Declining Dollar Defences

OK Gang, today the US$ was passed by the once-humble Canadian Buck. Anyone who still doesn't believe the Dollar is headed into history's dustbin really must be keeping their head in the sand. You can either see it or you can't...

So how does the little guy give himself a little protection? Precious metals, ammo, guns and food are all great, but they've been talked to death here. I'd like this thread to involve serious thinking about small scale entreprenuerial activities which might help us to weather the storm. I'm going to offer a little of my thinking and just one example of my several strategies to address this.

I think it's a no-brainer that imports will increase significantly in Dollar cost and further, that the US standard of living will be additionally stressed. I also believe that there's a fairly strong liklihood that Chinese imports may not even be available and that if they are, they will skyrocket in price to a greater degree than most other imports. Why? For a variety of reasons outside the scope of this thread, the cost of Chinese goods has been suppressed to a greater degree than say, German or French imports.

With these things in mind, today I ordered twenty cast iron Chinese boxwood stoves from a local hardware dealer. They gave me a 5% discount and I know their bottom line. Ordinarily I could've gotten 10% but this is a very low profit item and since the dealer is part of a national chain, I'm getting them delivered locally for free. This will put me into them delivered for roughly $130 apiece. Harbor freight used to sell the same stove slightly cheaper with free delivery, but they no longer carry them :-( By comparison, Northern Tool carries the same stove for a better price, but adds on truck shipping which queers the whole deal.

OK, what's my thinking here? What else is going up in price beside imported Chinese geegaws? Energy! I think people are already frightened of opening their power bills and this will only get worse going forward. I think woodburning will make a big comeback, just like it did after the 1970s energy shocks and that there will be a thin market for the expensive (and admittedly better) wood stoves. These cheap boxwood stoves should be easy to sell and will make excellent barter material. In truth, I've owned one for many years and they are surprisingly good...considering. A shop wall piled up with dissassembled cast iron stoves is not the most liquid investment, but they are cheap enough that I shouldn't get hurt and I don't intend to flip them overnight.

OK, this isn't Warren Buffet megabux investing. It's tiny, close to the ground and simple.

Anyone else have similar ideas to add to the thread?

Best regards
Doc

Well after being without a vehicle for a number of years I'm thinking of getting one and going into scrap/recycling. Diesels are common as muck heres so fueling shouldn't be a problem.

half

Best "hard asset" investment IMO is installing solar power for electric and heat.


nanna
/basic

The Canadian dollar is not a 'buck',

it's a 'loonie'.

Doc1, interesting approach. I think we will be seeing a lot more ideas as time goes on and the dollar falls more. 99.5% of all goods at Wal-Mart are imported items, so I doubt they will "always" have the best deal in town.....

Buy Recreation/Farmland. Do it now, before the dollar dip kills the return. Finance it if you can/must. You'll be very glad you did in 5 years.

Look in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, as well as UP of Michigan and upper Wisconsin. These are the last great land deals in America.

In 5 years your value will have doubled or even tripled. This will far outstrip any other investment you can make.

Grock said:

Buy Recreation/Farmland. Do it now, before the dollar dip kills the return. Finance it if you can/must. You'll be very glad you did in 5 years.

Look in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, as well as UP of Michigan and upper Wisconsin. These are the last great land deals in America.

In 5 years your value will have doubled or even tripled. This will far outstrip any other investment you can make.

Click to expand...

Add AR and MO to that list.

Thanks Doc1 for this thread... Ive been thinking about this myself.

I have wanted to start a candle/soap business... But never had the resourses to do it (at least that I felt I could do without). Now Im thinking of buying in bulk the ingrediants (which store very well for long periods) and start making my own herbal oils to use in them. Figured that once its to the point that I cannt work (no jobs anymore) I would have something to do and something to barter with. Without electric people will need candles (both plain and calming ones) and soap.

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated....

Windi

Grock said:

Buy Recreation/Farmland. Do it now, before the dollar dip kills the return. Finance it if you can/must. You'll be very glad you did in 5 years.

