Hoarding Raw Materials?

Hello all,

Today we went and cashed in our plastic and glass bottles and aluminium cans and it got me thinking.

I'm in Australia and as you know, we have very strict gun control laws so I'm not very familiar with guns or ammunition.

I was wondering whether you think it would be a good idea to hoard items like aluminium cans and metal bottletops, jar lids, etc, basically any kind of household metals for a SitX situation? Plus gunpowder, etc or the materials to make the gunpowder. Also you would need basic forging/casting materials

I mean, for gun owners it's obviously preferable to stockpile pre-made ammunition.

But when that all runs out (I think it'll be pretty fast - millions of frightened, desperate people in cities with access to firearms are going to blow through the stock pretty fast) you're going to be sitting on a pile of bullet making materials. You could even fashion arrowheads and basic blades?

Also, a shed full of "useless" crushed cans and jam jar lids isn't going to draw nearly as many potential thieves as a even a little box of bullets will when SHTF.

Not sure if this is just a totally ridiculous idea, I admit to knowing nothing about metalsmithing or weapons but I thought I'd bring it up anyway. I was just thinking maybe those kinds of compact, inconspicuous household metals might actually be worth someone's time to keep.

Go to car boot sales and buy the really old knives that have separate handles fitted to the 'tang' once sit X happens, put a point on the blade, take the handle off, fix the 'tang' into your spear pole. The easiest way to do that is heat the tang red hot, and burn the tang into the end of the spear, leaving half an inch to hammer it in firmly, don't forget your crossbow, you can lie down in concealment and still fire it.

I wanted to make a Summer project out of melting tin cans into a block and trying to machine a .22 out of it.

It hasnt gotten any further than a declaration of want though. I'm not sure if I can generate enough heat to melt the cans.

Guess I can generate the heat needed: www.capsandstems.com...

Thanks for this thread. You've made me take the next step in my Summer project.

[edit on 20-4-2010 by thisguyrighthere]

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Don't maim yourself in the process, because I want to see pics of the finished product.

www.speedymetals.com...

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Sounds like an interesting project, I am also keen to see your results .

Seems like a waste of time. In a SHTF situation raw materials would not be worth anything. You're better off using that storage space for more food and water. The real essentials.

reply to post by areyosicker


Well, this would be "ideal world" storage space. And the materials would be for personal or communal use rather than for trade, most likely in a very long term situation.

Raw materials, why not use refined materials? like that 2 ton car sat in your driveway?(thanks to my son for that) the leaf springs will make nice swords, the leather seat coverings will make nice hard wearing clothing, the stripped down wiring looms for snares, the lead in the battery for bolas weights, the tyres for sandals, roof/door panels for body armour (doubled up).

I would suggest you guys take a look at the hollywood
movie entitled "The Hunted".

Not only is it a great action movie but it centers around
a man who was trained to kill with his bare hands.
A survivalist movie for the collectors.
He could make knives and killing tools out of the
most bizarre items and teaches you
how to use them in an applied situation.

It stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro
lots of ideas right there

One of the first scenes in the movie is he is
being hunted down in the woods to be assassinated
by the CIA. 2 CIA with deer rifles and he gets them both
with his knife rather easily. It's a must see if
u haven't watched it.

Another good movie comes to mind is Rambo.
Hollywood is full of survival ideas if you'll only
pay attention. best wishes

reply to post by SerialLurker


In a long term situation no raw materials in the world will help you.

Originally posted by pikestafftyres for sandals, roof/door panels for body armour (doubled up).

I tried the tire thing one in high school because of of that classic "Steal this Book" and thought tire sandals would be funny as hell.

Unless you have a chop saw you're going to have a hell of a time getting through a tire.

As for body armor. Well, maybe if you have some 70 year old ironside Oldsmobile you could work something out. But anything remotely modern wouldnt offer any bullet resistance whatsoever. Even doubled up or quadrupled up.

reply to post by pikestaff


Good suggestion, I think most cars would be abandoned once they were no longer safe as shelter and the parts not commercially valuable in a conventional sense.

reply to post by boondock-saint


I will have to check out that movie, sounds pretty good.

You can get the tire weights used to balance tires at tire shops. When they rebalance tires they pop the old weights off and toss them in a container. You can melt them down an skim the mounting bracket material off the top and whats left is the perfect mix of lead and antimony to cast bullets.

reply to post by Gibbon


Interesting! I bet that's the kind of thing that would be completely overlooked by atleast 75% of the general population... tire places are everywhere too, you wouldn't have to go far to find this stuff

Also, I wasn't thinking off it earlier but you can also make solar heaters out of used pop cans. Check out this link.

Pop Can Solar Heater

Not real certain as to how exactly aluminum cans would be of any benefit to me. Never fired an aluminum bullet.

However, stockpiling lead isnt a terrible idea. Tire dealers, custom window shops, diving schools always have excess lead laying around. Generally they will give it to you, or sell at a very low price just to get rid of it. As for the powder and brass. Saltpeter isnt something I have access to in the wild, so that would need to be stockpiled ahead of time. I have never made brass, but keep my shell casings.

If you plan on stocking lead, make sure you have a bullet mold for your favorite calibur. Also stock up on primers, I dont have any idea how to make those.

Raw materials worthless long term? What? That doesnt make a whole lot of sense. If that is the case, come sit-x, may as well just die. Iron ore, silver, lead, copper, gold, etc... while today not many people know how to work with them, eventually human nature would dictate that someone, somewhere is going to remember these lost arts. Steel and Iron will rust, break eventually, we will need to learn how to create the tools we need for survival. But anyone out there who honestly believes raw materials are worthless, please IM me, I will give you an address to send all of your "worthless" gold and silver to.

All that metal might not help you much in manufacturing firearms or ammo, but being able to smelt that stuff and make knives and other items would be in very high demand after the stores shut down.
If you've got the resources, I recommend to gather information on smithing and working with metal. Your skills will be invaluable.