RVs, gold mines in waiting

 As my regular readers may or may not have figured out, this blog has generally been about ways to build wealth. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do some leg work, or be afraid to get your hands dirty sometimes. I find that a little sweat, if put into the right efforts, will return a much larger return than investing cash. Also when we consider the state of the markets today we find very few sound investments right now. While I could go into a long post about why I'm very light in the market right now, I think most of the folks reading this blog already know why. Most of you know me from HT already after all. If it would be of interest I might consider doing a few market posts, but for now I've avoided going that direction. Anyway, on with the show.


For those of us that also like to be prepared for what I will call social disruptions, a little hard work today can return even greater dividends in the future than any paper investment. In this 2 part post I'm going to discuss buying and stripping RVs for resources, future prep items, fun, and of course profit. In this post I'll be discussing what to look for in a purchase, things to avoid, potential sources of cheap donor rigs, and potential prep items. In the second post I'm going to include some pictures of the rig I currently have sitting outside with descriptions of the parts I may salvage. I haven't decided if I'm going to strip this one or use it as an emergency rig or something else.

 The first step to making bucks on old RVs is buying them right. You'll notice a common theme with me is you make a profit when you buy not when you sell. This is true of so many things it's almost universal. So we'll start by zeroing in on the type of rig we're looking for.

 I like the late 70's and early 80's models. These are in a sweet spot for scraping and scavenging as they have a lot of metal parts and were built pretty tough. The price of those old gas sucking beasts comes down fast when fuel prices go up, which means we're looking at a prime buyers market coming up. Later into the winter is also another prime hunting season as a lot of the people that own them live in them full time. As cold weather sets in they realize it would be best to find better shelter. Those old rigs aren't real warm.

 In any event, don't pay more than you have to no matter the market. I currently have a cap of about 1k on RVs. For 1k I expect it to run, or at least have a decent motor and trans. Bad breaks, tires, exterior lights, and the like are fine. I also expect the interior to be complete. That means the heaters, AC, lights, inverter, 3 way fridge, bathroom fixtures, etc. are all there. There's a good chance some of them won't work and that lowers the price.( We'll talk about cheap and free ways to repair this stuff for resale later) In any event, unless it's free for the taking we never want to buy a shell. What's the point right?

It's my preference to get an RV and not a trailer. The RVs are heavier which means more metal content. Stripping the engine and transmission from these rigs often pays for the whole deal. The drive train along with many of the chassis parts are just heavy duty versions of the trucks built in those years. Parts are often hard to come by, meaning guys restoring old trucks will be a ready market. (My current project came with a 440 topped with a Carter AFB carb , I've been offered double what I payed for the rig for them) Being a fully self contained unit also means more goodies to nab for resale or personal use.

 That shouldn't discourage you from looking at trailers though. You just need to make sure the trailer has other profitable items besides metal is all. You should also lower the price you're willing to pay for them. In a trailer you're really only getting the aluminum shell, frame, axle, wires, and whatever 12 volt and propane goodies are inside it. Less profitable, but still profitable indeed. They also rip down faster and easier so you should account for the your labor.

 A nice side bonus to these old rigs is a generator. It's not that often you'll find a really cheap RV with the genset still in it, but if you do consider it a bonus. Even if the genset doesn't run or work properly it's a nice find. They can often be salvaged for parts and 2-3 saved up can yield a good running genny with plenty of spare parts. Or you can break them down for scrap content of course. My current project has an old Kohler 5.5kw 3 phase genny in it. A really sweet find indeed. The 3 phase means it runs at lower RPMs making it a fine candidate for a diesel or propane conversion.

 In the kitchen of our project we find a few good items for resale. The stove is where I usually start. I want to know if it works before I buy it most of the time. Too often the people selling have no idea as it's been sitting for a very long time. Checking a propane stove for gas leaks is one of my least favorite things to do as if it's done wrong could lead to disaster. I'll leave you to search out on Google for best practices as I am too reckless to give good advice here. If we find it's in good working order, clean it up and resell it! I have one I use outside during summer months for cooking, and for use in emergencies when power is out.

