Making a “Last Run” When the SHTF- Part 1, by GMJ

The last-minute grocery and emergency supply shopping run is part of prepper mythology. Whether or not it makes sense to do a “last run” shopping trip is very controversial in the prepper community and has both positive and negative aspects. Whether or not to do so requires considerable forethought and mental preparation.

I know some preppers are horrified by the idea of intentionally utilizing a last run to top-off or expand supplies. It’s great to be able to hunker down with a mug of hot buttered rum in front of the fireplace and watch the snow come down or snuggle down with a good book to read by LED lantern light, but one of the key characteristics of preppers is their ability to take advantage of a changing situation and making it work for them.

I don’t recommend a last run be your first choice in emergency preparedness, but a last run can have advantages that may be worth exploiting. If you choose to conduct a last run, you aren’t less of a person or less of a prepper. You haven’t failed your family or yourself. You’ve simply made a reasoned, conscious choice to capitalize on another opportunity when every opportunity is important.

In most apocalyptic fiction, the main characters suddenly awaken to the immensity and criticality of their End of the World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) situation and run to the store to stock up on supplies that virtually every long-time prepper worth his or her salt has already stashed. The fictional characters always have working automobiles, always have a respectable amount of cash on hand, and always manage to arrive at the store ahead of the soon-to-become violent crowd.

Really? Figure the odds.

Very few among us in this community have the wherewithal to buy decades’ worth of supplies and equipment or have unlimited storage space. That’s a big reason that prepper websites and others strongly recommend moving now to your Bug Out Location (BOL) and actually living your lives in a grid-down, self-sufficient way. However, not everyone is in a position to do that. I know I’m not.

There are folks who need to be close to medical care, others who have familial obligations, like elderly parents in nursing homes or children with serious disabilities, who need to be considered. Some people are tied to their jobs or communities, despite concerted efforts to become debt-free and unencumbered. Others feel a commitment to serve in areas, which have special need of their skills and abilities. There are probably a hundred more reasons that legitimately keep preppers where they already are, no matter how much they understand that a BOL might be a better long-term choice for them or their families personally.

The important thing is to realize and accept that a BOL in the Great Hinterlands is not practical, achievable, or affordable for everyone, and, if that is the case for you and your family, that is okay. You are not a bad person or even a bad prepper. Everyone must play the hand that life deals them and make the most of it. That doesn’t necessarily mean though that doing so will be easy.

If you have limited income, as most of us do, a bit-by-bit style of prepping can work. Instead of buying cartloads of goods at one time, you buy an extra one or two items each time you shop to put into your prepper stash. This works if you have sufficient lead time and a place to put things. If you don’t have either, you might want to consider the benefits of a last run.

In my opinion, too many long-time, established preppers see the last run as a failure in their prepper planning. If they have done their prepping well, they will already have everything they need to weather whatever crisis suddenly comes along. They won’t have to brave the elements, defend against terrified, desperate mobs, or compete for limited goods and supplies. In that regard, they are right, and I commend them for their foresight and ability to accomplish that lofty goal. That is my goal, too.

Unfortunately, for many, it’s just a goal. For these folks, I offer the concept of the last run. A last run is not a Black Friday-type of shopping model, nor even a last-minute effort ahead of a storm that gets hours of television coverage. Instead, my kind of last run is a planned, well-thought out, well-researched shopping trip aimed at topping off or expanding preps, rather than acquiring things you have none of and, for whatever reason, put off getting. If you have none of any one or more critical life-saving items, the chance of getting any late in a crisis will be slim. Count on that and get them as soon as you can while you still can.

Now, we will explain how to begin developing a comprehensive strategy for a last run shopping trip.

How to Begin Implementing a last run Strategy

You first start with an assessment or inventory. One of the first tasks assigned to a lesser fictional character (typically a teenager) in our disaster novel is to inventory what the family or group has on hand. You should do the same. Make a list of what you have and another of what you think you will need if you can’t replenish your supplies for a set period of time. The timeframe matters, so make sure you also know your depletion rate for each item.

Separately, or in the back of your mind, you can also list those things that you don’t really need (or need any more of) but which could be useful later as trade items or charity, if you can’t readily obtain your higher priority items. Sometimes getting what you can, whatever it is, is a good long-term strategy.

What Crisis Am I Trying to Deal With?

It’s been said that you can’t begin to solve a problem or deal effectively with a situation until you have identified what the problem actually is. Different crises and emergencies require different approaches and solutions.

This will require giving some serious thought, in advance, to what kind(s) of crises you expect your family will have to face. This is hard, make no mistake about it. You, and preferably other family members who can contribute a different perspective and insight, will have to face the fact that your situation might very well go south without warning.

Many people can’t do this easily, if at all. They are so entrenched in the normalcy and repetitiveness of their day-to-day lives that they cannot conceive of a time when things aren’t just swimming merrily along. This is called normalcy bias and is a real and dangerous thing. For people suffering from normalcy bias, their entrenched mindset is so fixed that they might not be able to respond effectively to the demands of a changing (or changed) situation. They may be injured, or even die, before they can make the mental adjustment to respond effectively to accept their situation and take appropriate steps to reduce the level of the threat.

Step 1: Make a List

You don’t want that to happen to you or yours, so the first step is to make a list of what might happen. I suggest that you use brainstorming techniques, where everyone in the group just throws out ideas one after the other without anyone stopping to evaluate the probability of the event occurring. This will enable you to identify potential Black Swan events– those things that happen so rarely that they are as common as a black swan instead of a white one (i.e., extremely uncommon, though possible).

It will probably be easy to start your list– weather events, such as snowstorms, hurricanes, tornados; potential flooding or earthquakes, if you live in areas prone to such things; losing a job; illness in the family; fire, whether confined to your residence or a wildfire that requires evacuation; legal problems, including arrests, lawsuits, or forefeiture– a real possibility for innocent preppers whose own government has accused them of being domestic terrorists. Also include the Black Swans, as many as you can think of. Be creative and non-judgmental. Let history be your guide. If something has happened before, anywhere, to anyone, at any time, it can happen again, to you.

