I thought about this long and hard and was extremely tempted to throw every bit of discretionary money I had at gold and silver back in 2008-2009. Turns out it could have made me some quick money considering what happened over the next 1-3 years. But I didn't.
Despite the regrets that come with 20/20 hindsight, what turned me away from metals then was my assessment of why I wanted to go into it in the first place, which for me at the time was to find the most secure store of wealth. But I didn't just adopt prevailing wisdom. I had to ask myself what really has intrinsic value, and I came to the conclusion that it was more than just what others would be willing to trade me for it (which would be the case for metals), but which has ongoing value in what it actually can produce or provide to my life at the same time. As such I opted not to invest in metals and instead saved cash and ended up purchasing a home and acreage with many features conducive to self-sufficiency. So even if something happens and no one wants to trade what I want for this property, and even if the dollar falls, and even if the **** hits the fan, and so forth, the property we own outright remains a secure investment that can keep us comfortable. If those other things happened, I'd have to decide whether to exchange the metals or not in the first place, and then have to figure out how, and so forth. You can't eat gold and silver, can't plant crops in it, and for the most part can't fire it out of a gun to kill game. It has no useful value. Just value in what others are willing to trade for it.
In my estimation one of the only potentially sure bet investments out there (although beware it will sound kooky and paranoid) is actually in the stockpiling of ammunition and related reloading materials and capabilities. That would have virtually infinite value if **** got crazy, and I believe even if it doesn't get crazy (societal unrest) that the price/value will nonetheless continue to rise. But for many people it wouldn't take long to kind of hit your max with that. Throw a few thousand dollars or at max $10,000 at firearms, ammunition and reloading materials and capabilities and you're kind of maxed out for the foreseeable future. Farther down that rabbit hole, you might as well take your money and buy yourself some time to educate yourself in survivalist and other skill sets that would come in handy were things to drastically change for you (or society).