SHTF. Has it started?

[Joemm]

Hi guys. I think that we are fu..ed. I hope it will stop but its getting worse every day.

I went shopping yesterday. They placed limits on paper towel, soap, nappies and some other stuff in ASDA. I stockpiled 3 weeks ago before it all really started so I'm not to worried. 

What do you think? 

These are my beginnings as some of you know. I finally managed to get my first 100 silver coins. Thanks to these recent price cuts .  I finally deiced to buy before they run out of stock. Any price drops after that wont really matter. 

Its difficult to get platinum. Its sold out in places with reasonable prices. If you have any advice on it I would be glad to hear it. I'm considering getting my first coin.  

Sorry if a similar topic is somewhere out there.

 

[westminstrel]

What is SHTF even? I mean, if there is a shortage of essentials, who would care to exchange whatever essentials they have stockpiled for gold or silver?  I’ve always wondered and I still do 🤔 

[Rgcoins]

33 minutes ago, westminstrel said:

What is SHTF even? I mean, if there is a shortage of essentials, who would care to exchange whatever essentials they have stockpiled for gold or silver?  I’ve always wondered and I still do 🤔 

Yea in I’m sure if you put a few small gold coins, and a pack of face mask. I’m sure everyone will go for the masks. 

[itslikegolddust]

46 minutes ago, westminstrel said:

What is SHTF even? I mean, if there is a shortage of essentials, who would care to exchange whatever essentials they have stockpiled for gold or silver?  I’ve always wondered and I still do 🤔 

Thats exactly what I think. IMO if SHTF for real (I don't think it ever will) a live chicken will be more valuable than a 1oz gold coin which means you'll have to stuff your chickens in the safe and leave your gold in the shed!

... that's my 2 pence worth

[Thelonerangershorse]

15 minutes ago, itslikegolddust said:

Thats exactly what I think. IMO if SHTF for real (I don't think it ever will) a live chicken will be more valuable than a 1oz gold coin

Which exactly what the man who is currently stockpiling chickens is waiting for.

[StackerNoob]

3 minutes ago, Thelonerangershorse said:

Which exactly what the man who is currently stockpiling chickens is waiting for.

How have you uncovered my master plan?! Who are you!? What do you want!?!?

[Pampfan]

I think this is a very important issue to discuss as - we all have had some sort of reason to buy precious metals for an actual SHTF event. I am learning very quickly that in the current event - as long as the dealers are open and you can get to them - it is possible to exchange/sell for cash. Cash then needs to be spent on hard goods for survival. As long as the supply chain is in tact - then we should be able to make it. 
But what do you do realistically if things get bad and the supply chain is disrupted - I think at that point all - only the really prepared people who have thought this out will be in a better position than the average joe. 
My dad lived through the horrors of ww2 were he lost everything - he would say that this is nothing - compared to what he went through - but he survived none the less -with rags for clothes and barely any food to eat. 
Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that point - but it has in the past many times - so why should today be any different. 
It is up to each of us to think out our plan and execute it. 
(PS - I just stockpiled a few cases of whiskey and rum in my basement - along with some espresso pods and a brand new Nepresso machine just in case! Got all my survival vices covered!😜)

 

[Roy]

Speaking aloud, not aimed at anyone in particular, I think the single guys/girls have got it easiest. Look after no.1, or as my old man used to say: you've only got your c*ck to keep.

With a wife (wives?!) kids, surviving parents, unlucky or idle siblings and/or good friends to provide for, I wonder if you could possibly prepare/stack enough?

 

To paraphrase @CadmiumGreen, when the end is nigh, all you really require is a lawn chair and a crate of beer 😊

[Sparrow]

I doubt that this viral epidemic is a SHTF situation.  Is it serious?  Yes, people are dying just as they do from other influenza viruses and the more people who are infected the larger the number of deaths will become, - but the people panic-buying toilet roll are overreacting in my opinion.  The epidemic will probably peak in a few months and since the only newspapers seriously speculating about it mutating into a deadlier form are (in my country) the tabloid garbage papers I am not inclined to consider that a plausibly likely threat.

From the point of view of the markets however it could indeed be a SHTF situation as people are far more unpredictable than the epidemiology of an influenza virus.  It depends on whether the balance between cool heads and panic tilts in favour of the latter of the two, and while I live in hope that rationality will prevail, so far it's not looking great.

So to the OP I say; don't be too worried.  I think you have many years of happy stacking ahead of you.  And as @Pampfan said above, this is a great learning experience.

