Whilst everybody else is determined to have more firepower than the next bloke – a sure way to end up killing each other, I will try to meet the request of the OP in his most recent post and get back on track about self-sufficiency and how we would do it.
This is an outline of a proposed plan for if and when the power goes off, there is no fossil fuel, and food is DIY. The scenario includes a reasonably slow move towards this position, at least sufficient time to move four people from Scotland to Portugal, and not a sudden catastrophe where only some survive and just about everything is destroyed. Gun ownership is fairly common, but not universal, and restricted in numbers and type of weapon - a shotgun and a rifle probably being the max anybody has, so gangs of heavily armed raiders are unlikely.
I intend to stay where I am and bring in the others, although one couple is only five miles away and living on a similar property, with less buildings, and ideally would remain there. We already share some farming equipment and work together on building some we need and cannot buy at an economic cost. The house is an enormous 3-storey stone and concrete building that was formerly an olive mill and with several separate entrance doors into various parts of the building. All doors are steel and the windows have vertical steel bars so the building cannot be entered that way. It is wired and plumbed. Several buildings also wired, plumbed, steel doors and lockable, totalling about 7000 sq. ft. with some set up for various livestock, others general storage. Included in the building are a bakehouse with domed oven, a meat house, dairy and cheese store, olive storage bins, and a large wine making room and cellar.
The land totals about 16 acres, all ploughable, and has 483 olive trees, plus various fruit and nut trees and a productive garden area next to the house. The other property is similar in size with less olive trees. We have adequate machinery and the ability to repair and make equipment.
The group, and the “end of the known world” has been discussed in a semi-jocular fashion, comprises my wife and myself (60s) the other couple nearby (50-ish?) my son and his wife (29) and a former school friend of his and his wife, also 29. We have, I believe, an exceptional range of knowledge and skills amongst us as well as being of above average intelligence, most being University educated. This in itself means that the group are able to learn.
At a professional level we have a medical doctor, a veterinarian, two scientists – chemistry and physics, a teacher of cookery and needlework, a computer and electronics whiz with very good mechanics knowledge, and accountancy and administrative degrees. Now some might question the more academic qualifications, but the knowledge of related subjects makes the scientists useful in many of the things we would need to tackle, and an ability to crunch numbers or organise rostas, maintain supply records, crop rotation details etc. are also required. I have the most farming and gardening experience (all my life) but everybody else is countrified with a combined experience in seven countries around the world. Several languages are spoken. Everybody can ride a horse and most have good shooting experience. The four youngsters, not blood related to each other, are keen hill climbers and walkers, capable of carrying a heavy pack for many miles.
Skills wise, we can keep our machinery going so long as we have no major parts to replace. Animal power is within our reach if tractors fail. Many people around about now use donkeys or mules, and I have seen cows as draught animals. The olives can supply oil to spare for fuel, plus we have PV, generators, compressors, pumps, and the ability to make methane, ethanol and grape spirit from wine (presently legal in Portugal with stills and other equipment readily available, and absolutely everybody in the country has grapes) so fuel, and drink, would not be a problem. We would have animals for meat, milk, cheese, butter and clothing if required with the ability to shear, kill, skin, tan, butcher, design clothes, felt, spin, knit and sew whatever is required. I am sure weaving would not be too big a problem. Cooking and food preservation skills are excellent. The long growing season and reasonable temperatures, rarely above 100 and never below 25, means we can grow most temperate crops. A river and farm ponds are useful for fish, irrigation and boreholes for water, although there are numerous potable springs every few miles along the highways.
Most of Portugal is still a peasant based economy so there are hundreds of thousands of people with the land, equipment and skills to survive, plus a family to assist in the work. Consequently I do not expect any large scale violence if modern ways cease and I believe the country will simply get on with life as it always has. Like my wife and myself, most of these older people have lived with very little money so they have had to fend for themselves and learn to live without buying power.
So far as bartering is concerned I should think most people will have the same items, but assuming there is still some urban life, then their skills could be bartered for some of our food and drink. There is a lot of vacant land around the country too, huge numbers of former small farms complete with a building, olive trees and grape vines, that are no longer occupied, including most of the land surrounding me, and there is a lot of space for present townspeople to move out and start farming again. Many of them were probably brought up on farms so would adjust. All in all, it is probably one of the countries least likely to suffer a collapse of modern society.
