Thread: Bartering currency. what will you trade?

your not always going to have everything you need no matter how hard you prep, so what will you use for trade?

I good barter currency should be small, light weight, have daily comfort or survival value, and be cheep to acquire right now. keep it this way so you can carry a large variety of items when you go out looking to trade.

some things I'm overstocking for trade.

Basic first-aid items: pain killers, cold & allergy meds, antiseptics/antibiotics...

Food items: sugar, chocolate, rice, salt(think meat preservation)

Gear: fishing line, fish hooks and the like, fire stuff(matches/lighters..ect), .22lr ammo

I would recommend saving any gold for the reconstruction phase so you have some wealth when the economy starts to stabilize and there is a reliable currency in the system.

What will I trade? Anything I don't need for something I do. If you're foolish enough to take some silver/gold for cans of food then you can have all the coins in the world.


Ever thought about trading something that you can make more of? Like learning to make bows and arrows? You don't lose anything in the process except some of your time while the receiver gets a weapon/hunting tool.

I laugh when I hear "gold has intrinsic value!" not to some one who's starving lol. but I do intend to seek out thoes gold horders. It may sound cold but I intend to proffit as best I can from this so I'll have a leg up when things calm down in 5 to 10 years.

I have not stocked up on goods for barter but I think about it frequently. Booze, smokes, any type of tobacco - pretty much anything you can provide to the addicted would be a good thing to have on hand. I would not trade away items I might need for the well being of my family. I have extra gloves, warm clothing, TONS of books - I'd think that books would be valuable if the lights go out.

Originally Posted by mburkhea

I have not stocked up on goods for barter but I think about it frequently. Booze, smokes, any type of tobacco - pretty much anything you can provide to the addicted would be a good thing to have on hand. I would not trade away items I might need for the well being of my family. I have extra gloves, warm clothing, TONS of books - I'd think that books would be valuable if the lights go out.

There ya go...multiple copies of books would be great idea. I recommend the Merck Manual, myself.

Your right gold is worthless, unless,,,,,
Lets say the guy that owns the 300 acres next to me is willing to sell it for $300 and acre, but he wants "cash" and he lives 100 miles away. I want that land bad because it is next to mine, has water, timber deer, elk and pasture. How do I buy it? Do I take Fiat green backs?
Drive a herd of cattle and sell them someplace and then go to him with the fiat green backs?
Or do I just pop over with a few ounces of gold?
paper money is PAPER WITH INK ON IT
Cattle have value but you have to feed and water them, fence/guard them and eventualy they die.
Gold is easy to carry/conceal and never wastes away
As for books and skills, who will feed a stranger for promises of knowladge when they are hungry? What book is worth more than food in times of starvation?
Books and skills do not make you rich, and the rich rarely starve

Originally Posted by Markjz

I laugh when I hear "gold has intrinsic value!" not to some one who's starving lol. but I do intend to seek out thoes gold horders out. It may sound cold but I intend to proffit as best I can from this so I'll have a leg up when things calm down in 5 to 10 years.

Do you actually think that those who have excess wealth NOW won't be smart enough to have food as well?

Originally Posted by A.I.P.

Your right gold is worthless, unless,,,,,
Lets say the guy that owns the 300 acres next to me is willing to sell it for $300 and acre, but he wants "cash" and he lives 100 miles away. I want that land bad because it is next to mine, has water, timber deer, elk and pasture. How do I buy it? Do I take Fiat green backs?
Drive a herd of cattle and sell them someplace and then go to him with the fiat green backs?
Or do I just pop over with a few ounces of gold?
paper money is PAPER WITH INK ON IT
Cattle have value but you have to feed and water them, fence/guard them and eventualy they die.
Gold is easy to carry/conceal and never wastes away
As for books and skills, who will feed a stranger for promises of knowladge when they are hungry? What book is worth more than food in times of starvation?
Books and skills do not make you rich, and the rich rarely starve

So why do I want gold? I can't eat it or use it to procure more food. I can't make anything out of it that is going to make life easier. At least with paper money I can write on it, use it to start fires or wipe my behind. I can't do anything like that with gold. And like paper money (paper and ink as you put it) the only reason gold has value is we give it value. If in a collapse where a government will recover quickly (within years) and establish a new free market then gold may hold some value. If it truly is TEOTWAWKI then it likely there will not be anything like that established in generations and when it happens who says it will be free or based on gold.

A skill or knowledge on the other hand is extremely valuable. If you need transport and I can fix cars then you may need my service. If I have the ability to cure meats, make bullets,navigate or many other things that knowledge is going to serve me well. I'd also like to point out, that if I am starving then I can't eat gold, but if I know what plants are edible, how to build a dead fall trap or snare, then I can get my own food. If you came to me starving and offered me gold, I'd ask what you expect me to do with it?