Look in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, as well as UP of Michigan and upper Wisconsin. These are the last great land deals in America.

In 5 years your value will have doubled or even tripled. This will far outstrip any other investment you can make.

Click to expand...

And as Cardinal said Mo and AR. Land will always be a good investment. If things do go as bad as eeryone thinks it will lands will still be there waiting for you.


I found out about 45 minutes ago that my oldest brother bought a large amout of euros 30 days ago, he figured I was doing the same thing so didn't tell me.

I'm starting to look for farm equipment at estate auctions so far nothing special

Grock said:

Buy Recreation/Farmland. Do it now, before the dollar dip kills the return. Finance it if you can/must. You'll be very glad you did in 5 years.

Look in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, as well as UP of Michigan and upper Wisconsin. These are the last great land deals in America.

In 5 years your value will have doubled or even tripled. This will far outstrip any other investment you can make.

Click to expand...

I agree. Self-sustainable land with a water source.

Excellent advice.

Grock said:

Buy Recreation/Farmland. Do it now, before the dollar dip kills the return. Finance it if you can/must. You'll be very glad you did in 5 years.

Look in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, as well as UP of Michigan and upper Wisconsin. These are the last great land deals in America.

In 5 years your value will have doubled or even tripled. This will far outstrip any other investment you can make.

Click to expand...

Grock,

Excellent advice and as Cardinal knows, we are currently in the market for land in southern Mississippi for an intentional community. The thing, as the Realtors are so fond of saying, is "location, location, location." My concepts are at odds with a lot of conventional real estate criterion, however merely buying cheap land is not the solution either.

In times past, remoteness was a disadvantage primarily as a function of the inconvenience of commuting. Now, more and more, the inconvenience factor is being eclipsed by fuel expense and I predict that the next phase of this dynamic will be fuel availability. This can be wonderful when trying to insulate yourself from the mutant zombie hordes, but less satisfactory when trying to go to work! Even working for ones self usually involves some travel to more populated areas, if only to find a market for individually produced goods and crops. I'm trying to find that fine balance of expense, suitable land, remoteness and market accessibility.

Best regards
Doc

Doc1 said:

Grock,

Excellent advice and as Cardinal knows, we are currently in the market for land in southern Mississippi for an intentional community. The thing, as the Realtors are so fond of saying, is "location, location, location." My concepts are at odds with a lot of conventional real estate criterion, however merely buying cheap land is not the solution either.

In times past, remoteness was a disadvantage primarily as a function of the inconvenience of commuting. Now, more and more, the inconvenience factor is being eclipsed by fuel expense and I predict that the next phase of this dynamic will be fuel availability. This can be wonderful when trying to insulate yourself from the mutant zombie hordes, but less satisfactory when trying to go to work! Even working for ones self usually involves some travel to more populated areas, if only to find a market for individually produced goods and crops. I'm trying to find that fine balance of expense, suitable land, remoteness and market accessibility.
Best regards
Doc

Click to expand...

And best of luck to you on that score. I am 21 miles out from my place of work, but with the traffic it is a 45 minute commute. If the nearest Megalopolis continues to spread this way, I may be lookin to move again. At this point we are only renting, so it would not entail selling anything.

Doc1, this is the first I've heard about you trying to put an intentional community together. When you have some ideas together, I'd love to hear about them!

Jan

I'd suggest adding some solar panels and wind generation along with a couple mid-sized inverters and a battery backup for your energy needs. Energy costs are going to skyrocket, and if you can provide some of your own, you can offset your energy overhead or do away with it all together. We could see brownouts all over the country or even see the grid go down due to lack of parts to repair it. They DO make small 12 volt heating blankets that have a real low energy raw on a small solar system. Also look into a backup heat source, small woodburner or something on that scale, just to take the chill off during the winter with a small fire now and then. You CAN actually do without heat during the night if you have enough blankets.