Step 2: Arrange Your List

Once you have your list, you move to the second step. Consider how likely each of the events are and arrange them in order of likelihood. Where I live, for example, I know that we will have multiple snow and ice events in the winter and windstorms and torrential rains in the summer. I can bet with 100 per cent certainty that, in most of those, we will experience power outages and some degree of property damage.

Some events are so unlikely or so potentially devastating (the Yellowstone volcano erupting comes to mind) that you will have to determine whether you can respond to them at all. If you have limited time, money, and storage capability, there are physical limits to what you can accomplish. That’s just a fact, painful as it may be, so at this point I recommend that you concentrate on the most likely events first and expand your prepping from there as you have the opportunity.

Letter Re: Bug Out Boats

Hi Hugh,

First, thank you for providing SurvivalBlog to all your readers. When things finally come to a head in the world today, I have no doubt that the information that you have provided over the years will be responsible for helping countless citizens and saving many lives.

I’d like to add my two cents to the article “Bug Out Boats” as well as the comments from your other contributors. My wife and I have been full-time live-aboards in the northeast for over 20 years, and we have gained some hard won knowledge and experience over the years that I hope we can share. I wrote a previous article for SurvivalBlog “Preppers afloat by Captain Cathar“. In the article I presented a case why someone might want to use a boat for bugging out, especially along our crowded east coast.

A boat is certainly not the best bug out retreat, but it may be the only viable option for many people were we live. As others have said, you don’t necessarily have to cross an ocean, you just have to get away from the carnage of a collapsing society. The only proviso here is if there is some sort of CME or EMP event. In that case, you would have to leave the continent altogether and head into the open ocean. If you are going to outfit a boat for the end of the world, you might as well make it ocean ready and setup and provisioned for the long haul while you are at it. If this were the case, I would not choose a multi-hulled boat like the catamarans that have been suggested.

Cats make excellent charter boats in the Caribbean; they are sea kindly in calm waters and have wonderful large open spaces. Their shallow draft allows them to snuggle into quiet coves inaccessible to anyone else. However, few long distance cruisers sail them in the open ocean. I consider them coastal craft, at best. I’m not saying that you cannot cross an ocean with one, just that it will not be me making the attempt. I told my wife that your contributors were recommending multi-hulls as bug out boats, and her simple reply sums things up with frank honesty. She said, “Everyone dies when you roll the thing.” There is a reason that heavily ballasted mono-hulls have been the boat of choice for over a thousand years. Today’s monos are fast and efficient and very sea worthy. Heavy cruisers are often knocked down in bad weather and sometimes even rolled completely over. If the boat’s hatches and keel remain intact, you will always resurface.

Displacement mono-hulls also have the ability to carry a huge mass of supplies. For provisioning, you will need a minimum one dry pound of food per person per day plus gallons of water– the more the better. Even just 50 gallons of water weighs 400 pounds, and you will need much more than this for an ocean crossing. Water makers are amazing technology but fragile and depend on a complex battery and charging system. I would never rely on just a water maker for my potable water on a long voyage. When you add it all up– food, water, fuel, tools, spares, and other supplies– you can literally end up with tons of supplies. Catamarans are lightweight craft or are at least not known for their carrying capacity and are not really suitable for long-term, safe survival at sea.

As far as protection from firearms is concerned, your authors are right that there is no better shooting gallery than a boat on the water. But this works both ways; all parties are exposed. The same can be said for cars and other vehicles, along with unfortified buildings. Bullets on a low angle on the water tend to skip along the surface. Placing people and important cargo, like batteries, radios, and fuel tanks, below the waterline is much safer if things get dicey. Holes caused from bullets are easily patched at the water line, if you can get at the hull from the inside. I’d be much more concerned about the bullets passing through the passengers and crew. We have huge bilge pumps between our water tight bulkheads, and these can handle any minor emergency until repairs can be made.

Costs of the boat recommended by your contributors are correct and appalling. A new boat (not necessarily a better boat) is an expensive proposition, but there are many used boats on the market at a fraction of the price. Many of these work fine as they are. Less expensive still are the fixer uppers that may need paint, wiring, plumbing, sails, tanks, or engine work. This work can be done by a handy person, but it’s expensive if done by the yard. Fifty grand can get you a very nice “classic plastic” 40 footer, say an older Bristol or Pearson. You will want a full keel with an attached rudder, not a fin keel or unsupported rudder. Check yachtworld.com for an idea of what is out there in your area.

I don’t mean to criticize your other contributors, as all voices should be heard and considered. I just have a different take on things, and I have to admit I’d love to have a large cat in the West Indies, just not during hurricane season. Cheers, Capt. Cathar

Economics and Investing:

Items from Mr. Econocobas:

Bank of Japan Goes Negative on Interest Rates – NIRP as it is called has now officially spread to Japan, joining most of the Euro zone.

Stocks End Up 2% After BOJ Move; Nasdaq Still Posts Worst Month Since ’10

Advance Q4 GDP Data, 0.7% – The video is worth watching and listening to as well; expectations for 2016 GDP is the lowest in many years.

Items from Professor Preponomics:

US News

The Market Doesn’t Solve Problems; People Do (Mises) Excerpt: “The modern state can be defined as the institution that pretends to have the monopoly of solutions to social problems. But since the state operates like a monopoly, it behaves like a monopoly and therefore exploits the very people it is supposed to serve. In fact, proponents of government action imply that the members of the civil society are not able to find their own solutions nor able to identify what the problems are. But the most competent men do not need the state to answer our problems, they just need freedom.”

As Debt Talks Hit an Impasse, What’s Next for Puerto Rico? (NPR) This story will unfold again and again around the world and here at home… Excerpt: “What has been happening for the past maybe 20 years is that we have been covering those deficits strictly with debt,” she says. “And it just hits us in the face that all the debt we have accumulated is bigger than our capacity to raise taxes.”

Durable-Goods-Orders Decline Could Mean Economy Shrank in Fourth Quarter (Market Watch) Excerpt: “The report “tilted the scaled for fourth-quarter GDP, which now looks like it be in negative territory….”

