In scenarios where public order has broken down, such as government collapse, national EMP strikes, natural disasters, rebellion, and others, looting frequently occurs.
Looting can start immediately, or it can take a while to gain traction. In either case, it is exploitative behavior in which the looters seek personal gain by taking what they want or need from others.
This exploitation can be aimed at survival needs but is often for monetary or personal gain. Here are some of the items looters will take first from your property.
Food and Water
Two of the most basic needs in human survival are food and water. Ordinary, law-abiding citizens will succumb to survival instincts when food and water supplies are compromised.
This type of looting is common in natural disasters, like the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, where grocery stores were thoroughly looted for food supplies.
Non-perishable food, especially survival or military rations, will be most desirable. Canned food, water jugs, sports bars, and high-calorie food will also be targeted.
Being such a primal necessity to live, nearly every home has food in it, and looters will not need to look for indicators that you have it. The assumption can easily be made that there is food on your property, and that is all the justification needed for hungry looters to come looking.
In case your food stockpile it compromised, you can learn here about the superweeds that saved large communities from starvation during the Great Depression. It could be a real lifesaver when there’s no other food around.
Survival Gear
Just as precious as food and water in survival situations, looters will seek gear made specifically for enduring harsh conditions. This can broadly be camping, fishing, hunting, and shelter-related gear. High-end sleeping bags, tents, boots, knives, water purification systems, rain gear, camouflage clothing, multi-tools, and similar items will be taken.
These not only have practical value but are usually easily transported and traded or sold. High-quality survival equipment is often lightweight, durable, compact, and feature-rich.
Unfortunately, all of these traits also make them desirable to looters who can only carry so much and want the highest value and portability for their efforts.
Medical Supplies and Drugs
Medical supplies will be looted to treat current injuries or ward off the threat of future injuries. Some drugs, like insulin and inhalers, are critical for the survival of some people, and they will search specifically for those drugs.
Other prescription drugs that are commonly used will be sought for their trade value and for personal use. While you can’t generally buy antibiotics over the counter, you can use this ingenious method to stockpile antibiotics without a prescription. Medical items like masks and sanitizers will be looted in a biological disaster scenario.
Firearms and Ammunition
Looting, self-defense, and offensive actions are much easier to achieve with the use of firearms. Looters may not have firearms to begin with and will seek them to make their lives and actions easier.
When civil unrest becomes violent, like the 1992 Los Angeles riots, gun stores will be targeted first and then homes.
Along with firearms are items commonly associated with weapons. These can be scopes, holsters, body armor, and tactical gear.
Precious Metals and Jewelry
All metals have at least some practical or monetary value, but the first ones looters will look for are gold, silver, and platinum. These metals are common in jewelry, which may also have diamonds or other gemstones.
Related: 17 Items That Vanished Immediately After the Pandemic
Looters will seek these for their intrinsic value that is not tied to fiat currencies, making them valuable in times of high inflation or collapse of financial systems.
Even in less extreme scenarios, precious metals and jewelry are easy to carry in highly valuable quantities and very easy to sell on the street.
Fuel and Energy Sources
When the electric grid is down, gas stations, homes, and vehicles will no longer have boundless energy. Looters will seek solar panels, propane tanks, batteries, camping stoves, gasoline and diesel fuels, generators, power banks, and anything else to meet their needs.
Even alternators can be taken out of vehicles and rigged into manual generators. Immediate looting will be for fossil fuels to power vehicles and generators, the generators themselves, and batteries.
The presence of solar panels on your property might drive looters to become squatters so they can harvest energy over time.
When looters target fuel and energy sources, having a reliable backup is essential.
The Modular Backyard Power Plant is the perfect solution. It’s easy to build, scalable, and provides a dependable power supply for your home during blackouts.
Vehicles
Mobility is highly valuable and is not limited to trucks and cars. Looters will seek any vehicle that helps them become more mobile, especially if it has street value for trade or sale.
Trucks, cars, trailers, bikes, scooters, campers, and boats will all be sought. Looters may not even want to keep the vehicle, but if it helps them get further down the road, they will take it and ditch it when it runs out of fuel.
SUVs, trucks, four-wheelers, and similar vehicles are extremely useful for their versatility and ability to drive off roads. In coastal areas, boats and other watercraft can be even more useful, especially if only a few roads access your area.
Tools and Hardware
Similar to precious metals and jewelry, tools can easily be sold on the street, though they are often much more cumbersome to carry.
Beyond their street value, tools are useful for crafting whatever it is the looters need. Power tools, and hand tools are all useful to anyone with craftsmanship skills.
Some tools, like crowbars, hammers, and bolt cutters, can be used to make looting easier by providing the means to breach doors and other barriers.