Of course this gets a lot more difficult the further north you are located, but most in the tougher winter conditions already have the alternative/secondary heat source. Being able to make a little energy on your own will be to your advantage. When the grid goes down in my neighborhood, I am the only person with power.

What?

SouthernMagnolia said:

Doc1, this is the first I've heard about you trying to put an intentional community together. When you have some ideas together, I'd love to hear about them!

Jan

Click to expand...

Jan,

What? You didn't see the billboards or the expensive ads I bought on Letterman and Leno?

Seriously, there's a long thread on this in the Homesteading sig that we started last year. The basic concept is that everyone would own their own land parcel - no "communes" - but be in a safe neighborhood of like-minded preppers. We are looking at a group land purchase, which will then be parceled out according to participation and already have some serious money committed.

Quite a few people with no strong assets are interested in the project, too though they have not been "in the loop" to as great a degree. I will not go into debt on my homestead, but those who are willing, or have to, can be accomodated on an individual basis by willing sellers. IOW hypothetically let's say you bought 20 acres. You could then sell 5 or 10 acres to "Bill and Jane" as your own private business, either outright or on a land contract.

For a wide variety of reasons, I am looking at properties in rural northern Hancock County. Remote, high (way above the flood zones), but within reasonable distance to the Coast.

Read the thread and it'll give you a much better picture of the sort of considerations involved.

Best regards
Doc

Doc1 said:

OK Gang, today the US$ was passed by the once-humble Canadian Buck. Anyone who still doesn't believe the Dollar is headed into history's dustbin really must be keeping their head in the sand. You can either see it or you can't...

Click to expand...

My 12 year old son brought this to my attention today while looking for a world news article for school.

It reminded me of the time I was working as a cashier - pregnant with the son I speak of above.

At that time, if a person wanted to pay for their gasoline with Canadian dollars (common for tourists on the way home at the time), they were required to pay THREE TIMES the amount charged for the gas.

None of them flinched. It seemed at the time that Canadian dollars were worth only a third of the American dollar.

If this news doesn't hit home with the "common people" of America - I don't know what will. "Head in the sand" is just not a strong enough analogy to describe Americans not recognizing the economic trouble this country faces today.

Never mind... Deleted... Answered and didnt see it.

Windi

Buy Recreation/Farmland. Do it now, before the dollar dip kills the return. Finance it if you can/must. You'll be very glad you did in 5 years.

Look in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, as well as UP of Michigan and upper Wisconsin. These are the last great land deals in America.

In 5 years your value will have doubled or even tripled. This will far outstrip any other investment you can make.

Do not buy land in Kentucky. It is rocky, hilly, overrun with snakes, bugs, it's hot, humid, and we don't take to strangers at all. Buy somewhere else.

Thanks Doc! I sure will check out that thread.

Jan

Hey, great thread, Doc !

I think basic hand-adjusted machine tools, perishable tooling ( i.e., stuff that breaks or gets du or used up ) and the skills to operate them will be necessary. It will also be necessary to have some primary metals in rounds, hollow rounds ( or pipe ) bar, and billets. These would include steel, brass, and aluminum, mostly. With a good lathe, welder, and milling machine, you can make about anything with enough time and the proper raw materials. A junk pile for scrounging is also essential. This can provide bearings, castings, hose clamps, and other stuff that is hard to make. Get several types of tape for repairs, such as electrical, duct, cloth, foil, and strapping. Get yourself about 10-20 tubes of Automotive Goop ! Sometimes Big Lots has it, otherwise auto parts stores. It is invaluable for repairs ! You'll see ! You will get a reputation as the person to go to in order to get things working; a great bartering position.

So much stuff has electronic controls and the like, it may be necessary to have an electronics junkpile as well, and develop some basic component-testing skills. About 75% of electronic repairs are either repairing some physical damage, or replacing an obvious group of burned-up or otherwise sad-looking components. Also, you may want to become proficient at retrofitting manual or mechanical controls to some exotic things to get them working.