 Next is the fridge. 3 way fridges are valuable without a doubt. I have two I've saved for emergencies along with propane and several batteries. These things are almost always in demand by off grid folks and RVers alike. Make sure they work of course, and clean them up. By and large if they are broken I haven't put a lot of effort into fixing them being as I have limited knowledge of their inner workings. I did however manage to save one recently by turning it on it's head for 8 hours and flipping it back over. (Thanks to Ryan from HT for the tip) I don't know why it worked, but I'm not complaining.

 Anything 12 volt inside should be saved for the future or sold. I have this odd compulsion to save 12v lights and fans for some reason. I've also saved a few of the older inverters. While they won't run or will even damage some of the more modern electronics and batteries they are tough as nails. I like having a few around for running lights and such if the power goes out.

 We haven't even touched on scrapping metals and some of the other fixtures yet but I'm sick of typing. I'll try and cover as much as I can in the next post and hope to include some pictures as well. If needed I suppose we can expand this out to a 3 part serious though I really hope to have it wrapped up before them. Until then, play safe kiddies and take a cruise through your local Craigslist or other classified adds. Take a look at the local ghetto camp ground and see what's in there. I've found quite a few good deals talking to the manager of local and semi local RV parks. Sometimes some free for the taking stuff! Till next post. :D

What a week!

 Well, it's been one hell of a week. I finally finished up a paper I've been slaving on and got it out. Of course as soon as I started working on it the weather turned nice, which had me splitting my time between writing and trying to get some spring prepping done. I'd like to say I put more effort into the spring prepping but... Oh well. I did however manage to get a bull calf slaughtered. He should be gracing my freezer and dinner plate before spring.

 So I'm thinking about gold again. I picked up a pretty good idea from a fella over at HT, one that I was ashamed of myself for not thinking up first. He's running a few ads on sites like Craigslist and such buying scrap gold. He pays more than the local gold buying outfits but still well under spot. He was able to pay nearly double that the local scrap buyers are paying which is still half of the spot price! Genius right? I've been doing this with copper and aluminum for some time now which is why I boggles my mind why I didn't think to try the same with gold and silver.

 I've only been buying PMs this way for about a week now but it's going pretty well. I've also managed to pick up a few stones along the way, although I know very little about them yet. It's entirely possible I've over payed for them. I'm going to need to study a bit more on them and buy a loop I suppose. All the same, it's pretty interesting and I thought it was worth passing this one on.

 I will say that you can not expect to purchase all this scrap and work out any kind of deal with your local PM dealer. It's pretty obvious why right?

 I mentioned above I've been doing this same thing with copper and aluminum. With all the things I have to do I really don't have the time or inclination to run around collecting scrap metals from the trash or whatever. What I did to get my scrap collection growing was place an ad on Craigslist saying I would buy this stuff for a little over the local yards prices. I was very careful in who I selected to purchase from mind you, and I told the few folks I decided to work with exactly what I wanted .

 I was sure that the folks I dealt with were willing to show me some ID right form the start. I have a photo copy on file of those few folks, just like the local scrap yard. I'm not trying to buy stolen metals after all. I was also careful to get a good look at the few folks I selected. I was looking for people that weren't high on meth of course. While I'm not worried about what the guys look like, I'm certainly not interested in dealing with a bunch of tweekers. Do your homework if you use this method of collecting metal! Like any other dealings you want to know the other guy is going to be someone worth doing business with.

 Some of the benefits of this arrangement:

 1. I set a minimum amount I'm willing to purchase. Right now I won't get a call unless the guys have 200lbs or more of copper and/or aluminum.
 2. I don't have to clean the scrap. Because I'm paying more than the local yard I get better quality stuff. If there are decent lengths of pipe or something I'd prefer in tact, that's what I get. The rest of the stuff is sorted and crushed to my specs. This saves me a lot of time and makes storage a breeze.
 3. I'm always learning something interesting. Regardless of how these guys might look to the rest of the world, I know they are decent guys. They have a lot of interesting knowledge to share and I'm ready and willing to soak it all in.
 4. I get to promote Ron Paul. Yeah, I said it, so what? These guys often didn't vote as they are kinda free minded. Talking to them about politics often leads me to Ron Paul, whose ideas they tend to like. I'll take any win I can.
 5. I've met some real stand up guys. My wife got a flat on her way home one evening and didn't have a spare. (She'd gotten a flat previously, changed the tire and never mentioned it... arg) Two of the guys I deal with saw recognized the car and swung back to help. When she told them about not having a spare, and that I was coming to get her one of them waited with her while the other ran back for a trailer. By the time I arrived they had her car loaded up on the trailer and were waiting on me so they could decide if they should tow it to my house or to the tire place. For this I had to force $100 on them, as they insisted good deeds are free and kindness comes back in other ways.

I feel I should add that this arrangement works well for me largely because I don't have the metal delivered to my home. I have an off site place to have metal delivered and weighed. I'll transfer it to my own trailer and bring it home after. While I don't do business with people I think might steal from me, and while many of these guys are really nice folks; I'm not that trusting to show them my home either. Just sayin.

So you want to buy something besides gold huh?

 In my last post I either riled you up and made you mad, or I made you really think about that PM purchase a little harder. Either way, at least I had an impact right? Isn't that what we're all trying to do; make an impact on the people and the world around us? Anyway, in this post I'll try an explore some other options for SHTF investing that are less a risk.

 I'd also like to take a minute to give some perspective before I get into the nuts and bolts. To those that consider themselves preppers or to those that just like to be self reliant and ready for (almost) anything; What is preparing if not investing for the future? Unless you are 100% certain that the world is going to fall apart, society is going to Hell in a bucket, or an EMP will strike in your lifetime, why not invest in the future and prepare for disaster at the same time? Why not  look at your preparations for SHTF and invest in the future as the same thing? Plan around both things happening and you will be much less wasteful.

 Ok, back to the task at hand. Ways for the rest of us to inflation proof and gather some barter material. My first move would be to stop using cards to purchase things. I know it seems like a major pain to have the cash around to make purchases, but in all reality you should have some cash on hand anyway just in case. No matter what, money talks. More importantly though is change. When you use a debit card to make a purchase you don't get any change back. How are you going to slowly and steadily fill that jar with coins if you aren't getting change back? I was amazed at the amount of money I saved when I started using cash again.

 When you start using cash and getting change back you would be well advised to periodically sort your change. I don't mean nickles, dimes, quarters, etc. Well, separate out the nickles yes, they are worth more in metal value than they are in face value. While it is (I believe) illegal to melt down coins for scrap value, there is no law against holding them for the future. If TSHTF those nickles suddenly become a more valuable commodity. The same applies to pre-1982 pennies. They have more copper in them than their face value. In fact, pre-'82 pennies are worth .025 cents. That's over doube face value! Don't believe me? Take a look here.

&re we've made one small change in the way we operate and it's paying pretty big dividends. By simply switching to cash you are collecting nickle, copper, and some silver. You're also setting money aside that was otherwise in the checking account. That $4-5 a week adds up. In a few short months you'll have a few extra bucks to invest in something with some real value to it like open pollinated (heirloom) seeds, or a hand crank flashlight (power failures do happen, and batteries always fail when you need them), or a small water purifier. Or if you're really really sneaky like me... rolls of nickles and pennies.

I'm going to slip in a little unsolicited plug here for  My Patriot Supply where I suggest you purchase these items. No, I don't get anything for sending him traffic, if this tiny site even sends him any traffic.

 Now most of the folks reading this should already have this stuff. I know most of you are from HT and Cheap Homesteading so if you are lacking in the above mentioned. For shame!

 If you already have those bases covered don't worry, I have something even more mundane you can do with those extra couple of bucks you've set aside. Go to yard sales, flee markets, and other places you can find old used crap. There is a lot of value in old used crap so long as you buy the right old used crap. Some examples include old tools, bolts of fabric, cheap knock off clothes (oh I do love those knock off dealers even though I know it's so wrong), and my favorite... cast iron cookware!

