Bits of Advice
I can’t come up with anything amazing to say so here a few bits and pieces:
Keep a case of flat black spray paint and flat black spray primer around. That way you can quickly convert your shiny new car/suv into a dull looking, non-reflective SHTF ride.
Keep nails around. I keep a few 5lb boxes of 20 penny and 40 penny around. If the grid is down a hammer and nails will be your friend. No power required. Nails did the job for hundreds of years before the screw became common place.
For you families out there. I keep a cheap umbrella stroller in my trunk along with my get-home-bag. That way if I have one or even two of my little ones I can transport them in the stroller. Children will NOT have the stamina needed in a SHTF get-home scenario and the stroller is a great way to transport them.
I do NOT keep ammunition for barter. I think that is a flawed strategy. Why would you give someone else the ability to forcefully take what you have? If, however, you have ammo and no food, then yes by all means trade it away to feed your family.
When I come across a website that has useful information I add it to my favorites in a special folder and then come back later and print out those pages and put them in an “emp proof” binder. That way I know how many drops of bleach are needed to purify water or how many “rads” my body can take per hour in the event of nuclear exposure.
Listen to the radio in the morning while you are getting ready for work (if you don’t watch the news or already do so) as this will connect you to the world and you can make sure that you are not blindly heading out into the world when something crazy has happened.
Sorry for the late posts on Mondays. Weekends are hectic. You have also probably noticed I am no longer posting on Sundays.
-SP
Filed under: SHTF, suburban survival | Tagged: shtf advice
Ammunition for barter is a good strategy in my opinion. You want to have on hand things that are the most valuable. What is most valuable in a grid down situation? What single thing can both protect you and feed you? Ammo.
Also, when you barter away ammo, the implication is that you have so much on hand you can afford to barter it away.
In a suburban situation, do you need full power rifles and ammo? No. But having 10,000 rounds of .22LR around and a couple cheap .22 rifles/pistols can’t hurt. In a grid down situation, you could probably get lots more for 500 rounds of .22LR or 50 rounds of 9mm than you could for anything else you might have on hand. The store near my house is selling 525 rounds of .22LR for $14. 10,500 rounds is $280….keep half for yourself, barter the other half.
What else would have more value in barter than 525 rounds of ammo? Gasoline? How much would you have to have to equal 525 rounds of ammo? Probably more than $14 worth. Ditto just about anything else except maybe a good knife or a firearm, and if you’re trading a firearm, its value skyrockets if you have a good chunk of ammo to trade with it.
The danger with bartering ammunition is that:
1) Others now know you have ammo, ie. you have enough spare to barter, so you have plenty.
2) Others can use the very ammo you just traded them to ‘help themselves’ to whatever else you have, right over your dead body.
I agree, bartering ammo is a poor strategy.
Also, one other consideration: During the years after the Soviet Union’s collapse, ammo in the FSU was pretty much valueless. There was little or no violence. Rather, other goods gained significantly in value (food, liquor, cigarettes, cheap electronics).
8 drops bleach per gallon of water (1 teaspoon). Twice that if turbid.
60 rads per hour. More than that is dangerous.
Your mind is EMP proof. *wink*