Excuse me if this has already been posted.

My brother visited Argentina a few weeks ago. He's been living in
Spain for a few years now. Within the first week, he got sick, some kind of
strong flu, even though climate isn't that cold and he took care of himself.
Without a doubt he got sick because there are lots of new viruses in my
country that can't be found in 1st world countries. The misery and famine
lead us to a situation where, even though you have food, shelter and health
care, most of others don't, and therefore they get sick and spread the
diseases all over the region.

What got me started on this post is the fact that I actually saw
this coming, and posted on the subject here at Frugal's, months before the
new viruses spread over the country and the news started talking about this
new, health emergency, which proves that talking, thinking and sharing ideas
with like minded people (you guys), does help to see things coming and
prepare for them with enough time.

So I started thinking about several issues, what I learned (either
the hard way or thanks to this forum) after all these years of living in a
collapsed country that is trying to get out an economic disaster and
everything that comes along with it.

Though my English is limited, I hope I'm able to transmit the main
ideas and concepts, giving you a better image of what you may have to deal
with some day, if the economy collapses in your country.

Here is what I have so far:

URBAN OR COUNTRY?

Someone once asked me how did those that live in the country fare.
If they were better off than city dwellers. As always there are no simple
answers. Wish I could say country good, city bad, but I can't. Because if I
have to be completely honest, and I intend to be so, there are some issues
that have to be analyzed, specially security.

Of course that those that live in the country and have some land and
animals were better prepared food-wise. No need to have several acres full
of crops. A few fruit trees, some animals, such as chickens, cows and
rabbits, and a small orchard was enough to be light years ahead of those in
the cities. Chickens, eggs and rabbits would provide the proteins, a cow or
two for milk and cheese, some vegetables and fruit plants covered the
vegetable diet, and some eggs or a rabbit could be traded for flower to make
bread and pasta or sugar and salt.

Of course that there are exceptions. For example, some provinces up
north have desert climate, and it almost never rains. It is almost
impossible to live of the land, and animals require food and water you have
to buy. Those guys had it bad, no wonder the northern provinces suffer the
most in my country.

Those that live in cities, well they have to manage as they can.
Since food prices went up about %200-%300. People would cut expenses
wherever they could so they could buy food. Some ate whatever they could,
they hunted birds or ate street dogs and cats, others starved. When it comes
to food, cities suck in a crisis. It is usually the lack of food or the
impossibility to acquire it that starts the rioting and looting when TSHTF.

When it comes to security things get even more complicated. Forget
about shooting those that mean you harm from 300 yards away with your MBR.
Leave that notion to armchair commandos and 12 year old kids that pretend to
be grown ups on the internet. Some facts:

1)Those that want to harm you/steal from you don't come with a
pirate flag waving over their heads.

2) Neither do they start shooting at you 200 yards away.

3) They wont come riding loud bikes or dressed with their orange,
convict just escaped from prison jump suits, so that you can identify them
the better. Nor do they all wear chains around their necks and leather
jackets. If I had a dollar for each time a person that got robbed told me
"They looked like NORMAL people, dressed better than we are", honestly, I
would have enough money for a nice gun. There are exceptions, but don't
expect them to dress like in the movies.

4) A man with a wife and two or three kids can't set up a watch. I
don't care if you are SEAL, SWAT or John Freaking Rambo, no 6th sense is
going to tell you that there is a guy pointing a gun at your back when you
are trying to fix the water pump that just broke, or carrying a big heavy
bag of dried beans you bought that morning.

The best alarm system anyone can have in a farm are dogs. But dogs
can get killed and poisoned. A friend of mine had all four dogs poisoned on
his farm one night, they all died. After all these years I learned that even
though the person that lives out in the country is safer when it comes to
small time robberies, that same person is more exposed to extremely violent
home robberies. Criminals know that they are isolated and their feeling of
invulnerability is boosted. When they assault a country home or farm, they
will usually stay there for hours or days torturing the owners. I heard it
all: women and children getting raped, people tied to the beds and tortured
with electricity, beatings, burned with acetylene torches.

Big cities aren't much safer for the survivalist that decides to
stay in the city. He will have to face express kidnappings, robberies, and
pretty much risking getting shot for what's in his pockets or even his
clothes.

