Including

- gun
- ammo
- backpack
- clothing
- gear
- tools

Let's say this is for police state/zombies/ something with lots of shooting involved

no

Nope....

But it would get you started on the path for food and water.

Which is really where your money is best spent .


Edit:

Start with 2 weeks of food/ water for each person in your house. Get a nice bat used at the goodwill or thrift shop. $250 isn't enough for gun and ammo to practice with to be good enough for it to matter.

A bat is an easy weapon to carry and use.

That would be a great start with a 22LR or 12 gauge pump,  Might find a pistol you like for that money.  Shop new or used.  Pawn shops are a great place to price guns.  Make them an offer.  


Guns are the fun part!

Nope.

No.

Even if you bought a $100 "gun" another $100 on ammo wont get you very far. That leaves only $50 bucks for backpack, clothing, gear and tools.....which would be tough. $250 would be barley enough for those items, purchased used....with no gun or ammo.

However, $250 would go a long way in purchasing food staples, such as Rice, Beans, Sugar, Wheat, buckets and Mylar to package it in.

Not even close. Decent shotgun or and handgun will start around $300. But something like a 10/22 is around $200 for the basic model or a single shot shotgun for around $100-$150. That leaves little or no room for the rest of the list. Save up, as is said "buy once cry once", this should especially apply to gear that may be used in a disaster/SHTF/zombie apocalypse, etc.

and......No......



I would figure around 650.00 for the most basic of setups.

but 250.00 is a good start.

A backpack and a 72 hour setup maybe.

2,500  would be a start.   25 grand  well on the way.......

I'd argue yes. It would get you down the road  at least. It might not MOLLE'd out and tactical, but that's probably a net positive.

$80 Marlin model 60 from local pawn shop might get you started and a used Jansport D-3 for a backpack on craigslist.

I'm liking where you're going.

Old Grouch sold a pistol belt with suspenders, a canteen and buttpack for like $20.

Cheap ax.
First aid kit...make yourself. Minor cuts and scraps. Bandages, antiseptics.
Needle nose pliers
Vise grips.
Canteen...iodine tablets.
Fire starter...Bic lighter, candle, matches, cotton balls.
Sewing kit.
Knife.

no.

if that is where you are at:

find 3 other people with at least $250, combine resources, and get a 4 person tent.  one of you needs a sidearm, another needs a long arm.  

ar-jedi

A quick review of my local Craigs List has all sorts of used backpacks, sleeping bags, mats, tents and other useful stuff for cheap.

A break action 12 gauge or .22 rifle would put you above 60% of your fellow citizens.

ETA: summitgunbroker.com is selling Marlin 60s for as cheap as $60 a piece.

It would be a start for food and water.

Buy once cry once.

The last couple of weekends here were perfect weather so I took out our tents, set them up, aired them out and re-packed them.

Conclusion was that while the small hiker tents (2 person) are small and light, for longer term shelter you really need the 4-5 person size dome tents or the larger family size tents plus the ground cloth, the rain tarp etc.

Most disaster events have large family size dome tents for 10 people - you will be bored and without internet or books you'll be going stir crazy if your shelter is cramped.

3 parts of a tent are the vulnerable ones: bottom, zippers and rain fly.... so make sure you keep some thick plastic for use on the ground underneath the tent, make sure you carefully tend to the zippers and check all the seams etc. on the rain fly to make sure it's waterproof.

Oh and test the tents. I set up the big family tent in the driveway and camped out with the kids. I purposely went to bed without a sleeping bag so as to test the mylar space blanket. It got down to 50 degrees and....yep, I was nice and toasty... eventually I did get into the 50 degree sleeping bag for comfort's sake and spread the mylar sheet over the sleeping kids to keep them snug. but it works.

Flashlights....really overrated. In a disaster situation you are going to go to sleep soon after sundown and sleep... not a whole lot of snooping around after dark. So we didn't need all the lights we brought but the ones that clip on hats or small LED inova lights worked great. I keep a larger INOVA light that's easily as bright as the Surefire 6p - but with a white light vs. yellow. uses the same cr123 batteries but lasts twice as long.

Possibly if picking up a surplus Alice pack, $90 mosin 91/30 and surplus ammo.

Would require a lot of shopping around for deals, visits to stores like the Salvation Army, items from Craigslist, etc.

Once you get out hiking with your setup you'll find rucksacks to be quite uncomfortable BUT rugged with heavy loads. Might want to rethink your weight and load for whatever you plan. Hiking with loads more than 30% of your body weight can cause injuries, wear you out, and make you miserable.

