To steal from Johnny Carson: My car got broken into and they stole $100 of groceries from my glove compartment.
People have been talking about 'stacking' gold and silver for quite a while. I have wondered how much silver would generally be 'enough'. I think a 'bag' of junk silver is as heavy as a bowling ball which would make it difficult to carry in an emergency. And gold is rather pricey for the average person. But I found a youtube that recommended a 6 month cushion of silver. How much a family would need to make expenses for 6 months. That sounds sensible and if the price of silver went up, you would have an even larger cushion. I always told my kids to have an emergency fund. I would like a year. But 6 months would give a person breathing room. And now there are all sorts of vids on where to hide the silver because it was recommended that one hold the physical metal. And the government can seal safety deposit boxes. It's always something.--Gilda Radner i always worry that they will raise property taxes on mine to the point the government will take it away. Revenuers!
I've gone back & forth on the philosophy regarding precious metals for TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It, aka SHTF.) I gotta think that if things get all that bad, no one is gonna trade the elements of survival (food, water, medical supplies and perhaps ammo) for some shiny metals. And if they did, how would you transact with gold? Are you gonna chip off a few flakes in exchange for that loaf of bread? Then--as you said--there's the bulk (silver) and the weight (silver and gold.) If you gotta bug out or move on foot, all that metal is gonna be a huge burden. You might not even be able to transport it.
Meant to say that my property is my main store of wealth. Food can come from it. I have been fattening the squirrels with my chicken feed long enough.
I confess to worrying about it all hitting the fan. I don’t think there is any one sure fire thing that one can do. For us, we have a large mix, conventional mixed retirement accounts, cash readily available, precious metals (already got rid of all our silver), emergency rations/supplies, some barter goods. For those interested in a good yarn about what it could be like, I recommend “Lucifer’s Hammer”. https://www.amazon.com/Lucifers-Hammer-Novel-Larry-Niven/dp/0449208133
I have always considered precious metals as part of a diversified portfolio. Of course, it has to be "in hand", not stashed in a vault somewhere. Nonperishable food is another store of wealth as well as property as @Mary Stetler mentioned. I, too, worry that the politicians will raise taxes in order to confiscate property, as that has been done elsewhere and is part of the WEF plan. As to trading goods for metal, that is the reason money was invented--to be a store of wealth and to be portable. People who grow food--and have enough ammo to defend it--might be willing to trade a bit of surplus for metal, so that they can perhaps find someone who has a surplus they need. It can be an elegant form of barter. If you study the goings-on in the Weimar Republic and the more recent fall of the USSR, you can see what happens when a society's legal tender falls to ruin.