[Seth]

1 hour ago, Pampfan said:

I think this is a very important issue to discuss as - we all have had some sort of reason to buy precious metals for an actual SHTF event. I am learning very quickly that in the current event - as long as the dealers are open and you can get to them - it is possible to exchange/sell for cash. Cash then needs to be spent on hard goods for survival. As long as the supply chain is in tact - then we should be able to make it. 
But what do you do realistically if things get bad and the supply chain is disrupted - I think at that point all - only the really prepared people who have thought this out will be in a better position than the average joe. 
My dad lived through the horrors of ww2 were he lost everything - he would say that this is nothing - compared to what he went through - but he survived none the less -with rags for clothes and barely any food to eat. 
Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that point - but it has in the past many times - so why should today be any different. 
It is up to each of us to think out our plan and execute it. 
(PS - I just stockpiled a few cases of whiskey and rum in my basement - along with some espresso pods and a brand new Nepresso machine just in case! Got all my survival vices covered!😜)

 

I have never in my life bought precious metal for a SHTF scenario, and I've actually worked in 3, one was on American soil too, in a SHTF scenario when all infrastructure fails, no electricity, no running water coming out of your taps, no gas to run your gas cookers or heating, 70% of your first responders not turing up - that's the police, firemen, paramedics because they've either died, or are looking for or after their loved ones.  Wealth is the last thing on anybodies mind, the most basics of medicines that you can buy over the counter that we take for granted when things are functioning normally become worth a lot more than their weight in gold, portable water becomes worth more than it's weight in gold, gasoline and diesel become worth more than their weight in gold, even salt becomes more valueable than it's weight in gold.  For the life of me I will never understand why people think precious metals is something that will do them any good in a SHTF scenario, you can't drink it, it won't keep you warm, it won't stop you getting any infections or diseases - rubbing silver coins on a wound will not stop it getting infected it will however give everyone a good laugh at just how stupid you look doing it, it won't run your generator, it won't run your car, it won't power anything that requires elecricity, it won't even sterilize anything yet alone purify water for drinking.  All it will do is make you worry about somebody bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, better armed, better trained than you taking it off of you, for no other reason than they can, because there will be nobody there like the police to care about yet alone do anything about things like theft and even worse, they'll all be too busy trying to save who they can and restore power to badly needed services like hospitals or even building make shift hospitals, preventing the spread of infections and diseases.  Do you honestly think Joe Bloggs coin dealership is going to stay open for you to cash in your precious metals when the situation gets that bad, there won't even be any banks open yet alone anywhere to spend the cash you would recieve for your precious metals under normal circumstances in a SHTF scenario.

[sovereignsteve]

Exactly. In a major SHTF scenario of apocalyptic proportions, PMs will be worthless. They will have helped you prepare for the above scenario assuming it didn't happen overnight and possession will help when/if things start recovering.

[Joemm]

Well. I think that SHTF hard enough in Venezuela and they have water and electricity. Most of the time anyway. Its not the end of the world but its pretty bad. For these I have my favorite vodka on hand. 

[Seth]

13 minutes ago, Joemm said:

Well. I think that SHTF hard enough in Venezuela and they have water and electricity. Most of the time anyway. Its not the end of the world but its pretty bad. For these I have my favorite vodka on hand. 

That's nowhere near a SHTF scenario.  24/12/04 tsunami in South East Asia, 29/08/05 Katrina in New Orleans, 07/02/09-14/03/09 Black Saturday Bushfires in Victoria Australia are SHTF scenarios, what's happening in Venezuala is nothing more than bad government/leadership, followed by failed coup d'état,, decades of bad econimic policy and civil unrest.   Entire towns have not vanished from existance overnight, houndreds of thousands of people have not died, the streets are not littered with bodies, mass graves are not being dug to cope with the dead, aid workers hocked up on ''combat cocktails'' aren't even pulling 2 hour shifts yet alone 20 hour shifts trying to restore or rebuild much needed healthcare infrasructure, yet alone disposing of bodies to prevent the spread of infections and diseases, bodies are not piled up that there are too many to bother to even try and identify them before they are dumped into mass graves.  Venezuala is going to be a rough/hard couple of years, a rough/hard 5 to 10 years at the worst.

[jultorsk]

10 minutes ago, Seth said:

That's nowhere near a SHTF scenario.  24/12/04 tsunami in South East Asia, 29/08/05 Katrina in New Orleans, 07/02/09-14/03/09 Black Saturday Bushfires in Victoria Australia are SHTF scenarios, what's happening in Venezuala is nothing more than bad government/leadership, followed by failed coup d'état,, decades of bad econimic policy and civil unrest.   Entire towns have not vanished from existance overnight, houndreds of thousands of people have not died, the streets are not littered with bodies, mass graves are not being dug to cope with the dead, aid workers hocked up on ''combat cocktails'' aren't even pulling 2 hour shifts yet alone 20 hour shifts trying to restore or rebuild much needed healthcare infrasructure, yet alone disposing of bodies to prevent the spread of infections and diseases, bodies are not piled up that there are too many to bother to even try and identify them before they are dumped into mass graves.  Venezuala is going to be a rough/hard couple of years, a rough/hard 5 to 10 years at the worst.

Not to discredit your message but in the Black Saturday bushfires there were 173 fatalities. It was a really, really bad situation with too many fatalities, injured, and massive loss of property (3500+ buildings lost,) however, arguable if it was on par with the tsunami / Katrina disasters.

In Venezuela the citizens might have had some use of PM's; with the collapse of the bolivar currency PM's would have retained some value. Unfortunately it's also the gold they have that has kept the inept government afloat this long.