You meant to say $2500, correct?

Unless you are in war-torn Africa, Syria, etc, most of the S hitting the fan will not involve much shooting.  I know this is ARF, but take a realistic look...

If you get used gear, use stuff you already own (clothing, etc), and only buy when the price is right, you should be able to meet that budget (sans firearms, or with a cheap, used .22)

No I meant $250

As in I have a friend who jokes about Ebola with me and I have decided to find some gear and make an assault pack type deal for around that price. He's into prepping and doesn't have much money.

Mora light my fire knife $25
Life straw or Sawyer Mini $25
Izzy bandage $7
Hellcat kit for $60

There is $125 of your budget

It's good kit no matter your budget, I'd spend the rest on a canteen, cup and stove, 3-4 MREs, a Woobie and some para cord.

ETA get a decent headlamp at Home Depot, most useful light he could have! Don't cheap out, spend about $20, the real cheap ones short out

Maybe grab a County comm breacher bar, they have lots of great stuff there

Some black HD garbage bags are always good.

Save up and hunt around for a good deal on a 9mm pistol. .22 is still hard to get ammo for, so not much point in buying a cheap rifle. Shotguns are great if your planning on bugging in for a cheap SD gun, especially the HR pardner series.

A bat isn't a good weapon. Get a cold steel bowie machete instead.
FerFAL

Flash lights overrated?  You're dead to me, man!


I would easily be able to make the budget but it would take work and improvisation.

I would make the small gasifier wood stove using a soup can and paint can that was posted here a while back. Mine works great. A simple rounds SS cup for cooking.  Bladders and fancy bottles are not necessary either.  Mini sawyer at Walmart for $20.

The firearm would be a mosin,  but only if the owner put in the time to learn to shoot it well.That might mean a $25 recrowning job.   If not a marlin 60.

The clothing and pack do not need to be hyper tactical. Used quality packs are abundant on line.  Breatheable and no cotton.  

Food might end up costing a bit but you build up to that.  Mountain house will keep a long time.  Not cheap though.

I bet I could set it up with just what he has on hand for the most part.  

You can actually get a decent start on your food preps if you have access to an Aldi's or Winco. Otherwise the advice you have been given about searching craigslist and watching the pawn shops is the best you can get...

I am hesitant to post, since I do not know the OP, but looking at his question,

It really looks like his SHTF plan is to wander the wilderness and survive off the land.....  or.....

Completely agree with you. I have an Alice pack that I can use for day hikes, but nothing more.

For this scenario, I think an Alice pack (or similar) would still qualify as decent and is far better than nothing.

I think to be a good prepper you should save that money if you dont have an emergency fund. that will make the most difference.
stop eating expensive food
stop drinking cokes
get old 2 liter bottles from neighbors and fill with water for storage

get a mora knife, a sharpener, a bogota entry toolset, and some decent boots. learn how to use them.

With a tight budget like that, I woul focus on buying a few pieces of good gear, and building  skills.

Mora Knife $15
German Surplus Ruck  $25
could be done with a bookbag for a little less- but that ruck is a great value
Sawyer mini Filter w/ adapters $25
Frog Togs Poncho $18
Fleece Throw Blanket  $12
Cooking Cup   $10
headlamp $15 w red LED
Wood gas stove  Free

Total   $120

Things that you probably already have or could be done as part of a normal Wal-Mart trip

2x 1L "Smart Water" bottles
gallon Ziplocks
duct tape
ski cap
hoody or sweater
spare t-shirt underwear & socks
Vaseline soaked cotton balls
3 Each Cliff Bars, Ramen Noodles, cans of Tuna, Knor Pasta side
1st aid kit with band-aids, basic meds triple antibiotic
cofee filters
soap and toothbrush

That makes a good starting BOB- urban landscape or woodland (as long as it's not to cold)

ETA Directions - stove, matches and tinder go inside cup; duct tape is wrapped around water bottles; spare clothes and everything else go inside ziplocks, edge the ziplocks for duct tape for strength

Add a good pair of boots, something besides office clothes and you are on the way

Take the rest and save for a good used pistol or pump shotgun

A high point pistol would be my cheapes choice for urban conceal ability, a New England Partner Pump would be my choice fo a more woodland setting.  Both can be done w/ ammo for under $300 easy.

This is the second thread this week where we have been in total agreement.

Well done.

Most likely first, least likely last.