International News

HSBC Curbs Mortgage Offering to Chinese Citizens in U.S. (Reuters) Excerpt: “Europe’s biggest lender HSBC will no longer provide mortgages to some Chinese nationals who buy real estate in the United States, a policy change that comes as Beijing is battling to stem a swelling crowd of citizens trying to get money out of China.”

China’s Banking Stress Looms Like Banquos’ Ghost in Davos (The Telegraph) Excerpt: “Bad debts in the Chinese banking system are four or five times higher than officially admitted and pose a mounting risk to the country’s financial stability, the world’s leading expert on debt has warned.”

China’s Economy Appears to be Slowing Significantly… (Outside the Beltway) Excerpt: “The fact that economic statistics were, and continue to be, provided by a central government that certainly has the incentive to exaggerate success and minimize signs of trouble ahead, for example, has long led experts to distrust official numbers, or at least to assume that the books were being cooked to some extent. Notwithstanding the unreliability of official Chinese government statistics, there have been some signs of what really might be happening in China behind the numbers.”

Personal Economics and Household Finance

10 Reasons to Prepare for an Economic Collapse (Back Door Survival) Excerpt: “A global economic collapse, unlike a natural disaster which, as tragic as it may be, is a short term event, will change our lives forever.”

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Odds ‘n Sods:

This is a clarion call to Christians to wake up and pay attention. We are in the last days and we are spiritually bankrupt. We need to repent and seek God with all of our hearts. The deception is real. If a Republican is elected, we’re still in the throes of judgment. It will not be peace and prosperity coming to us. Do not be mistaken. Do not sigh a collective sigh of relief and go back to your pleasant daily routines. The days are truly evil. The next president, whether he will be Republican or Democrat, will continue us down the same path. Trump isn’t our savior, neither is Cruz nor Rubio, and certainly not Hillary or Bernie. Man can no longer get us out of this mess and will only make it worse. You, who call yourselves a Christian, me included, repent, wake up, and go back to your first love! Pray, study the word, do good, and prepare yourself to defend true righteousness and to meet your God. Stand in the gap. Get out of feel good churches. Persecution is coming, and you’re wasting your time if you’re not being told to repent and get right with God!!! We are under judgment, and it’s only going to get worse. Put your hope and trust in the God of Israel and His one and only Son, Jesus The Christ from Nazareth! – Avalanche Lily

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Bad times if you live in West LA. The police admit that 200,000 people in a 65 square mile radius only have two patrols cars to protect them. “The citizens need to know they need to be able to protect themselves because if they call 911, we can’t guarantee we’re going to get there in time to help you”. Of course, the reality is that they can never have enough police to protect everyone. You should be able to protect yourself no matter how many police are on the job. – P.S.

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Facebook Moves to Ban Private Gun Sales on Its Site and Instagram “Facebook already prohibits people from offering marijuana, pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs for sale…” How about that. Facebook has equated your second amendment right to illegal activities. – T.P.

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In an odd turn of events, NSA Hacker Chief Explains How to Keep Him Out of Your System – R.G.

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Is the dreaded Zika virus another giant scam? – Submitted by D.S.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.” – 2 Chronicles 7:12-15 (KJV)

Notes for Friday – January 29, 2016

Complete, Unedited Video of Joint FBI and OSP Operation 01/26/2016 – 26 minutes starting with the pursuit and ending with the death of Finicum and the arrest of the others. Warning: graphic content. I see nothing in this video that contradicts Victoria Sharp’s testimony as she saw it. The video is inconclusive, but Finicum did not have a weapon in hand when he was shot. When did the agents fire? Are Finicum’s hand movements a result of being shot? He was shot three times and that certainly coincides with his hand movements. Lest anyone forget, Victoria also makes the claim that they had already been fired upon by the officers/agents at the first stop and the video does not contradict that claim either. – HJL

Malheur Link Dump – January 28

A new FAA “No Fly” NOTAM has been put in effect. This of course means that news helicopters will be kept from witnessing what is going on, on the ground. “Nothing to see here, move along.”

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Today, we present another entry for Round 62 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value),
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chrome-lined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul PMAG 30-rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt; (an equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package (enough for two families of four) plus seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate (a $325 retail value),
  8. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  9. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304, and
  10. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw Code Red 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  4. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  8. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  9. Safecastle is providing a package of 10 LifeStraws (a $200 value)

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A $245 gift certificate from custom knife-maker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
  3. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  8. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 62 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Bug Out Boats, by Budget Boater

As a man of the sea, the topic of using a boat for the purpose of escape and survival seems to be misunderstood in many instances. I can even remember JWR dismissing the idea several times in the past. I can only assume that it comes from lack of knowledge and understanding of the “cruising” community. Recently there has been some discussion about this topic and some questions, so I thought this might be time to shed some experienced light on the subject.

First, I will answer the questions posted recently:

Question #1: If it’s a true EOTW scenario, establishing any “community” or tribe from such a mobile homebase would seem to be very difficult and going within sight of land could put you in danger of being easily run down by gangs in powerboats.

Generally, for those of us who chose to live on boats as a lifestyle, there is a very large community, most of which are far more like-minded than typical survivalists. Those of us who further chose to go beyond the horizon and travel on our boats as a lifestyle (called “cruisers”), have an even more close-knit community as brothers and sisters who dare to live the lives we choose. It is not uncommon to pull into an unfamiliar harbor and by the end of the day end up with a group of people you can call friends. Just spending a few weeks together in a distant harbor can create lifelong friendships. It is also quite common for sailors who became friends in one harbor for only a few days, and sailed off in different directions, to years later see each other in another harbor half a world away and continue with the friendship as if there had never been the years and seas between them. Community is a given.

For the EOTW piracy debate, if it came to that, boaters would band together for mutual benefit. Just as a squad in the military might operate while on patrol, boats operating in defensive groups while moving would be formidable to attack. Almost all piracy seeks lone vessels. Even if some sea raiders became emboldened to attack, a multi-vessel group at sea eventually would run out of fuel. If it came down to sail versus sail, defensive vessels operating in groups would allow for enumerable flanking options against any type of attack. It is also worth mentioning that not all shores are inhabited. So boaters could avoid the populated coasts and approach the uninhabited shores instead.