So, where to go? The concrete jungle is dangerous and so is living
away from it all, on your own. The solution is to stay away from the cities
but in groups, either by living in a small town-community or sub division,
or if you have friends or family that think as you do, form your own small
community. Some may think that having neighbors within "shouting" distance
means loosing your privacy and freedom, but it's a price that you have to
pay if you want to have someone to help you if you ever need it. To those
that believe that they will never need help from anyone because they will
always have their rifle at hand, checking the horizon with their scope every
five minutes and a first aid kit on their back packs at all times.... Grow
up.

SERVICES

Whatever sort of scenario you are dealing with, services are more
than likely to either suffer in quality or disappear all together. Think
ahead of time, analyze possible SHTF scenarios and which service should be
affected by it in your area. Think about the most likely scenario but also
think outside the box. What's more likely? A tornado? But a terrorist attack
isn't as crazy as you though it would be a few years ago, isn't it?

Also analyze the consequences of those services going down. If there
is no power then you need to do something about all that meat you have in
the fridge, you can dry it or can it. Think about the supplies you would
need for these tasks before you actually need them. You have a complete
guide on how to prepare the meat on you computer... how will you get it out
of there if there is no power? Print everything that you consider important.

WATER

No one can last too long without water. The urban survivalist may
find that the water is of poor quality, in which case he can make good use
of a water filter, or that there is no water available at all. When this
happens, a large city were millions live will run out of bottled water
within minutes.

In my case, tap water isn't very good. I can see black little
particles and some other stuff that looks like dead algae. Taste isn't that
bad. Not good but I know that there are parts of the country where it is
much worse. To be honest, a high percentage of the country has no potable
water at all.

If you can build a well, do so, set it as your top of the list
priority as a survivalist. Water comes before firearms, medicines and even
food. Save as much water as you can. Use plastic bottles, refill soda
bottles and place them in a cool place, preferably inside a black garbage
bag to protect it from sun light. The water will pick some plastic taste
after a few months, but water that tastes a little like plastic is far way
better than no water at all.

What ever the kind of SHTF scenario you are dealing with, water will
suffer. In my case the economical crash created problems with the water
company, that reduces the maintenance and quality in order to reduce costs
and keep their income in spite of the high prices they have to pay for
supplies and equipment, most of which comes from abroad, and after the 2001
crash, costs 3 times more. As always, the little guy gets to pay for it.
Same would go for floods or chemical or biological attacks. Water requires
delicate care and it will suffer when the SHTF in one way or another.

In this case, when you still have tap water, a quality filter is in
order, as well as a pump if you can have one. A manual pump would be ideal
as well if possible. Estimate that you need a approximately a gallon per
person per day. Try to have at least two-four weeks worth of water. More
would be preferable.

POWER

I spent WAY to much time without power for my own taste. Power has
always been a problem in my country, even before the 2001 crisis. The real
problem starts when you spend more than just a few hours without light. Just
after the SHTF in 2001 half the country went without power for 3 days.
Buenos Aires was one big dark grave. People got caught on elevators, food
rotted, hospitals that only had a few hours worth of fuel for their
generators ran out of power.

Without power, days get to be a lot shorter. Once the sun sets there
is not much you can do. I read under candle light and flashlight light and
your head starts to hurt after a while. You can work around the house a
little bit but only as long as you don't need power tools. Crime also
increases once the lights go out, so whenever you have to go somewhere in a
black out, carry the flashlight on one hand and a handgun on the other.

Summarizing, being in a city without light turns out to be
depressing after a while. I spent my share of nights, alone, listening to
the radio, eating canned food and cleaning my guns under the light of my LED
head lamp. Then I got married, had a son, and found out that when you have
loved ones around you black outs are not as bad. The point is that family
helps morale on these situations.

A note on flashlights. Have two or three head LED lights. They are
not expensive and are worth their weight in gold. A powerful flashlight is
necessary, something like a big Maglite or better yet a SureFire, specially
when you have to check your property for intruders. But for more mundane
stuff like preparing food, going to the toilet or doing stuff around the
house, the LED headlamp is priceless. Try washing the dishes on the dark
while holding a 60 lumen flashlight on one hand and you'll know what I mean.
LEDs also have the advantage of lasting for almost an entire week of
continuous use and the light bulb lasts forever.

