Potential SHTF scenarios & tinfoil hat thread (Please read post 1)

waterfordham wrote: »

Interesting, so following that line of reasoning, if you had to go shopping now for the next (12? months maybe 24?). What would you be shopping for? Just curious.

Beginning to wish I had done a 'trade' of some sort.

Grizzly has a good shopping list;) And for your lack of trade you can take up a "hobby" that will cover not having a trade. Learning to make booze/baskets/bread/Pate for example and perfecting good results will give you a head start. Sell it at car boots or craft fares for a couple of times.

In Bosnia there were quite a few opportunists in the early days, copied CD, DVD's and Game shops opened everywhere, vulcanizer's (tyre repair) suddenly opened up 2 or 3 to a village as the roads were so bad and tyres needed a lot or work. There were even fast food trollies that served vermin and birds and with their secret ingredients tasted fine.

Obviously think of your own needs first and think of how much space you have. If you live in a semi then buy what you can store. If rural you can focus on the immediate requirements like food, firewood which require larger areas. For your shopping you need to find a consumable item that is relatively cheap and luxurious at the same time and these will have demand regardless of the situation.

Fags - I pick up a rim or two every time I travel to a cheap(er) country. Brands dont really matter and "freshness" does not matter that much to a desperate smoker. Value of these has only gone up and will continue to do so. I still have fags from Saudi Arabia that I bought in the early 90's that cost me €3 for 200, I can and have sold these for €5 a pack of 20 recently. I can still buy rims of Marlboro in Asia for around €5 a rim. Most of my fags come from Spain or now Poland as I know people who regularly travel plus being EU I can bring back a suitcase full.

Booze - Now cheap crap will always be available but middle to high end stuff is really where the value is. Pull out a bottle of Middleton rare and the value will remain, same goes with Brandy. Used in the right situation will pay back your investment easily. Strangely enough the American Jack Daniels and Jim Beam always go down well even though I consider it cheap and nasty so I have plenty of this crud as well.

If the weather forcasters are right we could have other problems soon
http://www.herald.ie/news/new-ice-age-on-the-way-but-its-just-a-little-one-2901083.html

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

And the other lot says it will be global warming.Yet another shower say this Winter wont be as bad as last..One fact has emerged solar flares and sunspots are supposed to flatline for the next decade.
So this might have somthing to do with it??
Either way today was freezing cold,and if my records are right it kind of started getting cold this time last year..

Well if your records are wrong so are mine lol

It can hold off till next week when I get proper tyres on my 4x4:D

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

But you already have a survival trade!:D A Ham radio operator will be quite a useful person to have .IFIWY ,I'd be learning up on all the skills needed to keep your equipment in top shape,how to cannabilise ,repair ,improvise and fix any sort of transmission/reciving equipment you might come across from old ww2 valve radio transmitters to modern SAT comms.Buy in some books and tools and you neednt be too worried about your future trade.;)Not to mind figuring out how to EMP proof stuff.

As for buying in over the next 12 months,Food,fuel,proper clothing[not fashion stuff,solidly built rugged clothes and footwear] and possibly barterable items.Go to a Euro store and look at the shelves,think what of all there is in a place like that that you use everyday,everything from pens and paper to sweets and household items.What would you pay for a good can opener if you hadnt got one to hand??;)

Only thing as a mega fly in the ointment.
As we are all so cash starved at the minute trying to keep our day to day lives going paying bills and whatever.How many of us do have money left over to put into operation any major plans and purchases to make life better for ourselves??
I am about 2 years behind my plans since 09 to get things into place,and thats just due to financial capital to do any of this.

Hey, I never said I was an Amateur Radio operator, who told you that

Unfortunately, there is too much modern stuff today that uses surface mount components, that's another skill that needs to be developed. And I've not quite been brave enough/had enough time to try messing with SMT stuff. Plus there's better techs than myself within cycling distance. That said, necessity is the mother of invention and all that. And, yeah I am building up a book collection etc.

The simplest solution for EMP is disconnect it from everything, wrap in a plastic bag and stick it in a metal box. If the EMP is strong enough to kill the device with that, then I'm probably dead already (That said I currently only have one transceiver protected in this way. I could do with getting a suitable ammo box). I always disconnect HF antenna when I'm not here anyway.

Roger on the basics. I guess a lot of it is common sense. I'll go back through the thread. And I empathise re cash-flow. I'm in the same boat myself.

When its going mainstream, its time to worry : -

http://www.rte.ie/news/money/debt/how-would-my-finances-change-if-euro-collapsed.html

ps we spoke (I apologise if I was a little gruff re defence of gold) re safe havens of wealth and using gold as a currency in a SHTF situation. Some mentioned Sterling. The reality, in the eyes of both goldbugs but also markets is that the euro, though deeply troubled, is backed by 10,000 tonnes of gold. In fact they've resurrected this meme as a comfort blanket to those who worry about the ECB's ability to pay off ALL debts incurred. Britain, on the other hand, due to Gordon Brown's vision, has only 300 tonnes of gold to back up its currency. They have already deployed quantitative easing. When they resort to that again and again, how long before externally and internally its only worth sh1t? So, no, as a store of value another FIAT currency is a dicey move. We're not in the early part of the 20th century; we're in a globalised financial economy. If we're f*cked, they are too. And on it goes. All currencies, or rather all banking systems become deeply unstable if the euro derails.

