14 Questions People Ask About How To Prepare For The Collapse Of The Economy

TEC ^ | 8-8-2012 | Michael Snyder

[editor-surveyor]

When?

Spring/summer 2013 is the most commonly predicted time.

[WhirlwindAttack]

Stock what you eat. Eat what you stock and put it in rotation.
Get a pressure canner, jars and lots of lids. Be prepared to not have refrigeration or a freezer.

A good dehydratior like a American Harvest Garden Master will come in handy. So will a vacuum sealer.

Get a good water filter (Berky recommended), some calcium hypoclorite to treat water. We just put solar backup in for our well.

Heirloom garden seeds, gardening handtools even some chickens will help keep you fed. A hog or three even more so.
I smoke my own hams and bacon.

Look for stuff on craigslist or freecycle or your local flea markets.

We have reduced our food bills and prepped using these methods. If we go dark the only thing I will miss is ice cubes and internet.

The most important thing is “Don’t panic!”.

And don’t forget spices and herb seeds.

[Mich Patriot]

"The only metals you should invest in are lead, copper, and brass - and you NEVER BARTER THEM."

"We'll have to agree to disagree there. Ammo will make excellent barter material, especially if the other person has a weapon of one of those calibers which aren't common."

I have 3000+ rounds of both 9mm and 22LR. I'm a decent shot, but if I have to defend with that many rounds, surely I'll be dead somewhere along the way. I have extras for barter, but maybe Old Sarge's point is that you had better know and trust who you're supplying with ammo. For me, it will only be someone in my close group or neighborhood watch.

[ex-Texan]

Forget the writer's temporary fretting about a weak market and stumbling economy. The corrupt central bank game of manipulating currencies and rigging stock markets and playing with peoples' lives is almost over for good.

Stock Futures Slip as European Central Bank Hopes Give Way to Angst

I for one would like meet the weenies who keep editing Reuters titles after the articles have been published. They keep softening the prose to edit away any perception of truth by the masses. They removed the term "angst" from the title today and went for a more bland and "flat" presentation. And thereby masked the truth. Freaking commie bastards always play with peoples' perceptions . . .

Keeping the Useless Eaters Happy and Well Media Fed . . .

[Old Sarge]

My point is simply this: the bullets you trade in the morning will be shot back at you in the night. There is no logic in arming the useless eaters to whom you’ve now revealed that you a cache of stuff.

If some mall ninja bought an exotic weapon and failed to plan for ammo needs, then the fault is his, not yours. Never barter ammo; the life you save will be your own.

[Old Sarge]

for those who don't think this nation could catch on fire in an instant I have but two words ... "Trayvon Martin".

[ex-Texan]

More proof of Reuters' lying duplicity here:

Just Search for the Old Title

Reuters gutted the whole report. Just more proof of central banks' diabolical coercion and money power over the freaking media. Central banks rule politics, politicians and entire countries.

[Lurker]

For later. Thank you for that link.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

What would the purpose of gold be under those conditions?

As the value of the doallar tanks, the value of gold will skyrocket. Best to get it now while you can and bury it. For gold is not useful as a barter item or anything of the sort when the SHTF. Its only use is to allow you to buy back in when the economy rebounds and things approach normalcy. It is asset protection. A guarantee of liquidity after all is said and done.

[blam]

Yard sales have been my most productive source for many auxilary supplies. I've gotten dozens of cases of canning jars for $1-2 a case as an example.

[Any Fate But Submission]

When starving mobs are at your front door, the most important thing is to be able to stay completely out of sight. They won’t rape, torture and kill you and yours if they do not know you are there.

The best is a fully serviced undetectable basement under a house painted inside and out with fire proof paint. No windows, interior stair access well hidden, unlimited water and a year of food per person. Hide solar panels on a flat patio cover; that can run your well pump and lights inside. Bury a 500 gallon propane tank for cooking and a 1000 gal fuel oil tank for heat. 5mil mylar with O2 absorber keeps rice 25 years. Canned good still good for many many years if not dented. Expiration date is arbitrary and has nothing to do with safety or nutritional value. Every food item is required to have an expiration date by law, so they put a short one so you will throw it away and buy more.

Buy some land within 50 miles of where you live and prepare to live for 6 months or more completely out of sight, but have the firepower to protect yourself if discovered. Starving mobs and the US Government are your worst enemies.

[knarf]

At the heart of the Prepper's psychology is an inate sense of how things were, are and could/will be ...

I was an avid fan of this program and it should be brought back ... the entire series is linkable from the end of the previous episode

[blam]

PETER SCHIFF: We Are Sailing Right Into The Perfect Storm

[Axenolith]

You should have about 12-15 feet of ~1/2 teflon tubing and a stainless check valve to get the gas out of the tank (assuming electric is out). It’s also good for car tanks. You’ll probably have to hold the backflow preventer open (to keep it from binding up), in the storage tank with a broom handle or such. Working the tube up and down rapidly will pump fuel out (we jokingly call it the “jack off pump”, we use this apparatus to collect groundwater samples from direct push sampling holes).

Same is good for hand augered expedient groundwater wells (make sure to keep the two separate and well labeled, gas tastes like crap).

[Iron Munro]

"I'm beginning to wonder if I've prepped to soon and too much. I have some boxes of supplies with an early 2009 date on them."

For the most part the "Use By Dates" are meaningless in the context of storing food for a SHTF emergency. Especially in the case of plain old canned foods. We always keep in mind the fact that in a SHTF scenario hungry people will have different standards of acceptability than in times of abundance.

We have kept other foods (dry foods, peanut butter, mixes, crackers, etc.) beyond their factory dates for the specific purpose of testing them to see how long they are palatable. Some foods change color or consistancy but remain edible and nourishing. Generally, anything with oils and fats will start to go rancid after a while.

Before you dispose of foods you have on hand you might want to sample them and decide for yourself if they are worth keeping or not. It will also give you better insight into the best products to purchase next time around.

Below is a link to some interesting information on the shelf life of canned foods. You might be surprised on the length of time some foods remain edible.

Shelf Life Studies: Canned Food and Dry Food

[cuban leaf]

I had that entire series on Beta, recorded off PBS back in 1980. One of the greatest series ever produced, IMO.

[Melian]

One of my tips is to save all the free phone books left by your door. The pages can be used as fire starters, but the main reason is a page will do for emergency toilet paper. They stack, store, and carry better than TP rolls.

I have my own stock of toilet paper, but if I want to barter or share I will start with the yellow pages.

[blam]

"I have my own stock of toilet paper, but if I want to barter or share I will start with the yellow pages. "

(ahem) Let your fingers do the walking?

I've been buying used hand & bath towels at yard sales for pennies. They are actually way cheaper than a box of 'rags' at Sams Club.

[blam]

Thanks. I bought Burke's 'Connections' books years ago. (Some of my favorite reading)

My son had lunch with Burke once when he was at Arizona State University. (20 years ago)

[familyop]

You made some good points, although I still believe that more than spreading poverty is required for the kind of insurrection often being discussed (whole country including rural areas).

But other errors in leadership being taken far enough could. *See where the link in the first comment leads,* and I hope you find it interesting. Turns out that it’s not crazy conspiracy theory post after all. Col. Benson was the tenth director of SAMS.

EDITORIAL: The Civil War of 2016: U.S. military officers are told to plan to fight Americans
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2916269/posts