Rechargeable batteries are a must (ed. Get a solar powered battery
charger) or else you'll end up broke if lights go out often. Have a healthy
amount of spare quality batteries and try to standardize as much as you can.
I have 12 Samsung NM 2500Mh AA and 8 AAA 800mh for the headlamps. I use D
cell plastic adaptors in order to use AA batteries on my 3 D cell Maglite.
This turned out to work quite well, better than I expected.I also keep about
2 or 3 packs of regular, Duracell batteries just in case. These are supposed
to expire around 2012, so I can forget about them until I need them.
Rechargeable NM batteries have the disadvantage of loosing power after a
period of time, so keep regular batteries as well and check the rechargeable
ones every once in a while.

After all these years of problems with power, what two items I would
love to have?

1) The obvious. A generator. I carried my fridge food to my parents
house way too many times on the past. Too bad I can't afford one right now.

2) A battery charger that has both solar panel and a small crank.
They are not available here. I saw that they are relatively inexpensive in
USA. Do yourself a favor and get one or two of these. Even if they don't
charge as well as regular ones, I'm sure it will put out enough power to
charge batteries for LED lamps at least.

GAS

Gas has decreased in quality as well, there is little gas. Try to
have an electric oven in case you have to do without it. If both
electricity and gas go down, one of those camping stoves can work as well,
if you keep a good supply of gas cans. The ones that work with liquid fuel
seem to be better on the long run, since they can use different types of
fuel.

You can only store a limited amount of compressed gas and once you
ra out of it, you are on your own if stores are closed of they sold them
out. Anyway, a city that goes without gas and light for more than two weeks
is a death trap, get out of there before it's too late.

A DIFFERENT MENTALITY.

I was watching the People & Art channel with my wife the other
night. It was a show where they film a couple for a given period of time and
some people vote on who is the one with the worst habits, the one they find
more annoying. We were in our bed, and this is when I usually fall asleep
but since the guy was a firearms police instructor I was interested and
managed to stay awake.

At one point the guy's wife said that she found annoying that her
husband spent 500 dollars a month on beauty products for himself. 500 USD on
facial cream, special shampoo and conditioner, as well as having his nails
polished! If you are that guy and happen to be reading this, or if you know
him, I'm sorry, but what an idiot!! "500 USD, that's a small generator or a
gun and a few boxes of ammo," I told my wife.

"That's two months worth of food" she said. We were each thinking of
a practical use for that money, the money this guy was practically throwing
away.

Once the SHTF, money is no longer measured in money, but you start
seeing it as the necessary goods it can buy. Stuff like food, medicine, gas,
or the private medical service bill. To me, spending 500 dollars on beauty
products, and to make it worse, on a guy? That's simply not acceptable. The
way I see it, someone with that mentality can't survive a week without a
credit card, no use in even considering a SHTF scenario. And this guy is a
firearms instructor?... probably the kind of guy that will say that a
handgun is only used to fight his way to his rifle... and his facial night
cream...

Once you experience the lack of stuff you took for granted, like
food , medicines, your set of priorities change all of a sudden. For
example, I had two wisdom tooth removed last year. On both occasions I was
prescribed with antibiotics and strong Ibuprofen for the pain. I took the
antibiotics( though I did buy two boxes with the same recipe just to keep
one box just in case) but I didn't use the Ibuprofen, I added it to my pile
of medicines. Why? because medicines are not always available and I'm not
sure if they will be available in the future. Sure, it hurt like hell, but
pain alone isn't going to kill you, so I sucked it up. Good for building up
character if you ask me
.
Make sacrifices so as to ensure a better future, that's the
mentality you should have if you want to be prepared. There's stuff that is
"nice to have" that has to be sacrificed to get the indispensable stuff.
There's stuff that is not "basic need stuff" but it's also important in one
way or another. My wife goes to the hairdresser once every month or two.
It's not life or death, but it does make her feel better and it boosts her
morale. I buy a game for the Xbox or a movie to watch with my wife every
once in awhile, just to relax. 7 or 10 dollars a month are not going to burn
a hole in my pocket.

Addictions such as alcohol, drugs or even cigarettes should be
avoided by the survivalist. They are bad for your health, cost a lot of
money that could be much better spent, and create an addiction to something
that may not be available in the future. Who will have to tolerate your
grouchy mood when your brand of smokes is no longer imported after the SHTF?

