Nine: Weapons

 

A sensitive subject for many, however you need to embrace weapons if you hope to survive long term post doomsday.

Firstly, you will need weapons for hunting. Your stored food will, eventually, run out, you will have to hunt for meat and fish. You might like to learn about snares, traps and driving deer into pits. All skills are useful. However, it is far easier to hunt with weapons.

Fishing is likely to be the easiest method of “hunting.” As your location is going to be close to water there will either be fish in the stream close by or you can follow the water downstream to where there is a supply. You could, if you wish, try to fish with a rod and line. However, you aren’t doing this for recreation or sport so don’t mess about – use a net. Stretch your net across the stream and drag downstream, that way you are more likely to maximise your catch.

When you need to hunt for meat then you will need a gun, a crossbow or a bow and arrow. A crossbow can be a useful, powerful weapon but in many countries they are actually banned so getting some pre-doomsday practice in is going to be tricky. A bow and arrow is probably going to be a waste of your time, the time it will take to master the technique isn’t worth it. To be honest the only weapon worth your time and effort is a gun. A hunting rifle of some description is going to be best. The wisest course of action is to get some education down at the local gun club. Take the time to learn how to shoot with a degree of professionalism before you need the skills. Go on hunting trips with experienced professionals; learn the skills now. Experienced professionals are best placed to determine which weapon suits you best. Then you need to purchase your gun and ammunition and store it appropriately at your location.

Weapons will also be required for self-defence. It isn’t a pleasant thought but a group stumbling on your location may wish to ransack it and take your resources. In this event you will need to protect yourself, your family and your resources.

One gun isn’t going to be sufficient, you need a range of guns. In addition to hunting rifles you might want to have a shotgun or even pistols. Learn as much as you can about guns as soon as possible and determine what it is going to be best for your own needs. Purchase them and store safely ready for use.

You may consider a knife a weapon. However, in my mind, knives are purely tools. You will certainly need knifes and you will need a range of them for gutting fish, butchering meat, preparing food, the list just goes on and on. But keep them as tools, not weapons.