Tonight, although gold is heading down due to the euro crisis (counter-intuitive but its the case), I've converted all remaining euro into Bullionvault Zurich gold. And yes, getting that back in the face of a banking meltdown will not be straightforward. But leaving it in yoyos? No thank you. Incidentally, we should now see more and more gold being sold off by central banks according to Larry edelson (@larryedelson)> Why? because politicians see it as assets that can be converted into cash, which pays bills and keeps things liquid. They don't see it as a store of wealth or as a currency in itself. It is, however. Anyone who wants to skip the queue in the Celtic jungle should put away some gold and wait it out. Do not swap for chickens or a ride or a corset for your darling wife. Keep it. Just like you did with your confirmation money. You kept that, didn't you?

An Ri rua wrote: »

When its going mainstream, its time to worry : -

http://www.rte.ie/news/money/debt/how-would-my-finances-change-if-euro-collapsed.html

ps we spoke (I apologise if I was a little gruff re defence of gold) re safe havens of wealth and using gold as a currency in a SHTF situation. Some mentioned Sterling. The reality, in the eyes of both goldbugs but also markets is that the euro, though deeply troubled, is backed by 10,000 tonnes of gold. In fact they've resurrected this meme as a comfort blanket to those who worry about the ECB's ability to pay off ALL debts incurred. Britain, on the other hand, due to Gordon Brown's vision, has only 300 tonnes of gold to back up its currency

True enough,if Britan had joined the Euro they would have had 10,300 tonnes of gold.Only trouble with this is the Euro going in the future be valued on specie???[IOW wil one Euro or Nord Euro be worth its weight in gold,or reedemable as such??]A few hundred billon euro notes are going to chop into 10k tonnes of gold pretty quick.Indeed the "one eyed Scottish idiot"[ala Jeremy Clarkson] did them no favours by not stocking up the bank of England with some gold reserves.However it is still under UK central bank control,which will only work in UK intrests ratherb than the EU.

. If we're f*cked, they are too. And on it goes. All currencies, or rather all banking systems become deeply unstable if the euro derails.

Tonight, although gold is heading down due to the euro crisis (counter-intuitive but its the case), I've converted all remaining euro into Bullionvault Zurich gold. And yes, getting that back in the face of a banking meltdown will not be straightforward. But leaving it in yoyos? No thank you.

That was one I'd be worried about from the word go.You have a piece of paper saying you have "gold" appx 1000 miles away in another country...
I myself would rather have in in physical form with me in coinage.

Incidentally, we should now see more and more gold being sold off by central banks according to Larry edelson (@larryedelson)> Why? because politicians see it as assets that can be converted into cash, which pays bills and keeps things liquid. They don't see it as a store of wealth or as a currency in itself. It is, however. Anyone who wants to skip the queue in the Celtic jungle should put away some gold and wait it out. Do not swap for chickens or a ride or a corset for your darling wife. Keep it. Just like you did with your confirmation money. You kept that, didn't you?[/

Very true indeed ,if however you can find somone who recognises the intrinsic value of your gold rather than the junk weight value of the metal in Ireland. IOWsay a US gold double eagle has a collectors value worth of maybe 5,000 usd,but its gold weight is worth maybe 500 euros.Most people are selling their gold here on "junk metal "weight EG [500 euros] rather than the intrinsic value.Whats to say a gold dealer isnt hhoarding up the coinage and relying to make a profit in the future on the intrinsic value of the coins sold to him. [IOW the old gag I'll sell you a fiver for a tenner!].If you got gold sell it outside the ROI:eek:

eth0 wrote: »

The 90's were the best decade in a long time.

I spent most the 90's in the Former Yugoslavia I guess I missed the security of that decade:(

This is interesting.

Hu Jintao tells China navy: Prepare for warfare

China's navy should speed up its development and prepare for warfare, President Hu Jintao has said.

He told military personnel they should "make extended preparations for warfare".

China is locked in territorial disputes with several other nations in the South China Sea. Political tension is also growing with the US, which is seeking to boost its presence in the region.

After Mr Hu's comments, the US said China was entitled to defend itself.

"Nobody's looking for a scrap here," said Pentagon spokesman Admiral John Kirby in quotes carried by the AFP news agency.

"Certainly we wouldn't begrudge any other nation the opportunity to develop naval forces."

I've been keeping half an eye on the situation in the South China sea for a while, looks like its warming up to what could be a right mess. This is the difference between what China claims and what international treaties have agreed:



If they try and enforce that they'll have a war with all of SE Asia, and it looks like they might just have the stones to give it a shot. Obviously that would pull in the US and everyone else as well.

Probably, a couple of things though, they have a lot of unmarried men who will never get married due to their one child policy, with the ongoing recessions across the west their unemployment is rising (and economic growth is the only glue really holding China together), so they need a distraction, and international approval is becoming less important as domestic demand grows.

From todays Examiner.
Pity they just wont allow us the proper tools for the job!!:D