Here’s an interesting thought for you to bounce around in your noggin: if you no longer had to direct any of your resources towards the firearms aspect of preparedness (that means guns, parts, optics, ammo, holsters, etc.), where would you direct those resources and how would that impact your timetable of being prepared in those other fields?
I ask because I may have hit the point where it’s just downright fiscally ridiculous to buy any more guns specifically for the sake of being prepared. I mean, I have, literally, dozens of AR-15’s, and the number of Glocks (and PSA clones) is right up there too. I mean, extra ammo is always a good idea, but realistically I can afford to shunt all the financial resources that have been directed on gunstuff into a new direction. I just need to examine what direction that should be.
Obviously the most glaring choice of a new target would be my land fund. Im getting older and I feel no closer to getting my Chunk Of Nowhere. But there’s also an appeal to beefing up the supply of gold and silver. Or, I suppose, a more resilient vehicle. Funny how theres never a shortage of things to spend money on, isn’t it?
Even when you factor in Primary, Auxiliary, Contingency, Extra, and Redundant levels of arms I’m still pegging the needle. Magazines? Literally in the thousands. Ammo? Well, the fire marshal would probably have nightmares if he knew.
Didn’t happen overnight, although it did pick up quite a bit in these last few years as my career path changed. But, still, I’ve got over thirty years of accumulating and accumulating to fall back on. With the addition of the Barrett I’ve pretty much checked all the boxes on the Post-Apocalypse Party Pak checklist.
I have some numbers in my head about what I’d like to have available to me in terms of precious metals and I can probably make that a reality in less than a year if I really throw everything at it. But at the same time, dang it, Zero wants that ground. I think what I’m gonna have to do is split it 50/50. Whatever I spend on PM’s, I put an equal amount in the land fund. And vice versa.
But the question remains: if you ‘finished off’ (although we all know youre never really finished) the gun aspect of your preperations, where would you refocus the resources and how would it change your timetable?
Having started on the BOL about a year and a half ago, it’s never too early. Get moving on that. You need to start embedding in the community too (whatever is nearest) so you aren’t “the new guy” who might be brewing meth or smuggling aliens for all they know….
In the mean time, PMs to get thru the currency collapse. Sure. You need walking around money, but you’ve got other convertible assets.
I’d get some heavy duty solar and water treatment plants started so I had them when the land deal came thru. You can shit in the woods, but you need fresh water, and power is a force multiplier.
Even though I’ve got lots of ways to make power, temporarily, and in extremis, and the same with clean water, I’m feeling a definite lack when it comes to a long term thing where doing that yourself is “the new normal”.
n
Agree. Buying land is just the start. Getting the second home fully set up and resilient takes time and money.
How much land is attached to your current living quarters?
A winter-fortified greenhouse could be just the ticket, if you have sufficient sunlight.
Kurt
I would harden my home to increase the chance of a successful “bug in.” In most scenarios it is much more survivable than bugging out. I would strengthen ties to like minded individuals to think about possible community threats and appropriate responses.
“Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.” – Mark Twain
Beware the choice of additional taxes when purchasing land. Taxes have a bad habit of increasing suddenly when neighboring lands suddenly become more valuable. Ask the ranchers who inherited their land and now pay crazy $$$ because rich folks bought expensive vacation homes nearby. You can be land rich but $$$ poor and it isn’t a nice play to be.
1. If it were me, I would use the hiatus to eliminate any debt and then accumulate financial resources. These provide flexibility and can be redirected as and when needed to other goals (the desired “homestead”). Whether you accumulate this as PM, cash, or financial investments is based on you.
2. Also, personally, I might evaluate my inventory and sell off those items deemed “utterly and completely redundant, what was I thinking?” to like-minded people, which serves as network building, too (hopefully at a reasonable profit) and then plow those proceeds into #1. All of this is based on one’s personal vision
do you have a sustainable source of water ?
This /\
Without water, everything else is redundant.
You already have all the cool shit. You know your not going to be happy till you own the land. Land is really is the coolest of the cool shit to have.
I have a wish list of guns I’d “like to have”.
Not “need“.
Much like your recent BBQ gun.
Camp Snoopy and Castle Anthrax are the first, last, and everything-in-between priorities here.
I want a battlement behind a moat to play the bagpipes from at 3AM, and scare hell out of every neighbor within earshot.
And the best time to dig a well, plant fruit trees and grape vines, and put in a garden was years ago.
