I think of precious metals only in terms of its relatively stable value, but only as it relates to other commodities, and especially food and gas/energy. Ironically, these are the only two things excluded when determining "Core Inflation" - and this on the rationale that they are too volatile and subject to price swings (especially on the sticky high side, in anticipation of inflation) to act as reliable indicators.
I would never, ever advise someone to go into debt over precious metals - especially those who do it on speculation - but I cannot say that it is not a sound strategy, especially long term. However, that is only because I personally don't see PM's - especially silver - in a bubble of ANY kind. And I certainly don't see PM's crashing to any kind of low floor, even in the event of a serious deflationary depression (where prices everywhere really do eventually fall). The Fed money creation buttons will be employed long before that happens, because we really do have some goof-stupid politicians, left and right, who have no real concept of money or monetary history, and no courage to address the problem, regardless. Worse yet, we have a Fed that appears willing to print OTHER countries out of their problems, if but to delay the inevitable, and give them a "What?! We tried to HELP YOU!" cover when everything goes to shit.
In our country, when the dollar fails, it could mean hyperinflation (inflation exceeding 50% per month - Cagan 1956), or we could also go straight into an expanded version of what we have now - inflationary depression. Either way, it will ultimately end in deflationary depression. That is the problem with a strictly debt-encouraging monetary policy. When credit dries up completely, everything implodes, with everybody liquidating, nobody buying, and no money left in circulation.
My thought is that all parties in power, public and private, fear deflationary depression SO much more than hyperinflation that they WILL look to the obvious and seemingly easiest path of least pain and resistance, just as they are now. They WILL try to print us out of our problem first, and when that happens, PM's will skyrocket along with everything else (but PM's especially, which COULD enter a bubble given the sudden flight to them as a monetary haven).
Even if you had no source of income, a very small liquidation of your PM's (PHYSICAL ONLY - screw the derivatives) would probably be more than sufficient to service the debt - especially if you had a low interest rate that was not subject to change, and you were able to liquidate in small amounts for cash prior to making payments. That is one of the few advantages available to the average person when a government tries to keep the monetary debt engines expanding - to destroy the currency as a strategy for dealing with mountains of debt, the interest payments alone of which can no longer be serviced. There will come a time, I think, after all the paper derivatives have self-destructed, that PM's will find a real quasi-stable level of their own - neither an infinite ceiling nor a destructive floor. PM's will not be available at ANY price, but that does not mean that they will be infinitely expensive either, because so few will have money to buy them with anyway, even if they could.
The real question in my mind, is if you had no source of income (which is the net effect if nobody will accept dollars, or anything but a mountain of dollars, in the case of hyperinflation) -- how much real "hard" savings would you need to survive? The question of how long, and what transition times are involved is anybody's guess. It partly depends on whether or not we have a sound currency as an alternative, or whether all the poop-stupid collectivist money-poolers will seek to quadruple down on their wonderful fiat money experiments and take it global, resetting the inflationary clock with a final Super-Dooper counterfeiter of first resort.
People talk about the inefficiency of barter, but hyperinflation is effectively a form of bartering, as everyone will seek to make up for a lack of valuable currency supply by liquidating hard assets (for pennies on the hyperinflated currency) in order to survive. Which brings me to the following, which was mentioned above:
PM's are not the only thing to become unavailable at any price. Hyperinflation automatically leads to shortages, including food and energy shortages, as people are unwilling to sell at a loss, and knowing that they can get more if they just wait. Likewise, knowing that prices are going to rapidly rise can produce a run on food, energy, and other survival essentials. People will not be secure enough to be content to get what they need in the moment, and it can reach a point where price does not matter, because it is simply not available.
SO...you can look to durable consumables, well in advance - especially those with long shelf lives, like vacuum sealed coffee, rice, beans, canned goods, etc.,. Those are "investments" you can make now - things you WOULD try to buy with inflated dollars shortly down the road, and PM's further down the road. They are things you are going to need regardless, and you can buffer yourself long before any "runs", where people try to panic-hoard all at once. As of now, it's not hoarding, but part of the buying and consumption that is fully encouraged by every pointy-head in the biz.
AND...if you are patient, shop the sales in large quantities. For example, if Folgers goes on sale as a loss leader for $6, I will buy 100 at a time - it's just like buying silver on a huge dip. Your durable consumable commodities could technically outperform your precious metals - but no doubt can serve as a compliment to them, given you won't have to deplete them later on to trade for consumables that aren't available by any other means, and are therefore outlandishly overpriced, even when traded for precious metals, by those who can supply them.
My advice to all my friends: If you can get a three to six month supply of money and food/water (and hopefully energy, if you have a way of storing it) you will have a lot of peace of mind, as well as a much clearer head in ANY emergency - even if it is just personal.
EDIT: I note that you said "post-collapse" in your title. All the more reason to avoid futures and other paper derivatives like the worthless paper they will ultimately become. Post collapse means a massive liquidation implosion which all but assures a COMPLETE self-destruction of all paper derivatives, and a final run on physical until NONE is available. At any fiat currency price. Post-collapse is where the adage "if you don't possess the physical, you don't own it" definitely comes into play.
So since I bought them when the dollar had more power, I can now NOT spend twenty dollars to buy the same box of ammo.