PART II

GRAY/BLACK MARKET

Once the SHTF the black/grey market will take no time to appear all
around you. In my country, grey markets were even accepted in the end. At
first it was all about trading skills or craft products for food. Districts
and towns would form their own barter markets, and created their own
tickets, similar to money, that was used to trade. This didn't last long.
Those tickets were easy to make on your home computer, there was no control
and eventually people went back to paper money. These markets were usually
placed on warehouses or empty land, and were managed by some wise guy and a
few thugs or hired security.

Anyone can go rent a kiosk inside these markets for about 50-100
pesos (about 20-30 dollars) a day and sell his goods and services. Piece
within these markets is usually respected... lets just say that these
managers don't call the police if someone tries anything funny, like
stealing, fighting or taking advantage of women. That's not good for their
business and anyone that tries to mess with their business finds out how
much pain the human body can actually experiment or gets a free ticket to
meet the Lord. Sometimes even uniformed cops manage security on these
markets, for a small fee of course.

As always, you still have to be careful. They may still try to pick
your pockets or even attack you once you leave the market. Once you leave
the market, you are on your own, as always. This markets evolved and now a
lot of different products are available.

Today I visited my local market, a warehouse that is fairly well set
up and cleanly managed. They had problems for selling stolen merchandise and
fake brand name clothes a few days ago. What can be found at a local
markets? Mostly food and clothing. Some have more variety than others but
cheese, canned food, spices, honey, eggs, fruits, vegetables, beer, wine and
cured meat are generally available, same as bakery products and pasta. These
are less expensive than those found at supermarkets. Fresh fish is sometimes
available but not always, people don't trust much products that need
refrigeration, and they get those at supermarkets instead.

Clothes are also popular and you can find copies of brand name
clothes, imitations, or even original stolen new clothes, the same goes for
shoes and snickers. Children clothes, underwear, socks, sheets and towels
are all very popular. Some sell toys, but they are always China made, mostly
poor quality though there are some few exceptions. Others sell tools, also
made in China can be found as well, but they are of poor quality.

Some offer their services and repair stuff or offer work as
handyman.You would be amazed of the junk that these guys manage to fix: TVs,
CD players, Power tools, etc. They even manage to solder the small
integrated circuits boards sometimes. Give one of these guys a screw driver
and a bar of chocolate and he will fix a nuclear submarine.

After food and clothes, the 3rd most popular item has to be CDs and
DVDs, movies, music, play station 2 and Xbox games, programs, it all ends up
there just one or two days after the official release in USA. Seems that
they have e guy hidden under Bill Gate's desk or something.

Anyway, almost everything can be found there, and if you want, you
can ask around, talk to the right guy and buy illegal stuff like drugs or
black market guns and ammo. The quality of the drugs is questionable, of
course, and a lot of addicts die from the mixtures these guys sell. Guns are
mostly FM High Powers, Surplus 1911s and Colt .45s, Sistemas, and old Colt
Detective revolvers in 38 special that found their way from police and
military armories into the black market. Condition isn't very good but if
you have money you'll be amazed of what you can end up with. Everything that
is used by the military and police, including SMGs a, Browning 50 BMG
Machine guns, and even frag grenades, is available in the black market, if
the customer has the amount of money and a little patience, of course. The
big guns may take a while, but the handguns and grenades are readily
available.

GOLD!!

Someone hit me in the head please because I messed up about the gold
issue. Everyone wants to buy gold! "I buy gold. Pay cash" signs are
everywhere, even on TV! I can't believe I'm that silly! I just didn't relate
it to what I read here because they deal with junk gold, like jewellery,
either stolen or sold because they needed the money, not the gold coins that
you guys talk about. No one pays for the true value of the stuff, so big

Warning sign on people that are buying gold coins. Since it is impossible to
determine the true mineral percentage of gold, small shops and dealers will
pay for it as regular jewellery gold. What I would do if I were you: Besides
gold coins, buy a lot of small gold rings and other jewellery. They should
be less expensive than gold coins, and if the SHTF bad, you'll not be
loosing money, selling premium quality gold coins for the price of junk
gold.

If I could travel back in time, I'd buy a small bag worth of gold
rings.Small time thieves will snatch gold chains right out of your neck and
sell them at these small dealers found everywhere. This is VERY common at
train stations, subways and other crowded areas.

