Are you a Prepper

• dlazz

  WebFire;1357288 wrote:How are you going to prepare for these, outside of storing food?

  I'm with you. People are too paranoid.
• hasbeen

  

  Belly35;1357252 wrote:Good bartering product but how will you protect it</SPAN>

  
  Drink it, fill it with dirt, throw it at people.
• se-alum

  

  WebFire;1357269 wrote:I've asked my wife. She agrees.
  
  Reminds me of a show where you are the only human left. Or very few left and it's just mayhem. Who would care to live for that?

  It's like the show Revolution.
• se-alum

  

  Also, one of those underground bunkers would make a pretty sweet man cave.
• Con_Alma

  I'm a pepper, he's a pepper, she's a pepper, we're a pepper. Wouldn't you like to be a pepper too?
  
  Be a pepper, drink Dr. Pepper.
  
  ...oh, wait. Wrong song.
• queencitybuckeye

  I love living, but have no interest in merely surviving.
• sleeper

  

  I don't prep as it's a waste of money and time. If the shit hits the fan, I'll survive with or without weapons or food.
  
  #alpha
• gut

  se-alum;1357226 wrote:Nope...I don't even have enough food in my house to survive a good snow storm.

  Yes, me too. And because of this (and watching preppers), I'm stocking up on water and canned goods. Enough to go a week or two without power/water.
• mcburg93

  

  I guess I am a prepper in a way. I have a bunch of canned goods. I have quite a few guns and bought over a thousand rounds of ammo for them in the past year. I have been buying gold from people for years. So I guess in a way I have been prepping and not really knowing it.
• justincredible

  

  mcburg93;1357450 wrote:I guess I am a prepper in a way. I have a bunch of canned goods. I have quite a few guns and bought over a thousand rounds of ammo for them in the past year. I have been buying gold from people for years. So I guess in a way I have been prepping and not really knowing it.

  I've thought about buying silver coins here and there.
• gut

  In a true "prepper" scenario, gold/silver would probably be worthless. As it is, their value is largely sustained by the belief people will continue to value it. There's no real logic behind it, just a self-fulfilling faith.
  
  More realistic scenarios, such as a currency collapse, or real economic collapse (worse than the Great Depression) then it might make sense for gold and silver as paper/electronic money fails but there are enough people that it would facilitate trade.
  
  I prefer the relative stability of hard assets (house) to hedge against rampant inflation or a currency collapse. At current prices, it's superior to gold/silver. Difference being, you can buy a few thousand in gold but that's not even a downpayment on a house.
  
  A few grand in gold/silver on hand at home might not be the worst idea. Then again, what would likely happen? You go to the store to buy something, and roaming gangs would follow you and take everything you have.
• justincredible

  

  Yeah, my thoughts on the silver coins were in case the dollar collapses. If zombies take over they will be worthless unless I can melt them down and fashion a weapon or bullets.
• Automatik

  

  I don't have anything to prep for. I'm not paranoid. :laugh:
  
  
  I cashed out around 2k worth of silver last year. Was that a bad move?!
• gut

  justincredible;1357479 wrote:Yeah, my thoughts on the silver coins were in case the dollar collapses. If zombies take over they will be worthless unless I can melt them down and fashion a weapon or bullets.

  In the event of a dollar collapse (which would really be global economic collapse), I'd rather hunker down with a store of canned goods and water. With trade and everything else falling apart, those canned goods are as good as gold (just think how much it would cost to buy new in those times and you would have been better off stocking up rather than investing in gold/silver).
  
  Stock up and then lay low. That would be my plan. Scavenging just to BUY food doesn't sound remotely appealing, or safe.
• justincredible

  

  You make a good point. What about if things start to cool off after a while after a potential collapse?
• sleeper

  

  gut;1357491 wrote:In the event of a dollar collapse (which would really be global economic collapse), I'd rather hunker down with a store of canned goods and water. With trade and everything else falling apart, those canned goods are as good as gold (just think how much it would cost to buy new in those times and you would have been better off stocking up rather than investing in gold/silver).
  
  Stock up and then lay low. That would be my plan. Scavenging just to BUY food doesn't sound remotely appealing, or safe.