Electronics and Communications Devices
Though not useful in every situation, like an EMP strike, electronics are often sought by looters for their value, portability, and even just to improve their quality of life. Cell phones, radios, and satellite systems will be looted for communications potential.
Cell phones, tablets, TVs, gaming consoles, computers, and even washing machines can be stolen for sale on the street or to be brought home and used personally.
Drones and GPS devices can immediately be useful for looters in the pursuit of their next target and will surely be taken.
Looting is extremely common when social order breaks down, whether due to a natural disaster, war, crime wave, or any similar event. Being aware of what looters will seek is the first step in protecting yourself and your loved ones from having your supplies pillaged.
Anything portable, valuable, and immediately useful is at risk. Safeguarding these supplies by keeping them hidden from view and secured behind locked doors will help you avoid becoming of interest to looters.
What are some other items looters will target first? Let us know in the comments below!
You may also like:
8 Ingenious DIY Chicken Projects
Why You Should Never Put a Tall Fence Around Your Property (Video)
Veggies You Only Plant Once And Harvest Forever
Looters will take everything, including your wife.
I already gave her away….lol
Take my wife, please!
Looters are the poor useful idiots that did not prepare for hard times ahead.
Freeloaders go home, this our country, we have our own homeless and homeless veterans to take care of first.
Foreigners beware Bidenomics is on the way out, no more free stuff, sanctuary states must be disbanded, defunded.
It is us against Biden’s illegals spread out through our America by midnight plane flights on the taxpayer’s dimes.
If we can with MAGA Trump back in office, deport and have a national civilian bounty program to help ICE/BP deport them.
The negative thumbs down are Biden’s illegals responding to the truth.
Looters go home, get a job and pay the principle on your student loans!
We the people must not pay off your student loans period. Biden and congress can pay off your interest by their ill gotten personal wealth of insider trading tips.
I like the bounty idea! Dead or alive! Sorry, but that’s where I’m at!
Is that one of those ‘Dead or Alive’ bounties? lol
Time to loot places like the pope’s Vatican bank that has looted for centuries, including banks of the middle east religions who have looted and free the wealth to the poor.
The pope sticks his nose into climate change garbage, he is in league with the climate change pushers of the UN, prince Charles UK, CA Sacramento climate pushers, CA gov Newsom many more who have looted our money for stupid climate change welfare to the elites.
God is still in charge of the planet’s weather that Mother Nature abides by.
Looting is a social political crime against mankind, the Summer of love Antifa and BLM rioters must be put in prison. The Jan 6th political prisoners have their freedom looted by a corrupt government.
Stop the looting now!
Well said and I agree!
Stick all their friends in government, corporations, schools and academia in it also forever or better yet just dig a big hole throw them all in it and set it on fire, we save a lot of money that way instead of feeding and clothing them forever or put them to work farming or building housing and other things as slave labor.
The other day, I got an iPhone for my wife.
I think I made a good trade.
A DE-googled phone would have been a better trade.
looters should be shot on site
Sooo you’re saying, desperate people will take anything they think they need… and criminals will take anything they don’t need if it has value.
And an item’s value is determined by the uses or barter worth…. and how hard it is to carry away.
Kind of a Mr. Obvious article.
The reason CA gov Newscum is adding at least $0.50 cents to the already over tax gas in California to support the many. EV’s, illegal homeless are part of the tax giveaways there.
Subsidized EV breaks to potential buyers, if no subsidizing of the EV costs, buyers would not afford those vehicles.
Those EV’s will be the last ones looters will steal as the electrical grid more likely will be down during the SHTF.
Hybrid EV’s and gas powered cars maybe on the looters list. A horse will be more valuable to loot.
Is it looting or terrorism in California?
What happens in Cali so goes the rest of America.
Otay Mesa, CA, today had a fire at the Lithium Battery Facility, SD fire department concerned of chemical reignited fire. Air safety of toxic fumes.
Could this be a soft terrorist target?
CA pilot program, gas alternative tax program as EV’s and elimination of the gas powered cars goes in effect in 2030.
Lithium battery fires will become the next environmental issue when SHTF.
The nuclear power plants when people abandon cities will need cooling down with water, another disaster as America goes downhill with another Demoncrat in the highest office of the land.
Good luck, pray to God for salvation.
Loot, loot who gives a hoot?
Since the Democrats took over the Golden State’s politics, they have looted the citizen’s wealth to prosper. A one party looting system can run a once prosperous state into a sewer hole of an economy.
Gov Newscum and Sacramento have been looting the California taxpayers for billions if not trillions of dollars wasting Californians wealth.
The truth is protect all our stuff by any means necessary.
If you have guns and ammo then protect from the looters. Looters, psychos, mentally ill don’t care about us only their acute gratification for their momentary needs.