So, my advice, if you are preparing for a small economical crisis,
gold coins make sense. You will keep the value of the stuff and be able to
sell it for its actual cost to gold dealers or maybe other survivalists that
know the true value of the item. In my case, gold coins would have been an
excellent investment, saving me from loosing money when the local economy
crashed. Even though things are bad, I can go to a bank down town and get
paid for what a gold coin is truly worth, same goes for pure silver. But
where I live, in my local are small time dealers will only pay you the value
of junk gold, no matter what kind of gold you have. So, I'd have to say that
if the SHTF is bad, gold jewellery is a better trade item than gold coins.

Forgive me for not talking about this before, but I didn't realize
this until today, when I visited my local market warehouse and saw a "Buy
Gold" sign.

PART III: GUNS, AMMO AND OTHER GEAR

After the SHTF in 2001, only the most narrow minded, brain washed,
butterfly IQ level idiots believed that the police would protect them from
the crime wave that followed the collapse of our economy. A lot of people
that could have been considered antigun before, ran to the gun shops,
seeking advise on how to defend themselves and their families. They would
buy a 38 revolver, a box of ammo, and leave it in the closet, probably
believing that it would magically protect them from intruders.

Oh, maybe you don't think that firearms are really necessary or your
beliefs do not allow you to buy a tool designed to kill people. So you
probably ask yourself, is a gun really necessary when the SHTF? Will it
truly make a difference? Having gone through a SHTF scenario myself, total
economic collapse in the year 2001, and still dealing with the consequences,
5 years later, I feel I can answer that question. YES, you need a gun,
pepper spray, a machete, a battle axe, club with a rusty nail sticking out
of it, or whatever weapon you can get hold of.

A lot has been written on survival weapons. Everyone that is into
armed survival has his or her own idea of the ideal gun battery. Some more
oriented to a hunting point of view, others only as self defense means and
others consider a little of both, and look for general purpose weapons.

Talking about guns, there is one special subject I want to rectify,
and it's the point on what's the primary weapon for the survivalist,
specially a urban survivalist that has to function in a society, yes, even
after the SHTF.

The primary defensive weapon for the survivalist is his HANDGUN.
It's the weapon that stays with him when he is doing his business around
town of working on the field.

The survivalist IS NOT a soldier, even though you are a soldier or
you once were the meanest mother on the battle filed, your home town is not
a battlefield and it wont be, even if the SHTF. A LOT of water has to go
under the bridge until the situation gets to a point where you can calmly
walk down the street with a rifle on your shoulder.

People, if you are interested in real world SHTF situation, and you
want to prepared for the real deal, then understand that this isn't black or
white.

You wake up one day and listen on the radio that the economy
collapsed and that the stock market closed indefinitely.

What do you do? You still have to go to the office/work/whatever
.Kiss the wife good bye and walk to the office with your AR across your
back, or across your chest, Israeli style, ready to shoot? You wont get far.
Someone will shoot you or throw you in jail, or in a mental institution.

What I'm trying to explain, is that its ok to prepare for China
invading you country, Germans and UN or Martians. That is the extreme, less
likely worst case scenario. There is an infinite spectrum of gray between
the black and white. White being your average normal day and black being
total TEOTWAWKI, lizard men invading the planet.

Rifles do have a place in the survivalist's arsenal, and a very
important one. But you have to understand that 90% of the time, the handgun
will be the weapon you have available when you need one. You can't compare
to a trooper in Iraq that has his weapon with him at all times. I ask you
how many soldiers do you know that keep wearing cammo and totting their M4s
around town when they return home? What works for war does not work for the
survivalist, especially the urban survivalist. Even if you live in a retreat
far from town, you have to work, don't you? Or do you have employees that
take care of all your mundane tasks, leaving you all day to keep watch with
your rifle ready? A soldier is part of a huge machine. His job is to carry
that rifle, while others take care of other needs. A survivalist, one that
is not part of a large survivalist group, has no one to cover for him.

When a new guy looks for advice on what to get for defense, some
will recommend a rifle or shotgun as a first defensive weapon. Lets say race
riots start in this guy's city. He still has to go to work every day. What
is he supposed to do? Shove his pump shotgun in his pocket? A handgun, even
though less powerful, can be used for home defense and go with you wherever
you need to go. If the place floods, he can still hop into an evacuation
boat without leaving his weapon behind. I'm sure no rescue team will pick
you if you are carrying a long arm. They'll ask you to leave it behind for
sure.

