Only the prepared will stand a chance of surviving in the event of a total economic meltdown. You can prepare in advance by creating a stockpile of food and water and materials; but in the back of your mind, you already know that when the nightmare hits and becomes a reality, that sooner or later your stockpile is going to diminish, and that hunger and thirst - and possibly even disease - is going to force you and your family to move out into the surrounding area in the hope of acquiring food and water and whatever else it is that you will need to acquire.

I haven't seen any threads in this forum on the subject of making improvised clothing. Even if you know how to trap animals and tan hides, do you possess the necessary skill to create decent clothing for yourself ? LW.

"...do you possess the necessary skill to create decent clothing for yourself?..."

Decent? Probably not. A serape, loin cloth, and maybe leggin's, those I could handle...

Please buy extra clothes, I would guess we would not want to see you in a loin cloth any more then anyone would want to see me in one.

From several books I've got instructions on how to make improvised flip-flops out of discarded tires. I haven't used those but I have practiced with other materials following variations of those directions. My results were a far cry from something you'd see in Fashion Weekly but at least they were serviceable. That was way back when I had my old job and a ton of free time on my hands!

Several people in my family are also good with sewing and the like, and they showed me a lot of what they know. Provided I had pre-made materials and fabrics I think I'd do all right. I grudgingly admit I'd have a hard time with a hide fresh off an animal though!

"...Please buy extra clothes..."

Well, OK, if I must. But goin' totally commando is bound to happen, sooner or later...

I suspect this thread might be more appropriate for the "Long-Term Preparedness" section. There might be some small chance that it would be a short or mid-range problem but mostly this is a long-term issue.

Short-term the usual hacks should work well enough. Like field expedient materials stuffed into socks or the sleeves from a long-sleeve shirt as makeshift shoes. Depending on the area going bare foot might be an option. Crossing swamp and streams I have been known to doff my boots and ford the wet area barefoot.

Also, assuming you have footwear and clothing, it might surprise people exactly how long you can keep them in service if they are maintained and patched or mended in a timely fashion. During WW2jungle fighters, far from supply lines, made a habit of carefully inspecting their clothes and mending any imperfections as soon as they were spotted. Even with hard use in the rotting jungles some soldiers were able to keep articles of clothing functional for years even as they were patching the patches and the y were more repaired than good cloth.

Also during WW2 German infantry units each had a cobbler. I think it was one per platoon. The soldier had been trained in the trade as a military specialty and issued a cobbler's kit. With regular inspection, dressing, and repair quality leather boots can be patched, resoled and kept in service indefinitely.

The cobbler also worked to maintained the unit's load bearing equipment, tents and tarps and some uniform repairs. The individual soldiers were expected to do the majority of their own maintenance on their uniforms.

In the end it is the standard set of options. You either beg borrow or steal replacements, patch what you have, make do as best you can, or do without.

Shoes are often the first to wear out and the most difficult to replace.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Blown-Tire-Shoes/

some interesting who to's there

Interesting thought, but in reality who would really ever need a huge supply clothes. Most average items worn, this is especially considering you probably won't be washing them often, could easily last 10 years. I would first begin to slowly transition my daily wear- not rotating often, wearing them longer than usual, and limiting what was truly needed on a daily basis.

-shoes do wear out. But do you plan on walking relentlessly on a day basis? And here again, if your not walking , take them off and save the wear an tear when you can.\

-and on the commando though.............why not? Nudity for one is not that big of a deal if its warm, and a guy an get by in the summer with shorts only if needed and no one would even think twice about it. A female in the same weather could use a bikini for example and save the shorts/pants/shirts, etc...

Providing I had the raw materials on hand I can sew clothes, nothing that would win a fashion show (or seeing some of the crap that strolls down the runway who knows) and boots/shoes can be made by glueing/sewing thick leather or rubber to homemade "socks". Although I think the need for this skill set is generally not needed as there is a glut of clothes in all the malls/wall marts etc....

-Bill Liptak