Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
If you’ve been stacking ammo and canned chili since 2017, congratulations you’re officially a seasoned prepper.
Back then, as Paul noted in his column, Bitcoin was under $3,000, gold was around $1,250 an ounce, and a case of 9mm didn’t cost your firstborn.
Fast-forward to 2025: Bitcoin has rocketed past $100,000, gold just punched through $4,000, and the dollar? Let’s just say it’s doing its best impression of a paper target at 50 yards.
We still haven’t seen the total economic collapse many predicted, but don’t mistake that for stability. As any shooter knows, just because a target hasn’t fallen yet doesn’t mean it’s not taking hits.
Table of contents
The Big Question: What’s the Best Investment for Gun Owners?
You don’t have to be a Wall Street wizard to know the system looks wobbly. The Fed keeps printing, the debt keeps climbing, and the only thing moving faster than inflation is the line at the gun counter every time there’s a new “ban” rumor.
So what should gun owners do? Buy more guns and ammo, stash some gold, or gamble on Bitcoin? Let’s line them up and take a few shots.
Guns & Ammo: The Freedom Hedge
Firearms and ammunition aren’t just gear. They’re insurance policies with built-in utility. When the lights go out, your AR doesn’t care if Bitcoin’s server farm fries.
Guns and ammo offer tangible power. You can defend, hunt, barter, or simply sleep better knowing you’ve got the means to handle yourself. The downsides are storage space, maintenance, and the constant threat of new regulations.
Ammo prices also spike whenever panic hits. Remember 2020? Still, when it comes to real-world prepping, guns and ammo are the only assets that can feed you, protect you, and hold their value while doing it. Try that with a blockchain.
Gold: The Old Reliable
Gold, on the other hand, is the old reliable. It’s up roughly 60% in the past year, trading above $4,000 per ounce. When currencies wobble, gold glitters. It’s recognized everywhere, can’t be hacked, and doesn’t vanish if the power grid does.
SEE ALSO: Revolver EDC: 7 Advantages Autos Can’t Match
The downside? You can’t exactly swipe a gold coin at 7-Eleven for a gallon of milk or 5.56. It’s a strong store of value, not an instant barter chip. And storing it means you’re one safe short of a pirate chest.
Still, for gun owners who see the writing on the wall, gold remains a solid middle finger to inflation and a timeless asset that doesn’t rely on anyone’s digital infrastructure.
Bitcoin: Digital Gold or Digital Mirage?
Now, Bitcoin. Here’s where things get spicy. Bitcoin’s now bouncing around $107K to $122K, and even mainstream outlets are asking if it’s sustainable. It’s made more paper millionaires than gold ever did but it’s also given more ulcers than caffeine.
Bitcoin’s biggest upside is mobility: you can cross borders with millions on a flash drive (or in your head). The biggest downside? You need power, internet, and a system that still functions.
When the grid goes dark, your hardware wallet becomes a fancy paperweight. As CoinDesk recently noted, Bitcoin’s “bullish October is shaping up to be its worst in a decade,” proof that it’s still a roller coaster. Great if you like adrenaline; lousy if you like stability.
So What’s the Move?
For the freedom-loving crowd, the answer isn’t either/or, it’s a layered defense.
- Step one: stock your essentials: guns, ammo, food, water, training, and good boots. None of that depends on market trends.
- Step two: add some gold or silver as your long-term hedge against inflation and government stupidity.
- Step three: if you’ve still got “fun money,” consider Bitcoin—but treat it like a Vegas bet, not a bunker essential.
Think of it this way: gold buys you security, Bitcoin buys you speculation, and guns buy you survival.
Final Shot
The collapse hasn’t come yet, but the magazine isn’t empty. Whether the next crisis is digital, financial, or societal, smart preppers diversify.
Keep your powder dry, your gold shiny, and your crypto password somewhere safer than your iCloud. Because when it all comes apart, nobody’s trading Dinty Moore stew for a Bitcoin wallet. But they might trade for a box of .223.
*** Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica! ***
is a seasoned outdoorsman, lifelong hunter, and the kind of guy who’d rather track whitetails than scroll social media. As an editor for GunsAmerica, he’s got a sharp eye for spotting both solid gear and bad gun laws. Whether he’s deep in the woods or deep in editorial deadlines, Larry brings a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is approach to firearms, hunting, and the great American tradition of self-reliance. If there’s a hot debate on gun rights or the latest in hunting tech, you can bet Larry’s got an opinion—and it’s probably backed up with both facts and field experience.
Experience:
– Licensed Bowhunter, Hunter, and Trapper – Experienced in ethical hunting and wildlife conservation.
– Concealed Carry Permit Holder (NYS & AZ) – Trained and licensed to carry in multiple states.
– 2A Journalist – Covering firearms legislation, Second Amendment issues, and gun rights for over a decade.
– Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) – Certified to provide emergency medical care in the field.
– Field-Tested Gear Reviewer – Hands-on experience with firearms, optics, and hunting tech.