What if your government, realizing that TSHTF and that they lost
control of the events, bans all firearms indefinitely? Don't know about you,
but if things are that bad, I'd like to be armed. You can hide a handgun
under a jacket. You can't hide a long arm under your clothes. I think it was
Clint Smith who said that the handgun is only used to fight his way to his
rifle. Man! that sounds "macho". I'd love to see him walking into Walmart
with his tactical M4, taking the subway, visiting the doctor or going to the
bank. "Over here Mr. Smith, you can hang you M4 right next to my coat" I
don't think so.

Guys, unless you have your own shooting school, you do not get to
carry your rifle to work. OK, now that I got that out of my chest lets look
at some options.

Handguns: Revolver or Pistol?

Pistol. All the way.

Yes, I saw the video of the guy that accurately emptied his S&W in ½
a second. I also saw the shooting range and the crowd behind him, watching
the event. Can he shoot and reload that way if he is in his car, driving
with one hand and shooting with the other, while a bunch of scum bags in
another car are shooting at him? Hey, maybe he can. I know I can't. Can you?

Generally speaking, the revolver is more difficult to master than
the pistol. The double action is hard and it affects speed and accuracy. It
can be done, but I found that pistols are easier, as did many shooters.
Also, even though they seem to be more simple, revolvers are not as rugged
as service pistols, the mechanisms that cycles the cylinder and cocks the
hammer is both complicated and fragile compared to auto pistols.

Before anyone starts casting evil voodoo spells at me for insulting
their prized S&W or Ruger: I own revolvers and like shooting them, I just
don't think they are the best option for self defense, and I see that
everyone I talk to in my country who is worried about security as I am also
chooses pistols.

Quality pistols resist sand, mud and dirt in general better than
revolvers, where a small pebble locked in the mechanism may render the
revolver inoperable. I personally had a problem with a new stainless steel
Taurus Tracker .357 magnum. After shooting it a couple of times I reloaded
it and shot all 7 rounds as fast as I could and when I tried to empty it, I
found that the empties were stuck because they expanded because of the heat.
I had to wait until the gun cooled a little so I could empty the gun. Stuff
like this can get you killed, even more in a 7 round handgun.

I once saw a man walk into a gun store wanting to trade his 357
magnum revolver for a 9mm high capacity pistol. He said he was driving when
thugs from another car started shooting at him. He was chased for a few
blocks.

He said that he pulled his revolver and started shooting a them, and
ran out of ammo real fast. He wanted more capacity and fast reloading. I
could not agree with him more.

Some will consider this "Spray and pray", thinking that all rounds
should hit the target and if some don't then it means that you need more
time at the range.

Those same people will tell you that they intend to use bolt action
rifles as defensive rifles, making each shot count, without ever missing
their target, one shot one kill.

I don't agree with this. One shot one kill is ok for snipers, but
the survivalist should have other alternatives. I don't see anything wrong
with shooting four or five rounds at a chasing car. If those rounds make
them think twice about their intentions, they are rounds well spent in my
book, even if they don't kill the attacker.Suppressive fire is possible if
you have a high capacity pistol. I wouldn't doubt on using such a tactic if
it serves my purposes, or if it buys me time to get out of there.

Also keep in mind that criminals are cowards and therefore attack in
groups. The survivalist should be able to face more than just one attacker.
Getting into a gunfight with two or three armed men while packing a 6 round
revolver is rather hard to deal with. A high capacity pistol can load about
15 or 19 rounds, and that can certainly make a difference in a gunfight
where you are outnumbered.

A forensic doctor that used to live in my neighborhood got killed
last year. He was ambushed when he exited a restaurant by 5 or 6 men. Even
though they did kill him he managed to kill 4 of them and severely injure
another.

He shot regularly and carried a Glock .40. I'm sure he was lucky but
I also think that his choice of weapon was also important in the outcome. If
anyone is wondering, people in my country that are serious about self
defense carry Glocks. Those that don't have the money for a Glock carry
Bersas, FM High Powers or 1911 surplus .45s. At first I wasn't sure about
the Bersa, but once I tried them I saw that they are very descent guns. I
now own two Bersas and am pleased with they performance.

The calibre choice calls for endless debate and it is not my
intention here. Lets just say that 9mm , 40S&W and 45ACP are the obvious
choices. 40S&W seem to be the most adequate, both in FMJ and HP, while 9mm
lacks some stopping power and hollow points should be used if possible.

