James:
We poor individuals left stranded in Suburbia have a rough lot when it comes to making survival preparations. An easy trip down the expressway for the Golden Horde, enough ordinances, zoning restrictions, and association bylaws to hamper the efforts of even the most ingenious survivalist, long commutes, and the list goes on. Clearly, its best to get out while you can.
But for those of us stuck here, it makes sense to use whatever resources we have at our disposal, and one of the few areas we just might have the country folk beat is easy shopping.
I know that venturing out into public just on the brink of a societal collapse is a dangerous decision, but it is still a decision that must be made in view of the facts specific to the disaster at hand and your local conditions. Who among us can say he is so well prepared that he would not buy a single item if he knew there would be a coordinated EMP strike tomorrow? Even items unimportant from a survival perspective—a gallon of ice cream, a bottle of your wife’s favorite perfume, or quality violin strings– gain new worth when you realize that you may never have an opportunity to buy that item again.
As I prepare to head off to college, I’d like to share a few points I’ve thought of while working at a major hardware store/warehouse as a stocker.
1. Beware the Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory system. I know this point has been belabored countless times on SurvivalBlog, but at my work we couldn’t even order stock ourselves—our store manager had to request special permission from corporate in any case not covered by the computer. Often, we would receive a shipment the day after we ran out of stock.
2. Get to know your stores. I cannot stress this point enough. If anyone honestly believes they’ll be able to walk into a panicked hardware store and quickly find the materials they need, they’re kidding themselves. At my work, no one can do that on a good day, not even contractors, and quite frankly, often not even employees.
3. Check the top stock/back stock. [JWR Adds: “Top Stock” is retailer terminology for the extra merchandise stored on upper shelves, usually right above each item’s normal shelf location. The term “Back Stock” can vary, but generally refers to extra inventory kept a back room, although some retailers like Home Depot use it to refer to extra inventory kept in large unit boxes behind the normal inventory, on extra deep shelves. To add to the confusion, some other retailers use “Back Stock” to refer to merchandise kept in regional warehouses.] In some cases– including gloves, propane, cleaning chemicals, and other important survival-oriented materials– top stock outnumbered floor stock by as much as 20-to-1.
4. Unless people are edgy and armed, don’t be afraid to break unimportant rules. Go ahead, use the “Employees Only” ladder. If you keep your wits about you, look in the back stock. Stop thinking like you did before the disaster happened and do what you must to keep yourself and your family alive.
5. Plan your route in advance– including alternate routes. Avoid attracting attention, travel in groups if there’s danger, split up if the danger is negligible, and go as heavily armed as is appropriate.
6. In some stores, it helps to get to know the employees. This one’s fairly simple, but in a life-or-death situation it just might make a difference to be the person who gets the last of the plywood, or the bottle of Cipro, or the slightly “irregular” ammunition the gun store owner locked away just in case.
There are many other instances where the very infrastructure we rightly fear as leading to our doom can also help us get out the door or barricade it with sandbags, so to speak. Public libraries. Pharmacies. Animal hospitals. Industrial and artisans’ workshops that may contain important materials. Churches, even (“Hey Pastor, mind if I borrow a few bibles? I have this feeling…”) Depending on the pace of the crash, all these places and more should be considered for one last “shopping spree,” especially by those unable to make these purchases now for financial reasons.
Of course, I welcome anyone else’s comments. God Bless, – Daniel C.