Look around the house sometime, and think about the value of all the stuff you have. Not how much money you paid for it – consider how important it is to you. Some things will be valuable to you because you use them all the time. Some will have sentimental value. Some will be important just because you like them. It’s a safe bet that if you were told you had to get rid of half your stuff, you could list your belongings in order of importance pretty easily.
If the SHTF and society collapses, the order of that list is likely to change quite dramatically. For example I have three English longbows which I love, and a compound bow that I don’t particularly like at all. In a crisis, though, the compound will be a lot more important to me, because while it’s no fun to shoot it’s more accurate, much more compact and, generally, a far more practical hunting weapon. You’ll know which of your own possessions will be worth most in an emergency.
The point to remember is that in a survival situation the things that matter really matter. We’re not talking about items you enjoy using, or that make your home feel more comfortable; we’re talking about items that mean the difference between life and death. With stakes that high, people will do drastic things to get their hands on those items. Some will even be willing to kill for them – and the longer a crisis goes on, the more survivors will cross that line.
Related: Best States for Self-Defense. Do You Live in One of Them?
As a prepper, you shouldn’t ever be in the position of needing to use deadly force to get the things you need to survive; you should have them already. Preppers are a small minority of the population, though. We’re seriously outnumbered by people who aren’t prepared, who don’t have the things they need, and who – if they survive long enough – are going to get the idea that they can get those things by knocking you on the head and taking them from you. Here are the things they’ll want to take, and how you can protect your equipment – and yourself.
Guns
In a TEOTWAWKI scenario, your chances of surviving go way down if you don’t have a gun. Firearms are excellent for hunting and essential for self-defense.
People who don’t have guns will be determined to get one – gun control will be the first political casualty of a crisis – so make sure they don’t get yours.
One thing to watch for is over-confidence. You have a gun, and the people who want to get one don’t. How can they overcome the advantage your firearm gives you? Well, there are ways.
If someone with a knife or even a stick can get within their weapon’s reach before you can react, you’ve lost the advantage. The easiest way for them to do that is to just wait until you’re asleep, then sneak up on you and hit you over the head. That’s why you’re much better off as part of a group; you can maintain 24-hour security.
Alternatively, one person can distract you, for example by asking for food or medical help, while another sneaks up behind you with a knife in his hand. If you’re talking to refugees or desperate neighbors, don’t let them get too close and keep your back protected – even if that means standing against a wall.
Ammunition
Some people who do have guns will also be a threat. If somebody’s running low on ammunition they might decide the best way to use their last few rounds is to shoot you and take your ammunition.
This threat is hard to defend against, because your adversary has a gun. The best defense is OPSEC – do your best to conceal the fact you have guns and ammunition.
Food
There aren’t many things that will make people as desperate as hunger. When you’re starving, and know that someone else has food, any moral qualms about killing them to get your hands on it will fade fast.
Again, your best defense is to hide the fact you have food – because if you don’t, sooner or later someone’s going to try to take it from you.
Fuel
Often, when disaster strikes the best thing to do is get as far away from the scene as possible. Unfortunately that inevitably means gas stations being swamped with panicking drivers until their tanks run dry, and then people running out of fuel as they try to escape.
If your terrified family are in the car with you, the tank is empty and you can see someone else with a row of gas canisters in the back of their truck, how far would you go to get that gas for yourself? Some people will do whatever it takes – including killing. In a crisis, every life is cheap except your own.
Medicine
Whatever crisis hits us, it won’t be the initial disaster – societal breakdown, hurricane or even nuclear war – that causes most deaths. It will be the wave of disease that follows. With the water supply failing, hospitals closed or overwhelmed, and pharmacies looted, things like cholera and typhoid will sweep through the survivors.
When someone is watching the first signs of disease in themselves or a loved one, they’re going to want to get hold of medicine to treat it – and everyone knows preppers stockpile medicine.
Even simple medicines like rehydration salts can be life savers. However, the most important medicine people will be after is antibiotics. Since antibiotics are typically not available over the counter, here is an ingenious way to stockpile antibiotics without a prescription, before it’s too late.
Gold
I disagree with a lot of preppers when it comes to the value of precious metals for barter after a social collapse. I don’t think they’re worth having.
