Alright, here we are again… Did anyone rush out and see the “Book of Eli”? Oh well, it’ll still be there this weekend… I have some more emailed questions to go through today, so I’ll just get started on them…

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Question #1 -     “What do I think of alcohol and/or tobacco as barter items?”

 

 

Honestly, I think they would be GREAT items to stock up on for that purpose. They meet all the logical criteria that a trader might hope to want! It would be very easy to store small divisible units and maximise your potential trades.

 

It would seem that there has always been a demand for these items and I can’t see why that would change. That said… Let me move on to the single objection that I have and have heard to storing these items…

 

I don’t currently have any of these items in my barter goods… Actually, I don’t have them for any other purpose either. I have a MILD moral dilemma over to store these items or not. I don’t use these products myself and haven’t for many years but I do know they will be a sought after commodity! I have heard people make the case that it would be better to let the chips fall where they will for the habitual users of tobacco and alcohol, they will have to quit eventually, right? We may disagree but that is a compelling argument to me…

 

On the other hand, I have heard the stories from WW2 and other examples where a bottle of this or that was used to ply a guard or what have you with good results. It would be with this in mind and for this reason I would consider stocking these as barter goods.

 

When and if I do come to a conclusion on what we will do in this regard I will let you know. If you don’t have an objection to these products, I can’t think of a better thing to store purely for the purposes of trading stock!

 

______________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Question #2 -     “How much fuel should the average prepper have stored away?”

 

 

First, what’s an average prepper? For the sake of argument, lets say the reader means an average family (2-4 people) and an average disaster scenario (2-7 days). I know that many of you won’t even agree to this assumption but I have to have a base line to build an answer from… So here goes…

 

 We will need to decide first what fuel we are going to need. Is it propane for a camp stove or BBQ grill? Coleman fuel for a lantern? Gasoline for the back-up generator? We might even need all of these different fuels and for the AVERAGE scenario, we shouldn’t have to much trouble accommodating a fuel supply like this.

  

Let’s start by making a list, what fuels are we going to stock up on… Can we make due with just a single fuel? Probably not as most of the scenarios that I would put in this “average” range would require us to set aside additional gasoline for the vehicles too. Once we have the fuel powered appliances all identified and which specific fuels they require then we can move to step 2.

 

In step 2, we will need to do a little guesstimating. I think that most of us have a decent idea of how much fuel our equipment would typically use over a specific time period. It is this time period that we will need to establish so we can do the multiplication for as many days as we think would be prudent.

 

For example our primary back-up generator will easily run several hours on a gallon of gas. I think that at a minimum I would be running the unit for several hours each day… So if I want to reach our 7 day goal, I will need at least 7 gallons of fuel. If we do the same exercise with each piece of equipment we plan to utilize, it won’t take long to establish a general list of fuel that will be needed to cover us for the duration.

 

As with most any preps we put aside, I suggest you over estimate. Setting yourself up with an extra 10% would be cheap insurance and an outstanding way to build good will with the neighbors, if the time ever comes that you need these supplies. Make sure that as you acquire your fuel reserves, good records are kept so a rotation schedule can be established as well.

 

Our personal fuel reserves for our primary residence in the city are as follows -

 

 

Gasoline – 25 gallons (Generator, Automobiles)

 

Diesel – 15 gallons (Pickup Truck)

 

Propane -  15+ gallons (Camp stove, Lantern, BBQ)

 

Kerosene – 15 gallons (Heater, Lamps)

 

 

I realize that this isn’t exactly a ton of fuel but it should be sufficient to carry us through 90% of the more likely scenarios.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Questions #3 -     “Do I think that a 20 year old needs to be thinking about investing for retirement?”

 

 

Ahh, YES! I think that this would be the perfect time to begin saving and/or investing for the long term! I also want to say that I think you’re smart to even have the foresight to ask this question.

 

The short answer to the question being “Yes”, would naturally lead us to a much longer answer… The question being “What should I invest in?” This will depend on exactly what your current circumstances are? Will these investments be the only investments you will currently be making or do you work for a company that has a retirement program that you can choose to participate in?

 

For today let’s assume you’re on your own… This being the case, I would suggest starting out with a multiple tiered approach. First a traditional retirement investment account, probably a ROTH IRA. Second, a cash account, for flexibility.

 

I don’t have the room to do a full investment post today so I will go into why I would choose the ROTH IRA, at another time. The IRA structure will have some tax advantages that will be beneficial down the road and I would allocate up to 50% of the investment dollars to this account.

 

The second account or “Cash” account will be a designated place for the young investor to stash away money in a way that will allow the funds to remain liquid. It’s this account that will allow for non-traditional investments to be made when the time is right or a good deal can be struck. It takes time for cash to accumulate in sufficient amounts to make many investments, such as a home or land purchase. Even precious metals investing can require a relatively large cash outlay from time to time. This account should always be looked at as an investment account and not just a savings account. As the funds go in here, they should only come out for a bonafide, carefully considered, investment.

 

The dollar amount that was mentioned in the email was only $100 dollars a month. If these funds were divided into the 2 accounts I propose at $50 per account, it will take a long time to add up. All I can say is that following the typical long term investment program of a young person, the funds would add up even slower, this is do to the fact that there would be nothing invested at all! I would encourage every young person to start doing something in this regard even if it is only $20 dollars each month. No matter what direction your life might take, having any amount of money set aside will make things easier and it is a great habit to start at an early age!

 

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Question #4 -     “If  I had to choose only one firearm for survival, which would it be?”

 

 

It’s always nice to have someone try to pin you down to only having one gun around when the SHTF. The popular macho answer would be a high capacity black rifle. I do like the black rifles, don’t confuse the issue… However, if I have to choose one gun to do many things, I doubt the main battle rifle would be the smartest choice.

 

Just like everyone else, I would prefer to have more than one gun at my disposal but if one is all I get… It would probably be a shotgun. I know that the shotgun is hardly the best tool for all tasks but it is a capable piece of equipment and can fill many roles adequately.

 

It goes without saying that the shotgun could be used to take game both on the ground as well as on the wing. There are few animals in North America that couldn’t be harvested using a properly loaded shotgun. Over the years we have all probably either read or heard a story about a shotgun being used for defense, both against two legged and four legged predators.

 

If I can only have this one firearm, I would make the best of the situation… With some forethought a variety of ammunition could be acquired and stored away. Multiple sizes of both bird and buck shot, as well as a selection of slugs. With these shell options and possibly even a choice of multiple barrels lengths/chokes, I certainly wouldn’t feel lacking in firepower!

 

It is always better to have the right tool for whatever job is at hand. We as preppers know that to succeed though, we have to stay flexible and prepare for many different possibilities. The possibility that we might be left with only one gun is a realistic concern and I think we would all be well served with a good shotgun.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Have a great day and I’ll see you again tomorrow!

Prepper