In reality wages have stagnated over the last half century, and retirement programs replaced by 401K that can be wiped out in seconds and heath costs usually end up bankrupting people. It does not happen in the other Industrialized Countries.
The Corrupt Congressmen were and are bought off by the Super Rich who pay no taxes and they broke the Unions by shifting high paying jobs overseas. Herr Drumpf said he would stop shifting jobs overseas in his first year in office and the Super Rich laughed in his face. And of course Herr Drumpf did nothing to make the Super Rich pay taxes as a matter of fact Herr Drumpf went in the opposite direction last year Amazon made 2 billion in profits and paid ZERO in taxes while enslaving its workers and sharing none of the profit with them of course.
The Super Rich make “you” the troglodyte worker slave pay all the taxes to run the country and to add insult to injury the Super Rich then “steal” your tax dollars in the form of “Corporate Subsidies” (Corporate Welfare) while the Super Rich laugh all the way to the bank. Instead of “you” getting some of your tax dollars back in the form of “A National Health Care Plan” (like all other industrialized nations have had for decades} you are supposed to die like a dog in the streets when you cannot work and need catastrophic health care which you cannot afford.
Do you need “job retraining” or a “college loan”? Forget it! Herr Drumpf just ruled that debt relief is no longer available for bankrupt College Students and College grants or loans are out the window as well, compared to Civilized countries that have had much better and far more lucrative Government programs for retraining and have had “paid for” education for decades and much of their retraining and colleges are “paid for” by a combination of Government and Private Sector retraining programs.
Our out of control Military Spending has now been eating up 52 cents if every tax dollar which has bankrupted us just like it bankrupted the Roman Empire that collapsed because of it. Neither Rome nor the U.S. could or can afford to be the worlds policeman. Meanwhile the Military Industrial Complex makes billions sucking up your tax dollars as they laugh all the way to the bank. So next time someone blames Social Security payments for the rising National Debt its really the Military that is gobbling up all of your tax dollars so power mad nut cases like Herr Drumpf can start “forever wars” while he tries to Conquer the world. We now have U.S. forces stationed in over 55 countries eating up your tax dollars by the billions.
Why do you think small European countries can afford to have “paid for” National Health Care, paid for Education, earlier retirement and higher retirement pay and benefits, its because they do not squander all their money on wars of rape, pillage, and conquest with an overbudget military. Are you enjoying the out of control gas prices and all other prices going up because of our latest war of rape, pillage and conquest which we will lose in the end, like Vietnam, and Afghanistan etc, etc.
Stockpiling food? What a joke. Food even in cans only lasts so long and the average worker cannot these days even meet his basic bills let alone play “Survival Joe” by buying expensive weapons, expensive and often scarce ammo and tons of food and even canned water.
There is no difference between bitcoins, junk bonds, and pyramid schemes. All relied or relies on perceived value and not actual value. As there are no actual assets backing them. Paper money has the good faith of a country backing it. Stocks have company asset. Yes if the company is accurately represented. At some point the bitcoin pyramid will collapse.
All are good hedges. The younger crowd probably should add more Bitcoin given it’s long term prospects. Btw, Bitcoin has never been hacked. Quantum computing may end that eventually though.
The real challenge is in correctly guessing what type of collapse we may face. If it’s a political or societal collapse of only the US, then bitcoin would be the best investment, as you could simply leave the country and your wealth goes with you. Gold and guns aren’t so mobile.
Gold makes sense if the problem is simply inflation, but it’s value can drop to zero if, as some of us will remember, the government bans private ownership of gold, seizes it, and gives you ten years in prison if you’re caught with any. Such was the case in the US from 1933 until 1974. Ditto with guns – they can be banned and seized overnight, although depending on the gumption of the population, that could be hard to enforce.
But in a total collapse of everything guns, and particularly ammo, would be invaluable, as they have many real uses in such a situation. I think a good investment, if that is your suspected scenario, would be .22 ammo. It’s relatively cheap now, lots of it can be easily stored or carried, and with .22 weapons being everywhere, ammo would be a highly sought after commodity and easily traded for almost anything else you might need.
First off, what use does gold have outside electronics and looking pretty? After the SHTF, electronics may not work and electronics manufacturing may be dead for a while. Same with Bitcoin and other crypto, if the Net goes down, what’s it “worth”? Nothing. The only metal that makes sense to hoard is lead, pure and simple. “Beans ‘n bullets”, as the old saying goes.
I’ve been stacking ammo since 2009. Financially, I would be a lot farther ahead if I bought bitcoin instead. I passed on it when it was under $50 because, in reality, it is no more than a NFT image (non-fungible token) of a tulip bulb. When it came out in 2009 you could buy a thousand for a buck. (If you lack any financial knowledge, the comparison refers to Tulip Mania of the 1630s.)
gold and silver isn’t practical for the simple reason that people will price gouge and your 4k ounce of gold won’t go very far! a hand can opener will be worth more. power/heat, water, food, ammo will be key. a good co-op with trusted people will be a necessity because it will be dog eat dog for some time!!!