A slow day on the lake fishing can lead to some deep thoughts, no pun intended. Have you considered when you might step backwards across the line of normal behavior and take what is not yours in a SHTF situation. Would it be when you need it, or when the opportunity presents itself and the law of the land has become survival of those that are strong enough to take it? Just wondering your thoughts. I know the question leaves a ton of "what if's" open. Could you roll a corpse and check for what might help you and yours? Let me hear your thoughts for my next trip to the lake.

Live ready, live long.
Dr Prepper

What a great post! I have thought about this very thing many, many times. Although I know what I'm willing/prepared/capable of doing, I often wonder what other people's breaking points are. For me, it's an easy choice. I'll turn to scavenging/looting when my supplies run out, and I have no other alternative to survival. I don't have a problem with dead bodies (deal with them all the time), and I don't have any moral problems with doing what I need to do to survive, if there's been a complete break-down in society. Now, that doesn't mean I'm willing to victimize others for my own comfort or a full belly. I'm not going to commit a violent act against someone else except in self-defense or defense of innocents. I kind of look at life like this: We all have an innate right to a peaceful, productive existence, but not at the expense of someone else's peaceful, productive existence.

But, loot a warehouse/store that's already been abandoned/closed due to the break-down of society? Not a problem. Scavenge a dead body of it's utilities/supplies or starve? I'll choose scavenge. When it comes to survival, just about anything is fair game. Of course, I'd prioritize my actions from less severe to more severe depending on the circumstances. A lot of it will depend on how bad the disaster is, or how long it's likely to persist.

I don't ever advocate breaking the law, and when society is still functional I won't. But survival is survival and life is life.