Most people would be best off with a handgun and good carry gear rather than an AR and a set of kit.

And a gym membership.

I say that as a chubby guy with more gear than I'll ever need.

I'd hate to try to buy bread and beans with a 1 oz gold coin.......no one would have change.

that depends on what the seller thinks they're worth.

When the SHTF you are likely to get more for a some 22lr or 9mm rounds then you will for a gold coin. Once a basic economy gets rolling again then precious metals may have more value.

If u use 1oz of gold to buy food ur an idiot and deserve to be ripped off....
Again why does everyone assume buying gold OR food id somehow a binary choice???

So my belief is that if you're using gold and silver to buy bread or milk than the world has completely gone to hell and we are in a "Mad Max" type of situation that I find unlikely.  More realistically, the economy has gone to shit and current currencies have devalued.  What would probably happen is new currencies would be issued making our current paper money worthless.  Realistically what you would do with that gold coin is exchange it for like value of the new currency and then buy your milk and bread.  If a government, of any kind, still exists a currency in some form or another will exist.  

If the new government restricts gold or silver transactions, a secondary market (black market) will develop that will facilitate the exchange of precious medals into the new currency.  It currently happens all over the world for the exchange of local currency to dollars.  Why wouldn't it happen with gold and silver?

You'd have thought that with all the gold the natives had in Central and South America, they surely could have put up a better struggle against some scurvy infested Spaniards who were thousands of miles away from home.

I say let them hoard all the gold and silver they want. You're just not going to talk sense into some people.

I'll keep my reserves of 22lr, 9mm, .243. I'll keep my reserves of dried goods, water, and first aid gear. I'll even hang onto my personal hygiene goods and gear.

Then..... when they are hungry, sick, filthy and catching associated illnesses because of it; Ill feel bad for them, but I won't trade their gold for my survival stock.

Maybe they'll survive the incident. Maybe not.

what if you have to relocate, how easy is it going to be to move all that with you?

That's the gamble. I live in a small town out in the middle of nowhere. Not much happens here. I plan on holding up, and staying put until it's time to bail.

Instead of bugging out..... I'm bugging in!!

And what about the guy who has 90% of what you have, and also has 10oz of gold and a few hundred oz of silver?

He'll survive and have liquid assets for when the economy eventually restarts.

They're not something I'd buy if I didn't have food stored or a gun, but they're hardly useless.

Yup... its designed to store value and get u from one economic system to the next

The goal is to live through that period of the generation & not die of hunger, thirst, exposure or meat sack ventilation.

In a severe scenario gold won't stop any of those from occurring.

they think that if the world ends they can still buy things with worthless money.

Simply put.....to buy in to the new currency of the new world order.

First of all most of the people I know who buy PM's do it as an inflation hedge, not for buying shit at barter town.

But let's look at the teotwaki scenario.  

You may not trade 5 pounds of wheat for some gold.  On the other hand if every one is offering the local doctor or mechanic the same things (food ammo gas), he may very well be willing to take gold.  There is only so much food he can store.  There are only so many mosins and spam cans of cheap 7.62 x 54 he needs or can store.  If he is just stacking what people can give him on the chance shit gets better and he can trade it off in the future, gold takes up a lot less space.

Also, keep in mind, just like with gold, value of your guns/ammo/food is relative.  If I have an ar for every person, spare rifles, spare parts and a shit ton of ammo, am I going to trade you anything of value for an sks and 100 rounds.  You have an extra super pail of wheat, Who cares.  I have a food covered;  I live in an area with thousands of acres of dry land wheat and more cows than people.  Bulky, weighs a lot and has no significant value to me.  If I am looking to the future, it still has little value as a recovery begins.  PM's on the other hand, will gain value as civilization begins to rebuild.  Yet another cheap combloc rifle, or a pail of wheat in an area with tons of it, not so much.

Another factor is timing.  Early on a lot of people will still value gold and some will take cash longer than they should.  They are going to be in denial.  As things get worse, that stops.  But as things stabilize PM's will begin to become valuable again.  As things improve and trade begins again, gold picks up its value.  Bribing your way past a .gov check point, slipping some cop or NG a one ounce eagle might be a little less noticable and safer than whipping out that old single shot 16 gauge and the two boxes of ammo you got for it.

Prepping is like any other form of investing.  Diversification is your friend.  Or as I have been saying for years, options, they may not guarantee survival but they do increase the odds.

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look at the tales coming out of Venezuela right now about gold and silver and their relative value to everything else in the country

So what if 1oz of silver buys u 6 weeks of food? Ppl who've lived in a wealthy country their entire life and never dealt with the black market said itll be worthless

And somehow ppl buying precious metals are simpletons and CAN'T buy weapons and ammo AND PMs....