Question #2: How much firepower can a boat withstand without danger of sinking?

That depends on many factors. Is the boat form stable? With what materials is it made? What type of rounds are impacting the hull? Where are the rounds impacting? Generally speaking, wood and foam are unsinkable. However, boats with heavy equipment, such as large engines and generators, heavy lead keels, significant amounts of canned goods, and so forth can overcome the neutral buoyancy of a hull and sink if the hole is large enough and not plugged. Personally, I prefer multihulls (catamarans and trimarans), built in wood/e-glass composite, or foam cored fiberglass, as these are generally form stable and unsinkable, even if inverted.

We should look at reality for this question. A pirate’s intention is to loot. If they sink the boat, then they have wasted precious fuel, manpower, and other resources for nothing, and they are still going to starve to death. Whereas the intention of boaters who do not wish to be looted will be to destroy the enemy by any means necessary, including sinking the raider’s vessels. Keeping the pirates at bay is the key. Any large group of vessels traveling together in a strong defensive posture with full intent of destroying any would-be pirates has a distinct advantage. It is also worth noting that the worst enemy of a sailor is fire. That’s a hint.

I hope that helps to answer the questions.

One of the most pointed arguments against boats for EOTW scenarios is their ability to feed their crews as opposed to land-based survivors. This is a non-starter for me. It is quite easy to feed the crew of a boat from many different perspectives. First, a typical 50′ cruising monohull sailboat can carry 8-12 months of store-bought food for a crew of six. One can easily double that amount, if they use long-term packaging techniques of typical survivalists.

If you know what you are doing, the ocean is a bounty. Fish and edibles can be had in the open ocean, near coasts, and on the reefs and rocks of the shoreline. A family could easily sustain themselves in the vicinity of remote islands of the tropical belt, in high latitude fjords, or at sea. (Entire island communities already do this.) Beyond the ocean lies many thousands of miles of uninhabited coastlines throughout the world, coastlines replete with wild game, birds, and wild edibles. A mammal shot, trapped, or caught can be preserved by smoking it in a Dakota fire pit near the beach. Wild edibles, gathered in sufficient quantity can be canned and stored aboard, just as they are in a house. One only has to be moderately familiar with worldwide coastal population density demographics, have a knack for hunting and fishing, and the will to live well and have a full belly at the end of the day.

Fuel and Energy

Another point of contention is fuel and energy. Sailboats need little, if any, fuel. There are many sailors, myself included, who have sailed far and wide without an auxiliary engine. A proper dingy can be rowed or sculled for many miles if needed, so gasoline and diesel are not requirements. Both solar panels and wind generators are common to see on boats and can provide all the power one might need to run appliances, tools, and charge batteries. If you have a larger monohull or catamaran, the ability to carry 1kW of solar is not difficult, plus the added power of a wind generator.

Having built boats and lived on and sailed the oceans on four different boats over more than two decades, only one had a watermaker (desalinate sea to fresh water). It was very nice, convenient, and expensive to purchase. It is a maintenance item, if you want to keep it in operation. My other boats had rain catch systems installed. It was very rare that we ever had to get water from land with any of our boats, but we were also very frugal with water using less than two gallons per person per day, including washing, and we were never left wanting. If we were surviving, that amount could easily be reduced to three quarts per person per day, as sea water would replace fresh water for washing bodies, dishes, and clothing.

Watermaker (desalinate sea to fresh water)

If you did decide to install a watermaker on your bug out boat, I would make a few recommendations. First, build your own DC-powered watermaker using a CAT pump, DC motor, and commercially available parts. Do not get a pre-built system that has proprietary parts, which is quite common. When you build your own system, you know the ins and outs and can have a full complement of spares. Properly used and maintained, a watermaker system will make fresh water reliably for ten or more years. If things have not normalized by then, you will have bigger problems.

Cooking Onboard

Cooking on board is one of those things that might be challenging to some in an EOTW scenario. Most boats use propane or CNG, which might become unavailable. Though there are companies that make solid fuel marine stoves, you might want to live in a cold climate to use them, since they will make the interior of a boat unlivable in the tropics. You also have the issue of finding and carrying wood to operate it. A better option is to use a solar oven for as much cooking as possible. These have proven to work well, even on sailboats, provided they are tended. As for me, I carry four 20-lb propane bottles, which lasts our family more than a year at three meals per day, using just the stove top.

Schooling Children in the Cruiser Community

The “community” of cruisers also has other unseen benefits that directly pertain to survivalists that are not always readily apparent. First, nearly all of the children are home schooled. It is not uncommon for the children in the harbor to congregate on the beach or largest boat for schooling each day. The older children will teach and mentor the younger children, and a handful of parents will be nearby to answer or help as needed. This worldly social interaction forms wonderful bonds between the children and parents. The last harbor in which we spent significant time, there were children from Norway, England, Germany, France, United States, Canada, Brazil, and New Zealand. They ranged in age from 16 years old down to 20 months old. The exposure to various cultures, all while engaged in the same activities with people from all over the world, and its benefits to the children as well as the adults cannot be overstated.

Barter and Trade

Another advantage of the cruising community is barter and trade. It is quite normal for cruisers to engage regularly in barter/trade with locals as well as each other, both for services as well as goods. Most cruiser’s harbors will have an ongoing local radio net, using the marine VHF radio, to give news, weather, who is coming and going, local deals, services, and items for sale. Local businesses will also engage the community with discounts, news, and various offerings. If you need something, you ask on the net. Depending on the request, you may get a public response over the radio or a private knock on the hull later in the day. We have even had anonymous gifts of food, clothing, or repair items left on our deck overnight from an earlier request on the net. Cruisers can be so important in some harbors as to be THE economy, which waxes and wanes with the weather in some regions. Some businesses actually close up shop in the off season, because the boats have all left the area.