Going to live in the woods with a pack should be the least likely.  (I just went on a 10-day backpacking hunt in the Rockies and its not easy.)

With that said I would direction my gear towards things that will help should you need to go stay at a relatives, or hotel because of some localized disaster situation.

Change of cloths, toiletries, small amount of food, blanket or sleeping bag, maybe a tarp, some cord, duct tape, pot for boiling water in, water bottle, small FAK, a good knife and multi-tool.

Some times I think people (including myself) over think, and over rate the need for gear.  Skill sets and knowledge should be # 1.  You should be able to use any decent knife to accomplish any reasonable task.

That said I am a just as much a gear junkie as the next arfcommer.

This!

If you have no preps to protect, there is no need to defend it.  Bugging in is usually the best option for most SHTFs.  Start for food, water, and meds.  Once you have enough stashed away then start thinking about means of defending it.  

Edit 1: start thinking in terms of small to  large concentric circles of disasters.  The smallest circle in the middle is the most likely disaster scenarios with least impact to your life.  Ex. loosing power and water for three days.  The Largest outside circle is an EMP type effect. requiring much more preps and will have disastrous impact on everyone's life  Obviously for Three days of survival, you basically need food, water and medical necessities to bug in at home.  At the other end of the spectrum, for man made disasters like EMP explosion over the CONUS, not only you will need food, water and meds for months/years,  You will need the knowledge, guns, ammo, community of like-minded neighbors you are close to, maybe a bug out location, bug out vehicle, solar panels, generators, etc.  Do you see the point?  So start and the smallest circle and work your way out!  I hope this helps.

Edit 2

You could get one of those hi point 9mm and a box or 3 of ammo.

thats 200 then a bit of food and water.  maybe a cheap Mora knife.  

250.00

better then nothing

Interesting thread with a tremendous opportunity to apply critical thinking skills and innovation.

I agree. Plenty of tactical tommies will think it can't work,  but a short term BOB  and basic protection does not have to cost a fortune.

Yes, its hilarious how many people in this thread don't consider used gear....

If you shopped around and took your time you could probably get
a nice pack for $3 to $5 at Goodwill. REALLY nice jacket for another $8
tacticool pants for $3.95. You could make a pepsi can stove for nothing.
Probably a $1 bill for cook pot.

You would need to carefully consider exactly what you needed a firearm for.....
Self-protection? What are the realistic distances you expect you might have to
use it? 2-25 feet, perhaps out to 25 yards? How do you plan on carrying and concealing it?
A 28 inch barreled 91/30 Mosin would not be on the top of my list. It's silly long, so long
the Soviets dumped it because even they thought it was too long....its action is very slow
and it has an awful safety.

A pistol would be ideal for most likely scenarios. But they tend to be expensive.
Shotguns can be found at very reasonable prices. Bolt action shotguns can often
be found for $50 to $75. Pump shotguns for around $100. You just have to look.
A friend scored a gorgeous Stevens take-down 520 12 gauge pump for $130 at the last
show. I would not want a single-shot.

Old military bolt guns can often be found very cheap if they are oddballs. While scorned
and overlooked one I would consider would be one of the very small Italian Carcano 6.5mm
carbines. They are very short, light, easy to carry, very quick handling and fast to reload
thanks to their mannlicher clip system. Remember, you will likely be employing it at well under
100 yards, likely less than 25 yards for most realistic situations. A friend employed a 7.35mm
Carcano in a self-defense situation and it flattened his attacker with one round of 1938 vintage ball.
Try to find one for $50 to $75

How many rounds would you realistically need? 20 max? Do you honestly think you are going to shoot
more than that in a scenario likely to happen? On a rifle I'd check its zero, check function and
call it good. With a shotgun I'd pattern it at 15, 25, 50, and 100 yards with buckshot and call it good.
I have seen A LOT of working guns which put a lot of meat in the pot in rural Maine which were very
basic, old and often repaired blue collar guns. Crude even. Guns don't have to be fancy.

The same goes for knives. You could spend some time sorting through kitchen knives at goodwill
to find a good fixed blade knife and make a sheath out of some cardboard and duct tape. Probably
cost you $1

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

what other ideas can you come up with?

An assault pack full of guns and ammo doesn't solve most of the world's problems.

I'd carefully consider leaving the guns and ammo out of your initial budget.  You can get much more for $250 without them.  I'm not saying don't buy them, but save up and get them later.