[RacerCool]

The PMs we stock are supposed to be valuable after the SHTF is over and things have settled down. Then the new economy will use silver and gold and stackers will be the new 1%!

At least that's what we're believing. As Journey said, "Don't stop believing! Hold on to that feelleeeing!"

[Seth]

23 minutes ago, jultorsk said:

Not to discredit your message but in the Black Saturday bushfires there were 173 fatalities. It was a really, really bad situation with too many fatalities, injured, and massive loss of property (3500+ buildings lost,) however, arguable if it was on par with the tsunami / Katrina disasters.

In Venezuela the citizens might have had some use of PM's; with the collapse of the bolivar currency PM's would have retained some value. Unfortunately it's also the gold they have that has kept the inept government afloat this long.

I know, I was at Marysville in the Yarra Valley for almost a month for Black Saturday - I volunteered due to my experience and ability to deal with the stress and horrors, the hundreds of thousands dead was the 2004 tsunami in South East Asia, I was posted to Thailand’for the last 6 months of my National Service for that one, and I was unlucky enough to be on holiday in Louisiana with my ''buddy'' - the guy who would hold my life line while I recovered bodies in the ocean or any body of water, decompressing from the stress of working the tsunami in South East Asia when Katrina hit New Orleans and was recalled to to active duty to work there for a few months - technically not recalled but politely asked to do it with my buddy who is from Louisiana, I got paid for every one of them except Black Saturday, as I said I volunteered for that.  And until I'm in a box I will never forgive Peter Garrett or have anything to do with or spend any money on anything related to or affiliated with Midnight Oil, he has a lot of blood on his hands due to his policies which made Black Saturday far far worse than it could/should have been.

[maminzlaten]

In a complete SHTF situation people will still want to trade. Barter might work inside a community, but what if you have to deal with complete strangers? You might need an anchor of trust, so this is where PMs step in. It's a good idea to have some food and medicaments, but remember that they have expiration dates, unlike PM or basic tools (that you are also going to need).

[tallyhojim]

On 10/03/2020 at 14:11, Seth said:

That's nowhere near a SHTF scenario.  24/12/04 tsunami in South East Asia, 29/08/05 Katrina in New Orleans, 07/02/09-14/03/09 Black Saturday Bushfires in Victoria Australia are SHTF scenarios, what's happening in Venezuala is nothing more than bad government/leadership, followed by failed coup d'état,, decades of bad econimic policy and civil unrest.   Entire towns have not vanished from existance overnight, houndreds of thousands of people have not died, the streets are not littered with bodies, mass graves are not being dug to cope with the dead, aid workers hocked up on ''combat cocktails'' aren't even pulling 2 hour shifts yet alone 20 hour shifts trying to restore or rebuild much needed healthcare infrasructure, yet alone disposing of bodies to prevent the spread of infections and diseases, bodies are not piled up that there are too many to bother to even try and identify them before they are dumped into mass graves.  Venezuala is going to be a rough/hard couple of years, a rough/hard 5 to 10 years at the worst.

Even those examples are nowhere near a SHTF situation.

The 1930's/1940's Nazi and Communist ethnic cleansings were true SHTF. Everything since then has been child's play.

[Seth]

10 hours ago, tallyhojim said:

Even those examples are nowhere near a SHTF situation.

The 1930's/1940's Nazi and Communist ethnic cleansings were true SHTF. Everything since then has been child's play.

Are you seriously comparing wars and targeted acts of genocide, to natural disasters that don't discriminate based on race, political views, sexuality, nationality, and sides?  I'm not down playing the horrors of war here nor genocide, but wars don't generally happen or start in a matter of minues or hours, in fact they generally start with advance notice, something called ''A Declaration of War''  so people generally have at least some time to get out the way/away from the area of conflict, generally days to weeks and even months, sometimes even years - just look at the number of Jews who left Germany before Hitler rose to power because they could see/feel the impending situation happening.  Earthquakes, bushfires, tsunamis, even hurricanes don't send the area they plan to hit advance notice that they are going to strike yet alone where and when they are going to strike, it comes out of nowhere, one minute everything is normal and minutes later everything has gone to hell, and it's only recently that tsunami warnings started, and they only happen after an earthquake and are generally no more than 60 minutes warning if not a lot less to get to higher ground, and the speed that bushfires and hurricanes move at will shock you, with an open clear road in an average family car you'd be very very lucky to out run/get away from them.

And yes, I have also experienced war first hand, not as a combatant, but as a non combatant child the first time, and even at that young an age - before I was 10 years old the first time I experienced it, I knew it was coming a good few weeks before the shooting, burning and tanks being used to crush busses full of students - to save bullets it's cheaper, easier and faster to kill lots of people than shooting them, even started, everyone knew it was coming, you could actually ''feel'' it coming, just like what's happened in Venezuala, people not even living there or have ever visited there and lived as far awat from Venezuala as it is possible to live knew that civil unrest was going to break out and that there was going to be open battles not only between the military and civilians, but also that the military would splinter and that some would join the civilians against the military personel that remaind loyal to the government, and that even pars of the military were going to bounce between which side they supported months before it actually kicked off.