One oddball thing I would like to get, is an old Allis-Chalmers pull-type combine with a pretty good complement of screens. These can run stationary and harvest a huge breadth of crops - actually pretty much anything that can be beat out of its hulls, from flax to amaranth to clover to wheat.. Fixing one of these up would be a good skills-builder ! Small crop farmers could bring you their little harvest of specialty things, and you would set up, throw the stuff onto the draper, and go. Sure beats a flail and winnowing.

Rubber products are another area where there is going to be a good investment possible. Where are people going to go to get tires, hoses, belts, seals, sheet materials, rollers, etc. ? Maybe you. Rubber repair is also possible, and a nearly lost art. Same goes for canvas.

Ladies, you're not forgotten ! People who can sew often accumulate large piles of cloth they can't resist buying. Have enough supplies for sewing it up into useful things - supplies like needles ( all sizes, and LOTS of them ), bobbins, thread, heavy thread, the essential little light bulbs and belts, OIL, buttons, presser feet, and a small inverter/battery/solar charging system to run it all. 300 Watts of capacity would probably be enough for a small sewing machine. Buy odd and unwanted material for pennies on the dollar - no one will care about the pattern or color under the right conditions. Buy odd colors of thread.

Making useful stuff out of junk is going to be a good thing, under certain conditions short of total bug-out or hiding. If that occurs, use your stuff to assist yourself and others with that, as much as possible, like sewing up some appropriate gear !

Do not buy land in Kentucky. It is rocky, hilly, overrun with snakes, bugs, it's hot, humid, and we don't take to strangers at all. Buy somewhere else.

Click to expand...

Too late...

But I'll try not to let the secret slip.... OOops...

I mentioned this on another thread....A couple of weeks ago I bought fingernail clippers, toenail clippers, needles, scissors, sewing supplies, etc. from the dollar store. My total expenditure was less than $200, and I got tons of stuff. I checked all of the packages....and none of it was made in the USA.

If you are into guns...especially Comm bloc stuff, remember that most of your ammo is imported...7.62x39, 7.62x54R, etc. Old surplus guns, especially old Comm. Bloc stuff is still a good buy. SKS, AK variants, and bolt guns. They are not the prettiest things, but they work, and they are extremely reliable. Ammo is still reasonable...not like .223....but I would get it while its still available. Remember, at the first whiff of trouble...there will be no more gun or ammo sales. Its been done before, don't think the govt. won't enact "emergency measures" to restrict your rights.

Can't say enough about food...especially long term storable and in bulk quantities. Wheat, beans, rice, pasta, salt, sugar, etc. I have been making room in the storage area for major purchases of these staples.

I think whatever things are purchased now, will only be worth more in the future. The exception is going to be things like plasma tvs, MP3 players, etc. I think people are going to be so busy getting by with the basics that these items are not going to appreciate in value dramatically.

Above all, the biggest thing I am "buying" now is knowledge. Knowledge of gardening, cooking, sewing, canning, re-loading, harvesting. These are the simple things that we have let slip away into the realm of the esoteric. For instance, when I tell my city friends that my pecan trees are bearing nuts heavy this year...most of them have no real idea what this means. After all, don't you just buy pecans in a bag from the store?

Great thread Doc...

I'd originally posted the following in 2005 on a thread entitled
"ECON - What jobs WILL be left/available when the Economy tanks?" at...
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=151461

Some jobs that'll also likely be in higher demand soon...

- Bankruptcy counselors and lawyers specializing in it
- Collection agencies
- Court legal paper servers
- Moving & rental truck outfits
- Insurance fraud investigators
- Theft of service investigators (cable, utilities)
- Asset recovery (repo man)
- Prison & private security guards
- Auctioneers
- Flea markets
- Farmers markets
- Pawn shops
- Metal scrap yards
- Refurbishers & sellers of used appliances, furniture
- Second hand clothing stores
- Local bartering clubs
- Household budget & finance consultant
- Cheap 'informal' bars, booze, bookies, prostitutes
- Drug, alcohol, gambling, & stress crisis centers
- Marriage & family counselors
- Home, business & farm/ranch security & weapon training
- Kidnapping/ransom consultants & negotiators
- Economical cremation, burial & funeral homes

On a more positive note, any teachers of any of the above, or wannabe authors that can homebrew a manual about it, or about any type of practical skills that either helps folks save money or make money, will be in high demand, too.

