[Ayoob]

I'm coming into a little money next month and I'm getting ready to do a little PO shopping. On my list right now are the following:

1. Bicycle
2. Binoculars
3. Couple pairs of boots/shoes/sandals
4. Handheld ham radio
5. A whole sh!tload of books
6. Computer for school


That's about it so far, I don't really want any more electronics stuff... maybe I should pick up a solar battery charger or something like that.

You guys got any suggestions on these items? For the bike, I'm thinking about a mountain bike that I can swap out the wheels with roadbike wheels for times when I'm mostly on paved roads and back to the wide knobbies for offroad. The binoculars are probably going to be either Russian or German surplus, like the Zeiss models. Boots/shoes/sandals... I've had some last years and years, others fell apart within six months, so I'm curious about your experiences with different boots.

Books. If there's one thing I know about books it's that one is too many and a thousand never enough. I have a million square foot gardening type books and a bunch of NuHippie outdoor living type things, so I'm not sure I need any more of those, but I'm picking up a couple like Where There Is No Doctor and whatnot. Any suggestions along those lines is very much appreciated.

Also, I decided to standardize on pencils for writing. Automatics with .9mm graphite, so I'm stocking up on those as well. No need for fancy writing materials. And maybe a case of notebooks.

Compass maybe? I dunno. Anyway, fire away, and assume the budget is fairly tight and I have to make compromises based on finances.

[MD]

Shoe production has been a nagging disturbance to me for some time. There are no true high volume shoe manufacturers in the United states any more. Therefore if we really hit a depression, expect a lot of barefoot people within a few months of the onset.

You can still buy quality footwear, but at a price. Red wing, industrial supply houses, military surplus, camping store, LL Bean...expect to pay though, a decent pair or Red Wings cost around $400 last time I checked.

The good news is that they will last a very long time, and are repairable, unlike all the moded crap coming from Asia. You can still find shoe repair houses in my area, but the guys behind the counter are getting pretty old...

[dmtu]

I'll vouch for Redwing Boots. I buy steeltoes and they hold up for four to five years in a muddy, rocky, oily mining environment with absolutely no care at all. About $180 a pair, get extra laces.

[madison]

You know, one of the first things I did upon finding out about Peak Oil, was to go shopping! I know, I know, our consumerism and gimme attitudes are what have us in this predicament in the first place.... but anyway. I bought medical supplies, soap, toilet paper, stocked the pantry and fridge and bought good socks and underwear, lol.

I kinda think that if folks en masse get a cold dose of PO reality (say the rulers of the House of Saud get assassinated and Saudi Arabia becomes simply Arabia and hates us and cuts off oil exports), alot of "stocking up" is going to happen on a large scale. And then everyone will hunker down and wonder what will happen next.

I'm glad I'm a LITTLE bit ahead of most folks.

Every week when I go grocery shopping, I buy a packet of seeds and a dozen canning lids. It's only $3 extra to my grocery budget weekly, but think of what 52 packets of seeds or 52 dozen canning lids could do for you or your family/friends someday!

Personally, I'd like to invest more in books and workshops/classes (like soapmaking, canning, basic carpentry and repair etc). My top books are: "The Humanure Handbook", "Putting Food By", Storey's " Guide to Raising Chickens", "The Herbal Home Remedy Book by Joyce Wardwell, "How to Grow More Vegetables..." by John Jeavons, "Doctor Yourself" by Andrew Saul, "Seed to Seed" by Suzanne Ashworth.

Also, if you want books to last more than 50 years without yellowing and crumbling, buy lots of the stuff Scrapbookers use to preserve acidic papers, it's called Archival Mist. Your kids/grandkids and their families/friends will appreciate the foresight.

[Doly]

My suggestion: buy the books first, and after reading them, you'll make much better decisions on what other things you should be buying.

[0mar]

Ammonution.