In theory they’re great; substances that have been valued for the whole history of human civilization, and won’t become worthless when the government that issued them falls apart.
In practice… well, if you’re anxiously watching your food supplies and hoping they last until your crops are ready to harvest, are you really going to hand over part of them in exchange for some shiny yellow metal that, importantly, you can’t eat?
I don’t think you are. In a world where no more ammunition is being made, do you want to swap some of your dwindling supply for a bar of gold you can’t actually do anything with?
However, as useless as gold and silver might be in a crisis, some people’s greed will overcome their common sense. If you have gold, and people know about it, someone will attempt to kill you and steal it.
Your stockpiles are valuable in money terms – it’s hard to be really prepared without spending a lot – but when the crisis comes their value soars beyond anything money can buy. They’re what’s going to keep you alive through whatever comes at you.
But anything that can keep you alive can also keep someone else alive. Never underestimate how determined they might be to save their own life, even at the cost of yours. You need to protect your stockpile, and that also means protecting yourself.
You may also like:
How to Make Your House Invisible to Looters (Video)
Are You Ready for the Upcoming Food Crisis?
5 Vehicles That Can Handle An EMP Attack
In a crisis nothing is safe – including your family. We have seen what the un-American
thugs do when an opportunity presents itself.
You mean “Democrats”. They don’t prepare, we are all tin foil hats. But when the SHTF they come asking, begging, then they come in numbers to take it.
Then there are the criminals we already have. They will swoop in, in large numbers and loot every house they can. We are talking waves of thousands in suburban areas near a major city. What percentage of the population has preps? Probably 10% at best. Imagine after 2 weeks what it’s going to be like. And if you fight, they’ll burn your house down. Because that is what looters do. They are arsonists and murderers.
If they come, don’t stay in your house. You’ll have to move into the street and protect your preps.
Democrats ? Really. Jan 6 comes to mind.
you seem quite foolish to think that the other side you fear….. doesn’t take this seriously. They armed , trained and better funded then your GOP hacks
I will share my ammo with whoever comes for it…at 2350 fps.
Update. I do not recommend bartering ammo. The only exception might be to help a close and trusted family member and/or a longtime, proven, trusted friend. I have learned from experience that most people these days are wolves in sheep clothing (this includes the self-proclaimed Christians). You supply such person or persons with some ammo, then they will know you have extra ammo, and in their greedy mind they will think you have tons of extra ammo and tons of other supplies. There will be nothing to stop them from coming back and trying to take your life. If you are considering using ammo for barter, you need to rethink that quickly. And it’s the same with alcohol. Alcohol can turn a coward into a killer momentarily.
I believe the whole point of this article was to make it clear that *anything* deemed valuable will be worth killing for in the minds of the desperate.
Gold and silver have always had value, disagree with the author.
We have always been at conflict since dawn of mankind’s social ills of those who have and those who have not.
We have American criminals and lazy people who think stealing is their way, greed, envy of the thugs who the easy way is the best way to get riches.
Now we have Biden’s illegals of thugs, drug dealers, psycho mentally ill, terrorist and a foriegn cabal of a massing internal invasion army forming. Biden caused the problems of closing down the oil drilling, open southern border to foriegn actors and freeloaders.
Progressives cause the issues then make a big deal of saying they will fix an issue they caused in the first place.
The short memory minded low information voters of both parties except the nonsense those in power push on America.
Remember as mentioned in other posts, senator Biden added interest to the student loan program decades ago. To make up for the mistake years later he forgives the student loans all together by making taxpayers pay off the loans then just taking off the interest which is part of the fiat money we have today.
These Hamas protesters, future lawyers, judges, bankers, politicians, liberal arts just got a free ride off the American taxpayers. Those semi adults must pay off their principle of the loans they borrowed for indoctrinated education.
Why should we have to pay for someone else when we have to pay for our loans, mortgage on our home and car loans?
We are being played for suckers, just like Dr Fauci dictator practices causes millions of people to die from a covid plandemic in a Chinese lab funded by taxpayers and paying his salary in retirement, good grief!
Time to clean house this 2024 presidential election. MAGA!
A bipartisan bill to fix the border problem was sent to the speaker on three different occasions. Trump wanted to use the border crisis for political hay in November so he asked the party to shelve it.