Also, most any kind of creative repair man (auto, plumber, appliance, electrician, computer, TV/VCR/DVD, etc.) will be in higher demand, too, as folks won't be buying new if it can ever be fixed cheaper.

It'll likely be a tough transition for many folks...

- Shane

P.S. - I'd also add to the in-demand list under "either helps folks save money or make money" the wide-spread popular return of 'victory gardens' amongst those who have never seriously or successfully had a thriving family garden, who will need help doing so. There could be an opportunity in helping/teaching folks how to raise and then preserve their own food at their own place for either money and/or a share of produce. It's hard for some of us here to imagine ever paying anyone for such help as most of us know what to do or how to find out for free locally, but many of those hungry and in need later won't have a clue where to start.

Also, we might could see spring up many more local 'green thumb' community plots where the one running it provides numerous families small staked out plots on his land all adjoining each other where he/she overseas it all. This manager running it provides basic tools shared by all along with their ever present gardening expertise and guidance, again either for money and/or for a share in the produce. Sales of seeds, fertilizer and other supplies there would supplement the operation.

And, from a posting of mine back in early April 2007...

The economic, financial and monetary mess fixing to be unleashed should have all eager to re-evaluate any entanglements with typical investment vehicles most fellow Americans are mired in; stocks, bonds, mutual funds, 401k's, real estate, and dollar denominated paper assets in general, etc.

They should begin to explore owning only those tangible basic goods that will sustain life, or save them money on essentials that'll always be needed, or possibly make some money regardless of the economy. And, with any little left over dollars, after that, then exchange them into some gold/silver.

All other investments and goods, with few exceptions, if not already unloaded, should be sold now while it can still get a fair price. A few toys reluctantly released, I consoled myself with remembering that, I'll be able to buy back bigger, better, later, and so much more cheaper, if I still even want to then.

Most all fellow Americans will be forced to try and liquidate most everything, too, eventually, but when they do, it'll be in a mass panic and far past any hope of ever getting anywhere near a fair price then, as everybody else will also be dumping everything at the same time, too, with many just trying to scrape together enough funds to cover their next mortgage, insurance, or tax payment to keep a roof over their heads.

This will be the coming shocking cover photo's of our national magazines and TV exposes, one of row upon row of suburban houses with tons of stuff (second cars, boats, jet-ski's, 4-wheelers, big screen TV's, excercise equip, etc.) all out front with for-sale signs, though with nothing much at all selling; "The Great American Garage Sale!" they'll all sadly document and proclaim.

Bottom Line: Sell now everything that does not sustain life or save money or make money, and do it while you can still get a fair price for it. And, with that money, then pay down debt and/or buy what truly will sustain your family or save/make you money during the 'coming to a town near you' national economic/financial/monetary crisis.

I encourage all here to listen to what I conclude as middle Canada, like middle USA, hear our largest city "Saskatoon (in our province)" talk about health care problems" AND "latest news on the effects of the rising "Canadian Dollar". It's a repeat program from this morning that I heard on the road. The CAD hit $1.02 at one time today vs USD. Explains economies of both countries. Pros and cons to everything happening. Very awesome. Very cut throat. I believe you will like it. (Call in show from Canadians as well.)

Here's the Link:

http://www.ckom.com/# Click "LISTEN LIVE"

Let me know if the link does not work. Thanks.

Canadian Dollar rise coming up........No interest in heath care????

What immediately comes to mind is high-quality, foreign-made tools, such as scissors, knives, bolt cutters, medical tools, Japanese & German glass (binoculars, spotting scopes, rifle scopes) NV equipment, electronics/spare parts (AM/FM/SW radios, handi-talkies, scanners, cameras, CD players, digital voice recorders, MP3 players, computer parts), etc.