Communications

Most boaters, and especially cruisers, are proficient in using radio communications, and many own and operate Ham and SSB HF radios from their boats. Many cruisers have radio skills that exceed that of trained military comms specialists. These radio nets are so prolific in some cases that they know who is where half a world away, have assisted in rescues at sea, and helped assist in medical emergencies, and they generally keep track of the entire cruising community. There are some land-based Hams who have dedicated their lives to providing the best weather forecasting, routing, and other forms of assistance to cruisers. The community extends well beyond the sea.

Resources

Most cruisers are industrious and also skilled in many areas. It is not uncommon in larger harbors to find a cruiser with a mini machine shop tucked into a corner of his boat, or a guy who can rebuild your outboard motor on the beach, or the woodworker with tools beyond your imagination stowed below the deck. There are specialists in electronics, rigging, sail making and sewing, electrical, systems troubleshooting and repair, and so on. Typically, if it is on a boat, there is probably someone on a boat in the harbor that can diagnose it, fix it, or tell you to throw it overboard. Then, there are also always the spiritual leaders in every harbor who will conduct services on their boat, on the beach, or any other place that is convenient for the crowd that shows up for prayer.

A large percentage of the cruising community are retired professionals– mostly doctors, nurses, dentists, lawyers, and architects. There is always a smattering of ex-police and military, as well as the artists, ex-blue collars, and few stay-at-home moms and homemakers following the dreams of their husbands. In a remote anchorage, when a man fell out of his dingy and the propeller caught his head and legs, the retired doctors and nurses came to the rescue when the radio call went out. The Hams got on the airwaves to alert the authorities, arrange a sea plane, and prepare the hospital for his arrival. The cruisers in the harbor arranged to take care of the couple’s boat at a moment’s notice. Even though the gentleman required four months to recover from his injuries before returning to his boat and the original people involved had moved on with the weather, those of us who entered the harbor later were briefed by those leaving. We continued to take care of his boat until his return, even though we were not even in the harbor when it happened and had only heard about it via the cruiser’s grapevine months before.

Community Trust

When my three-year-old son fell and severely broke his arm, my wife had taken the dingy ashore to go shopping. I had no reasonable way to get to shore from where we were anchored in the harbor. I quickly called on the VHF and had several strangers at my boat in less than a minute. A neighboring boat with children (whom we had only met two days prior) agreed to care for our 20-month old while I went to the hospital. A stranger helped me immobilize my son’s arm, transfer us to his dingy, and ferry us to shore while my daughter went to the neighbor’s boat, crying the whole way. There were already people waiting when we arrived at the beach, having heard the call on the radio, and they had already procured a car from a local whom none of them knew. When we arrived at the hospital, they had been appraised of our arrival and took my son to surgery where he received two long stabilizing pins and a cast along with the eventual parallel scars. Tell me if you would leave your 20-month old with a virtual stranger and the expensive items in your home in the care of complete strangers in your “community”?

Medical

How much did three hours of emergency surgery, multiple return follow-up trips, and eventual removal of the pins (under anesthesia because our three year old would not let them get close to him with the pliers) cost? It cost only $25! The doctor was trained in the U.S., and though the hospital was not beautiful or pleasant, the work was professional per the doctor at Miami Children’s Hospital whom we eventually followed up with upon our return a year later, for a $200 fee. That was my segue into medical costs that always seems to be a question. Not that it matters much for EOTW, but for anything less, it is also a non-starter. Most doctors are trained in the U.S., EU, or other high-tech nations, and then they return to their home countries. The hospitals may not always be the best, but the doctors in most emerging, second world countries are quite competent, just as ours was, and the prices are usually a tiny percentage of what it costs in the U.S. or EU. Prescription drugs are also a tiny fraction of the cost in the U.S. It is just not an issue. However, it is advisable that you carry your own extensive medical/dental kit on your boat. Though you may be surrounded my retired doctors and nurses in a harbor, they do not carry a large supply of medical items. If you have your own, they can probably help you, if not save your life if it came to that. If it is EOTW, your medial supplies might be the only difference.

As for everything else, carry plenty of spares and tools, acquire the knowledge to fix or make anything, and don’t give up your guns or the training to use them. A boat makes a great bug-out retreat and offers an ocean of shores in which to re-establish yourself, because chances are the whole world has not ended, just the world you were living in. There will be somewhere safe to go, and though you will not be able to go ’round the world in 80 days, plenty of people have gone all the way around the world in less than a year, not that that would be necessary, but at least you would have the option if you packed and prepared well.

Letter Re: Bug Out Boats

Hugh,

When reading the thread on bug-out boats, I was reminded anew of one of my favorite novels: The Riddle of the Sands. Here’s more about the author:

You can also get a copy of the book from Gutenberg. As it so happens the book is outside of copyright and so it was one of the first books to be published on the Internet, leading to a nasty lawsuit. The Riddle of The Sands is considered required reading for all serious sailors, particularly those favoring wooden-hulled boats. – R.C.

Economics and Investing:

The Shipping News Says the World Economy Is Toast – G.G.

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IMF and World Bank move to forestall oil-led defaults – G.G.

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Items from Professor Preponomics:

US News

Fed Included Phrase About International Developments (Business Insider) No right answer. No easy way out. Excerpt: “…it looks like the Fed is once again eyeing what’s happening abroad as it is materially affecting businesses that make up the US economy.”

Updated Wasteful Spending Ratings Unveiled for 2016 Presidential Candidates (Citizens Against Government Waste) Excerpt: “With the beginning of the presidential caucuses and primaries just one week away, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today released the lifetime ratings of the remaining 2016 Presidential candidates who served in Congress, based on their most recent elected office.”

Another $58M for Failed “Green” Car Program (Judicial Watch) The financial exposure for this program (as it is with many others) is much greater than the headline reveals… A few billion here. A few billion there. Before you know it, the money really starts to add up. Excerpt: “In all, the administration has set aside an astounding $25 billion for the cause and a chunk of it has already been lost on initiatives that have failed miserably. Among them is fly-by-night electric car company called Fisker Automotive that shut down after getting an eye-popping $193 million from the government.”

Obama Economist Downplays Benefits of Tax Reform (Washington Examiner) Excerpt: “…broad tax reform might not generate enough economic growth to make it politically viable. In other words, although everyone involved may be better off with tax reform that paid for lower tax rates by eliminating tax breaks, the specific winners might not receive enough benefits to convince them to take the political plunge to back tax reform legislation.”

