Prepper Ethics

[bigpaul]

If you don't have it now than you won't be able to get it later.

exactly, do not expect something you need for your survival to be simply lying about waiting for you to find it.

 

[BillMasen]

If you don't have it now than you won't be able to get it later.

Bloody hell more common sense, this is getting frightening

 

[Illini Warrior]

Good idea planning bp, only too many preppers in Venezuela had planned and prepped, only to find out the gov't had foreseen this and made the chaos sooooo slow and bad that they used all their preps and were left on their own anyway...2-3 years of preps cannot survive 10 years of chaos. Always leave a Plan B.

typical misunderstanding of prepping - you stock as a hedge against the interim period before your self-sufficiency plan kicks in - it doesn't matter if you have 10 years of preps >> it's still a terminable period of time with an eventual end .....

right now - you better have a plan sketched out at the very least - the wiser preppers have their plans under way >>> NO amount of preps are going to be enough to last what is coming on FAST ....

 

[BillMasen]

AFTER the die off there could be a tremendous amount of salvage items. Batteries, lighters, candles, fishing gear, Archery gear, pellet rifles and pellets, knives, snares, traps, safety kits, fire extinguishers, lighter fluid, charcoal briquets, and the list goes on and on. If the event is a grid down type event (fast acting) then there will be multitude of scavenge items. If it is a VZ economic collapse, then there will be very little left to scavenge.

Lumber for Construction
Firewood
Building materials
Agri tools like Bobcats, Backhoes, Quads, Mules
Hand tools
Generators
Precious fuel to be treated and cached
Propane and Butane bottles
Heritage seeds
Medical supplies, dressings, sutures, dental tools, filling kits, anti fungal/ septic/ biotic lotions potions and creams
Educational books
Reloading equipment
Light Bulbs and Fuses
Copper wire
Barbed wire
Fishing tackle / nets
Bow making / repairing jigs and supplies
Arrow making supplies
Plumbing supplies
PV panels
Coal
Cement powder
Two way radio kit
Essential and workwear clothing for those still growing
Female sanitary supplies
Razors, Toothbrushes
Footwear
Cast Iron and Copper cookware
Hardware (assorted)
Rolls of cloth ( cotton, linen etc)

The list of stuff that should be recovered or stored made safe that COULD or MAY be needed years down the line, It would be a crime to leave it abandoned and facing decay.

 

[bigpaul]

I'll repeat my earlier post.
do not expect something you need for your survival to be simply lying around post SHTF for you to find it.
if your survival really needs it, buy it or barter it NOW not after TSHTF.
it may not be there when you need it.
#that is my philosophy-get it when you see it not when you need it.

 

[Illini Warrior]

If you don't have it now than you won't be able to get it later.

contrary to the popular belief that the retail looter/arsonist will be getting it all - most likely they'll be the worst disappointed - this "disappointment" could likely start the rioting and be a SHTF element of the major SHTF whole ...

the sheeple with $$$ are also the more intuitive of that whole unprepared & disbelieving lot - their $$$$ gives them the advantage of correcting their prepping mistake >>> they'll be not only emptying out the retail stores - but the whole supply chain - buying up everything in sight - nooooo matter the price $$$ ...

the recent Virus SHTF showed just a part of this - the PPE, meds and other crazy crap like TP just disappeared off the shelves - what was left just kept getting purchased despite the cost ...

as a prepper you don't want to be competing with the $$$$ sheeple and very definitely don't want to be anywhere near the stores when the stores don't have anything to sell to the food stamp crowd ....

 

[KateMTx]

I think there is some very good discussion here but as several people pointed out, don't expect to find anything. If you're counting on that as part of your preps, you aren't doing it correctly!
But regarding the original question, go ahead and have that extra bag in there just in case. Depending on the SHTF scenario if you were if you do find something and it is abandoned, there is no reason not to take it. But I think a lot of these scenarios come from an idealized post-SHTF scenario dreamed up by people who watched way too much "The Walking Dead" and don't reflect historical reality of disaster or societal collapse.
In real life, most likely, everything will be picked over before most people even realize S has truly HTF.