Before we became a throwaway society, nearly everyone had a huge accumulation of seemingly useless junk that would appear in piles in the backyard or a forgotten room of the house.

This largely stems from the Great Depression, when survival often depended on upon your innovation in using whatever you had at your disposal.

Nowadays, many people see these piles as eyesores and want to cart them away to the dump. But when SHTF, who is going to be the wealthiest person in town? That's right, the guy who owns the dump.

Having spare parts and tools to draw from is critical to survival, as it will enable you to make repairs to your useful equipment continue to work.

For some advice on how to prepare for the equipment aspect of SHTF, check out the article on the next page.

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