International News

Venezuela: Headed for a Crash (The Economist) Excerpt: “Mr Maduro’s economic emergency decree would give him sweeping powers over the economy for 60 days. That could be dangerous. In shaking up his cabinet Mr Maduro gave the job of economic tsar to Luis Salas, a sociologist who comes from the far-left fringes of chavismo. He regards inflation as a capitalist conspiracy against consumers and denies that the Central Bank helps cause it by printing money to finance the budget deficit.”

Struggling Brazil Drags Down South America (Observer News and Politics) Excerpt: “But Brazil’s boom times are gone. The World Bank forecasts that Brazil faces its second year of recession. Following a GDP contraction of 3.7 percent in 2015, the economy will likely decline another 2.5 percent this year. According to the IMF estimates, Brazil ended 2015 as the world’s ninth largest economy.”

Italy Details EU Deal to Tackle Bad Bank Loans (Morningstar) Another bad idea. Excerpt: “Under the agreement, the Italian government will provide guarantees based on credit default swap prices on Italian bonds that are considered as risky as the bad loans themselves. The government will help banks to bundle bad loans into bonds, thus securitizing them, by selling guarantees to banks that will make some tranches of bad loans less risky.”

China Sharpens Efforts to Halt Money Outflow (Wall Street Journal) Excerpt: “China is ramping up efforts to halt a flood of money leaving the country in response to an economic slowdown….” Note: The Wall Street Journal requires a sign-in and/or subscription for access to some content.

Personal Economics and Household Finance

8 Simple Steps to Going on a Money Diet (Clark Howard) Here’s how it works… Excerpt: “Much like a nutritional diet where you change what you’re eating and take in less calories in order to lose weight, the idea is to switch up your spending habits and significantly reduce the outflow of money going to superfluous items, so that more of your money stays where it belongs – in your pocket.”

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Podcast Pick of the Week

Samuel Culper over at Forward Observer Magazine has a podcast on the Malhuer aftermath and the Lessons learned. While there are still holdouts at the wildlife refuge, the leadership has been taken down and arrested, one man is dead and many have left the refuge. Culper walks the listeners through the intelligence failures and what could have been done better and how the community can learn from this event.

Odds ‘n Sods:

The Rawles XL Voyager limited edition tanto pocketknife has been a strong seller for Cold Steel. I’ve been told that they now have just a few hundred left. So if you want one, then don’t hesitate. This is a limited edition, so once they are gone they are truly gone. (After they are only available on the secondary market, prices are expected to rise, driven by collectors. So you might want to keep the original box for your knife.) Note that all profits from the sales of these knives are going to charity. – JWR

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From the desk of Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog Editor At Large: More license plate scanning. If I understand the article, this is, “Let me sell you this device. You can use it to collect all the money you’re owed and pay it to me to buy the device you use to collect the money for me.”

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Water matters… Could Sebring (OH) be the Next Flint (MI)? – Submitted by T.A.

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Others obviously have the same concern as JWR over HRC’s felonious email server: An Email Server to Die For

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Most Oppressive Forced Vaccination Bill Introduced in any State Moving Fast in Virginia – There will be no opting out of this one. – D.S.

Prayer Requests: America’s Latest Inversions of Justice

Like many other Americans living in rural towns, I attend a church that is small enough that there is time to hear the prayer requests of individual congregants–both at the Wednesday evening Bible study meeting and at the Sunday worship services. This coming Sunday, I plan to voice three prayer requests in succession. This is in reaction to three news stories that have circulated in just the past two weeks. These news reports have deeply troubled me, and have begun to dominate my prayer life. All three of these involve inversions of justice. They are:

  1. Indictment of the Planned Parenthood Baby-Parts-For-Sale Whistleblowers. An article at The Federalist began: “A Houston grand jury has concluded there’s not enough evidence to bring Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast to trial from the series of videos David Daleiden of the Center for Medical Progress produced this last summer. It did, however, indict Daleiden on two charges, a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record (another employee, Sandra Merritt, was indicted on this charge as well) and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing organs.” When I read that I was shocked. How could justice become so inverted? Why would a grand jury indict well-intended undercover Whistleblowers who were posing as baby part buyers instead of the actual baby part sellers?
  2. The failed court appeal of a New York married Roman Catholic couple for refusing to host a homosexual “wedding” at their family farm. (See: “Court Unanimously Upholds $13,000 Fine Against Couple for Refusing ‘Gay Marriage’ Ceremony“.) The article noted: “Liberty Ridge Farms was also ordered to provide proof that they have trained their employees not to refuse requests from homosexuals. A poster noting that the business is subject to human rights law was additionally to be displayed prominently at the business.” Reading that put a chill up my spine. That smacks of Maoist “Re-Education”. And shaming posters? Court-ordered shaming of a family for taking a righteous stand? This reminds me of the public humiliation that was used against Jewish storekeepers in Germany in the 1930s, when their store windows were painted with the Star of David and the word “Jude!” How could justice become so inverted to make it a crime to preserve the sanctity of a family home and farm?
  3. The shooting death of Lavoy Finicum on January 26th. Regardless of your opinion of the merit or lack of merit on their protest or of their tactics, the men and women who occupied the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon were obviously seeking a redress of grievances. Further, it is noteworthy that the Malheur protest occupation was itself triggered by another inversion of justice: The re-sentencing of the Hammonds under a counter terrorism law’s mandatory minimum sentence terms. Not only was this re-sentencing a form of double jeopardy, but their original conviction was a gross misapplication of a law that was intended to stop true terrorists from setting fire to buildings full of innocent people. (It was was not intended to protect sagebrush!) Similarly, the felony conspiracy indictments of Ammon Bundy and his compatriots for “Conspiracy to Impede Officers of the United States from discharging their official duties though the use of force, intimidation or threats” was misapplied. That is a Federal law that was originally enacted to stop the KKK intimidation of federal officers. It was not intended to stop people from occupying a BLM office building that was closed for the winter. That conspiracy law was intended to stop intimidation of people from doing their jobs. How does someone “intimidate” unoccupied desks and office cubicles? How could justice become so inverted?