Just curious...........anyone listening to the link I gave?

Canadian dollar coming up! Keep listening.

Doc1 said:

So how does the little guy give himself a little protection? Precious metals, ammo, guns and food are all great, but they've been talked to death here. I'd like this thread to involve serious thinking about small scale entreprenuerial activities which might help us to weather the storm.

Click to expand...

Great question.

In brief:

As the collapse unfolds, people will be in a lot of pain, mostly emotional/mental,
but also physical. Depression will increase dramatically -- even beyond the
already-high incidence. Stress will be super-high. Stress-related illness will
be super-high. Anxiety will be rampant. Psycho-somatic illness will be rampant.

People will need pain-relievers, sedatives and mood-elevators. Bigtime.

So, supply them.

The "regular" store-bought and pharmaceutical stuff may or may not be
available -- and, especially, may or may not be available at an affordable
price. You can do a great service by making alternatives available at a
decent price, or on a barter basis.

Currently legal stuff:

1) Alcohol. You can buy a still cheaply and make it yourself. This will be a
great post-crash skill. Alcoholic beverages are already expensive, because
of high taxes. It will get worse as the dollar collapses. Drink will be a great
barter item and have high value.

2) Tobacco. A great fast-acting sedative AND anti-depressant. And you can
grow it yourself. Post-crash, a lot of people who had quit smoking will start
again. Why? Because the stress will get to them, and they will be drawn
back to the habit. Factory-packed cigs will be useful as money, but will
be too expensive as regular consumption item for most people. The taxes
alone are almost prohibitive, now. It will only get worse. Tobacco is not
hard to grow and process. Just stock up on cig papers.

3) St John's Wort. Effective anti-depressant. Easy to grow. Grows as
a weed in many places. Easy to extract. Just use the alcohol from your
still operation to make a nice tincture. Google for further info. This one
will only be viable commercially if there are major trade disruptions.
St John's Wort extracts are quite cheap today, but may or may not
be tomorrow.

Currently illegal stuff:

1) Cannabis. A great and universal remedy. Google for info. (I am too lazy
right now to dig out URLs and present the whole case, as I should.) Of course
you can grow it yourself, though for obvious reasons this has to be done with
extreme caution, today. Tomorrow, as the collapse unfolds and as law
enforcement (especially federal) gets thinner and thinner, the door will
open for more aggressive efforts. But for now, extreme caution.

2) Opium poppies. Another great and universal remedy. Google for
info. Same basic idea as with cannabis; see above. Not hard to grow
or extract. Alcohol is the key solvent, as with cannabis.

3) Other sedatives, relaxants, analgesics and anti-depressants, that I
will get around to writing a detailed post about, sometime Real Soon Now...

:-)

On NOW! Auto industry impact etc,,,,

Listen Now:

I would like to have a little sandwich shoppe that serves soup and sandwiches. When things get really bad, I'm gonna ask the govt. (and Bill Gates) to cough up some money and turn it into a soup kitchen to feed the hungry folks in my community.

As long as they have a hot bowl of soup, some bread and a place to sleep; what more is there when things are bleak? I'd rather be on the other side of the cookpot , serving, when things get bad too.

Do you think there will be soup kitchens in your community when things get bad? Or will strangers and their children be knocking on your door, begging for food?

Sorry for the thread drift. I think a soup kitchen is in order; selling soup or giving it out free soup is the way to go; some will be able to pay, others will not.

Can you all hear this?

For those concerned about health now would be a good time to start boning up on alternative methods. While herbs have been around since the dawn of time, they don't work for everyone. Same with oils etc. Find out what works for you and yours.

For those skilled in alternative health/healing, cash will be in short supply so use the bartering method. Don't gouge, they'll be plenty of business to go around.


If you aren't a healer, stock up on useful items you can use for barter.

The ones that survive are the ones capable of taking care of themselves.

That's a good point Wadi.

I know if I can't get an alternative if my eye drops are no longer available, then it won't be long at all before I go blind.

