You are walking a fine line with these questions. You are talking about stealing things that do not belong to you. I understand this is a scenario where the rule of law is no more and our society has collapsed but, you still need to be cautious as what you discuss could be viewed as illegal.

Just an fyi

Oh and don't for get a hooligan bar!

 

Corporations are people by SCOTUS order only. When SHTF corporations are no longer people.
I live within walking distance (8 miles is walking distance for me) of a WalMart distribution center than supplies five states. Of course, the door will prolly be open by the time I get there, and there's so much crap and this being a rural area we wouldn't even have to fight over it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not for looting, but if SHTF, I don't respect the property rights of no-longer-in-existence corporations.

 

I understand what you mean.Im talkin end of the world as we know it no law, I m not saying stealing from people.If items have been abandoned and left to rot, no options left but to salvage items needed to live.I should have been more clear. And I am looking for a hooligan bar right now.HAHA THANKS

 

The most important tool to have is your brain. If you have the mobility to choose places that you want to enter, you have the ability to also find something around that can help get you in. If you plan on having tools around to make it easier, Straza has the point right on: research local laws to make sure that what you have is legal to possess or carry. In my area you have to be a licensed Locksmith to possess locksmith tools. Things like pry bars, sledgehammers, and axes can be easily improvised, so it's up to you if you want to carry that much weight around, or just make it from what might be lying around.

 

Lock picks and that kind of stuff are illeagal here too unless you are a professional. I dont have any of the items I listed but was thinking of getting a crow bar or tool like that just incase its needed.Rather have then wish I had.

 

Where is here?

 

hammer and nails to secure your structure. wire strippers, zip ties, duck tape, pruning shears, wheel barrow, saws, You need not only to be able to get into some place but to be able to clear other places or debris or secure what you have from other people imo are you in a house? aparment complex

 

Im in a apartment,but its a big house carved into 4 apartments.

 

haligans are great tools, lock picks require you to know how to pick locks lol (people often skip that part). It is hard for anyone to say what you would need because no one wants to condone stealing, but in a post SHTF situation it may be different and getting into abandoned stuff is a different thing in my opinion. There are the basics though like bolt cutters (bigger than you think you need trust me), crowbars, kits to open cars, etc...

 

Some fields I would research are demolition and emergency management search and rescue. The tools you think you need, or acquire, might also give you the opportunity to help out your community in times of need.
And don't forget rope, "Charlie Bronson always had rope..." -BDS

 

I would second the suggestion of a sledgehammer in case you need to get through a wall.

 

I'm mechanic, so i have a lot of tools in my home... probably more than I need.
I help my friends when they need help and usually when they ask my help it is some kind of work where i need screwdriver, pliers, saw or drill (lot of fixing houses, not machines...) That is good place to start. Buy tools what YOU might need.

But don't forget this: most of all, i have skills to do different kind of jobs... So learn some skills and how to use your tools and how to work safely.

Just buy new tools when you need it (or when you see some tools what is nice to have and you don't own yet! :xeye: ) and couple of years you should have nice collection (what you can use if shtf too...) : you probably don't need all at once right away... So take your time. Start think what kind of tools you need and what for.

In bugging in situation... You need something to repair items and house, something to fortifying your house. Maybe something to break in and so on... something to tie and carry loads...

I btw only have 1 tool what i carry all the time with me: Good multitool. Not for breaking anywhere, but for small fixing jobs... I like to travel light...

 

This might be debatable, but I think the one of the ultimate cut threw crap tool is a saw zaw. They have battery powered ones, but the question is how long could you store a battery fully charged before it wears out? You probably would have to make sure you rotated them from time to time. I don't know think on it.

 

Don't buy lockpicks they are too much trouble, merely buying them makes you suspicious if you are not a locksmith, also all locks are different and take a long time to figure out how to defeat correctly (a set of bump keys if faster and easier).

For what you are asking I have a small set of bolt cutters, a razor knife, small sledge hammer and a wonder bar/pry bar. Most doors can be opened with a swift kick, security screen doors and boarded up windows can be defeated with the pry bar and chisel and the razor knife if for aquiring Gasoline out of abandoned cars.

Don;t assume that you are just going to crawl under a random car and punch a hole in its gas tank with a screw driver, trust me its hard especially since its a pain to get under them unless its a large truck. Also on my blazer there is a plastic cover over the bottom of the gas tank and some cars like honda civics have the tank under the back seat and cannot even get to it from the outside of the car, not to mention the noise you would make and how exposed you would be the whole time.

its easier to just cut the fuel filler hose which would bypass the anti-siphone features on most cars and wouldn't require you to crawl under the thing because they fuel door is usually adjacent to a wheel well, obviously some cars differ but thats scavaging for ya.

If your really concerned you could find your local "pick n pull" junk yard and spend some time identifying which cars are the most vulnerable, etc.

 

first off try some music that aint so evil...

according to this boards definition of SHTF, it would be advisable not to break into any place. when the situation go's back to normal you could get into allot of legal trouble...

in a TEOTWAWKI (as per this boards definition) all you need is a brick. go to your local and abandoned Hard Ware Store and if the door is locked use the brick. everything else you need is in there...

when the SHTF and i leave i'm not going to lock my front door on my way out. i doubt that most people will either... that is those still alive.