Though the 9mm lacks power compared to the 40S&W, it is more
popular world wide, a factor to consider seriously when choosing a handgun
for SHTF. Besides, 9mm can also be used in a number of carbines and SMG,
another important fact to be considered. SMGs and carbines chambered for
40S&W and .45 ACP are also available, but they at not nearly as popular as
those chambered for 9mm. Whatever you choose keep 500 or better yet 1000
rounds of quality ammo for your handgun at all times. 100 rounds wont last
much if the crisis lasts long. Also consider that once the balloon goes up,
governments tend to restrict guns and ammo.

Rifles

I previously stated that the urban survivalist will be using his
handgun 90% of the time he needs to defend himself and family from
attackers. I didn't pull this figure out of thin air, it is quite accurate
based on what happens here on daily basis, even a little optimistic. Cold
harsh reality has shown us that most attacks occur when entering or exiting
your home, when you are more vulnerable. Almost no one is stupid enough to
try to enter a barred house with armed occupants. Believe me people, the
gene pool will clean itself rather fast once the SHTF.

So, is a rifle necessary? Of course it is! There is still that 10%,
and that 10% can still ruin your day. And this percentage sky rockets if you
intend to use that same rifle for putting meat on the table. If you have to
settle with just one rifle, go for a semi auto. Ideally you should have a
bolt action one and a semi auto rifle. A bolt action and a semiautomatic 308
would make a nice combination.

Whatever you choose, try to keep it within military calibers, and
military weapons if possible. It may seem that I have something against bolt
rifles but I don't. I think they are fantastic weapons, but I think that
semi autos are much better fighting weapons. The idea of "picking them out"
300 meters away with your bolt rifle, as they come in a row blowing whistles
and firing warning rounds is laughable at best.

Bolt rifles do have advantages over semi autos, accuracy not being
the most important one. Bolt rifles such as Mausers last forever and are
harder than rocks, THAT'S important. They are simple, easy to repair tools
that will serve you (within their limitations of course) longer than any
other weapon.

For example, the coil spring on my Mauser 1891 safety broke into 3
separate parts, after almost 100 years of faithful service. I dug into my
tool box and found a spring left over from a kitchen shelf door. I cut it
approximately to the length of the previous spring, replaced it and the
rifle was fixed. There are not many weapons that allow this. And it is a
very valuable attribute once the SHTF and spare parts are no longer
available.

Stick to common calibers, 223, 7.62x39mm, or 7,62x51 (308). .223 vs.
308? I'm not going there. If you prefer 223 because it has less recoil, it's
lighter, or you favor the AR rifle go ahead. If you think that 223 is more
powerful than 7,62.. sign up to Physics I. Just remember what I said before,
a survivalist is not a soldier serving in Iraq, and you don't have the
entire USMC to back you up. You are on your own. You are not going to pin
your attackers down with a questionably effective round and wait until
someone hits them with artillery. .

About ARs... I wouldn't trust my life to a rifle that has more
versions than Rocky sequels... the way I see it, it means that the basic
design was the problem and there is no solution.

On the Kalashnikov. AK-47 and AK-74 ... all has been said. The most
popular rifle on the planet. And popular not because of politics, but
because it works. It also fires an intermediate power, effective round,
available world wide. SKS are also good, but I'd rather have removable
magazines.

Again, don't use voodoo on me because I say I wouldn't trust my life
to a AR. If you keep your weapon clean, know it's limitations and feel
comfortable with it, go for it please. A couple of rounds of 223 will kill
anyone just as well. If you want a rifle that can do a little bit of
everything relatively well, do yourself a favor and get either a M1A or a
FAL in 7,62 (308) with a carbine length barrel. Preferably with a red dot
scope and some kind of light mount. Leave full length barrels to hunters and
bench rest shooters. Do your homework on both guns and you'll see what I
mean.

Choose 308 not because of the added range you can get out of it, but
because of its power at all ranges, choose it because it turns cover into
concealment. Think about all the possible cover material you can find in a
city, like cars, trees, low walls and other structures. The 308 will go
right through it, or destroy it after a few rounds. It's a proven cartridge
through out the years.

Shotguns.

Shotguns are good general purpose guns. The main advantage I see is
the devastating stopping power and the ability to use special ammo, like
slugs and less than lethal ammo. I'm not so sure about the role as an
"inside house" gun. The muzzle blast is great and quick follow up are not
easy, especially when adrenalin is pumping through your system or, even
worse, when someone is shooting back at you.

