I’m a bit of a prepper. I’m not super into prepping, and I don’t have a bunker that I’d load my family into out of fear of an attack or anything like that–not that I’d be opposed to the idea. However, I do believe that each person should be responsible for their own future well being to include putting some food, ammo, and bartering tools off for a later date.
While we will always strive to be a firearm-specific blog, I’d feel irresponsible if I didn’t at least let you in on all that I’m doing to prepare myself and family for whatever dim future awaits the American People.
Hopefully you’re getting the notion that something is awry out in the world. Between the war and rumors of war, fear of famine, and risk of violence between the two main factions within our own country, it’s just a matter of time before the poo hits the fan.
It will hit the fan, and when it does it is going to be epic (in a majorly bad way).
Ammunition:
Listen to me very carefully: stop buying guns and start buying more ammo. Unless, of course, the guns you have are steaming piles of dog poo, you should only buy ammo for your main calibers going forward.
The time to buy guns is over. I’m actually lowering the number of guns I have in my possession by consigning them at the local gun shop. I’ve already sold a few, and I’m rolling that money into other stuff like ammo and some of the other stuff I mention below.
I keep talking to people who refuse to buy ammo right now and it’s baffling to me. The price of certain calibers has recently dropped a bit, and now may be a good time to stock up. If you start out the apocalypse with a low number of rounds for each caliber, you may be disinclined to shoot it when you need to.
Buy more. I don’t care if it’s a single box each week or month because it’s all you can afford.
Why? Because I believe we’re entering a time where we won’t be able to buy it anymore, period.
You can hunt animals with it, defend your family with it, etc. We’re in store for some hard times ahead, and this one is at the top of the list for a reason.
Food:
You need to eat. While ammunition can certainly shoot deer and/or other animals that are delicious, you need to have supplements for it. What kind of supplements? Like noodles, flour for baking bread, rice, beans, etc.
For me, we have long-term food storage for things like flour, salt, rice, sugar, etc., in addition to regular canned food like veggies, Spaghettios, beans, and a lot of other things.
Each time you go to the store, you should buy something extra. What something extra? Something in a box, bag, or can that is sealed and you are able to eat because you like it.
This is important because you may actually need to eat it. You don’t want to buy something you don’t like because then you’ll be miserable.
Buy food you like and would eat anyway. That way, if it does NOT hit the fan you’ll just have extra food to eat.
Garden and Seeds:
If you haven’t noticed, everything has had to do with food up until this point, with the exception of ammo that pulls double duty for hunting (food) and defense. There is a reason for this. When people start to starve, they begin doing things that they wouldn’t otherwise do.
Use your imagination.
So defense and food are paramount, especially with what we’re seeing and with what the farmers are saying. It’s not good. Many farmers have stopped selling their produce to people and have begun to store it up for themselves because they’re seeing increased costs to grow the crops.
It’s a good idea to learn how to grow your own food, now, while you still have some backups at the local grocery store that are affordable.
I’m not saying that we’re going to have massive starvation here in the United States, but food is going up in price and it’s not done. Plus, there are a lot of holes on the local store shelves, and that also cannot be ignored. It’s better to have the ability to be self-sufficient, than not know where your next meal will come from.
We’ve had a garden the past couple of years and have really stepped it up this year because the price of food is going through the roof.
Canning and Food Prep Equipment:
Gardening and learning how to garden and grow your own food is really important. Being able to keep it good for a long time so you can eat it at a later date is even better.
In order to do this properly, you need to have jars and lids, a way to seal them, and/or a freezer to put your stuff into.
I personally recommend the Presto Pressure Canner and Ball or Kerr Mason Jars. These are things that I’ve been using for several years now, and we can everything from chicken and ground beef, to green beans and tomatoes.
Something else we do is freeze our veggies and fruit. For example, we go to the local farm stands and buy several gallon containers of fresh strawberries, cut the leaves off, and flash freeze them. Then we package them up and stick them in the freezer for the next year.
We buy enough for the next year, each and every year. Because we freeze them all at the height of freshness, they stay delicious.
Bartering Stuff:
I’d hate to be the one telling you this, but things are not looking good in the financial sector of the world. I’m the furthest thing from a financial advisor, but you don’t have to be an expert to look around and see that things are melting down before our very eyes.
Exactly what’s happening is way outside the scope of this article. However, I will say that having some things to barter with for the future seems like a no-brainer to me.
Beans, bullets, and gold or silver are all good things to have for just such an occasion. And, as I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, I’m not trading beans or bullets unless I absolutely need to.
You could also barter with a skill, so hopefully you’ve been a useful member of society.
Defensive Gear/Parts:
Finally we have the defensive gear and parts. This includes things like bullet resistant vests so you’re harder to kill should marauders come looking to take you out and steal your food, wife, or children for their own good. I just started working closely with RTS Tactical if you need a reference.
Something else I’m saving up for are a good set of night vision goggles because any serious movement that needs to be done will take place at night. Most people don’t have NVGs and I suspect that I’d go relatively undetected.
Gun parts:
Gun parts are also a good idea. If you rely heavily on an AR-15, you should have a few key components for a backup. Check out our list of the first AR-15 parts to break in that article.
Also, have extra magazines for your guns and anything else you feel you might need like your pistol’s recoil spring, etc.
Conclusion:
While this isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list, it’s my hope that it helps you think about some of the other things you can be doing to get ready for the coming bad times.
