Economic Survivalists....I'll trade you 5 packs of chicken Top Ramen...

Trent Rock

Trent Rock

Joined
Jun 29, 2007
Messages
4,698
I found my DREAM article fellas!!!!:eek:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2009-04-14-survivalistsinside14_N.htm
I found the sales data kinda interesting
•Stockpiling. When the stock market drops, orders surge for freeze-dried food, survival kits and emergency supplies, says Nitro-Pak president Harry Weyandt. One best seller: a $3,375 food reserve that feeds four people for three months.
•Gardening. Sales of vegetable seeds and transplants are up 30% from 2008 at W. Atlee Burpee, the USA's largest seed company. The National Gardening Association says 7 million more households will grow food this year than in 2008 — a 19% rise. A book on building root cellars is the top seller at Johnny's Selected Seeds in Winslow, Maine, supervisor Joann Matuzas says.
•Canning. Jarden Corp. says sales of its Ball and Kerr canning and preserving products are up more than 30% from 2008. Sonya Staffan, owner of The Jam and Jelly Lady commercial cannery in Lebanon, Ohio, is offering twice as many classes this year.
•Sewing. More people are learning to sew so they can mend clothes and make home décor, says Rachel Cohen, spokeswoman for SVP Worldwide, owner of sewing-products makers Singer and Husqvarna Viking.
•Relocating. Steve Saltman, general manager of LandAndFarm.com, a national real estate company, says more customers want to "live simply in a less-expensive place." Jonathan Rawles of SurvivalRealty.com says more people moving to rural areas "are specifically worried about economic and social instability."
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I'm not at this level yet
I am an American economic optimist

I am buying a lot of ammo when I can
Just in case......

Anyone here consider them selves economic survivalists?
I have been thinkg of buying Krugerands myself ;)
 
I'm down with the concept and have been my whole life. "Survivalist" or no, it makes sense. I have a big batch of apple wine and two gardens to get going in the next few weeks.

I invest mostly in books, tools and raw materials. It's fun!
 
Interesting the USA today didn't feel that it was newsworthy to print the fact that firearms and ammo are in very short supply and are selling at record rates.

My bet is that all of the above are good investments to have... but guns and ammo will be very good trading items if the SHTF...

The past 90 days are ugly... and it isn't looking any better in the near future for those who love freedom... God help us.
 
I was growing vegetables in the flowerbeds when we lived in town.I have been growing anything I can for years Now that we are in the country I have 2000 sq.ft. tilled and the pullets should be laying by sep.
Today we are planting Corn, carrots, kale, kohli robi, calliflower, celery. tomatoes, and what ever else I think I can get by with this early.
Roy
 
I hate veggies. I'd plant only to kill the furry and feathered critters that would come to eat there.
 
Meh, one can obsess with gloom & doom, or roll with the punches. Preparedness is a mindset, not a problem that you can throw money at to solve. For example. you could stockpile buttloads of food and dry goods, but it's not gonna save you forever (the intelligence of saving enough to get you through a short term problem withstanding).

The ammo situation is quite irritating, if not disconcerting. Can't even afford to go the range anymore, let alone find ammo to maintain regular stock. It's quite the nuisance.
 
Trent Rock said:
I have been thinkg of buying Krugerands myself ;)
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I recently read an article where folks are buying up gold since the price has been up and pretty stable. One guy who they interviewed went into a bank and walked out with a 100oz. gold bar worth between $80,000 to $100,000 dollars to stockpile for the future.:eek:

The article mentioned that in a SHTF situation folks like this will need the services of someone who can melt it down and make smaller "denominations."

Any knifemaker with a forge could have a nice side business if the world market collapses and paper money becomes worthless.;)
 
kdstrick said:
I hate veggies. I'd plant only to kill the furry and feathered critters that would come to eat there.
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Not a bad idea at all. Practice your snares and traps in the lettuce bed. :)

I don't think SHTF is gonna happen, at least not to the point of total collapse. But even when times are good, it's nice to be able to do at least some things for yourself. I'm tellin' ya it's fun. (Yup, I'm a Backwoodsman subscriber. ;) )

PB Wilson said:
Any knifemaker with a forge could have a nice side business if the world market collapses and paper money becomes worthless.;)
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Heck, just basic handtools would be valuable. I'm continually amazed how many people don't own a socket set or even a hammer and some screwdrivers.

You: My damn bunker is falling apart. I got plenty lumber but no tools.
Me: I'll trade you a hammer, 2 pounds of nails and a day's worth of work helping you, for a box of 30-30, box of 12ga and 2 boxes of .22
You: Deal!

:D
 
Gold is a good bet , But don`t buy bars or ingots. Buy antique coins that aren`t registered. Our friendly government can confiscate your gold if they need it.
 
regarding gold, jewelry purchased at the right price is a good way to go. when times are nominally "good" you can sell for artistic as well as metal value, when times are bad you have some very portable wealth.

jewelry also often skirts the issue of heavy weights. even a half ounce gold coin is several hundred dollars too much to change for a bag of bread or a couple sacks of flour.