Trump is using it because it is a huge issue and Biden has done absolutely NOTHING in four years but make it worse and reverse any progress we had. I’m glad Trump is using it hopefully it is waking some of you bleeding hearts from your 1960’s Kumbaya haze. You’re lack of awareness is disgusting.
This bipartisan bill (February in the Senate) would have done NOTHING to stem the flow of people until the number of people crossing outside of ports of entry exceeded 35k in 7 straight days.
The $118 billion bill also would have supplied more funding to interdict fentanyl and human trafficking, and it included $60 billion in aid for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel. (So more than 60% not even for the US!)
This wasn’t Trump blowing this up, it was a bad bill.
What part of bad bill don’t you understand? That bad bill that would have codified allowing, at minimum, 5000 migrants a day into the U.S. 5000 a day that taxpayers would be on the hook to feed, house, provide health insurance and education, and give them spending cash. Quite the deal, unless you are a taxpayer in a near bankrupt country.
If by bi-partisan, you mean some democrats and rinos, cousin, that dog don’t hunt. Just because some rinos agreed to it didn’t make it good policy. Besides, the dems probably tried to throw some riders in the bill that made it bad for the people.
Roy… dood… what are you doing here??
republicans will just grant amesty ….. they love cheap farm labor
because the bill sucked. not that republicans don’t suck to.
ah yes the Dave Rasmey fools…. Nothing like the fake christian ramsey pimping people into following advice he didn’t follow himself.
Biden did not stop oil production. This very minute, the USA is the highest oil producing country in the world, ever. And OPEC has agreed to cut oil production through November. Which will cause the price at the pump to go up. Imagine that.
What world do you live in, Biden hates fossil fuels.
pervert joe stopped DRILLING, and EXPLORATION, there doodoo head!
And don’t forget Biden guaranteeing student loans by our tax money.
Hi, I can’t figure out how to make a simple comment on my own so I am choosing
Your comment to make a reply that in part agrees & expounds upon & although I may seem to be speaking of politics, I am merely forced to mention ( sigh, Ronald Reagan, a
president elected before I was old enough to vote ,which matters not due to the extreme irregularities & yes, illegalities that
caused his first presidential appointment to happen ,no matter how many had voted for Carter & would have prior to the close of the polls had things gone on in the usual manner rather than a Deux ex Machina
( Literally & Actually) ended the entire electoral process due to the hostage situation.
I am 100% in agreement with the utility of gold, silver,copper, tin ,zinc, blah blah, blacksmithing is a learnable skill as is basic dentistry , if for nothing else silver & gold are THE BEST natural dental filler with relatively little risk of infection as long as the tooth prep is done right( I e read about that part, gross) & even make tooth replacement possible & that right there is a salable commodity that can’t be stolen although any equipment & supplies could be. Likewise healing knowledge,food preservation know how, trapping , tanning, loom crafting & lessons in how to best use it, knowledge of good combinations of plant fibers for various items, how to properly process them without having to do tedious trial & error on your own would be incredibly valuable ! But only if done as 1 on 1 tutorial
type, like an apprenticeship & with various levels, such as what not to do first of all, don’t burn oleander or use it for anything or eat honey made from it , don’t use it for cooking spits or toothpicks or suck the nectar or even whittle with it .but it’s great as a go to all natural punji stick in a trap etc.
Steep a tea of it for evil home invaders ,use in a poultice likewise if they require healing .
Info will be the most valuable asset for anyone to have ! Especially if they also have good teaching skills .mathematics are needed for many esoteric things . Someone mentioned that ammo would no longer be made but loading your own bullets isn’t even hard to do but making the components for gunpowder & the formula & method of combining them is another matter entirely! Math is important in canning, storing ,salting of foods ,building , be it dwelling or a dam for a water wheel. the ability to read & write will become a rare commodity as in the old days of scribes for contracts ( oh paper making skills !! So important!) & birth records to avoid inbreeding of stock .
