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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Yes, Stockpiling Firearms for Future Bartering/Selling Is a Good Idea

English: Single Action Army at full cockImage via Wikipedia

Original Article

I got a couple of comments from this post which I thought I would address here.  Seems some people think it is a crazy idea to stockpile firearms for future use--such as bartering and selling--which on the one hand does sound kind of crazy (why arm people who could use the arms against you?) but on the other hand makes complete sense.  Here's why:
  • Firearms are easier to value and sell as compared to, say gold.  I have yet to ever sell gold to a random person but have bought, sold, and traded firearms with people many times in the past.
  • I can shoot exactly two firearms at a time.  So even if I stockpile a couple hundred firearms, I will only be able to shoot two at a time.  With the spouse, that would make four.  The other 180 firearms will be just sitting there doing nothing.  Might as well make them usable...by holding them as hard assets that could be used to provide for the things I need via bartering or selling.
  • The possibility of total societal collapse where I would use my firearms as barterable/saleable items is about 2%.  The possibility of personal collapse (extended illness, extended job loss, divorce that leaves me with nothing, etc) where I would use my firearms as barterable/saleable items is about 98%.  It is the 98% that I mostly prepare for.
  • Should the 2% happen and societal collapse is upon us, I would still be able to decide who to sell/barter my firearms too.  It's at that point that I would hope to be living in a community/with people as a "tribe" so to speak who would (most likely) be people who I could trade/barter my firearms with and who would be unlikely to use them against me.
Of course there is always a downside to stockpiling firearms, namely the need to maintain them, secure them, etc. but in the grand scheme of things, I would much rather put my money into usable assets such as firearms, food, tools, etc. than into, say, a pile of US bonds which may eventually be worth less than the paper they are printed on.


1 comment:

  1. A funny thing happened begining in 1929 that we all refer to as the great depression. My fathers extended family survived that 11 year great depression in spite of considerable financial problems. What they needed most during those 11 years was food. Oddly, there was plenty of food. With the relatively small population and the huge farm capacity there was never a shortage of food or the ability to grow food. But for 11 years; over 4000 days; over 12,000 meals of the great depression food was upmost on their minds. Until my parents died in the late 1980s food and the fear of not having enough food was a big issue. Not guns, not gold or silver, not electricity/generators; it was food. I can buy a 5 gal bucket and lid for about $5-6 and I can fill it with rice or wheat for about $15 or less. This is enough food for 160 servings of rice or 30 loaves of bread. If properly packed and stored this food will still be tasty and good 100 years from now. Given historical and current data on inflation it is likely that the value/cost of this food will double every 7-10 years. Now obviously you need more then rice and wheat to survive and thrive but this illustrates the issue and how it can be done. Maybe one day a bucket of wheat will be worth an AK-47. Maybe when that time comes the AK-47 owner will be glad they have the gun to trade for food. But for the cost of an AK-47 I can put away over 30 buckets of food at todays prices.

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