  Condoms would become extremely valuable and worth more than gold and silver. If you buy new, they typically last about 4-5 years before they expire and people will still want to bang. Childbirth in a time of crises would probably be difficult so a way to prevent that is ideal. You can buy a 1,000 condoms for like $150 bucks and trade/barter those for anything you need.
• mcburg93

  

  gut;1357471 wrote:In a true "prepper" scenario, gold/silver would probably be worthless. As it is, their value is largely sustained by the belief people will continue to value it. There's no real logic behind it, just a self-fulfilling faith.
  
  More realistic scenarios, such as a currency collapse, or real economic collapse (worse than the Great Depression) then it might make sense for gold and silver as paper/electronic money fails but there are enough people that it would facilitate trade.
  
  I prefer the relative stability of hard assets (house) to hedge against rampant inflation or a currency collapse. At current prices, it's superior to gold/silver. Difference being, you can buy a few thousand in gold but that's not even a downpayment on a house.
  
  A few grand in gold/silver on hand at home might not be the worst idea. Then again, what would likely happen? You go to the store to buy something, and roaming gangs would follow you and take everything you have.

  I have been buying gold for awhile. It has been used for a very long time as currency so hopefully that will always be the case. I have also bought a lot of silver as well. I dont know if anything will ever happen but I figured it would all just be an investment anyways for my future. I guess it all depends what happens if any of us are ready or not. I hope I never see it and never have to worry about it.
• gut

  Automatik;1357485 wrote: I cashed out around 2k worth of silver last year. Was that a bad move?!

  I haven't been following the prices very closely. But IMO silver and gold are highly speculative and really not good ideas for unsophisticated investors. Gold has been prone to decades-long bear/bull markets. When the current market ends - which is anyone's guess - some people are going to lose their ass.
  
  My philosophy, and what I tell everyone, is invest in commodities INDEXES. You'll get plenty of exposure to gold and oil (and check holdings, because some indexes offer more exposure to those two than I'd want). Much less volatile than gold or oil individually, and you still get plenty of currency hedge. It's also a smart long-term play on an expanding global market. Yeah, still speculative but the underlying commodities (other than gold, and to lesser extent silver) have rely demand driving prices that dominates speculation.
  
  So, for example, I'd look for a combo of ETF's to break down 20% overall exposure into:
  Oil & it's distillates: 25% (so 5% of my portfolio)
  Natural gas & other energy: 15%
  Precious metals: 15%
  Industrial metals: 20%
  Agriculture: 10%
  Livestock: 5%
  Timber/land: 10%
• gut

  Another way to look at it...would you really invest 5% of your savings into a single, highly volatile stock? That's what you are doing with gold. At a minimum, at least get some diversification to the asset by splitting your allocation between the physical commodity and stocks of gold miners/producers/distributors (note the latter are usually even more volatile than the asset itself, basically a leveraged play on gold).
• WebFire

  I am stashing whiskey/moonshine for my bartering. Plus it's medical benefits.
• gut

  justincredible;1357498 wrote:You make a good point. What about if things start to cool off after a while after a potential collapse?

  That's a good point. But if that's your plan and expectation, perhaps you are better off in investing in learning a skill that would be valued in such a world (I'd be screwed).
• gut

  sleeper;1357500 wrote:Condoms would become extremely valuable and worth more than gold and silver. If you buy new, they typically last about 4-5 years before they expire and people will still want to bang. Childbirth in a time of crises would probably be difficult so a way to prevent that is ideal. You can buy a 1,000 condoms for like $150 bucks and trade/barter those for anything you need.

  Maybe, except what does history tell us about that? History says people pump out as many kids as possible to A) work and provide for the family and B) increase chances that one or more will survive to "spread your seed".
• gut

  WebFire;1357522 wrote:I am stashing whiskey/moonshine for my bartering. Plus it's medical benefits.

  I'll stockpile the advil and gatorade. We could go into business together.
• justincredible

  

  WebFire;1357522 wrote:I am stashing whiskey/moonshine for my bartering. Plus it's medical benefits.

  I'm going to start stockpiling marijuana. Or seeds, at least.
• hasbeen

  

  I'm hanging out with you guys when shit hits the fan.