To the thread-starter:
Yes, this will be a year of calamitys.
If riots are the worst we see of it, then we are all lucky.
Before the comet finishes its run, I have made som wise investments in more copper and lead, and steel in the form of cans filled with foods.
Topped off my reserve today.
I'm up to 500 rounds of magnum buckshot, plenty of ammo for other weapons, and 3 months of food for 4 people, and that's between my little-brother
the ranger and me.
(We will also use ration cards and scavenge food along the way, plus I have a nice big energy storage that nobody can confiscate, right under my
skin) ;-)
I'll keep my 3000$ cash and my MasterCard with 2000$ in it, plus various gold jewelry for around 5000$ too, for a LOOONG time to come.
We've got a car with enough gas to take us to the country where our mother lives in a nice big house, if necessary. Plus we BOTH have military
training, so nobody can stop us from getting there :-)
I can afford to "speculate" in this way, now that I have the basics.
Don't forget personal grooming items! SOAP... ohhman. and razors and toiletpaper. LOTS of it!
Take my advice: If you can only afford EITHER a weapon OR food, then take the weapon and maximum ammunition, (500 rounds minimum for bolt, pump or
single action weapons, 5000 rounds minimum for semi-auto or automatic weapons) and then buy food for whatever change you have left. Get a few cans of
something with meat in it, and a jumbo-sized bag of cooking-rice. Then stretch the food with rice.
You WILL be amazed at how far you can make 4 cans of stew, 8 cans of fish-balls (twice as cheap) and 5 lbs of rice last.
A good chubby body will last you a forthnight. I remember once, I had to hump 20 kilometers a day, for 2 weeks, with only a crusted up piece of bread
and the stuff that macrels are canned in, as my only source of food on the last day.
The human body can go 3 weeks without food, and three days (barely) without water, so as long as you have water, you are guaranteed 14 days, provided
you don't move much.. which I did. Came back skinny.. OOOH...!