While you can probably survive in town, getting out of town is likely to go MUCH better.
I agry – focus on your retreat.
A prep you can use both now and later would be a reasonable sized semi-portable solar system with batteries.
I’ve thought of a trailer mounted system that can plug into a transfer switch like a generator.
I would also say alternate water supplies, but beyond some filtering and storage that needs to wait for the retreat.
If the gut and the heart is pushing the land then direct resources to some land, but there has to be a back up plan in place in case the powers that be decide they want to ‘re-purpose’ the land. Just look at the people of Ukraine and Hamas, owning land there didn’t mean squat when the missiles start flying.
Maybe a newer truck and trailer. I plan on bugging in but if we do have to leave then a decent travel trailer and rig to pull it would be nice so I could move to where they ain’t.
Not knowing more personal situation data points makes throwing advice around difficult to be “accurately” helpful. I would posit that at this juncture you described it would be “location, location, location”. Go all in towards a move to what may/will be your final hermitage. You will probably not get the super best location, house specs, land size, etc that is on your fantasy redoubt checklist without a stupidly huge bankroll. There will be pros and cons and long lists of differences between current A.O. and any target shopping potentials. Don’t fret about shortcomings from expectations, as long as afterwards you can say to self that it was certainly wise to relocate (yes) and you get many more benefits and attributes in your new location. (It will be a win in the end) (Your time is getting short in this area, don’t spaz out, just get this done as it is the most important and largest task) As an aside note, stockpile uniform sized moving boxes from Lowes home depot etc, packing tape, fragile wrappings, moving dollys, handcart, tie down straps, padded moving blankets, etc. Start separate fund for biggest truck rental, fuel expenses, temporary storage unit rental if necessary for interim staging, etc. That will all burn up cash as well. I did it 2 years ago moving from spot a after 33 years to spot b 600 miles two states away. Tactically, strategically, and social-culturally smartest thing I ever pulled off. Be that Pioneer trudging out to your new future, it is exhilarating and will reward you in the end. Stay frosty
You only have one Beretta?!?
Whered you get that idea?
He said Barret, not Beretta!
land
you already screwed up not buying the land first. don’t waste any more time/resources on pm’s or anything else. not much time left, if any.
CZ, from what you have written, I would choose to buy my land and begin to set it up. Even if I didn’t have the depth of supplies you have alluded to, I would get my land first and begin building that up to what I needed. some of the comments above are very accurate. Get debt free first, then secure a home with land. As you’ve said before, no-one knows what will happen next or when. So you may get mired down in prepping for supplies and completely lose sight of having a secure place to keep it all. Good luck and choose wisely. TTFN
I see no mention of coeds………they are quite expensive I hear.
Not so much, once hunger rumbles their bellies. 😉
They’ll be a dime a dozen then.
Congratulations! Land your future Fort Zero. Running water on said land. Manual hand pump well in addition to your energy powered pump. 2nd vehicle old model with trailer to haul your loot away.
Land.
NOW!!!!
I’ve been divesting myself of all paper and acquiring more physical PMs, productive farm lands and water rights. Focus on downsizing the toys/gadgets and concentrate on living and helping others.
my input would be invest in education. i don’t mean college. anything that will improve your ability to produce for yourself. making leather; garden/food; tools needed for those. maybe making electricity (solar) or wind/water generation.
i’d also suggest guerilla gardening while you work on your own land. find out-of-way public land and plant a few potatoes. great education in getting food-stuff to grow in the wild, and way fun. lots of very useful experiences there.
also, invest in traps. dog-proof raccoon traps are my best gift ideas for paratus. so many coons around, and pretty tasty too. not expensive but another educational investment. tan the hides and you have another income option. i even experimented with making soap from raccoon fat – they are fatty 😉
even just two spare batteries are a great investment with a solar panel. they’ll run your equipment, weld with them, etc in teh wild. i’d also suggest a propane RV stove and refrigerator. deals are out there, and they are small, portable, and when you have your own bug-out they are way better than the 120V-to-solar mess.
ever trot-lined or gill-netted fish? another great experience with little $$$ investment.
just some ideas that have been my favorite to experiment with. the food storage i have is just to buy me a few years time to figure out how/where i’ll grow my food when it all runs out.
Land fund, a couple of durable vehicles with a good fuel stash and a stack of cash with zero credit card balance would be my choice.
Oh and some PVS-14s
playin the bagpipes at 3 am would be cool, but how about blastin Metallica’s “For whom the bell tolls”, in the same situation?