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Originally Posted by A.I.P.

Books and skills do not make you rich, and the rich rarely starve

I have to reply to this directly. Exactly how do you think those people got rich? Sure, some are born into wealth, but last I checked the richest guy in American made his billions by using books to learn and his skills to apply his knowledge. Further more, out of the people I know with excess income, NONE of them are prepared. The people I know who are prepared are the people who have been through hard times before, people who know what poverty and hunger is. The rich don't starve because they can buy food. Hand the a live chicken or cow and tell them to provide for themselves and watch them starve.

This whole idea is so full of fail it makes my head hurt

To answer the OP's Question.

A 5 gallon bucket of really good POT should make a great barter item. Easy to divide into small units. Once the whole mess collapses and transportation and distrabution becomes difficult the demand for something that makes it all seam better will go way up.

Gold will always be valuable.

You will put yourself and your family at risk if you trade medicine, drugs, weapons, or anything that an addict or desperate person would kill for. You have to assume these people may not have something to trade you and they will still want what you have and still try to get it at any cost.

A big net may be more valuable than 100 fishing poles with extra line and hooks.


I probably wouldn't trade anything right away unless I really needed something. I will likely trade homemade laundry soap. It is easy to make, everyone will need it, and I should be able to make a ton of it if I stock up on the dry ingredients beforehand.

When it comes I'm ready. My neighbor doesn't believe in preparing, he simply hoards gold. He says when it happens he will come to me with his gold and buy what he needs. When he comes with his gold he will never leave and I'll have his gold.

Toilet Paper
First Aid Supplies
.22lr
Sugar
Salt
Silver
Alcohol(ie. bathtub gin)
garden starts

Originally Posted by simpleguy

Toilet Paper
First Aid Supplies
.22lr
Sugar
Salt
Silver
Alcohol(ie. bathtub gin)
garden starts

Have you been in my basement???????????

LOL, had to ask because I have put plenty of extra of those items aside as well. With the same thoughts in mind.

Also, I do not smoke. But have mylared a few carton of cigarettes, cigars and put plenty of hard liqour aside.

Originally Posted by knuckle Head

Have you been in my basement???????????

LOL, had to ask because I have put plenty of extra of those items aside as well. With the same thoughts in mind.

Also, I do not smoke. But have mylared a few carton of cigarettes, cigars and plenty of hard liqour aside.

Very good.

Selco said that next time he'd want 1,000 Bic lighters, tobacco and alcohol. None are something anyone could use against you. He also told of a guy who made a business out of refilling Bic lighters from a 5 gallon propane bottle. The guy made up some kind of "needle" to attach to the end of a propane hose and could fill them. He said you have to stop and let the air out of the lighter periodically or it will break. Again, I think at the end you'd have to compress enough air in there to make it work.

He also stressed never letting anyone come to your house to trade. Don't let them know where you are because they already figured out you are prepped. He said that after a few weeks, places to barter sprang up like flea market deals, always at night because it was too dangerous to go out in the day. At night he could travel by slipping among cars, bushes, between ruins, etc. and listening and looking carefully. No flashlight.

"books and skills wont get you rich"
Maybe not, but can save your life definitely, books like nursing drug reference, or book about small gardening.

Skills saves lives also, and skills can make you rich, easiest way is to be very skilled in some area and loose your moral, walk over dead bodies, and after everything ends(if) you can be rich, i ve seen that.

About trade, small things, easy to carry, easy to trade, antibiotics, lighters, flints, nylon tarps, aluminum foils, cigarettes,batteries, candles... Easy to carry, easy to hide in you clothes.

Skills also have been traded, from medicine skills to sewing skills, anything useful.

Originally Posted by A.I.P.

Do you actually think that those who have excess wealth NOW won't be smart enough to have food as well?

Yes, yes I do....I see it all the time. heck there are thousands of people trading gold stock options. How stupid is that? So here you are knowing that the only thing worth trading in is gold, yet you have none of it and no other cushion against a depression?

Originally Posted by mpmarty

When it comes I'm ready. My neighbor doesn't believe in preparing, he simply hoards gold. He says when it happens he will come to me with his gold and buy what he needs. When he comes with his gold he will never leave and I'll have his gold.

When SHTF, I sincerely hope guys like this run into other guys like this.

i barter my skills with others' skills even now. i like to trade automotive body/paint/mechanical work for just about anything. my buddy and i are taking care of someones motor swap in return for some nice custom kitchen cabinets. saves him and us a bunch of money. a man's knowledge and skill are valuable before and after shtf

Originally Posted by mpmarty

When it comes I'm ready. My neighbor doesn't believe in preparing, he simply hoards gold. He says when it happens he will come to me with his gold and buy what he needs. When he comes with his gold he will never leave and I'll have his gold.

i hope your kidding. thats a terrible thing to say