A question of weight

[balz]

Hi there,

I'm slowly building my stack; so far nearly 20 boxes (I reroll the pennies because I think it looks cool and will be more easy to trade after SHTF). 20 boxes at about 14-14.5 pounds = over 280 pounds so far.

This may look like a very stupid question, but I live in an apartment all built with wood. I wonder if there could be any danger stacking too many of those boxes at the same place. I mean: I do about 4 boxes a week; in a year that's over 200 boxes and 2,800 pounds!

BTW, as I am a newbie, I was wondering what do you guys think is a good stack to prepare for future economic collapse?

(Sorry I know I write poorly.)

[shinnosuke]

There's no problem with your writing. I'm glad you joined realcent and hope you get your questions answered.

Are you on the 2nd floor or higher? If so, you might want to spread out the weight...some under the bed, some in the bottom of the closet, etc...when you approach the 1000 pound mark.

As for the appropriate size of your stack, there are so many variables to consider.
* Are you single/married?
* Do you have children?
* Do you plan to get married or have children within the next 2 years?
* Do you have family (with whom you get along) living nearby?
* Have you completed other preparations such as food, water, firearms, ammo?
* And so on...

[balz]

Thanks for the reply. I am on second floor; I will try to spread the weight but even there I wonder at how many 1000 pounds it can get risky. So far I am not prepared for nothing else. Got a g/f but no child, got some debts that I want to take care (but I believe copper will give me more than the 6% interest on my car)... Got no gun, no land, nothing... Still trying to figure the ABC to get ready.

I like penny hoarding because it is easy and you just can't lose... and you don't need much money to do it. But I have nothing to protect that; guns are not allowed where I live!

Are you prepared?

[NHsorter]

Copper is great, especially since you are getting it at such a discount by sorting, but you want to make sure that you don't concentrate too much on one thing. I personally think that a gun is more important than PM's. Depending on your location that might be easy or it might not. But no matter where you are, if you do get a gun you need to take it out and learn how to use it. Otherwise it's probably a waste of money. Even if you don't have much in the way of funds, get yourself some silver and/or gold. Even just a little is more than most have. You can sort for silver (halves, dimes, nickles) if you don't want to pay spot and you have the extra time. A good store of food & water is probably more important than PM's as well depending on the situation.

So I don't think that there really is an answer to your questions of the proper amount of copper to hoard. The penny situation right now is great and everyone should try to capitalize on it while they still can. Most here would tell you to hoard as much copper as possible, but I am sure that they would also agree that you should not go all in on pennies and neglect food water and defense.

[sparechange]

Welcome to the forum. It sounds as if you have a really great start on your hoard and 4 boxes/week is really great for hand sorting. I also agree that you might want to stack a little silver, as the weight is less. Being on the second floor, I would try to stack against walls and inside and back of cabinets that might be on floor. Good luck with your sorting and you may want to warn your neighbors below as you get closer to that 2800 lbs. mark.

[balz]

Thanks guys for the advice! I really like this forum; I think you guys are way in front of "normal people" who don't know what is a fiat currency...

May I ask another newbie question?

In the future, when the melting ban will be lifted (or when we will need to get past this ban) will I need to have the pennies cleaned or like they are is OK? I mean: if copper is 25$ a pound at that time (or whatever 25$ will mean anyway) can I just go with a pound of pennies and get 25$ or because they are so dirty and some oxyded it will be worth less?

Thanks again. Sorry for all the question. I think I have a decent understanding of what's coming, but I don't know much about copper melting!

BTW, you talk about silver... I consider getting more silver (got only 5 onces... had 40 6 years ago... bought at 6$ and sold at 15$..) but what about fire safety or safety alone? Any trick?

[NotABigDeal]

Thanks for the reply. I am on second floor; I will try to spread the weight but even there I wonder at how many 1000 pounds it can get risky. So far I am not prepared for nothing else. Got a g/f but no child, got some debts that I want to take care (but I believe copper will give me more than the 6% interest on my car)... Got no gun, no land, nothing... Still trying to figure the ABC to get ready.

I like penny hoarding because it is easy and you just can't lose... and you don't need much money to do it. But I have nothing to protect that; guns are not allowed where I live!

Are you prepared?

Where do you live where you can't have a gun? On campus? No good....

Deal

[balz]

I live in Canada. I think I may be able to get some kind of firearms for hunting, but this is not very practical.

Here people used to make fun about USA with people going everywhere with guns... but if you want to protect your family in a SHTF world then you have to get one I believe...

[Rosco]

I think that you might like Target Shooting, start with 22 it's a starting place either pistol or rifle. then also start a
food stash.

The Silver will come as you find the extra money, Keep on stacking.

[Thogey]

Welcome, We always could use a little more balz.

I just can't imagine living in a country where the goobermint can refuse your access to a gun.

Just curious, what the hell is so funny about going everywhere with a gun?

I mean, what do people do in Canada, just lay down and let some a-hole do whatever he wants to?

Edit to add: I ripped off "goobermint" from another post

[shinnosuke]

Thanks for the reply. I am on second floor; I will try to spread the weight but even there I wonder at how many 1000 pounds it can get risky. So far I am not prepared for nothing else. Got a g/f but no child, got some debts that I want to take care (but I believe copper will give me more than the 6% interest on my car)... Got no gun, no land, nothing... Still trying to figure the ABC to get ready.

I like penny hoarding because it is easy and you just can't lose... and you don't need much money to do it. But I have nothing to protect that; guns are not allowed where I live!

