10:53 – Barbara is out running errands. I’m doing laundry and the other usual Saturday housekeeping tasks. We’ll do kit stuff this afternoon and tomorrow.
Once we get moved, I’m going to talk to Barbara about converting some of our paper assets into hard assets. Most couples have only their home, vehicles, and personal possessions as hard assets. We go a bit further than that, with significant funds devoted to long-term food storage and other prepping supplies, as well as considerable inventory for science kits. All of those are a hedge against inflation, but I’d like to go further. The balances in our bank accounts are worth less and less every day, and I’d like to convert some of those funds to stuff that appreciates rather than depreciating.
For example, last autumn I bought 5.56mm ammunition in bulk for $0.37 per round. The same round now costs $0.47, an increase of 27% in just seven months. I still remember years ago when Walmart had a sale on Russian-made SKS carbines for $30 each and 1,000 rounds of Russian-made 7.62×39 in ammo cans for another $30, or $.03/round. That was probably not too long after the fall of the Soviet Union. What I really, really wanted to do was buy 100 SKSs and 100,000 rounds of ammo. That would have set us back $6,000. Nowadays, I see Russian-made SKSs selling for $400 and Russian-made ammo going for $0.50/round. Those 100 SKSs and 100,000 round of ammo would cost me about $90,000 today, maybe $80,000 if I really shopped around or was willing to settle for inferior SKSs made elsewhere.
Not that I’d go out and buy 100 SKSs today. Even if Barbara agreed, they’re simply too high-profile. But I might pick up a half a dozen or a dozen more civilian-type rifles and shotguns. Things like the Maverick 88 or Remington 870 in 12- and 20-gauge, the Marlin Model 60 in .22LR, and so on. Lever-action rifles aren’t the bargain they once were, but I wouldn’t mind having some in .38/.357 and .44Mag/Spec. They’re easily speed-loaded, use common ammunition, and are actually pretty competent defensive rifles. And they’re only going to gain value.