 

first off try some music that aint so evil...

in a TEOTWAWKI (as per this boards definition) all you need is a brick. go to your local and abandoned Hard Ware Store and if the door is locked use the brick. everything else you need is in there...

I think most people use the terms interchangeably, Anyhow its funny you suggest how its wrong to break into a place because he might get in trouble and then tell him to to break into a hardware store to get the things he needs, lol.

Ever tried to throw a brick through a plate glass door? In my experience it just bounces off, this works much better (of course I just try to already have the stuff I need in order to avoid scavenging)

VS

 

I think too many people over look the basics like a good set of SAE and metric wrenches, screwdrivers, socket set and multiple types of pliers.

 

a haligan bar, axe, tool kit, and bolt cutters live in my jeep. Although I'm a volunteer firefighter and I use those items almost weekly it seems like.

 

I keep my 6 piece 18v dewalt set and car charger nearby.

 

Maybe we should clarify the difference between "looting" and "Scavenging"

I think that we are all talking about a complete long term "never gonna be the same" situation, as opposed to a hurricane or natural disaster. I can tell you that if my neighbors take off for the hills with no intention of returning and a month goes by you can guarantee I'm going to see what they left behind.

I mean if you abandon something you relinquish ownership and don't care about what happens to it just like throwing it away, are dumpster divers "looters"? What if my house has a leaky roof and I rip a few shingles off the house down the street that noone has lived in for the last 3 years, is that looting?

 

are dumpster divers "looters"?

Believe it or not, over here the answer is "yes". People here have actually been charged with, and convicted of theft, after taking abandoned items from skips (dumpsters). The argument being that once they items were placed in the skips, they became the property of the company that owned and rented out the skip... therefore the divers had stolen from the skip owners, rather than the person/company that had dumped the items.

Ridiculous, but true.

 

origianlly i posted thequestion for when there is no local or fed govt in the picture. If a person was in the land of the lost with not alot of people or anything.Sorry for using the wrong abreviation, I in no way was implying stealing from my fellow hard working Americans, but more along the lines of recovering abandoned items and such.I appreciate the ideas and tips,Im gonns start small and try to practice with different items just incase.

 

a good lawyer if you get pulled over and a cop sees them...i carry most of those for my job and the last time i was pulled over i got the 3rd degree. just a thought

 

This is soo true, a couple of years ago, I was walking to a bus stop, a couple or police cars "hemmed me in" at a gas station just to "ask me a couple of questions" they asked for my ID, ran it, then asked if they could check my bag. "Really? I was just walking to the bus stop"
They searched me, found my pocket knife and my multitool on me and found my balaclava, and my first aid/emergency kit in my bag, they gave me the third degree, asking me why I needed a mask, keep in mind, it is winter, I am walking to a bus stop, it is cold, they asked me why I "needed" a multitool and a knife.
I asked them why they stopped me, they said they had reports of someone similar breaking into cars recently. They asked me my address, I gave it to them, I had just moved the month before to another apartment in the same complex, and they saw the old address on my ID, the address is the same, except the apartment number was like one digit off, so they asked me why I lied to them about address, and I had to explain that too.
Eventually after sitting on the curb for a while with neighbors passing by, seeing me there surrounded by cops, and all my stuff laying across the hood of one of their cars, and I missed my bus, they were kind enough to let me know that I was free to go.

 

I have some tools that would come in handy in an urban situation. Breacher bar, Crow bar, Sledge and claw hammer, Shovel, Hawk, and don't forget gloves.

Most of these I acquired for CERT or already had them when I joined, so most of it is with S&R in mind. The breacher bar comes with me on BART, and either a SAK or Leatheman on me. I couldn't imagine carrying all of that at once, especially in a situation where moving quickly and quietly is key.

T

 

halligan bars are freakin expensive, sweet but expensive. When TSHTF or what ever acronym you wanna use you do what you gotta do to survive plane and simple.

 

Haligan bar is a nice tool, but needs to be combined with a striking tool like a flat head for most forced entry.The famous "irons" that i tote each day at work. But you then need two guys to use.

A good one person tool and one I require be carried by one of my guys is the sledge. A little much for your bag though...

 

Anyone read Stephen King's"The Stand" when there are more bodies rotting in the cars sitting on the highway than have survived?? Scavenging will allow the immune populace to possibly survive.

 

On often overlooked item is a good map of the city. If you annotate it now with store locations, bridges (choke points to movement), parks, water and so on it will help with your plan of action. Depending on the city you can also contact the police and get info on high crime areas, gang activity and other intel

 

I recently found that even the good maps for around here do not all of the of the many bike and walking trails in the area. So, I've started doing more research on the different trails and recently started printing these maps too.

Now, if I could just find the time to explore them, I would be a happy camper.

 

+1 on a multitool. As great an idea as all the other stuff is, it is the one thing you are likely to have on you.I