I have been stocking up (when I can) a little bit extra on .22LR- while I figure that 2500 rounds is a long time of hunting for me, an extra 2500 on top of that makes both good stock so that going to thr range doesn't put us under our limits* but we have decent trade goods. Should a situation arise where ammo is a trade good, 50 50round boxes of .22LR winchester rounds should be a decent trading stock.

How you plan for barter goods and such depends a lot on what you are expecting. I don't really see a full break down of society to a non-production-level as likely, so most of my planning is for things that I do find useful or pleasant and I will consider their worth in other areas (such as extra .22 ammo).


*(assuming hunting and training at a minimalist 25 rounds per week average in a scenario where hunting is fairly freely doable, 2500 rounds is a couple years)
 
We reduced the size of our lawn 4 years ago and replaced it with a 10 x 40 garden area. Once it's going each year, it not much more work that maintaining a lawn and picking your own lettuce each day for a salad is a pretty cool thing to do.
 
johnny reb said:
Gold is a good bet , But don`t buy bars or ingots. Buy antique coins that aren`t registered. Our friendly government can confiscate your gold if they need it.
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Even though gold, silver, palladium and rhodium fractional bars have serial numbers and in the case of gold, certificates, that doesn't mean they are registered. They are not registered.

Purchasing antique coins that have numismatic value above and beyond the gold content is what I refer to as "The Roosevelt Scenario." Roosevelt didn't confiscate coins AND jewelry that would have to be appraised, only straight up bullion and current coinage. Why waste money on the bet that the next time, if it happens, the government won't simply confiscate all of it?

Again, coins are not registered. Even if they were, all you would have to do is take a GPS Co-ord, bury them in a suitable container and say you sold them at a show over time because the economy was going bad and you needed more money to live on, etc.

Purchasing antique coins on the hope that they won't simply confiscate it all is going to cost you a lot of money. If you end up with 50 ounces of gold in the form of coinage that has numismatic value, you are probably going to pay out enough to purchase double or triple that in regular gold. You will also not receive any of that numismatic value in return if you have to use it in trade in the future, take that to the bank. 8-)
 
One can store a lot of dried beans and rice relatively cheaply. I'm getting to the point of optimism that economic crisis has been largely evaded (heck its April and the SHTF started last Nov.). I think times will get tough and it will be a while before everything is on par with 2007/early 08. Lending and credit will be more difficult to come by in the coming years. However, I don't see anarchy coming, just tightening the belts and realistic spending patterns.

The tougher adjustments will be for the kids of today who are in highschool or just starting out in college. They've been raised with an artificial lifestyle. I teach kids in 4th year of university who have never had a job and see taking one as demeaning. They will be competing with a far more experienced but truncated workforce that suffered the major layoffs going on today. Those folks are skilled, mature and motivated. It will be hard for the younger folks to compete with that unless they have the right attitude to do so.
 
El_Toro said:
If you want to succeed, you must remain optimistic in bad times and find ways to turn lemons into lemonade!:thumbup:
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That is a great outlook, El Toro... But it can be taken further....

Only use 2/3 of your lemons for food... let the rest go to seed to make more lemon trees. The lemons you do use can be squeezed for lemonade. The inside white layer is jam-packed ful of nutrients and can be added to salads. The outer layer (zest) is great for cooking. You can use lemon peels to polish your knives. Lemon oil is an excellent additive to houshold cleaners. and after you're done with the peels you can compost them to help your lemon trees grow.:p

And that's only off the top of my head.... there are many more uses I'm sure....:thumbup:

:Dhe he he........ just being a wiseguy... but makes you think.


Rick
 
koyote said:
I have been stocking up (when I can) a little bit extra on .22LR- while I figure that 2500 rounds is a long time of hunting for me, an extra 2500 on top of that makes both good stock so that going to thr range doesn't put us under our limits* but we have decent trade goods. Should a situation arise where ammo is a trade good, 50 50round boxes of .22LR winchester rounds should be a decent trading stock.

How you plan for barter goods and such depends a lot on what you are expecting. I don't really see a full break down of society to a non-production-level as likely, so most of my planning is for things that I do find useful or pleasant and I will consider their worth in other areas (such as extra .22 ammo).


*(assuming hunting and training at a minimalist 25 rounds per week average in a scenario where hunting is fairly freely doable, 2500 rounds is a couple years)
Click to expand...


Stocking up on ammo may be a good plan now.... but what if it comes down to strict regulation of arms and ammo. Yes, you could keep a cache but how would you use it hunting without calling attention to yourself. I would imagine that if there are food shortages more folks will take to crops and hunting. I know in my area it's already regulated quite a bit. Hungry bellies don't wait for hunting seasons and overcrowding of hunting grounds will make it even harder to put something on the table. We may find ourselves in the era of "poaching out of necessity". If we do have ammo shortages, that "pop-pop!" sound you make might aswell be a "cha-ching" or even worse "I'm-poaching!". You may be calling too much attention to yourself hunting with a gun. More primitive and silent weapons may be the way to go.

Sometimes being the kid with the most marbles will get you into trouble. The ability to make something from nothing will be more valuable in years to come. That's what most of us are on this subforum for.

But I'm just talking out my ass.........


Rick
 
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