It is us against them period, no sugar coating reality.
Don’t care vegans as much as meat eaters will be on the hunt for food and water first. Shelter and clothing next on the list.
If SHTF electronics will be useless. No more internet or smartphones to upload the next deranged videos on whatever social media is left.
As seen in the past, looters come in all shapes and sizes, and colors… if you have it, they will want it and do what they can do to take it… This I will defend…
Spices and liquor will be valued as well.
They will take gas water food medical supplies guns ammo and whatever else they want. Shoot to kill if they try to invade ur properties.
Agenda
Democrat run , for depopulation by each other so they dont fell they are the cause
Evil in the dark evil house of leadership , as they worship fake, false, evil and call it good
just like the do with the law , pervert to do thier own agenda
wait and you will see
like the bible say s , they will be handed over to satan to be destroyed by each other and deception will lead to thier distruction .
Rememeber this : any or all who serve fake, false, deception gods , idols , religeous evils will suffer for thier own actions , matter of time
God is Just , Forgiving, patient, loving , waiting for repentance , not force , but lovingly waits
The Book s of john, james, peter , 1 john tell of God s judgement for those who choose Wrong .
looter s just do by nature what they want NOT NEED . GREED
Take for satisfing thier own lust , want and greed
Clearly Written : except a person, man, woman be born again with a new holy spirit , they cannot see truth, God, Holiness
Left to themselves to thier own distruction , God lets them Go , Because God is JUST
I would imagine that many looters will only get away with lead in a WROL setting.
ok I figured out what SHTF meant, but what is WROL?
Without Rule of Law
That was my first thought. It really does depend on the preparedness of the people in the home intended to be looted. MOST people who prepare, prepare for such a scenario. Here, you will either get lead or an arrow. I prefer the arrow because it will go through the majority of body armor, and it is quiet, not giving away a position with multiple looters. I’m more accurate with the crossbow and I know it won’t go through the walls of my home since it’s done in 1″ pine. (It’s not a little wuss bow. This thing will take down a wild hog.) Saves on ammo, too.
To avoid all the above article and comments is to vote in this do or die 2024 presidential election for freedom.
Yes the biggest looting in America is our sovereignty by traitors of Marxism.
These traitors hatched their elitist European Islamic, Muslim illegals flooding the EU a few years ago. The USA elitist thought they can do the same action of flooding illegals across the open Southern border, no sweat.
Put on our big boy and girl pants and kick out these illegals in America. The 14th Amendment is not for the illegals anchor babies born on American soil. Neither the hundreds of Chinese tourist pregnant females whose kids think they will get full benefits of social security.
Looting the American Constitution is shameful!
The 14th Amendment of very past formerly enslaved Americans not for Biden-Obama illegals present in the USA!
Stop the looting of America!
Loot, loot whose got the loot?
Big time looting is Biden’s student loan forgiveness to foriegn influenced cowards for votes in 2024.
The student loan program was originally interest free. Then senator Biden added a law to place interest on the student loans.
Biden’s loan forgiveness is the looting of the American taxpayers of their freedom to save money.
Looting is not only stealing from the retirees, seniors and homeowners it also is looting America for selfish reasons.
Let’s Go Brandon and the rest of the political looters who drain our main vain, their lizard’s, the real looters of America.
as with protecting your supplies from the government in similar situation. have two or more stashes one “hidden” easily found so the looter think they got all there is don’t forget to try to stop them from “finding “ the small stash
kind of like putting out a bug plate at a picnic you know they are coming just lead them to what you allow them to have
The many prepper sites give out many ideas that should be kept quiet, giving a roadmap to future looters.
In a free society we air our laundry in public that evil looters can us against us. Just like tik tok suing American government, using our laws and Constitution1stA, against us. The Chinese have been looting our technology to build their military up at our expense, smart must admit.
We let the whole world of illegal criminals, mentally ill an evil doers loot our economy because of our bleeding heart activist.
Livestock and pets
Looting takes all possibilities physical, mental and spiritual.
The looting of America is like the Covid plandemic, all baked into the cake of corruption we have lived in this presidency.
These looters have no bounds to destroy us then be part of the American community. Islamist’s are looters of our freedoms here.
Go back home or indoctrinated students who support Gaza people who a majority voted for Hamas.
Go try looting over there and see how far you will get.
2 weeks ago two Islamist tried to probe a Marine base to loot information on us? Illegals are total looters of America, deport the looters.
The first thing they will be taking away is their buddy’s body…
Well it looks like the list covers almost everything, so what else is new
You did not mention your livestock and pets to be butchered for food.
It doesn’t matter if I am at home or not,My house has booby traps if they get in they will most likely die .