Water, Food, Guns and Ammo - Best investments in the time of a Depression/Disaster?

Just started watching Jericho, I'll give you an answer after a few more episodes.

OmahaAndy said: Just started watching Jericho, I'll give you an answer after a few more episodes.
The answer it nuts, lots and lots of nuts.

Don't let your spouse watch 6 Feet Under or they'll never let you hoard emergency food/water

First of all, "Depression" is not something that requires you to "stock up" on anything. Disaster is another matter, and you get all your petrified heart's content from Google if you do a simple search. But you should have a flashlight, batteries, a radio and some drinking water. A backup generator is also useful for an extended blackout, especially if you have a sump pump and don't want your basement flooded.

Finally, a hardwired telephone.

And a puppy. If you have a puppy people will feel sorry for you and give you food.

A gun, and one bullet. Put in mouth, Pull trigger and no worries

Jeez, not again. Don't you have a Y2K survivor website to maintain, brian?

On the serious side of things, here are some items I'd recommend:

*SEEDS*
1.) Moringa oleifera tree (Highly nutritious and useful beyond belief. Do a Google search. Neat, eh?)
2.) Wolfberry fruit (Sweet-tasting, delicious and comparable to #1 in qualities.)
3.) Stevia rebaudiana (Calorie-free sugar substitute and sweeter too. Leaves can be dried and stored.)
4.) "Tomato-Potato" plant (Grow both with less space)
5.) Organic soybeans (make milk, tofu, soynut butter, cheese,etc. You name it!)
6.) Quinoa "grain" (Provides a complete protein and much more nutritional value than wheat or barley.)
7.) Tobacco (for trade purposes)
8.) Marijuana (for trade; only if there is a total collapse & breakdown, for now just don't)
8.) Aloe Vera (medicinal and cosmetic wonder)
9.) Common herbs used for cooking and medicine
10.) Organic, non-hybrid, foil-sealed versions of common gardening crops (e.g., corn, lettuce, greens, onions, etc.)

*CHEMICALS*
1.) 30g container of loose laboratory grade Potassium Permanganate powder. (Availble on eBay or in local fish store)
2.) 30ml bottle of laboratory grade reagent Glycerin. (Also available on eBay or in local drug store).
3.) 100 lb drum of dry chlorinated bleach (Available at Amazon)
4.) 25g container of resublimed USP-grade iodine crystals. (Hard to find and expensive, but worth it.)

Comments on Chemicals:
The Potassium Permanganate can either be used to sterilize water or used with the Glycerin as an agent to help conduct a fire. When Glycerin is poured over the Potassium Permanganate, a flame results that is 2,000+ degrees (hot enough to ignite thermite). The Glycerin also has many other uses, one of which is in creating a moisturizing soap. The chlorinated bleach has so many other uses than for laundry that it's impossible to list them all here. (But, the important thing is to get the dry for, as this significantly improves its shelf-life by decades.) The iodine crystals can purify water by the thousands of gallons, can be used to make iodine tincture for cuts and scrapes, and has so many other uses they're impossible to list here as well.

*TOOLS*
1.) SureFire E2D Executive Defender Personal Defense Xenon Flashlight with 60 Lumens
2.) Ka-Bar USMC Fighting Knife with Brown Leather Sheath, 7 in., Plain
3.) EMT Scissors (Stainless Steel)
4.) Victorinox Swiss Army Ranger Pocket Knife (Red)
5.) Fox 40 Classic CMG (Cushioned Mouth Grip) Police Whistle
6.) Seychelle Filtering Water Bottles (Canteen Version)
7.) Coleman Folding Shovel & Pick
8.) Glock 26 "Baby Glock" 9mm Pistol with tactical light and laser aim
9.) 100 ft. of "550" Parachute cord
10.) Military surplus Large alice pack with many pockets and a lot of inside space.
11.) Butane windproof "hand torch"
12.) Small Sawed-off Shotgun
13.) Best quality fishing pole you can find.
14.) Flint stone
15.) Small hatchet axe