So very much more but … Biden , I have nothing to say . All politicians tend to have a wide streak of blind ,power hungry, position for the sake of being ‘godlike’ ,(trumps belief of what being president would be like) deep seated well hidden megalomania combined with a lack of any moral compass, IMHO! *
Except Jimmy Carter. Who when he passes I intend to start a movement to see his true lifetime of achievements fully testamented upon by those who knew him personally & see that he is acknowledged as the one politician who never acted in any self serving or immoral or lewd ,ignorant , uncivilized or even unkind fashion towards anyone, including the terrorists who took all
of America hostage. They invaded our country through the Embassy’s Invasion.
Carter should have been given a do-over!
Our current situation of economy, homelessness , drug cartels , overwhelming mortgage debts ( ’98, greenspan, there is no such thing as 125 % of ‘ the equity available in your home ‘ the phrase itself is ludicrous!
If it was ‘ the potential future value of your land & the buildings upon it, if the title is free & clear of encumbrances, the taxes are paid in full, all codes past & present ,all permits valid & accounted for & all work done by licensed or certified ,as per the situation in question ,with current regs & all materials as they should be , no infestations or invasive molds present & nothing toxic anywhere nearby or registered sex offenders & so on nearby..& the guy next door doesn’t turn out to have an active illegal immigration tunnel’s hub in his basement , well yeah at that future date it’s possible your property might attain an added 25% kor equity than it currently has but you will be paying added taxes on that the whole time & that’s not good for its sales value at all. Plus you have to sell it to get that equity out of it! ) sorry I worked as a mortgage firms telemarketer for a while & those agents were IMHO simply as uncaring as any minor demon would be , actively hoping you will fail to follow through with your end of the agreement so the bank ends up owning everything! )
Our current situation in re: all the things I mentioned before going on my greenspan rant , Are the direct result of acts performed by Reagan in his time as the executive office holder .which position he gained using methods that were illegal, unconstitutional , unprofessional & harmful to our standings vis a vis many of our at that time allies & alienating a country who we had had good standing with up until he pandered to terrorists & then proceeded to destroy our social care system, our educational system , our housing for low income, afdc ,hud, medi-cal/care , food stamps , aid & assistance & medical mental coverage for & housing & counseling & effective treatment for OUR VETERANS IN THEIR DESPERATE TIME OF NEED as we were just in the pee test portion of the true
long term issues of PTSD & agent orange & napalm & other like war constructs that the use of has been banned now but the treatment for the damage done to so many in the name of our country is nearly always denied . Veterans rights were ravaged under Reagan . As were the rights of those who were innocent of complicity, but were present during another’s arrest & therefore, without even a hearing were reincarnated in the basis of 2 previous terms in jail no matter how petty the actual criminal charges was. Leading to a prison population so dense that disease became a greater cause of demise than any other ..this too is still a legacy that rides us .
I’m done ,
I wish you had said Carter should have been given a do over at the beginning, I would have skipped your whole comment.
i agree with you about precious metals but if a person is determined to have some then make it silver. you can always cut a 1 oz. ingot in two or fourths for the price of something but a 1 oz ingot of gold you can’t cut small enough to do you any good. i do have several silver ingots but probably won’t get more, i’ll use the money for barter items like canning jar seals, ammo (which i make my own bullet and reloads), whiskey and vodka, etc. the barter system will come into play soon after an event liked described in the above article.
The problem with barter of ammo is those people can eventually use that against us than trade down the line, use caution.
Try goldbacks. One goldback contains 1/1000 ozt of 24k gold. Nicely divisible real money.
Paraffin for canning, learn how to make your own gunpowder & you’ll be a rich man,
likewise distillery skills, not just booze but rather cleansers & medicaments , infusions, syrups, poultices, ointments, kitchen chemistry( alchemy some of it) insect repellants, birth control, simple surgical procedures, for peeps & animals! Caesarians for human & equine/bovine & ovine( sheep & goats & deer as well) & porcine species too. Spaying & neutering will still be vital skills , the simple usually effective methods on neutering bloodlessly.
But the brewing!! Beer, ales ,stout, mead ! & The packaging thereof , empty glass bottles will once again have value !! Whittling dishes ,bowls ,cups ,plates ! Especially if you have measuring cups to work from & replicate , the ability to make a simple balance scale , a windmill, hell even a weathervane , lightning rods , functional flint & steel fire starting kits or devices, matches!
non smoky non toxic slow burning lamp fuels , another distillery type item , candle molds & bullets & other things would make any lead deposits as valued as gold! I’m done.