 My take on cast iron is pretty straight forward. Inflation is ever present, so buying something like cheap used cast iron today to clean up and sell later will work ok. If it's older cast iron it will be an antique sooner or later and worth more. If TSHTF people will NEED that cast iron. When they can't nuke up a hot pocket and eat some chips on the side they'll be forced to cook. It won't take long before those cheap Wal Mart non-stick pans turn into a warped mass of scrap. Cast Iron will be looking pretty good at that point, and you'll have it. The laws of supply and demand kick in then right? One silver eagle for a decent frying pan seems about right. Oh, we're investing in metal twice!

 Another metal that should not be over looked is copper. Simple things like copper pipe are likely to gain in value I believe. Mind you, there is the possibility that demand for copper pipe disappears forever, or dries up enough to lower the price, but I'm thinking it's not likely. The beauty of copper pipe is you can store it on a wall in the basement or under the crawl space without seeming too odd. At some point in the future when you need some cash you simply put an ad on craiglslist or the like and beat the Lowe Depots price. Or, at some point in the future when a pipe bursts or you want to build a new barn with water, or... I really like the copper fittings by the way. Those damned things keep getting more and more expensive, and while I can salvage pipe I always have trouble getting the fittings off in good shape. Maybe you have better luck than me.

 I've been asked before about PVC and PEX pipe. I'm not really sure I want to stock pile any of that stuff. While I'm sure the price is just as likely to increase as anything else, I like copper because I get double duty out of it. If for some reason I'm unable to sell the pipe as pipe but I REALLY need money, I can sell the copper as scrap. Yes, unless I've held it long enough I'm taking a loss. But in an emergency at least I'm sitting on something of value. Not so much with PVC.

 Spools of wire are not bad either. They tend to be higher priced but they are also more in demand and of higher quality. I'm not sure about the price in the future though. If housing doesn't start back up, or at least some kind of construct find those deals anymore, but you can find a Mauser for a cool severl hundred bucks.

 I personally find I'm partial to the old commie guns. SKS, AK, Mosin Nagant. All fine guns that do what they were designed to do, kill stuff every time you pull the trigger. They also tend to require less TLC which suits me very well. I like to shoot my guns but I don't really want to be a slave to maintaining them. More important to me though is they are priced better. A fella can get two AK's for the price of one AR-15. Even better, a fella can get 5 Mosins, a spam can of ammo, and sill have money left over for the price of an AR-15.

 That means if TS does hit the fan and you're family and friends show up to be saved by you, you can arm them. While an old bolt gun isn't the ideal, when there are five of you firing big honkin rounds it'll be ok. LOL The investment side of this of course is that Mosins are cheap now like Mausers were back when. In ten or twenty years I do believe those old Mosins will be the new Mausers.

 The last things I'll mention in detail are debt and yourself.

 You should be working on owning your home, preferably a home with some land. It doesn't have to be a huge thousand acre tract, even one acre of paid for land is better than almost anything you can rent. Having your home paid for is worth more to me than anything else I could buy. The reality is that your SHTF moment isn't likely going to be the end of the world. It's going to be much more personal and the rest of the world can get bent during that time. Knowing that you own your home, knowing the bank won't be calling to foreclose, that's an investment that's hard to beat.

 If you have credit card debt, a car note, or any debt really; you really have no business investing in metals or anything of the sort. You really need to go listen to Dave Ramsey and get that taken care of.

The most important advice of all though? Invest in yourself. You need to find a niche, your niche,  and work it. Learn all about it and get good at it. Become a producer. Don't quit your job and run after some hair brained scheme, but learn a new skill, something that can and hopefully will earn you a living should the world fall apart. More importantly something you would like to do today. Don't wait for the end of the world to come to do what you want to do, go get it now! Do you like to bake? Do it on the side, sell some stuff at flee markets, farmers markets, whatever. Can you knit but live in the 'burbs? Raise a few angora rabbits and learn to spin the fiber. Use the waste to grow a garden, or sell it to others that garden. Hell, become a scrapper or a prospector, whatever it is you feel something about. Go out there on the weekends and do it, and learn how to make it profitable. The best place to invest money is in yourself. You will never find a better return, so long as you're willing to put in the effort. Just sayin.