So I was at an early morning meeting the other day and, being the overly prepped person that I am, was one of the first to arrive. The few others there were running around setting tables up, etc. Miscellaneous continental breakfast items were spread out at the side of the room, a woman was there with a cup in her hand, looks at me, and says, “I assume they’re bringing real coffee . . . ?”
I look, and sitting there is a pot of Decaf and a pot of hot water for tea. Another woman, a staff person, sees the situation and says, “Jane, we have a crisis!” Jane sees the situation and says, “My God! I’ll get on that.” The conversation as people waited included the following statements:
- “I couldn’t drive all the way from home without a cup of coffee.”
- “I set my coffee maker the night before so it starts right at six.”
- “I stayed in a hotel last night, so I haven’t had mine yet.”
- “Yeah, if we don’t get any soon the ole headaches will start setting in.”
I wasn’t in such dire straights. Why? Because I’d already had two cups! 
Check the SHTFblog Myspace page and you’ll see coffee is top friend #2. Yeah, yeah, call me an unprepared survival ninja wannabe, because I haven’t kicked the coffee crack. WTSHTF I’ll wake up the first morning and say, “Hun . . . how much coffee is in the basement?”
Am I at a disadvantage WTSHTF, because I’ll want need coffee? Whatever - it’s divine. Power outage? No matter, I have a gas range and a percolator. I have probably 3 cups a day, two in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. The afternoon cup is probably my favorite. I never used to have that much . . . before kids. Now I love it. Why?
- health benefits - lol
- warms you up real sexy like
- gets you going
- better than an addiction to butts and vodka
Yeah, post-TEOTWAWKI maybe I’ll have a headache when the coffee is gone, but it’ll pass. It’s not crack . . . . I’ll still be able to function . . . . ummm . . . . coffee will be a nice commodity ATSHTF. If your buddy spends 6 hours walking to your SHTF pad after doomsday, serving a little rare, hot java will be a real special treat.
You fellow coffee lovers might consider buying 460 extra pounds of it for your pantry. I wouldn’t consider it a barter item of HUGE value, not like gas or ammo, but adding it to your shelves and rotating stock just makes sense.
But wait - there’s MORE! Do you know how crucial coffee was during the Civil War? Read:
Even in the midst of the Civil War, there was still one thing the North and South shared — a serious addiction to caffeine. In that respect, the Union clearly had an advantage. Not only did the North have more than two-thirds of the population and control most of the heavy industry, railroads, and financial reserves in the country, it hoarded supplies of the highly addictive little bean, leaving the Confederacy to wage its own war against java deprivation.
Throughout the Civil War, coffee was as prevalent on the battlefields as it is in offices today. In fact, the Union army was fueled by the stuff to the point that, if there was no time to boil water, the Boys in Blue would chew on whole beans as they marched. And at night, Union campsites were dotted with tiny fires, each boiling a pot of coffee like a million miniature Starbucks.
Read the entire article right here.
Are YOU a coffee fiend? Buy a percolator, they’re up when the grid is down, useful on a campfire, and great for camping.
- Ranger Man
BTW: did y’all catch the post yesterday at Survival Blog? In particular, did you catch this reader submitted comment to Rawles:
My sincere thanks for your response to Joe and Ellen’s letter on “Rules of Engagement.” Most of the so-called preparedness experts out there talk only about “guns, guns, guns.” Your [sic] are absolutely right about using less-than-lethal means, when [it is] safe and practicable.
What caught my attention about that quote is that ”guns, guns, guns” was enclosed by quotation marks. Hmmm, who could they be referencing by “so-called preparedness experts”? Any ideas, Church Lady?
Yeah, maybe I’m missing something here, but I check most survival sites in cyber-world, and no other site jumps to mind that specifically references “guns, guns, guns”. I only wish Rawles and/or his reader had specifically mentioned SHTFblog by name. Then I could have at least milked it for another “Drama in SHTF World” post. That would’ve been fun.
Truth be told, guns are not the ONLY thing I discuss. That would turn exceptionally boring for me very fast. “What about less-than-lethal means?” you ask. I have a book for sale on the subject - lol - go check it out - Tactical Employment of Non-lethal Weapons.
