Let’s suppose that you are Robinson Crusoe at TEOTWAWKI. If you have one last opportunity to go to a store, then what would you get? Where would you get it? Bic Ligters? Vitamin C tablets? Water purifiers? Your answers to these questions will predetermine your actions on TEOTWAWKI.
My wife and I have decided to each carry cash, a 1 oz gold Krugerrand coin on our persons and twenty dollars face value of 90% junk silver in our book bags for the foreseeable future. If or when something hits, minimally the credit card systems will go down. Cash will become instantly worthless. If it starts with a Cyber attack or an EMP, most people will be clueless about what is happening. Most will be frozen because of indecision. Hesitancy kills. This is the moment to take decisive action.
Many stores will be flooded with people. Some will let cash sales be conducted. Some managers will simply close their stores and send their employees home. Find a way to talk to the manager of a store. Give them the thirty-second sales pitch. “As of this moment, money is worthless. We are at war. I have a 1oz gold Krugerrand I will give you in exchange for two carts filled with anything I can carry in them.” If they say no, offer the silver along with the single gold Krugerrand. Try to keep the silver as a parachute for your trip home. Ask the store manager for a bill of sale in case you get stopped by the police on your way home. This idea is adapted from Jonathan Hollerman’s book EMP: Equipping Modern Patriots (chp.1) but with some tweeks. (Many of my fellow contractors in the Middle East during GWOT carried a gold Krugerrand hidden on them, The ultimate “get out of jail” card.)
If your vehicle still works, decide which store has the most things you will need for the foreseeable future. Now, I have to stop everyone from saying, “I’ll just go to Costco.” A decade ago I would have agreed with you. I think Brother Rawles wrote a course on that, about 20 years ago. Today more people are educated about emergency preparedness and prepper issues. Costco will get flooded. What are your backup options to Costco? Walmart? Walmart is going to get hit the same as Costco. Where should you go? This is where pre-planning comes in.
Avoid places that are common like Target, Costco, and Walmart. Only go there if you are confident of getting there ahead of the crowd. If you don’t have an option and have to go to a box store, have a plan for what you are after. Let me give you an example. If going to a local sportsman store like Cabela’s, I would avoid the gun and ammo section. It will be flooded. That is going to be Priority One for most. Instead, go after things that people might not think about…..binoculars, rifle scope and rings, sleeping bags, camo clothing, and extra boots for family members.
For some, a Rite Aid or Walgreens is going to come to the top of the list. They might have some medical issues that need medications daily. For this person, a drugstore is essential. If you can’t get through the door of the Walgreens, take a current prescription bottle and drive to a smaller private pharmacy that isn’t flooded with customers. Your prescription bottle will give them bona fides that you aren’t a drug addict. Give them the thirty-second sales pitch. Physical Gold and Silver in the hand will give a pharmacist pause. You are offering them something that will have long-term value that can give them options for their family down the road.
Another strategy to think of: know the potential stores on your path from work to your home. Which stores have shopping carts if you have to walk home?
The choice of store and what items to focus on are the strategy part of this. You might not have a choice. Everything might be closed on your way home except for a local ranch and farm supply store. Make the best of it. Ranch & farm stores are the quiet treasures in a community. I’m on a first name basis with the people at our ranch & farm stores in our small community. They have everything from penicillin for livestock (two and four footed), work boots and clothes, sporting goods, canning equipment, salt blocks, seeds, generators, chainsaws, fuel stabilizer, kerosene, hardware (nails, screws, duct tape, tarps, 6”inch stove pipe for wood stoves, stove pipe caulk, fiberglass wood stove seals, etc). Truth be told….I even bought my wife’s birthday presents there….Ariat sweater and coat.
Another gem like the ranch & farm stores are the restaurant supply stores. They sell in bulk to the local restaurants. If you are not familiar with them make a trip to one near you. Most people will go to grocery stores. Restaurant supply stores are lower on the radar. They have more of the essentials that you will need but in higher quantities. For instance, they have 50 lb bags of masa, pinto beans, wheat flour, salt, sugar, etc. I just bought two 50lb bags of russet potatoes from one the other day. We’re putting firewood away and canning potatoes for the next few weeks.
Strategy tips: There are things to avoid filling your shopping cart with. Don’t fill it with toilet paper! This takes up too much space. Don’t fill it with perishable foods. Also…Don’t fill it with water-based products. This means a heavy shopping cart. If you are putting something heavy in your cart, make sure it is a force multiplier. I’d love to have a cart filled with several 50lb bags of hard red wheat, pinto beans, sugar, baking soda, and salt if I didn’t have enough in my pantry. Personally, I’d be tempted to throw a couple deep-cycle batteries in for our PV power system. Grab things that are essential, things that you can barter with, and things that have long expiration dates.
Start planning this now. My wife and I have been discussing what we would do. Our paths home from work are different. Each route has its opportunities. Most people will be civilized for the first day. You have time to act. Having a plan beforehand will enable you to act quickly before the shelves are bare. You won’t be second-guessing yourself and burning up precious minutes. After that first 72 hours, it will not be safe to travel from your retreat/home/neighborhood.
A Footnote: My wife and I spent an afternoon recently at our local WalMart and Ranch & Farm stores making lists of things we would procure on TEOTWAWKI. We know where all of the different departments are in each store and what we would focus on. Here is a random list to help give you some ideas: work/hiking boots (various sizes), real tree camo clothes (various sizes), work gloves, Carhart coveralls, socks, chain saw chains, chain oil, veterinarian antibiotics, tarps (never have enough), binoculars, garden seed (barter item), rechargeable batteries, medical supplies, fire extinguishers, welding rod, bright safety vests (identify friend or foe), canning supplies, salt blocks (heavy), deep cycle batteries (heavy), gardening supplies, large lag bolts, screws & nails, Gorilla Tape, ZOTE soap blocks, pool shock (greater than 70% calcium hypochlorite…see JWR’s list of lists), backpacks, Bic lighters, water purifiers, vitamins, and finally….the barter items…chocolate, alcohol, and condoms. Maybe try getting a roll of cans of chewing tobacco. You will have a friend for life if you give a guy a dip that hasn’t had one for a while.
Scope out your routes. Make your plans. Execute. – A Bielski Brother