I am also troubled that journalist Peter Santilli was named as a co-conspirator on the indictment. Although he was clearly sympathetic to the cause, it is chilling to think that a journalist who camps out with protestors to cover a news story would be named as a “co-conspirator.” And this by the way is the same Pete Santilli, who just a few weeks earlier was stopped at gunpoint in Ohio, because he was supposedly “misidentified” as being on a “terrorist watch list.” Although Santilli has been roundly criticized for having bad business dealings in the past, he was still a bonafide journalist and this has set a horrible precedent. After Santilli’s indictment, what American journalist is going to want to go and cover the next “Occupy Wherever” event? And if it had been a journalist with a mainstream news network who had gone to camp out with Bundy, would he or she have also been indicted? I really doubt that.

A Time of Darkness

We are clearly now living in The Age of Deception and Betrayal. Increasingly, we are seeing miscarriages of justice – both by our paid peace officers (who now refer to themselves are “law enforcement officers”) and by our courts. Ironically, in reaction to falsely-alleged “intimidation” by Ammon Bundy and his group, the FBI has used genuine intimidation of their own, on a grand scale. (And there is nothing quite so intimidating as their unspoken message: “If you step out of line or get uppity, then we’ll shoot you dead.”) Many of the recent inversions of justice are so wicked and so vile that we must speak out. In fact, if we fail to speak out against them, then we are indirectly complicit and will have to answer for our silence, come Judgement Day.

This is my message to fellow Christians: We are called to be Watchmen. “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.” – Ezekiel 3:17.

I urge my readers to make these recent events a part of their prayers in the days and weeks to come. If, following prayer, you feel convicted to speak out, then do so publicly and repeatedly. Ask your friends and relatives to also pray about this and to contact their elected representatives.

Speak out now, while you still have the right to speak out! – JWR

(Note: Permission is granted for re-posting of this entire article, but only if done so in full, with proper attribution to James Wesley, Rawles and SurvivalBlog, and only if the included links are preserved.)

Digital Currency: The Key Tool of 21st Century Monolithic Nanny State Tyranny

There has been talk of doing away with paper currency for several decades, but up until now that has mostly been idle conjecture and mostly bluster. Gradually, however, the building blocks of such a system have indeed been developed. These enabling technologies include:

  • Credit cards
  • Debit cards
  • Postal meters
  • Credit and debit card enabled pay phones
  • Credit and debit card enabled vending machines
  • Credit and debit card enabled “pay before you exit” parking garage kiosks
  • Grocery and warehouse store “member” cards
  • Automated bank account and wage garnishment by the IRS
  • Automated child support and alimony payments
  • Transnational debit cards with a Maestro logo (such as EC and Switch cards)
  • EBT cards
  • Widespread use of cellular smartphones
  • Widespread use of tablet and laptop computers
  • Direct deposit of payroll checks and Social Security payments
  • “E-Stamp” electronic postage stamp equivalents
  • Electronic banking
  • “Self checkout” terminals at stores
  • Point of purchase (POP) credit/debit card terminals
  • Credit/debit card enabled gas pumps
  • The new chip-equipped “smart” credit cards
  • The “Square” and PayPal “Here” credit/debit card readers

Perhaps the most crucial yet underappreciated one of these technologies was the advent of the very compact Square card reader in 2010. The Square magnetic strip card reader is a tiny attachment weighing less than two ounces that plugs into a cell phone. When used with its SquareUp cross-platform app, this device allows anyone with a functioning cell phone signal the ability to process credit card and debit card transactions. The Square reader is now a mature technology that is being mass produced and sold for less than $9.

The other key enabler was the advent of the EBT card, which replaced U.S. food stamps. The EBT card put the Federal government in the debit card-issuing business. Thus, all of the infrastructure is already in place to have a government-issued “Cash Card”. (It would be very quick and easy to start issuing a combination cash and EBT card, which might be marked “Federal Reserve Cash Card” or something similar.)

Here Comes E-Cash

It is noteworthy that some American urban dwellers no longer carry any cash. They pay for all of their everyday expenses with debit cards and credit cards. I expect the number of people in this category to continue to grow.

Back in 2012, the International Business Times, in a story headlined Sweden Going Cashless reported: “In Sweden, monetary transactions made with physical cash are down to three percent of the national economy” and predicted that the country would go entirely cashless in a few years. And just last week, the same publication reported that Norway is now very close to implementing a cashless society by means of cash cards that will entirely replace paper currency and coins. This is a frightening prospect, because once Norway does so other European nations will almost surely soon follow, claiming that “they must” for the sake of competitiveness. And once EU goes cashless, then the U.S. and Canada will likely follow suit.

An Orwellian Nightmare

A cashless society is a Collectivist/Statist Tyrant’s dream come true. It seems like something inspired by George Orwell’s novel 1984. Think of it: Fully documented accounting and taxation on every transaction, large or small, leaving little or no opportunity to conduct free, private enterprise on the gray market or so-called black market. There would be Total Information Awareness of every citizen’s spending habits and Total Information Awareness of every citizen’s travel and business relationships! What better tool for imposing a statist tyranny than having the ability to instantly target individuals, groups of individuals, or even entire demographic groups? Picture this: If you step out of line, then your account gets frozen, levied, or even zeroed in the blink of any eye. (If you think that the FAA’s horribly flawed “No Fly” list is bad, then just imagine a “No Buy” list for everything–even gasoline or groceries!) Have you ever seen the Aaron Eckhart movie titled Erased? Or the Will Smith movie Enemy Of The State? Those movies provide apropos analogies. The bottom line: Any dissent could be crushed, overnight.

Going “cashless” could give bankers, the police, debt collection companies, and/or tax agencies the ability to not only monitor but control and seize the liquid net worth of every private citizen, with no notice whatsoever. The incremental “fees” and taxes could be conducted at many levels simultaneously: local and state sales taxes, a future national sales tax, a future Value Added Tax (VAT), various “sin” taxes on alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and firearms, et cetera. With a cashless currency, the revenue gathering possibilities are endless.

