So as to not hi-jack anybody's thread I'll ask here. In that thread I see a lot of angst, what set of circumstances do you perceive that could cause the type of unrest you are stocking up for. ie; years worth of canned goods, MRE’s, fuel, bugging out (or in) tons of ammo, fresh water supplies, livestock purchase and so forth. Not just a storm that knocks out your power for a day, but some other catastrophes, what is it?

I was brought up in the LDS church. Just part of being prepared ... unemployed... natural disaster... whatever. Being self sufficient is requirement enough. No angst required.

The only thing that I've stocked up on (in any real quantity) is CCI SV 22LR ammo. That was in response to the Kalifornia Cut-off law which would have taken effect on the first of Feb. CCI SV is my ammo of choice for bullseye target shooting. None of the local Mom & Pop gun shops carry it so had little choice other than to order via internet. The Kalifornia Cut-off law would have put an end to that so stocked up around 50K rounds before that law would end it all. Since then that law has been ruled "unconstitutional" but there is little doubt in my mind that those (expletive deleted) up in Sacramento will shove something similar up our backsides again in the near future.

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A closed mouth gathers no foot

CCI SV $24.99/500 Dick's Sporting Goods.

If you don't have 50K of .22's stockpiled, you aren't prepared.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

I think the problem is, if you wait to see what you might possibly need all that stuff for, it will be too late to get what you need.

Hurricane, flood, wild fires, tornadoes, earthquake, civil disturbance, whatever.

Most events that cause widespread disruption do not advertise in advance. They just happen. I'd suggest that few people expected to be suddenly on their own with no civil authority to care for them.

Right now, look at Egypt, how many of them expected the entire country to be protesting in the streets just last month? Was there any reason to believe that they'd need food, water, etc. just a month later? They were just going about their lives just like us, day by day. Now, they've had a week or so of pure chaos.

I pray I live the rest of my life without ever needing to grab my emergency bags. I have no reason whatsoever to believe I will. But, I also know that, if I ever do need such supplies, I won't be able to get them at the time I realize I need them. So, I put away stuff now.

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"... shall not be infringed."

Phil pretty much nailed it directly. If I lose my job tomorrow, we're not going to have a lot of extra cash after paying the mortgage and bills - having a large supply of canned and dry goods means we're going to be scraping but not starving while I find more work.

If we have an ice storm here, we've got cooking gas (propane) and electricity for a week (generator with fuel). Basically, we can be cut off from the world at large for a moderate amount of time and be self-sufficient. By letting the emergency services NOT worry about us - two able-bodied adults - they (and that means me) can focus on the people who really aren't able to help themselves. Not those unWILLING, but those unABLE.

I think society as a whole is in for some unpleasant times, but hopefully not to the extent we're seeing in Egypt. Of course, if we do - well, I'm as ready for that as I can be.

Makes sense. All you have to do is kick it off, and rotate stock. What's the cost of doing it when you don't need to versus the cost of not doing it when you need to? Seems like a no-brainer to me.

P.S. If you stockpile, you can kind of arrange to replenish when there's a sale. and maybe slack off a little when there isn't. That way you make money no matter what happens.

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Formerly Model520Fan

Earthquake, tornado, flood, drought, fire, blizzard, civil unrest, pandemic, peak oil, EMP, food crisis, transportation interruption, hyper inflation, hyper deflation, economic crash.... someone else keep the list going.

SWMBO and I have been eating year old canned and packaged foods for several years. (Stock rotation. )

Basically, we initially started with a month's supply and bought doubles or triples (or more) when things were on sale.

We're both in our late 60's, so we will most likely be bugging-in rather than out and ours is a multilevel plan, that includes our close friends and neighbors.

We occasionally have power outages, so we have a generator and can go 2-3 weeks with very little change to our daily lives. Longer if re-fueling is available.

Disruption of food supply: Have about a year's supply of non-perishable food, other basic necessities and a water purifying system.
I'm not a hunter, but the neighbors are and game is plentiful in area.

Civil disorder: Several handguns and a couple long guns with at least 1,000 rounds in each caliber, plus reloading equipment and supplies.
Neighbors also well armed and well stocked.

Our house has strategic and tactical advantages the other four houses in the immediate area do not have, so the "battle" plan is for those families to retreat to here for a "last" stand.

Hopefully we'll never have to find out how well the last step works, but we are prepared for it.

John

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Age + Treachery = JohnnieB

Just to your west, we call that a block party!

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Dick Burg

If you bring a dish to pass, it's a block party.
If you bring shootin' irons and all the ammo you can carry, it's a last stand.

If you happen to be in the neighborhood after the SHTF, drop in and sit a spell.

John

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Age + Treachery = JohnnieB

OK well thanks to all that answered. I just wondered what everyone else was thinking and why you were stocking up.

I will tell you now, we are ‘preppers’ my concerns may be for different reasons but we still prepare for the worst. My folks and Grand folks survived the Great Depression so I guess I took on a lot of those values. I know some of you and yours did also.

My/our fears are for the impending and inevitable economic collapse. I was just reading the other day about 6 more banks failing; these were from all across the country. And it’s only February. Last year more US banks went belly up in the first 8 months of the year than have failed in the entire history of our nation. The year before that was a record also.
If you look and read real news, several foreign countries devalued their currency last year. A few (not all) European countries are trying to get away from the Euro and go back to their own currency. This is the first time in the history of the world that all currencies are fiat currencies, that means they are backed up by nothing more than the government saying they are worth something. Our government just did the second bail out of US banks only this time they did not call it a bail out. That told the masses too much truth and it cost a lot of politicians their jobs, this time they called it quantitative easing sounds a lot different doesn’t it. Still the same a bailout. This was QE2. Now they are getting ready for QE3. The feds just printed 900 billion dollars and then turned around and bought 600 billion back in the form of US Govt. Bonds on which they will pay themselves interest. We (the US) can’t keep this up, the house of cards will fall it has to. When it does your dollars will be worth nothing, the only things you will posses are the things you can hold onto and defend.

I saw in another post on here today where our Admin. Hand ejector advised someone to store gold coins, this is some of the best advice I have seen on here in a while.

I have read that the supply chain in our country is good for about two days of stoppage before everythin begins to run out. Civil unrest, a bad snowstorm, earthquake, tornado, flood, etc., could easily delay shipments for more than two days. I like to keep my gas tanks nearly full, and the pantry and freezers full for convenience if for no other reason. I've experienced an ice storm, a flood and a tornado in recent memory that precluded free travel for several days each. If you aren't prepared, it's an emergency. If your prepared, it's a vacation.