*FOOD*
1.) 2 cans of Morton table salt.
2.) 2-Year Supply of Mountain House Food Storage Cans (Shelflife >30 yrs; After 30 years they've test them to be sure!)
3.) Freeze-dried foods
4.) 250 pounds of wheat (sealed and preserved tub)
5.) 100 pounds of oats (sealed and preserved tub)
6.) 250 pounds of brown & rice (sealed and preserved)
7.) 100 pounds of dried corn (sealed and preserved)
8.) 100 pounds of sugar
9.) 1 Gallon of Vinegar (Other good uses besides food too!)

*CLOTHING & SHELTER*
1.) Heatsheet 2-Person Survival Blanket
2.) Columbia Bugaboo Four to Five-Person Family Dome Tent
3.) Quick-dry clothing sets (at least 1 pair of both desert and forest camos)
4.) Wool socks
5.) Dr. Martens Steel-Toed Boots
6.) Full-grain leather Running shoes with hillside/mountain cleats
7.) Rain poncho
8.) Briefcase folding umbrella

*MONEY*
1.) 25% of your Savings in 1 oz. 24K Gold bars
2.) 10% of your Savings in 1 oz. 99.99% Silver rounds
3.) 60% of your Savings invested in low-volatility value stocks and mutual funds that consistently pay high dividends (in case things aren't as bad as they seem; still very)
4.) 15% of your savings in cash in a high-interest checking account

*TRANSPORTATION & ENERGY*
1.) Shimano mountain bike (& buy non-deflatable bike tires to go along with it)
2.) Salvaged 275 gallon horizontal fuel tank filled with premium quality gasoline with BHT additive
3.) 1,250 Watt Portable Electric Generator

*HEALTH*
1.) Military Hospital Grade First Aid Kit (Sorry, morphine syringes are still not included.)
2.) Extra pair of sturdy glasses (forget the contacts)
3.) Extra prescription medications

*ETC*
1.) Ten 6oz. Deodorant stones (each is good for 1-2 years)
2.) Reusable ice packs
3.) Reusable heat packs
4.) Sports towels

Kill your neighbor and eat his tree.
I say, have nothing, nobody will want what you have and you can avoid being a victim.

After reading "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, I decided you definitely need a well stocked bunker or cave.

Geesh that was a scary book.

We are on a worst-case scenario topic right?

Hehe, on all the gub forums, we call this a SHTF thread

Millions survived Katrina without guns. We just had a little flood here in the Northwest with the most helicopter rescues since Katrina. I haven't heard one story about guns being useful. People who survive well talk about drinking water, blankets, tarps, and mostly friends.

Where do you guys come up with these weird ideas? What about HumVees? Explosives? Need those? Why does this all sound so much like what my grandsons play with?

janwad said: Millions survived Katrina without guns. We just had a little flood here in the Northwest with the most helicopter rescues since Katrina. I haven't heard one story about guns being useful. People who survive well talk about drinking water, blankets, tarps, and mostly friends.

Where do you guys come up with these weird ideas? What about HumVees? Explosives? Need those? Why does this all sound so much like what my grandsons play with?

Probably talking about global catastraphe as seen in Mad Max, The Postman, I Am Legend, etc. where outside help will never come.

