I'm not worried about zombies. It's the "graboids" you have to be ready for. One of my favorite movie lines ever: "Broke into the wrong g-d d--n rec room didn't you. You bastard!"
Guess I've been dreaming an awful lot recently. The sensation of opening those crates felt so real...
One mistake preppers make is having a lot of different guns. If TSHTF the life of any one piece is limited to the specialized ammo available for it.
You still need the brass and it can only be reloaded a few times and that's if it's the right kind. Better to have 5 guns that take the same ammo than 5 different types. The exception might be if scavenging is an option. The more popular calibers might get scavenged first and the odd balls left unless you could use them.
Living in a country with strict gun laws, and laws on how to transport and store weapons, burying legally possessed weapons out beneath a bush is not an option. When the prime minister was shot on the other side of the country, the police turned up at a friend's door, as he owned a handgun of the same caliber. Had to show he still had the weapon properly stored, and hand it in for test firing.
For the more mundane aspects of rebuilding civilization. LIBRARY DOWNLOAD Basically how to do anything up to 1940 tech in pdf form.
Here's a thought, what would you do if you came across this box stashed in a shed or a barn at your grandpaw's house? You're up there, cleaning it out after the funeral. Nobody's around, your deadbeat brothers and cousins didn't want to help because they all are more interested in what they might get when the will is read. What would you do? Yeah I know that this is a borderline "what if" question, but this might be fun.
[derail]My sister got 24 quarts of peaches when our grandmother died. She was underwhelmed and decided to eat all of them herself. Granny was old school, she died in 1963, so the jars were sealed with wax. When Sis popped the first wax seal off it clunked. There was a gold double eagle coin in there, two ounces of gold. She found one coin in each jar. She dumped the peaches.[/derail]
Well, I forgot to mention what I'd do. First thing would be to really clean out the barn (tear it apart) for other goodies that just might be stashed someplace. I'd tell everyone that I plan on selling the wood to furniture makers or building contractors. That'll keep their interest out. Then I'd transport the box of goodies home and sit on them for awhile. Let the dust settle so to speak. Then I'd buy up a lot of .45 ammo. Then I'd wait and see how things develop.
If I was a prepper I probably wouldn't admit it. I'd just be prepared to get somewhere (or already be there) , where no one would want to be. Middle of a desert or some remote location with self sustenance sources. Large and small game, fish, edible birds and plants nearby. I'm pretty confident there isn't much to worry about. Not in the time left on my calendar anyway. Get a kick out of talking to a few city folk who brag about stockpiling 100 gallons of water and several, it's a secret how many, cases of canned goods. A dozen guns, but like mentioned above, four or five different calibers. No communication devices other than a battery or solar radio. A good shortwave Ham radio would be essential I'd think. Rather than storing large amounts of food it'd be better time spent learning How to Provide and Survive. But then again I've always felt I was born 150 years too late.
I didn't price them back then, I didn't know about collectors. Gold was ~$35/oz back then. Mom told Kathy she'd "put them away for her", then spent all of them.