If you needed to go super 'economical' a sporterized military bolt gun like this
MAS 36 could be had on the cheap


Pros
Super tough and reliable action
short length of pull, 12.5 inches, for quick mounting
rear locking lugs and super short 4 inch bolt throw, these things are super quick to cycle
excellent aperture sights
load via stripper clips
can use standard 30 caliber projectiles
light and handy
French service load is light recoiling thanks to 129 grain bullet
PPU still offers ammo in this caliber

cons
no safety so you need to run it like a Glock
7.5x54mm ammo not common, but you only need a few clips worth
will not impress your friends
no 1913 rails
LaRue likely does not offer accessories for this model at this time

Your point is valid but I find your prices are 5 years too late. What kind of 10 dollar bag can you get at good will? Not that you've ever seen, but that you can buy today? Everything I've seen has gone up in price 100 or 200+ percent in price recently. You used to be able to get a great backpack for 5 bucks at good will. Now at good will I haven't seen one there for years.... go to a surplus or another used gear shop and its 25+ for a used pack around here.

I used to shop goodwill twice a week for stuff I  needed, pots, candle holders, sofa's, boots, knifes, tee shirts, jeans or even jewelry when it was in when I was poorer. Now there's nothing worth going for but clothes. 100 other people know a deal when they see one and just can't afford to buy new. Cast iron pans seem a thing of the past, so do lanterns, pocket knifes, tools, boots, and oil lamps. I just don't see deals like I used to, and not because the prices rose, but because the items have just vanished from the locations that sold them cheap. Everyone seems to know what they have and what it's really worth. The days of good deals on used gear appear dead to me.

Same thing with guns. Any semi auto military gun, even in horrid condition is worth 150+ dollars. They've gone the way of SKSs and WASRs 3-5 years ago you could get a deal, now a crappy, barely firing SKS is 180+ (then 25 shipping and 25 to the FFL). A decent condition one combat ready is easily 300+. Look at the price of 5.45 over the last 5 years. Seems to me the only great deal left in firearms in the mosin nagant, and even those have gone from 60 dollars to 100+, same with ammo.

I've got nothing against used gear, but the prices and value certainly have not maintained what they once where. You still can probably save 66% for some things but the days of a 50 dollar ruck for 5 bucks seem gone to me.

Get a shotgun and a fishing pole!

prices vary by region.........but the prices I quoted are what I have seen in the last month
in Junction City KS. They are prices I would pay today, not 5 years ago. I have been keeping
an eye on prices in this area and buying stuff with the thought towards doing an article on something
along the lines of this thread.

I would skip the semi-auto military guns. I agree, too expensive.
But rural Kansas is awash in pump shotguns.......1897 Winchester, Model 12s, Stevens 520s,
Mossbergs, Ithacas........old used and abused.....and sometimes very pretty. Everyone wants black guns
today......so there have been smoking deals on many old sporting guns at the local shows.

If you think 'good deals on used gear' are a thing of the past......you are crazy.
Coleman lamps and stoves are readily found for $20 here.......just look in different places.
Right now I'm wearing $75 Merrell pants which I bought for $3.95 at Goodwill, they are like new.....
http://www.merrell.com/US/en-US/Product.mvc.aspx/34233M/84865/Mens/Bendidee-Pant?dimensions=0

I know you probably don't agree but a Mosin can be turned into a lighter, shorter carbine in 30 minutes with a cheap front sight adapter available online by a gunsmith with a bandsaw and a crowning tool. The action can be slicked up for free with a few internet resources for information. I never use the safety anyway. I just keep the action open while walking.

I do not disagree if you have the skillz and can do it yourself.
You can also notch the receiver and relocate the bolt handle to the rear
of the bolt making it much easier to operate as well.

Many here though simply do not have the ability to do that though.

Ebay has a crowning tool for a couple bucks. Easy to use. Most anyone can get a hold of a hacksaw and a file.

While it might not wind up shooting minutes of Ebola, it would likely do an entirely satisfactory job for less than an hour's work.

Disclaimer, stay legal.



Crowning lap

Used gear is fun to find! I bought 2 pairs of like new (used on 1 hunting trip) wool pants. One is woolrich and the other pair is cabelas guide wool pants. Paid $5 for both. Retail per pair is 190-215,danner boots in box (1 hunting trip) 10 dollars. Retail is $240. I bought a kerosine heater for $10 used on ebay starting at 120. Lots of deals at garage sale. Great ax for 2.00. I could write a huge list of scores this year at garage sales