance for Global Justice, Adbusters Media Foundation, will be an ant
hill compared to the mountain of protests and civil unrest is the dollar collapses leaving well over a hundred million people living hand to mouth,....and being really pissed about it. 

Adding to the gloom is the National debt.  If countries continue dumping or accelerating the getting rid of
U.S. treasury notes then the dollar devalues and the interest payments alone on the $16 trillion dollar
debt could go from just under $500 billion annually to over $1 Trillion.  If this happens, the dollar will
automatically cease being the world's reserve currency and inflation/hyper-inflation will happen.   You
can bet on it.  If you are reading this site, you probably already are betting on it.