Best barter items to stockpile... what do you guys and dolls think?

[U201491]

Here is a controversial one, yet important. Painkillers i.e. morphine, etc. Hard to get, poor shelf life, legal issues, etc. But there is an easy, inexpensive, legal way around all that. P.M. me for more info. Im not wanting to create any addicts or cause any problems. Still a good thing to have around in a doctor free enviroment.

That is a big concern.
They probably wont be available
If things get hot & heavy. Good point.

 

[U201491]

I know some things mentioned on here i have read from some of Selco's stuff. Bic lighters and cheap knives would be best. They are inexpensive and easy to store. He mentions being able to refill BIC lighters. So learning and having the equipment to do that would be nice.

I think trading ammo would not be a good idea unless you have a lot and you are trading it like it is gold.

Those cheap survival ponchos, emergency blankets and such. I think they are Colghlans or something like that.

You can get bags of tea candles and packages of tiny boxes of matches at the dollar store. Both would be great.

On the other side of things. Having reloading supplies for yourself. Other people (depending on things) will collect up brass to trade or sell. Being in Afghanistan people around the base (we called them scrappers) would collect up anything from brass to the rounds itself that impact... big or small. So being able to trade for brass to reload could be nice and very feasible.

Building supplies. 2x4's, plywood, nails, rebar

Lastly I would say canning supplies. Mainly the jars.

Ammo will be worth more than gold. Gold is just a useless mineral.
Might be able to cast bullets from it?

 

[Dunerunner]

My Top Ten...

Beer - preferably some you brew
Grain alcohol - Vodka
Sterile Water - transferred to their container for a fee
Fresh Vegetables and Fruit that you grow
Strike anywhere matches
Cheap cook stoves - Hobo stoves made from #10 food cans
Candles
Sweetener - Maple Syrup, Honey, White refined Sugar in Food Saver bags
Salt - Can be purchased in bulk
Pepper - Can be purchased in bulk

 

[Bacchus]

ammo, toilet paper, soap bars

 

[accurateone]

The lists are good! I'd add Chlorine for purifying water, and Imodium for stopping the runs.
The night vision suggestion is correct. I need to look into that too.
Regards,
A1

 

[AMProducts]

Salt, in truckload quantities, it keeps forever and will have immense value for preparing/preserving food. Also, people will die without it.
Sugar, again truckload quantities, same as above
Pepper, whole grounds
Sulfur powder - Flowers USP, useful as a disinfectant, fumigant, for wound care and for making acid (sulfuric)
Chemical fertilizers - Ammonium Nitrate, Sulfate and Phosphate - won't be traded directly, but will be used to grow food for trade.
Coal - again, truckload quantities for fuel and for production of coke and coaltar, steel and heating.

In general, I greatly discourage people from stockpiling guns and ammo for "barter" except in very extreme circumstances, the main reason for this is after SHTF, both of these will be far too valuable to trade away lightly. At the same time, trading them with a potential adversary could have disastrous consequences for you and your family. If you need to trade a firearm and ammo as a ceremonial gift to a potential ally, that's another story all together. Further, your ability to store materials is finite, your ability to make more things is only finite in terms of your lifetime, and in some kind of post-SHTF feudal society, do you want to be one of the serfs who have no value except their labor, or one of the few who has value for what he knows?

Toilet paper, alcohol, soap, chlorine, and the like can all be made from nearby materials, or things that are on this list.

Example: Production of sodium hydroxide from salt can be performed by electrolysis of brine in the presence of an ion barrier, or simply exhausting the chlorine (chlorine will form a gas on the + side of the rig, along with oxygen) leaving a concentrated solution of sodium hydroxide.

Bleach may be prepared by using the above method and reducing cell voltage.

Hydroxides and carbonates can also be produced from wood ash, both of these can be combined with any source of rendered fat to make soap.

Also, if you can make alcohol, you can also make something that's also very valuable: vinegar. This can be purified via freeze distillation (to make glacial acetic acid) and then diluted to a usable concentration.

Urine when combined with wood ash can be used as a source to make potassium and sodium nitrate, this can be refined to nitric acid using sulfuric acid and a distillation apparatus.

Chlorine production can be used to make chlorol, a rather potent sedative.

Pine trees can be used as a raw material for making pine tar, methanol, and turpentine.

The ABE reaction can be employed to make acetone, butylate (a chemical similar to gasoline) and ethanol.

In general, a firm understanding of distillation is necessary to make any of the above processes really useful.

 

[Bacchus]

Ammo will be worth more than gold. Gold is just a useless mineral.
Might be able to cast bullets from it?

In that case, I'm going for silver.

 

[AMProducts]

Tampons, Feminine Pads, Chocolate and copies of US Magazine

Don't forget lotion and tissues.

 

[Inspector]

Two items are of paramount importance. Ammo first. Toilet paper second. Ammo for defense.

Toilet paper can be used as usual.... And to barter for food and water or any other item listed above..

 

[BigStick]

If we are talking about stocking up on quantities of things that we can store, we should all add some good reference books to our libraries. For personal use and education, and for trade/sale to those in your community who you also want to prosper for mutual benefit and defense. Everything from army manuals, to farming basics, to first aid, to food identification and preservation. Knowledge will be a huge asset. For yourself, and for your community. If you can teach people, you will become an asset to the community. Making yourself usefull is a good way to make sure everyone wants to keep you around.

 

[mjbskwim]

My Top Ten...


Grain alcohol - Vodka


k

I'm sorry did you say something else?:drunk:

 

[Bacchus]

Don't forget lotion and tissues.

Bob-Bons and toenail polish

 

[BearArmy]

Coffee will be the most desired in the PNW. People will do anything for their fix.

 

[mjbskwim]

Tampons, Feminine Pads,

Bob-Bons and toenail polish

Uhhh....y'all know these are cheap and easy bandages right?
Made to absorb blood?

 

[ripcity]

Explains the reason they drive they way they do.....

Ya way too slow!

 

[Bacchus]

Uhhh....y'all know these are cheap and easy bandages right?
Made to absorb blood?

Are they cheaper than actual bandages ? I've never bought them.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I'd stay away from the booze. The element you would be dealing with may be more desperate then others. I'd probably be my best customer.

 

[cookie]

ammo and guns would only be for myself and loved ones.

 

[Siglvr]

Heads up.

Just musing. Here's one to get right now if you have everything else. N95 Surgical masks. Like Kimberly -Clarks Fluid Block. Good product. There are others of course. Currently under .20 cents a unit (I payed .18/ea). You think .22 ammo dried up fast? Hah. There wasn't even much of a reason for .22 disappearing. Imagine a couple handful of hemorrhagic fever cases popping up. The headlines would all be talking about the stampede for these kinds of products.

I was working at the VA in PDX when St Helens erupted a while back. 1983? I had about 100 surgical masks squirreled away on hand one day IN MY OWN LOCKED ROOM. Next day, after the eruption: none. It was like magic: poof. Someone broke into a locked room in a federal facility and stole them all. And I was unable to get any for quite some time. Much longer than you might imagine. So get some for your family, get some for yourself, get some for the neighbors, and get a few more you can sell during the next panic to those too stupid to think ahead which will pay for every damned one you bought and then some

I word:

Ebola.

 

[uscsoldier]

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