Some thirty-five years ago, when I was younger, slimmer and less sophisticated, I engaged my shooting buddies in a game of "what if". What if... we had an economic collapse? At the time, the question was barely plausible. Sure, we were in the "rust belt" years of Jimmy Carter's administration (if you could call it that). But no one realistically thought our economy could just collapse overnight. Rather than a "Mad Max" scenario, we painted one like the Great Depression. Too many people without jobs, driven to beg, driven to menial jobs for food and driven to steal to survive. We called these conversations our "Round Table & Beer" sessions because most took place at a Round Table Pizza parlor over pizza and beer.
One of my friends, Ron, had read a report the government did in the late 1960's that showed almost any American city was no more than 7 days from starvation. The suppositions were that after some catastrophe (i.e. a nuclear strike) if a city was cut off from regular supplies, it would take only 7 days for most people to begin starving. It would be worse in the summer if there was no electricity to preserve food by refrigeration. One of the most significant items was that every grocery store would be completely emptied of any useful items at the end of 3 days.
Today, I think that government report was optimistic. Computers have allowed the industry to shift to just-in-time (JIT) supply-chains where products arrive "just in time" to replenish the shelves. Run that concept through the entire supply-chain and one interruption can disrupt a huge portion of business. It gets worse if multiple disruptions occur and no substitutes are available. In the event of a catastrophe, especially one that takes more than about 3 days to come to a head (remember the Cuban missile crisis?) people would put a huge demand on supply lines. I'll predict that once things go from crappy-looking to toilet-flushing, grocery stores (along with hardware stores, automotive, camping goods and gun shops) will be empty within 2 days.
Remember in 2008, when our current President was merely running for office, between October and December, the firearm supply chain was sucked dry. Ammunition for common calibers dried up quickly. Finding any kind of AR/AK rifle, a 1911, Glock or other quality 9mm pistol was almost impossible. Propane and Butane vendors reported a surge in sales as people "topped off" their tanks on rural properties and stored extra. Generator sales jumped too, though to a lesser extent.
And this was because it was merely likely we were going to elect an anti-gun socialist-minded candidate as president. Imagine if the "catastrophe" was a comet that might hit earth. How quickly would the supply chains dry up today?
Now we have people in the mainstream like Robert Kiyosaki, author of the very successful Rich Dad, Poor Dad books suggesting that food shortages, inflation or hyperinflation and economic collapse are not the stuff of fantasy. He's even suggesting that people buy a gun in the event of an economic collapse. That's getting scary.
In my youth, we figured with a gun and some supplies we'd muddle through. But until 1999, I had no concept of just how much stuff you have to stockpile just to make it through one winter. In modern terms, that's stuff like propane for stoves & heating. Gasoline for a generator and rarely used car. That's half a ton of food stuffs, canned or otherwise if two people eat twice a day. It's having a supply of (heavy and hard-to-move) water for drinking and sanitation. Bathing we can do twice a week. With gray water. And this was calculated with a 1200 calorie diet per person/day, calculated out by the weight of food. And in a California winter. You'd need lots more calories and propane in Minnesota or Buffalo NY.
Gold and silver are not money. Not according to Ben Bernanke at the Fed. They're assets. So is a gun. So are bullets. So is a shovel. But gold and silver are always looked at as useful metals for trade. Where someone is selling, gold and silver are usually acceptable when the value of government money is questionable. I'm planning to expand my assets a bit now. But it may be too little, too late.
Gold is good. It's compact. It's easy to work with. It carries a high value-to-weight ratio. People know gold is valuable. Silver is almost as good, though it's not as highly valued as Gold. Most of my asset expansion will be in silver for several reasons. It's cheaper for one, and if its value rises significantly, it's as good as gold for an investment. Silver is a good industrial metal for several reasons and it's cheaper than gold for that purpose. It means goods containing silver are easier to sell. And Silver looks something like lead. In fact, it can be alloyed with lead easily. I'm already hoarding lead in the form of ammunition. Buying some ingots for casting is another good idea.
Guns, Gold and Silver. A good combination investment. The guns allow you to defend your gold and silver (plus yourself, loved ones, home and food). You can carry silver in small enough quantities to buy things you need (e.g. $120 worth of silver = 4 coins) whereas one ounce of gold is over $1,500. Who'll be able to give you change for a $100 purchase? In theory, if you have Guns, Gold and Silver (and a supply of useful lead-tipped products) you can get what you need. One way or another.