I really would like to get my hands on very weak strain cannabis seeds to be able to use to grow medication.

Problem is, due to illegality, any seed around now is high strength stuff, and there's no way I'd even consider using that medicinally, due to it being a 4 hour repeat dosage regime (what I've been able to find out so far - 15 minutes to drop eye pressure, effective for up to 4.5 hours, so a 4hr repeat is about right).

I wonder if early cropping might solve it, before plant potency goes up? Or does it even work like that? Of course that might mean there's nowhere near enough necessary volume per plant.

The odd thing is, it seems like it's the dried green leaf that's best for Glaucoma, yet for Multiple Sclerosis, it's the resin (how on earth do they make that?). I remember seeing basic cannabis ingredients for medication in my late Uncle's Pharmacy. There were bottles of tincture of cannabis (I think that was the most commonly prescribed medicinal drug prior to criminalisation), pollen, and resin, if not more.

Establish friends

UncurledA said:

Hey, great thread, Doc !

I think basic hand-adjusted machine tools, perishable tooling ( i.e., stuff that breaks or gets du or used up ) and the skills to operate them will be necessary. It will also be necessary to have some primary metals in rounds, hollow rounds ( or pipe ) bar, and billets. These would include steel, brass, and aluminum, mostly. With a good lathe, welder, and milling machine, you can make about anything with enough time and the proper raw materials. A junk pile for scrounging is also essential. This can provide bearings, castings, hose clamps, and other stuff that is hard to make. Get several types of tape for repairs, such as electrical, duct, cloth, foil, and strapping. Get yourself about 10-20 tubes of Automotive Goop ! Sometimes Big Lots has it, otherwise auto parts stores. It is invaluable for repairs ! You'll see ! You will get a reputation as the person to go to in order to get things working; a great bartering position.

So much stuff has electronic controls and the like, it may be necessary to have an electronics junkpile as well, and develop some basic component-testing skills. About 75% of electronic repairs are either repairing some physical damage, or replacing an obvious group of burned-up or otherwise sad-looking components. Also, you may want to become proficient at retrofitting manual or mechanical controls to some exotic things to get them working.

One oddball thing I would like to get, is an old Allis-Chalmers pull-type combine with a pretty good complement of screens. These can run stationary and harvest a huge breadth of crops - actually pretty much anything that can be beat out of its hulls, from flax to amaranth to clover to wheat.. Fixing one of these up would be a good skills-builder ! Small crop farmers could bring you their little harvest of specialty things, and you would set up, throw the stuff onto the draper, and go. Sure beats a flail and winnowing.

Rubber products are another area where there is going to be a good investment possible. Where are people going to go to get tires, hoses, belts, seals, sheet materials, rollers, etc. ? Maybe you. Rubber repair is also possible, and a nearly lost art. Same goes for canvas.

Ladies, you're not forgotten ! People who can sew often accumulate large piles of cloth they can't resist buying. Have enough supplies for sewing it up into useful things - supplies like needles ( all sizes, and LOTS of them ), bobbins, thread, heavy thread, the essential little light bulbs and belts, OIL, buttons, presser feet, and a small inverter/battery/solar charging system to run it all. 300 Watts of capacity would probably be enough for a small sewing machine. Buy odd and unwanted material for pennies on the dollar - no one will care about the pattern or color under the right conditions. Buy odd colors of thread.

Making useful stuff out of junk is going to be a good thing, under certain conditions short of total bug-out or hiding. If that occurs, use your stuff to assist yourself and others with that, as much as possible, like sewing up some appropriate gear !

Click to expand...

UncurledA,

All you have said is very valid. My advice is to establish friends at your local scrapyard. They can be a goldmine of useable stuff and it's invariably very inexpensive. Also, scrapyards are a source of good, cheap (or free) tires.

The little Doc1 homestead already has a good shop with lathes, welders and lots of tools. We lack for little, but are looking to move to higher ground since getting flooded by Katrina. That's where the intentional community deal comes in.

Best regards
Doc