As comprehensive as it tries to be, I see some obvious problems with that list.
greling said: On the serious side of things, here are some items I'd recommend:
*SEEDS*
1.) Moringa oleifera tree (Highly nutritious and useful beyond belief. Do a Google search. Neat, eh?)
2.) Wolfberry fruit (Sweet-tasting, delicious and comparable to #1 in qualities.)
These are both tropical/subtropical. Not going to do much good for many people.

greling said:
*TOOLS*
various firearms
13.) Best quality fishing pole you can find.

but no ammo? Also you better get a few lures targeted towards local fish for that fishing pole.

greling said:
clothing list

The lack of winter clothing (and the first two seeds) tells me this list was written by someone living in the southern US. Sorry, but I'd freeze to death.

greling said:
*MONEY*
1.) 25% of your Savings in 1 oz. 24K Gold bars
2.) 10% of your Savings in 1 oz. 99.99% Silver rounds
4.) 15% of your savings in cash in a high-interest checking account

All useless in the utter disaster the author is prepping for. That dried food is going to be more valuable than gold/silver, and in an utter disaster you're not going to be able to get the $ out of the bank either.

greling said:
*TRANSPORTATION & ENERGY*
3.) 1,250 Watt Portable Electric Generator

There are no items on the list that require non-battery electricity. Also, there are no batteries listed. For that matter, you should have a wind up radio or preferably a ham radio so you can try to find some help.

greling said:
*HEALTH*
...

Obviously the creator is this list has neither wife nor kids.

greling said:
1.) Ten 6oz. Deodorant stones (each is good for 1-2 years)
2.) Reusable ice packs
The author provides no means to cool the ice packs. And you need deodorant during the apocalypse? What's also completely missing from this list is a survival manual that tells you how to use all this stuff you've stockpiled.

greling said:
4.) Sports towels

Everyone knows all you really need is a good towel.

Millions survived Katrina without guns.

And there were also many many people with guns looting the stores to the point at which cops didn't even try to stop them because it was too dangerous.

scott1961 said: A gun, and one bullet. Put in mouth, Pull trigger and no worries

When you kill yourself, you kill the world.

First, Russians are not going to invade. They seem to have trouble controlling much smaller regions like Afganistan or Chechen republic. Why not Chinese or Indians?

Second, if Russians do invade, it seems to be very easy to commandeer their ammo, weapons and military vehicles, at least in the movies...

Third, buy weapons that are compatible with the most commonly used ammo of the expected invader.

NukeMedDude said: All you need is plenty of ammo if the Russians decide to invade......

 

WOLVERINESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Economist said: First, Russians are not going to invade. They seem to have trouble controlling much smaller regions like Afganistan or Chechen republic. Why not Chinese or Indians?

Second, if Russians do invade, it seems to be very easy to commandeer their ammo, weapons and military vehicles, at least in the movies...

Third, buy weapons that are compatible with the most commonly used ammo of the expected invader.

NukeMedDude said: All you need is plenty of ammo if the Russians decide to invade......

 

WOLVERINESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Russia will only invade if you have oil, and Putin wants it, and he feels like maybe you didn't pay enough taxes

mhesidence said: greling said:

*TOOLS*
12.) Small Sawed-off Shotgun



That's a tool? I'd like to see the weapons category.

BTW, wait until after law has broken down before sawing off shot guns since that's illegal.
You might want to leave a few unsawed for hunting birds.

A gun should be classified as a tool, just as a knife is a tool.

In general, sawing off shotguns is only illegal based on the barrel length and the overall gun length. There may be more state-specific laws, but in general, shortening a 28" barrel to 20" is fine. Any gunsmith will do it for you.

I second the recommendation of a rifle; a nice 30-30 or 30-06 would net you any game you wanted (deer are too plentiful around here).

Also, don't forget about the zombies.

Dont worry Dubya and Paulson have rescued us today with their MASTER PLAN. Buy Buy Buy. The economy depends on u. Don let the terrorists win. LMFAO.

a. 9mm or .40 w/ 15 rd. magazine to protect your person.
b. Pump 12 Ga w/ 9 rd. magazine to protect your abode.
c. 7mm mag or 300 mag to reach out and touch someone.
d. Optional: an AK-47, SKS or AR-15 with high capacity magazine for travel.
e. Last but not least, a carbon fiber boot knife for when any/all of the above fails.

Of course the ammo goes without saying.