A question was posed to the internet world; How do I prepare for SHTF with no money. I thought about this for a while and here are the 4 things that you can do.
1) Exercise. Think about some of the tasks you would need to do. I'm not talking about fighting zombies but rather the mundane. You will need to lift, carry and walk long distances and being out of shape increases the chance of injury. It increases how far you can push yourself and in SHTF, your next meal will, at some point, come down to the man who can push himself a bit farther than the other guy to get it.
And if we do want to discuss fighting let me say that you never rise to your expectations; you fall to your level of training. When I do tactical firearms training, I have people sprint 50 meters to the line and then take aimed shots to show them how hard it is to do anything when their heart is pounding. This effect is reduced the more a person is in shape.
2) Plan/Learn. In Military Intelligence we looked at 3 main factors over and over again; Weather, Enemy and Terrain. Try to decide where you would go. What are the challenges and routes to get there and what environmental conditions will you have to endure. How will you get water? What vegetation is in the area that can be used for medicine, poison or food? What is the population density? These things are all free to research and will give you a huge advantage over a guy who has lots of gear. Gear is only good if you can employ it effectively.
The library is free. Sit down on a cozy couch with your notebook and start reading about wilderness survival, land navigation, homesteading, small unit tactics, husbandry, home remedies and gardening.
Try travelling the route you plan to take or visit where you plan to go. A time spent on recce is never wasted.
3) Network. No man can survive alone. You might have no money but having a group of friends can pay off. The average gun owner (stats are outdated) owns 7 firearms. In SHTF, like thinking friends can loan you what they are not using. At the time of writing this, Specter Arms has 23 thousand dollars worth of firearms in inventory not including ammo or accessories. You can bet that if a friend came to me during a collapse, I would gladly loan him stuff.
4) Re-purpose and Recycle. I know a business owner that started out his business with $10,000 and collecting vital materials through the unglamorous art of dumpster diving. He got desks, countertops, displays, file cabinets, shelving and furniture. Even I have managed to get large sheets of lexan by not being afraid to walk over and grab it. I have not needed, but have seen a lot of things that could help a survivalist out from backpacks, glass jugs, wood and metal. Old 2x4s make great firewood and they are easy to stack.
Try to fix broken things yourself. I am not a mechanic but I managed to save about $600 by researching and changing my car starter on my own. I have learned to sew up damaged garments. I managed to get a glut of MDF from a wood shop and I built my own shelves. Yes, shelves, car starters and lexan don't help for survival but it teaches you to be practical and a creator rather than a consumer who is stuck in the work-buy consumption cycle.
These 4 things cost nothing and they will get you ready far beyond the person who "buys" thier sense of security.
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