Going Full Mugabe

Inflation, which is a hidden form of taxation, could be manufactured on demand and then conveniently “eliminated” by dropping a zero from a national currency unit. This process could be repeated, as needed, allowing governments to overspend to their heart’s desire. (Without the bother of printing and minting currency, any government could inflate their currency as much as they’d like. No muss, no fuss.)

All Crime Is Retail

The implementation of e-currency will no doubt be heralded in the mainstream press with cries of “All crime is retail”, meaning that without cash then most property crimes would be made very difficult or even impossible. What is the point of stealing someone’s wallet, if all that it contains is a driver’s license and a Cash Card that is worthless without a personal Identification Number (PIN)? Why steal anyone’s household property if it cannot be resold on the black market? The whole concept of a “bank robbery” at gunpoint would become ludicrous. They will also claim that it will eliminate street begging. And the narco-traffickers would lose the ability to transport their proceeds. The Generally Dumb Public (GDP) will be easily swayed by such arguments. So, I predict that the majority of the citizenry will be in favor of the “convenient” switch to digital currency.

Rural Exceptions?

Fully implementing an electronic currency in a nation as vast as the United States could prove difficult. Here in my corner of The American Redoubt, for example, there is no cellular phone coverage, and there probably won’t be for another 20 years. (The population density is so low that it does not justify the expense of building cell phone towers.) How could we “Square” our transactions without cell phones? So it is conceivable that an exception will be made for some rural residents. Perhaps this exception might be by allowing the continued use of U.S. coinage in rural areas. We’ll see what happens.

The Ultimate Stumbling Block: The Banksters

Here in the United States, the banksters effectively control our government. (If you doubt that they do, then just think of the last time that a banker truly LOST any money in a financial crisis. They no longer lose, because they are now always the first in line for full government bailouts. The game is rigged.) The key stumbling block to implementing a new e-currency will be the bankers themselves. Why? Because they make huge sums of money on credit card interest payments and banking fees, and they are loathe to giving up those revenue streams. So if a “Cash Card” system were ever put in place in the U.S. of A., I am almost certain that the bankers would insist that they still somehow get their generous slice of pie. Perhaps the national Cash Card “deposits” could somehow be proportionally divided between the regional Federal Reserve banks and local banks for “safekeeping”, based upon the ZIP codes of the resident “depositers”. Then, along with gradually higher interest rates, the banks would profit handsomely on the float of all those billions of “e-dollars”. (The switch to E-cash would drive all of the mattress money out of circulation; thus, the banksters would finally control all of the money supply.)

Speedy Implementation

When the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve eventually do away with circulating Federal Reserve Notes and coins, it will probably be a swift transition. It is conceivable that as little as 60 days will be allowed for people to turn in their mattress money and empty their piggy banks before the paper currency is declared null and void. (Foreigner holders of U.S. Dollars will probably be allowed six months, or even longer.) Soon after, U.S. Savings bonds will also be called in, probably with a longer window of opportunity–perhaps two years. And then, finally, it will become illegal to hold foreign paper currencies or bearer bonds. That will be the proverbial last nail in the coffin for currency privacy.

If you think that the preceding sounds like some sort of implausible fiction, then consider this: In the depths of The Great Depression of the 1930s, the U.S. government forcibly called in all of the circulating gold coins in the country. The populace went along with it, with hardly a peep of discontent. I can foresee that in the next great financial crisis we will witness some highly-publicized bank runs, bank closures, and “bank holidays”. Following that, there will be loud calls for a digital currency, ostensibly so that “people will always have access to their deposits”. Count on it.

Plan Ahead!

Since the adoption of a digital currency now appears inevitable, I recommend that SurvivalBlog readers proactively begin to take a few defensive measures to buffer themselves:

  1. Invest in some pre-1965 U.S. dimes and quarters. These coins were minted with 90% silver and therefore will continue to be valuable for barter, regardless of what the politicians and banksters dream up.
  2. Invest in common caliber ammunition. Again, like small silver coins, ammo is ideal for barter, because it is: A.) Easily Recognizable B.) Durable, C.) Desirable. D.) Useful, and E.) Easily Divisible.
  3. Invest in some rolls of U.S. nickels (five cent pieces). These are the only coins still in common circulation that have a base metal value (an alloy of copper and nickel) that is equal to their face value. (Yes, I know, pre-1981 pennies have real value, but they must be sorted.) If our current coinage ever formally goes out of circulation, I predict that nickels will still be used as a de facto barter currency.
  4. If you keep any non-U.S. currency on hand for traveling, then convert it into Swiss Franc currency. I predict that even if the rest of Europe goes cashless, then the Swiss government will keep the Swiss Franc in circulation, right alongside the transnational e-cash cards.
  5. If you have substantial wealth, then open an offshore banking account. For most Americans, the best hedge would be a demand account (with an accompanying debit card) that is denominated in Swiss Francs with a bank in the Cayman Islands or on St. Kitts. While you are at it, also get a safe deposit box offshore, and store some of your precious metals there.
  6. Practice bartering, and gather the requisite reference books.
  7. Install Bitcoin on your computer, and practice using it. (Note: because of the many wild fluctuations in the value of Bitcoin, I DO NOT recommend keeping more than a few hundred Dollars worth of your “cash” in the form of Bitcoin.)
  8. Pray hard. Pray first for repentance, and then pray that God providentially puts you in the right place, at the right time, with the right people, to be able to live without Taking The Mark. (There are many American Christians who believe that a universal electronic cash card might then be soon replaced by a universal biochip. See: Revelation 13:16-17. For some insights on whether or not we are now living in “The End Times”, see the preaching of Pastor J.D. Farag, of Calvary Chapel Kaneohe, Hawaii , on YouTube. Pay special attention to the 11 minute mark, and beyond.)

In closing, remember that there are three types of people in the world: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder “What just happened?” Don’t be in that last category! – JWR

(Note: Permission is granted for re-posting of this entire article but only if done so in full, with proper attribution to James Wesley, Rawles and SurvivalBlog, and only if the included links are preserved.)