Good evening, Steemians!

Tonight I'd like to go into what steps I've taken and am taking just in case SHTF. We know the economy is looking bleak. All of the promises go in one ear and out the other. I'm so sick of trying to be reassured by our government. All they do is spend, spend, spend and tax, tax, tax and war, war, war. They manipulate our markets, they purposely keep us sick and dumbed down.
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Whether you are a prepper or not, it's a good idea to have food, and more importantly water saved up for a SHTF situation. Now I'm not saying it's going to happen, but you would be so thankful had you prepared for it if it does than if you hadn't.

Preppers get a bad name. They're often in the same category as kooks, tin foil hat wearers, and conspiracy theorists. I admit, I am somewhat of a prepper. I live in hurricane territory, so I need to be doubly worried.

Steps I'm taking to ensure that I get through a SHTF scenario.

Growing my own food

If you've followed me for any length of time, you know that I am growing a shitload of food on this 1/3 acre property that I have. I want to become more self-sustainable. I don't want to rely on the government, going to the store, spending phony paper dollars to buy my food when I can grow it in the ground. Here is one of my posts where you can check out my homestead and what I'm growing: https://steemit.com/homesteading/@vegansilverstack/tour-of-my-homestead-and-why-i-grow-food

Water

I have a few Lifestraws, which I highly recommend. They "Make contaminated water safe to drink." It's truly amazing the technology at our fingertips and I'm sure many people haven't even heard of this revolutionary, life-saving device. I'm going to be purchasing more in the near future. Basically one straw costs around $15 if you get a 3-pack, and each one can filter 1,000 liters of contaminated water, or enough water for 1 human to drink in one year. That blows my mind. A few big name YouTubers have tested these out, such as Rhett and Link.

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I also keep about 15 gallons of fresh, reverse osmosis water on hand at home at any given time and 275 gallons of rainwater on hand for my fruit trees and plants.

Food Stores

Some preppers talk about having 3 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, xx years of food in storage in case of SHTF. I would recommend a humble 3 month supply. I currently have about 20 pounds of rice, 50 cans of beans, some packages of sugar, 5 bags of dry beans, packaged guava paste, and some cans of fruit. I'm confident what I have would last my wife and I at least 3 months if we needed it to.

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Personal Protection

You should know how to use, operate, and clean a gun. I'm just going to say that. In the case of SHTF, there are going to be armed people out there that want what you have. If you have a way to defend yourself, they aren't going to be able to accomplish that as easily. I would recommend a shotgun, rifle, pistol, really any gun that you can operate. I have a .22 and a 9mm. I'm lacking in this department a bit, I know. But what I have is better than my fists, so I'll go with that.

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Friends and people you can trust

Trust is a must when dealing with SHTF. If you have to think twice about a person, you probably don't really trust them. Example of someone I trust: I have a really good neighbor who has gone out of his way to help my wife and I and wanted nothing in return... multiple times. He's a great guy and we are lucky to have him as our neighbor. He is a friend, and we trust him. I've even had conversations about SHTF with him. He's kind of in denial about it ever being able to happen, but I know we'd band together in such a situation. My family is very spread out in this country, and so it would take a long time to get to any of them driving, and I definitely wouldn't make it on one tank of gas (or two). Having friends who you can truly rely on and trust is key to coming out on top in SHTF.

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True wealth

Let's say the grid goes down. EMP, whatever. Cash will be king for a while, but after a while, people might resort to bargaining. I believe in this situation, precious metals would rise in price and begin to shine from out of the dusty closets. Why? People recognize it. It's been money for many many years. Thousands of years. Banks have gold holdings, not as a "tradition" as Ben Bernanke would like us to all think.

Well, that's a pretty good list of steps. I'm probably forgetting a few things, but this is good for now. I really hope some of you found this informative and understand the importance of preparing for any situation that may come. The people in charge are truly lunatics who would sell their own grandchildren instead of facing jail time. They would go to any lengths to continue this war-driven economy we have. This empire. Whatever you may call it. They have gone to the greatest lengths to make sure that precious metals prices stay artificially suppressed.

Thanks for stopping by, Steemians.