BUT! Not to disappoint, let me follow this post up with a second post - on guns - lol - and FOR THE RECORD, I have never proclaimed to be a “preparedness expert”. Call me a “shit hits the fan samuraii” . . . . better yet, call me a “preparedness pimp”.
10 responses so far ↓
1 SurvivalTopics.com // Mar 24, 2008 at 5:17 am
Coffee will be a viable trade item post shtf. My feeling is its a good idea to have a variety of items on hand to exchange for stuff you need. Commonly used (especially abused) but difficult to grow or manufacture in-times-of-hardship type drugs used by the general public are excellent: caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine come to mind.
2 noisynick // Mar 24, 2008 at 6:25 am
Any of the socalled Sin Items will be very valuable in the beggining of any crisis. Then they usually lose there appeal when the need for a full bellyovercomes there addictions. Trading anything will be of value there is little in the pipeline and no manufacturing here anymore.
The patriots eems to be a great cause of panic amongst those who aren’t prepared to start with. If you have the money you can buy all the prep items you need or would ever want in afew hours on the :Net” What you can;t buy is skill and abillity those have to be acquired through the school of hard knocks.
I hope all those reading the Patriots take a minute before panicing and evaluate there need to prepare and at what levels………….
3 ryan // Mar 24, 2008 at 7:21 am
I like preparadness pimp. I’m thinking of calling myself a survivalist ninja. How does one become a preparadness expert? That seems like a label without a method. I can wave a diploma and proof that I have a phd in engeniering but all schmoes with a computer can have a blog about survivalism. Coffee is good I like it also but quitting if needed isn’t too bad, a lil headache for 72 hours or so.
4 Mike in Maine // Mar 24, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Beware of storing roasted coffee. It will not last long enough for you to go through all 460 lbs of it before it goes rancid. Learn to roast green beans, and buy a grinder.
Oh and the South and coffee: Where do you think chicory got its start? Be prepared to find alternatives to the bean when TSHTF. Like your fingernails.
I personally am stocking up on vodka and smokes. I hear they are more popular with UN troops and roving gangs than coffee is.
5 Dragon // Mar 24, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I stock up on coffee,though more of the high end coffee’s that I like…last week saw me adding 4 cans of folgers velvet to the stash. It could be a year before I have to try any of the coffee substitutes.( I also have 80 lb sacks of beans)
I got tobacco covered as well with a few one pound bags of cigarette blends(and papers) and a full pound of seeds…
I got my cigars covered as well with several cartons of Red Bucks that I like at 8.00 ea. I’m buying more of them every day.
My ultimate goal would be having a one year supply of everything… And for the person who mentioned the un. they are as welcome here abouts as canadians… For the rest I brew my own or can distill a good imitation of burbon….
Non coffee drinkers wont understand , death before decaf…and NO one wants to meet me before my first cup and before i finish my first cigar…
Can You spell b o d y c o u n t?…Dragon
6 Dragon // Mar 24, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Oh and the answer to a roving gang is a claymore anti personnel device or a field expedient flower pot shaped charge or a canister round from a mountain howitzer…. mop up afterwards and put the leftovers in the pigpen….
7 Farmer Troy // Mar 25, 2008 at 5:27 am
I’ve got a bit of coffee stored also . . . both ground and beans, and come to think of it, I’ve had some coffee in storage for several years before, and I don’t ever remember it going rancid. Stale maybe, but never rancid.
8 Rageco // Mar 25, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Ever read “Alas Babyon”? Coffee was the most missed item on everyone’s list in post-atomic 1950’s America. Even cigarettes were lost their appeal. I think when AB was written, the writer was still quite familiar with WWII rationing and the things people missed the most.
9 igor // Mar 26, 2008 at 5:59 pm
A coffee addition — at least for the chemical stimulant reasons — isn’t “preparedness”. To the contrary, it’s a way for society to grow soft.
Our ancestors plowed fields from dawn to dusk and fetched their own water — all without the crutch of Red Bull or some other crap energy drink that is now so marketed as essentially to our proper functioning in society. We have become a society of pantywaists by comparison — we have no clue about what it means to prepare and survive without modern conveniences.
10 hogfarmer // Mar 28, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Rawles gave a link directly to shtf. As an avid reader of both blogs, here the link w/permission stated-http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/03/note_from_jwr_511.html
keep up the good work (both of you)
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