This is in response to yesterday’s post on communications. It also applies to this one. The gov can confiscate anything it deems necessary to the common good, not individual rights the way this country was founded. I also pasted a couple comments from a different site.
YouTube Confiscations. 17 minutes of you gotta be kidding me.
The Patriot Act, The Affordable Care Act, and the National Defense Authorization Act allows this. People should read those documents. What they can do is frightening!
The purpose of FEMA is to perpetuate the continuation of government.
Ever notice how much the cops today look like convicts only with badges? Tattoos, overweight, beards. Sad days we are in. Don’t let it drag you down.
When did FEMA become a military force?
I hope we meet up again under the Denver airport.
——-
It’s not just food. This can be survival of the smartest if we stay smart. Tell no one you are preparing. Siblings are the worst unless they are completely like minded. Complacency kills. I will always say the most important thing to have prepared is your soul.
You are right Dan, but I use this approach, if they don’t know about it and cant find it they cant take it. My house would appear to be built on slab, no basement windows, but it does have an oversized furnace room below grade. I have made the entrance less noticeable and very few people know about it, my brother-in-law that lives two blocks away has never even been down there. My long term stores are about as secure and hard to find as I can make them. My real treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
Shoot first, ask questions later!
I think the title of the article was improperly stated. Didn’t you mean “Items people will die for in a crisis”?
Actually much of this will be moot soon because of the disappearance of millions of people. Yes I do believe in the pretrib rapture of Christian’s. Once we are gone the world will be truly ready for the intelligent good looking charismatic guy that appears on all televisions and calmly assures everyone he has all the answers!
pre trib rapture isn’t a thing much like rapture isn’t
Bravo-Seirra!
BS!
RE – NEIGHBORS ???
(ESPECIALLY NEIGHBORS WITH KIDS)
NEIGHBORS :
“ASKING TURNS TO BEGGING”
“BEGGING TURNS TO TAKING”
AND – WHY I AM ARMED AND TRAIN WEEKLY (COMBAT COMPETITION)
PISTOL & RIFLE
FOR 10YR NOW. AND TRAINED MY DAUGHTER HOW TO RUN AN AR. YOU DONT JUST “SHOOT” AN AR – YOU “RUN” AN AR. IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT IT. 1-2 SEC MAG CHANGES. ETC, OPTICS ZEROED, KNOW YOUR “AIM POINTS” AT DISTANCES.
Sure you don’t
If / When SHTF, a lot of tasks will become time eaters. Items which help you speed those tasks along will be useful. A wheelbarrow with no-flat tire and steel frame will move heavy bulky objects easier, especially in non paved areas. I’m not sure I would even lend this out to anyone – better I go to be sure it comes back.
Not only water filters – purifiers but water envelope – bladders that allow you to store water in bulk and use later.
Light sources not requiring fuel to emit light. UVPaqlite use glow in dark that emit a weak glow. Won’t cast a beam but for getting around in the dark – very useful inside a shelter for example. Extremely lightweight – non bulky. All batteries and fuel will eventually run out or be unable to charge again.
One thing never discussed on any bulletin board is what do you do with all the dead bodies stacking up around the house? Call the authorities? I don’t think so.
yeah…. cause that’s going to be a issue.
burn, baby, burn! The only safe thing to do…it will stink up the neighborhood for a while, and maybe scare of looters…
Matt Bracken is a democrat, Troll. Antifa?
The one thing that I have learned about liberals like the folks on here commenting, is that they’re Useful Idiots. You can’t argue with them. Truth is hate speech to these people. Instead of doing their own research, they listen to hacks like Rachel Maddow and watch The View. And the saddest part of it all is that they’d rather watch this country burn to the ground than to vote for a guy that posts mean tweets.
Too many preppers, including the owner of this website, have a 180-degree wrong idea about gold/silver.
Metals aren’t for bartering for food, ammo or any other commodity.
Metals are for making your house payment or paying your property taxes so you don’t get kicked out on the street.
Metals are for paying your income taxes so you aren’t arrested.
Metals are for paying for emergency transportation for your family to escape a locked-down war zone.
Metals are for bribing the checkpoint soldiers.
Try doing any of that with a few rolls of toilet paper.