replacement cost

REPLACEMENT COST

A guest article posted earlier.  Scroll down.
*
A minion mentioned the idea of a article on the types of cookware other than cast iron ( since, obviously, everyone knows about the wonderful goodness of cast iron and its absolute necessity for any amount of cooking outside a bachelor with a microwave ). I’m not altogether sure about getting fancy such as with copper plating, or for that matter all copper or whatever is exotic-too expensive, so I’ll just cover the frugal types. Forget anything Teflon. Not just because of the potential health risks, because it never seems to work that great for the price. I swear by stainless steel. Not only does it last forever, it is a reasonable price. And it performs better. My thick bottomed pot brings water to a boil much faster than my thin ( formally ) Teflon coated pot. And of course is pretty easy to clean, but that isn’t much of a comparison since the little pot is without the finish. But I’ve never had much luck cleaning brand new Teflon. And those weird glass type pots and pans that were all the rage decades ago, they work great until they suddenly decide to crack for no apparent reason. Cast iron for cooking, stainless for everything else ( my stainless steel skillet sucks ass ). Affordable and long lasting ( and now you see why I didn’t make that into a full size article ).

*

I know I get all uppity and snarl at trolls, but sometimes they bring up valid points. My opsec sucks, I’ll get all my supplies stolen. So true. Heck, it took me over a year just to take the wheels off the trailer so somebody wouldn’t hook up and drive away with it ( I hide the lug nuts so well I don’t even know where they are ). Partly this was that most of the time the ex was living there. Partly it is the neighbor dogs always hanging around waiting for loving ( they know unauthorized cars, too ). And partly it is that I just can’t get too worked up about my stuff getting swiped. What I care most about, my library, isn’t likely going to get taken. Or all my wool or wheat, pre-collapse. The computer is entry-level, the TV is way too small. I really don’t have much to worry about right now. I do have to worry about burying wheat off-site, and its good to have a negative bleating reminding me of that. Now, if I was a Yuppie Survivalist, then I would have to worry. Each gun worth a grand plus, all those nifty night vision and communications electronics. Hundreds or thousands worth for every tool they simply had to have ( they might not need a $600 penny sorter, but someone on E-Bay might- that is why the kids should be sorting those pennies into pre and post 1982, no one wants to take and sell the kids ). I won’t get myself all worked up about unnecessary tools that you don’t really need ( I rule the night!! Oh, wait, I rule the night until my odd size battery dies!! ). But I will say that it is stupid to buy anything that can’t be replaced. Now, replacing before the collapse and after is two different things. Caching will preserve what you need for after the collapse, but everything else should be easily replaceable.

*

Cash and silver is easy to cache. Wheat needs bigger holes, but isn’t too bad. I’m worried about guns and grinders, but they need to be cached also. Of course my trailer is a bad post-collapse shelter. I’m using it for a pre-collapse house to minimize cost and property tax. I plan on dirt walls for afterwards. But for day to day living, my primary defense against theft to simply not have much worth stealing. And if it is stolen, to have it easily and cheaply replaced. As was demonstrated by the corn moisture fiasco, things happen. I didn’t realize that 1) corn needed to be stored at a lower moisture content, and 2) the asshat scumbag testicle lickers would sell a defective product like that. I know companies don’t care about the customer, besides a few notable exceptions, but usually they take pains to avoid getting sued. I would have thought stored corn growing mold would be a lawsuit waiting to happen. Must be like the Pinto, where it was judged to be cheaper to pay off the surviving relatives than recall the vehicle. Other things happen. Floods or tornados or just crackheads having a good time vandalizing. It isn’t enough that you can afford all those bright and shiny survivalist toys, you must not only have them, but back-ups to bury, and be able to easily replace them. If you scrimp and save and finally buy a plastic carbine, can you do that again? Can you afford to lose one, plus bury another?

*

Perhaps I’m being mean spirited, bringing up all the things that can go wrong. Oil supply disruptions, economic collapse, whatever. But that is all a fun exercise. What you can almost always count on is theft. Lawlessness is widespread and will only get worse. Overlooking replacement cost is asking for trouble. Okay, you could bury almost everything. Just have a break open shotgun for home defense and a months worth of flour, beans and rice in the cupboard. That could definitely work. It’s hard to imagine anything going wrong with the cache. But, still, just to be safe…I still think you should plan for the worse. If you can’t afford three of your cool guns, don’t even buy the one. And the same with pretty much everything else. If this is all about being paranoid, why go half way?

*

So you see, having trolls isn’t completely bad. The voice of dissent can serve a very useful purpose, pointing out our weak spots. Of course, they could be full of crap. But that isn’t the point. The point is that having only Yes-Men around will cover up your blind spots. Thanks, troll dude.

END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
Anyone can submit a guest article. No minimum word length, no writing skill necessary ( just get the idea across ). You retain copyright ( this must be your original writing ) and I’ll just use the once. I’ve yet to turn down an article, just don’t use the N Bomb or libel another that can sue me. Send by e-mail ( please, label as “guest article” so I can find it easily later ). Payment will be your removal from my enemies list.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon links in each article. You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.