That’ll be after the meltdown.
After the experience of buying a home cash,no mortage no questions,no major hassles. I highly recommend it, in mean time have transport/ temporary accommodations prepped- raw land? You need more than a tent, bear country- real storage for food stuffs and supplies. Also think redundency if casa zero had a serious incident how much would be lost? Would you become basically a refugee? Secondary accomadations with redundant supplies with mobility may be option.
“… I may have hit the point where it’s just downright fiscally ridiculous to buy any more guns…”
Words I never expected CZ to ever say…
Buying land is, I’m sure, fiscally punishing to anybody whose name isn’t Elon Musk and it’s only the first step of so very many. Seriously, once you have a place to put stuff the building of said stuff will go on for years or decades. You can’t start too soon. Cabin, well, power system, sewage disposal, storage, garden/greenhouse, soil making if your location doesn’t have more than sterile dirt. Poultry? Livestock? The learning curve will bend your brain if you try to take it all in at once.
I was gonna email you a long story about my choice to buy land but I think I will sum it up simply here for now. Get the land, buddy. Make it a top priority. All the shit in my life went *Poof-buh-bye* when I escaped to my nowhere piece of paradise. And like a prior commenter said, it will take time to become part of the community you move to, but it pays dividends you could never buy. Good luck! Rawles’ book on relocation was real helpful to me. And demographic data too, certainly.
Land is only worth what it can do for you. Food? Security? Land for food requires water, a lot of effort and planning. Land for security involves sheer size, remoteness, or additions of money.
Land is almost never a bad investment, but the key is probably making it work for you as soon as possible. A quarter acre in town can work for you, just not in a sustainable way. Twenty acres can work for you indefinitely, but the effort is something few in modern society can comprehend.
Good call.
– More money in the bank is always good.
– Buy some of those big ticket items you’ve been putting off.
It’s funny how a new truck costing $15k is too much to think about but $500 thirty different times over a year is achievable.
– Land isn’t a bad idea. Get a little travel trailer to start and build it up over time.
– Maybe rent a really, really hot hooker.
Where are these NEW 15 thousand dollar trucks you speak of???
Have you looked into a home freeze dry machine to reduce cost of freeze dry meals and put a bunch of items down for a 25 year storage without loss of nutrients and taste. This is something my wife and I just invented in. Lots of videos and sites of how to do this. Hugh price up front with a long term payback.
It’s not something that money can necessarily buy, but if you are squared away on the prep front, and others have already mentioned land – what about someone to watch your back? Take a shift watching the cameras… cover you when you go out, provide suppressive fire when needed?
Where do I buy that?
Can’t be bought,only earned but very rare, precious and difficult. Right one probably comes with horses/livestock(mindset thing).
I looked for well over a year to find my perfect spot. I either would find a great house with shop and outbuildings only to discover the land was crap, awful neighbors, down wind from sewage treatment etc …etc…
OR
I would find a great piece of land with hardwoods and hills, a pond, or creek and the house was like the movie “the money pit” or the previous owners must have had a monkey training school. Or it had been hit by a tornado or etc…etc…
So I ended up finding the perfect piece of land and bought a used mobile home. Put in well and septic and planned everything for building later on. Bought the land in 1991…ten acres of hardwood hills, good schools, pond, nearest neighbor 1/2 mile. For 24900.heh heh
Built house in 2007…right before the 2008 crash. Have planted fruit trees that are now producing more than I can eat fresh and can can, deer and game plentiful, can shoot right out my door, peaceful, birds singing, dark nights no regrets…
my advice
Don’t just jump on the first thing that presents itself because you get the ole FOMO, be picky but know what you want and be prepared to pull the trigger fast when “THE ONE” does come along or you will miss a good one. I found my place at 330 in afternoon, had realtor come out at 5 and bought it that night ( land contract). Good hunting and you won’t be sorry. And plan and plant your fruit trees / orchard asap. Mine took 8-10 years to really start producing. Over build the well and septic,do it right and will last a long time, and don’t wreck the night and stars by putting up flood lights. Robbers(especially townies) are scared of the dark out in the country, that and they know we are all armed.( besides that’s why you get pvs -14s ) get a good outside dog, and he will alert you to anything happening.
I can’t wait till the city rats come out to the country to take our crap, boy they really don’t have a clue.
Again…
Good luck and have fun, it can be a tiny bit stressful.