Are you prepared?

My level of preparation will never be high enough to satisfy me. That said, I have enough food to feed my family for over a year. I have some cool tools with which to protect our stuff.

Just start making small sacrifices to increase your preps. Try this on your g/f: "This coming Friday, instead of a movie and dinner, we are going to buy a gun and ammo." If she reacts well, you should keep her.

[Thogey]

He's in Canada, he can't just go buy a gun and ammo at wal-mart or big 5 like we can here.

[shinnosuke]

He's in Canada, he can't just go buy a gun and ammo at wal-mart or big 5 like we can here.

Remind me to never move to Canada.

[Thogey]

Hey shinnosuke, just a reminder: Don't ever move to Canada.

[shinnosuke]

Hey shinnosuke, just a reminder: Don't ever move to Canada.

Hey Thogey, thanks man.

[brexzz1]

He's in Canada, he can't just go buy a gun and ammo at wal-mart or big 5 like we can here.

Remind me to never move to Canada.

Something only an American would say. Thank god i live in Canada. As opposed to Murder Central USA. Have fun with your guns.

[balz]

Welcome, We always could use a little more balz.

I just can't imagine living in a country where the goobermint can refuse your access to a gun.

Just curious, what the hell is so funny about going everywhere with a gun?

I mean, what do people do in Canada, just lay down and let some a-hole do whatever he wants to?

Edit to add: I ripped off "goobermint" from another post

Well, it's not in our culture. I have never seen a gun in my whole life, and I doubt anyone in my family had. We do not need guns because nobody (or quite so) have guns, with some exceptions.

However, with the coming economic collapse, I do believe that at some point police presence may become scarce and local gang take power. There will come a time when one will need to stand and protect his family. This is why I'd like a gun.

I think it is legal to have a long rifle and I will try to get one, but of course this is not easy to travel with if I need to.

@shinnosuke: I will try this with my g/f but I think she will think I'm crazy... She sees me counting pennies every night... I try to educate her about the concept of fiat money but she always think in terms of "money" as if paper money was money... Maybe a gun would educate her also! Thanks! BTW food for one year is pretty impressive... I'm not yet there; maybe I'll be at some point. My next big step when I'll be debt-free would be to buy land...

[Thogey]

He's in Canada, he can't just go buy a gun and ammo at wal-mart or big 5 like we can here.

Remind me to never move to Canada.

Something only an American would say. Thank god i live in Canada. As opposed to Murder Central USA. Have fun with your guns.

You're Damn right!

By the Way.

God(as in ALMIGHTY) is spelled with a Capital G!

I'll thank God you live in Canada also! Wow, we have something in common

[shinnosuke]

He's in Canada, he can't just go buy a gun and ammo at wal-mart or big 5 like we can here.

Remind me to never move to Canada.

Something only an American would say. Thank god i live in Canada. As opposed to Murder Central USA. Have fun with your guns.

Remember Lexington; remember Concord. I am a descendant of men who decided freedom was worth fighting for.

[cesariojpn]

I think it is legal to have a long rifle and I will try to get one, but of course this is not easy to travel with if I need to.

Beretta Cx4 Storm. Wait, thats a PAL-Restricted firearm under Canadian Law.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession ... on_Licence

[NHsorter]

I don't know anything about gun laws in Canada, but if I had to have one long gun and nothing else, I think it would be the best 12 gauge shotgun allowed. Good for some hunting and some home defense. Great all around tool.

[henrysmedford]

A great movie on fiat money is Money as Debt free on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc3sKwwAaCU

[shinnosuke]

I don't know anything about gun laws in Canada, but if I had to have one long gun and nothing else, I think it would be the best 12 gauge shotgun allowed. Good for some hunting and some home defense. Great all around tool.

Agreed. Buckshot works for creatures of both the 4-legged and 2-legged varieties.

Getting back to balz' questions in his original post, it seems that there are several single young men who have joined our ranks recently and who are concerned about preparations. For each of you, I recommend developing a network of friends/family who can help each other through the tough times ahead. Most individuals will never have everything necessary to survive, but a like-minded community could pool resources to everyone's benefit. Choose your partners carefully, but make that part of your prep process as well.

[NotABigDeal]

Not to sorda hijack your thread but....

I just read Canada's gun laws. Talk about a bunch of crap. You can have them, you just have to deal with a lot of B.S. with the government. You have prohibited, restricted and non-restricted firearms. Too many specific laws to mention, but a lot of the good stuff is off limits.

Contact the RCMP about obtaining your PAL (possession and acquisition license). This license will allow you to purchase ammo and non-restricted weapons once you take the required safety courses. One for non-restricted and another for restricted weapons. Not sure on the costs or time frame of any of these. I think it is around a month or so. So it can be done if you want to do it. Of course you guys have mandatory gun registration....

I say do it as you have nothing to loose but everything if you ever need one and do not have one.... Look into it man.

brexzz1, just because you are secure in your in-ability to protect yourself don't bash the good guys with guns. Who said anything about murder? We were talking about protection of life and possessions. And you call my country Murder Central. I have more guns than most and I have never murdered anybody. Nor have my friends with guns. And I have tons of fun with my guns and, ready for this, silencers. All legal.

Deal

[warthog]

Every so often I watch that Ice Road Truckers thing.. I noticed on one episode one of the canuck drivers was target shooting with an SKS. Clearly the laws can't be all *that impossible if he's driving around with one of them scary assualt riffles and a spam can of 7.62... just saying.