As an impulse answer I was mimic Todd's answer. With the Busse, you could always acquire all the others in a NO LAW society.

I was looking at in investment type of purchase. Ammo, while solid right now, is still expendable with no return on investment. I know you need some to feed your firearms, but I'm personally not a hoarder. I keep enough on hand to take care of my foreseeable needs, and maybe a little extra.

Right now I have about 800 rounds of 9mm, a couple hundred .38 Special, 4-500 .22LR, and about 100 or so for each of my deer rifles.

Oh, and about 150-200 rounds for each shotgun (12 gauge and 20 gauge)

I have enough ammo for some problems to be taken care of if they pop up.

Back when I had my AR15, I only kept about 1k of ammo around for it.

I will say that I've cut back on my practice quite a bit until the ammo situation improves, but I'm good there.

I'm fortunate in that I can pick up a pistol and shoot pretty well with it even without constant practice.

I haven't shot in some time as well, but I know how I shoot (a pistol) and have been consistent in that way for many years, so yeah I think I'm good in that aspect as well.

On the other page when I said I echo Todd's choice of the Busse, I meant ANY Busekin blade, not specifically a Busse combat blade.

Yeah, I can agree with that. I was just going with the Busse as a choice, but for investments, Bussekin steel seems to be fairly good.

OK, let's see if I can get my thoughts into a cohesive explainable pattern.

1. .223. Nothing else needs to be said. Versatile, USUALLY can be found most any where. Good barter material if you have enough to spare some.

2. .45. GREAT sidearm round. Can also be used against almost any North American species (man or amimal) in a pinch if really needed.

3. .45 bullets. Kinda specialized, as other items are needed, powder, primers, brass cases and reloading tools.

4. Busse Anniversary Mistress. This has already been covered.

5. Whatever the Yard is pulling together. Same answer as number 4.

6. GOOD packs. Packs are really nice, and ALMOST a necessity, but can be improvised if really needed and none are available.

OK, IF you have a knife, any of the above items can be obtained. In addition, Survival CAN be accomplished without firearms and ammo. It can also be accomplished without a backpack.

If you are armed only with a knife in "Hostile Territory", you will be more inclined to act as the Rabbit, NOT the Bear. This is a good thing, even if you ARE armed in Hostile Territory. To NOT be seen means security or safety. IF you have a firearm you will have more of an inclination to "Fight Back" when you should really hide/retreat.

Skunk is good skunk is wise. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />