SHTF Battery Powered Do-Dads.

I like to find opinions that are contrary to my own.  In doing so, I can critically look at the premises and biases that influence my views.  So today, I find myself abandoning an idea I used to hold.

I have always been under the opinion that battery powered force multipliers like lasers and lights on a firearm are of limited use in a SHTF situation because eventually the batteries will die.

But then it occurred to me:  while the batteries ARE still good, everyone will have these force multipliers… except for me.

Why am I handicapping myself in the present?  Yes, my battery powered do-dad may be nothing more than a paperweight a year down the road, but in the short term, it gives me a hell of an advantage.  My night vision paired with my IR laser lets me operate in secrecy.  My red flashlight lets me search places and read documents without giving myself away at distance.  My visible laser intimidates and has the potential to make confrontations less violent.  My radios let me talk to teammates and co-ordinate our actions when out of line of sight, get news and be situationally aware.

Those who have not given those things up will have an advantage over me; perhaps a lethal one.  Imagine where all my other preps like food and shelter fall to someone who had better weapon systems and could take from me by force.

Lights, lasers, radios, GPS, night vision are all force multipliers. Having thought about it, I would rather have them for a little while at the start of SHTF, then not at all.