Pistol calibre carbines and SMG.

If possible , I'd choose a SMG reduced to semi auto (only if
necessary, of course, full auto selector is better if possible ) or other
kind of short, small, pistol calibre carbine. The combination of a 9mm
handgun and a 9mm carbine or SMG reduced to semi auto or full auto class III
has lots of advantages in my book and is a fine combination. Some think that
full auto is a waste of ammo. I don't think so, not if you know how to use
your head, and use this feature wisely. If you can get a short barrel and
collapsible stock, you'll also have a weapon that can be hidden under a
heavy coat. A red dot scope would enhance accuracy a lot.

The advantage of having the same ammo for long and small arm is not
to be taken lightly. From the logistical, survivalist point of you, this is
one big thumbs up! Think about cowboys and Americans that lived in the west,
they also knew the value of using the same ammo for rifle and handgun. They
had single action handguns and lever action longarms chambered for the same
ammo, the modern survivalist can have the same ammo for his auto pistol and
his sub-rifle as well. Some think that a pistol calibre long arm is just one
big clumsy pistol or a rifle sized gun that delivers pistol power and
accuracy.

his is BS. Anyone that ever fired a pistol calibre rifle or SMG
knows that they are much more accurate, hitting torso targets at 100 yards
is easy, and a little more if you have a red dot scope. Also, SMGs can
manage hot ammo specially made for such guns, much more powerful than the
one for handguns. Even if you use regular handgun ammo, the added barrel
length adds a few extra feet per second making it more powerful. Just check
the information on boy armor. Body armor that is rated to stop 9mm, for
example, is not rated to stop the same 9mm ammo out of a SMG or carbine,
because the added speed will make that same round penetrate the vest.

Anyway, +P ammo is more than enough power out of a SMG or carbine,
you don't have to go looking for special SMG ammunition.

If you can get full auto, that one nice feature to have. Not worth
it if you are on a tight budget, but if you can get it, it may come in handy
someday.

Full auto SMG are giving police in my country a lot of headaches. A
criminal with little or no training will put 3 or 4 cops armed with pistols
and shotguns on their toes, just because of the sheer volume of fire these
high capacity 9mm deliver.

There was this case of a bad guy standing in front of a patrol car
full of cops on a red light stop, pulling a 9mm SMG out of his coat and
emptying it on full auto. The cops didn't have a chance, he killed them all.
The car looked like Swiss cheese with 40 9mm holes all over the vehicle.

SOUND SUPPRESSORS

All I'm going to say on this subject is : Have one if you can.
That's it. I'll leave the rest of it to your imagination, don't make me say
it. Today it may seem like a "nice to have" feature... after the SHTF, it
may be a "O God I've got to get a suppressor!!" feature. I'd buy a good
suppressor instead of a ultra high dollar scope like th ACOG. Buy a good
quality scope, but don't spend a fortune on it, and use the rest of the
money on a suppressor. If you are serious about preparing for SHTF, you'll
thank me one day, just trust me on this one.

9mm and 45 suppress quite well. Not as well as .22 , but there is
much more power on the big bore ammo. Combined with a full auto SMG, the
possibilities are much greater. Sometimes it's just better to go unnoticed,
specially in a SHTF crisis.

BODY ARMOR

Dear God! Buy body armor PLEASE!! It's dirt cheap in USA.
Preferably, get the police concealable kind (class II) Then continue to work
on it and get class III A military armor and some rifle plates, justas you
do when you start buying guns. You'll end up with 2 or 3 sets of armor which
are great to have for family members and spares.

Just so you know, I got so desperate about body armor I ordered it
from USA through the internet (bulletproofme.com), I ended up paying a total
of early 600 USD for body armor that costs 200 USD in USA. Buy it while you
still can. When the SHTF you'll end up wearing it, believe me. I don't wear
mine all day long but I do wear it when I have to go some placedangerous,
ealwith people I don't trust, or when I have to go
teachArchitectureRepresentation late at night, and must travel through amuch
dangerousroad at 1 PM.

ENDS

All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null
and void." Marbury vs. Madison, 5 US (2 Cranch) 137, 164, 176. (1803)

"Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no
rule making or legislation which would abrogate them." Miranda vs. Arizona,
384 U.S. 436, 491.