Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Theres a rationale that says a complete spare parts package for x is another complete x. That is to say, a complete spare parts kit for your Remington 870 is another identical 870. There is, of course, a good bit of truth to this but in another way its fatally short-sighted.

In the case of firearms, although this applies to other gear as we shall see, some parts are simply more prone to breakage than others. Lets use the cz-52 pistol for an example. They are, approximately, $100 these days out of Shotgun News. So, you buy two of them…one is for using and that other is your 'spare parts kit'. Now, as anyone familiar with these guns will tell you, they are built tough as a tank but have one flaw…the firing pin breaks if you dry fire them. Thus, the firing pin is the part most likely to need replacement. No sweat, you figure. You've got your handy dandy parts kit. So, after your firing pin splits in half you smugly pull the pin out of your other cz-52 and continue on your merry way…until that one breaks as well. Now youre screwed. You have spare barrels, slide, frame, spring, pins, cams, trigger, hammer, sear, etc, etc, but no firing pin. And, frankly, some parts are simply unlikely to break or wear out..such as the frame, slide, hammer, magazine release, etc, etc. I'm not saying that one day your slide wont crack and split in half because of some one-in-a-million chance a bad batch of metal making its way to the foundry one day fifty years ago…no, Im saying that its so unlikely that diverting resources to prepare for that possibility may be counterproductive in the long run. Let's put it another way: for the $100 that the extra cz-52 cost, you could buy ten replacement firing pins – the part most likely to break. In reality you probably won't buy ten replacement firing pins..but you could buy, say, three and have $70 left over for a couple of springs, a spare safety lever and a few more parts that you figure youre more liekly to need.

Think about your car. You replace your tires every few years, right? Would it make sense to buy an entire spare of your current car so that in two years when its time to get new tires you have a set handy? Of course not…for the sake of arguement, lets say you could get an identical vehicle for $10,000. Odds are, the parts youre most likely going to need to replace are the tires, and someday maybe the water pump, fuel pump, radiator, battery, some hoses and belts. Reallistically, its quite likely youre not going to be replacing an axle…or a trunk lid..or a hood…or a fuel tank. So instead you take your $10,000 buy $2,000 worth of parts and save yourself some money that you can use for other things.

Before the comments start, keep in mind I am not saying you shouldnt have spare/extra copies of your gear. I am saying you shouldnt have those spare/extra copies for use as parts. I have a pair of AR-15 rifles. One is not spare parts for the other. I have a 40mm ammo can full of spare parts (bolts, pins, detents, springs, stocks, handguards, bolt carriers, etc, etc.) and thats where my spares come from. The extra AR isnt for parts, its for replacing a completely lost rifle, loaning to an LMI, leaving at a secondary location, etc. It is NOT for cannibalization.

Another good example would be Coleman lanterns…you replace the mantles, globes, maybe a pump seal or assembly every so often. It makes more sense to spend the $20 in parts rather than spend even more for a complete extra lantern to take parts off of and still have parts you'll never use leftover. Again, this is not to say you shouldnt have extras… just that extras are for using not disassembling.

Some guns, for example, rarely break. Glocks, AK-47s, Ruger 10/22s, etc. A spare parts kit for an AK-47 would probably look like a sight adjustment tool, an extra gas piston and maybe a firing pin. Spare parts for a 10/22 would probably be a cleaning kit and maybe a recoil spring. $20 worth of parts versus $200+ for a new gun.

Again, Im not saying dont have extras…just have them for actual usage rather than as spare parts. It makes more sense, especially in terms of stretching your $. I'd rather spend $200 on spare parts for my FAL and have $800 left over for more gear and supplies than spend $1000 for another complete FAL just so I can have a spare bolt, magazine release and set of handguards.

Of course, doing this means you have to have a pretty good idea of what sort of parts are more/less likely to break/wear on your gear. However, since youre already into preparedness enough to be thinking about these things youve probably already familiarized yourself enough with your gear to know that your cz-52 will probably need a spare pin and not a spare frame, that your Dodge needs spare tires not spare wiper fluid reservoirs, that youre Alladin lamp needs spare mantles not spare fonts, and that your boots need spare laces and not spare eyelets.

While we're on the subject of spares…most consumer products that you can buy spare parts for usually have an exploded diagram showing you those parts and their relation to other parts. Get a copy or two of this diagram and keep it with the spares. I keep a laminated copy of an exploded diagram with my AR-15 spare parts…very useful. Also, knowing the manufacturers part numbers makes ordering alot easier and also helps when youre hunting down spare parts on eBay (a very good source for spare parts for radios, lamps and other gear.) If possible, spares should all be stored together in a durable, protective container. For example, all my Alladin lamp spare parts are stored in an ammo can. Also, when you get spare parts, if you can, check to make sure they are the correct parts and try them out for fit in the product theyre designed for. It would be bad news to reach for a spare set of rings for your rifle to find that although the box says 1″ the rings inside are actually 30mm. Could ruin your whole apocalypse. Examine. All. Spares.

Finally, and this is kind of obvious, if the item that your stocking up for seems to be prone to needing a particular spare part (the cz-52 firing pin) or somesuch, it might be a good idea to think about a more durable/reliable alternative.

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