What Trade Goods?

[knuckle Head]

Whether or not I will trade depends on what they have to trade and what I need or want. But I will tell you this while doing the Appalachian Trail one thing many people would run out of was lighters or matches for starting fire or lighting stoves also fuel tablets came in real handy to get a fire going wuickly or when everything covered in ice. Water purification tablets or bleach, tarps for making shelter, hand warmers, wool caps, flashlights, basic first aid supplies blisters on those soft were like a plague and yeah JJ had this one right women would kill for TP.

Many times when out doing hikes on a major trail since, I have given away a calico lighter (5 for $1.50 at walmart), some first aid supplies or hand warmers and iodine tablets.

 

[Sense Amid Madness]

I don't plan on stocking anything for trade. In my mind this opens you and your family up to people saying oh, I traded t.p. for food the other day to this guy thats hunkered down and they had all kinds of stuff. They get a couple more bad guys and suddenly your a target. I say stock up, lay low, keep your mouth shut.

Yes, you are absolutely right. I tried to account for this by prefacing my remarks with "after the chaos ends", but what I really meant was, "after the danger that violent people will be waiting to murder you and your family to steal your stuff, is sufficiently diminished." Until then, I'm pretty sure that one important key to survival will be to stay invisible, don't attract attention of any kind, and certainly don't let it be known that you are rich with any kind of supplies. Dress as shabby as everyone else, look as undernourished as everyone else, keep low, and keep your mouth shut.

But, hopefully, some day the danger will diminish to the degree that a few folks will start to gradually venture out, maybe one day a week, to a central meeting place, to trade a bit their meager surplus of SOMETHING for something else they need. One person might have extra eggs, and really need another good knife. Another person might have homemade leather moccasins to trade for honey. Some enterprising person might have laid in a big supply of coffee. Who knows what an extra tin of coffee might be worth?? (I will probably never find out, cause I doubt if I could keep my wife from using it up.)

I sure wouldn't look like a "rich man" by taking a whole bunch of stuff out to the trade. Do that, and you might well be followed home to have you and your family murdered. I plan to look just like every other miserable pauper. I might take one of this, and maybe one of that, to try to trade for one thing my family needs. Maybe what I will need more than anything is help from a dentist, and one shot from his precious remaining supply of Novocain, to pull a tooth for little grand-daughter ho is drying of pain from an abscessed tooth.

One thing that might be wrong with not having anything to trade, especially if you have a family, is that you surely wont have EVERYTHING your family is going to need. Some things that you don't have, your family might need badly. Maybe it will be the services of a doctor, or dentist. Maybe it will be something simple like a needle and some thread to repair some clothes. Maybe you would just love to have a good pair of socks, or a pair of gloves, for one of your kids.

This is a complicated matter when one is trying to prepare for the unknown, especially on a tight budget. As Nwcid wrote, everyone has to assess their own situation, make their own estimate of what to prepare for, and how best to prepare. I'm just asking questions to encourage even more thinking beyond guns, ammo, and bug out bags, and even beyond just food – and hoping to learn from your best ideas. And I'm trying to think this all through as well as possible, in order to keep my family from suffering any more than might otherwise unavoidable.

I still believe that if we think ahead, it might be possible to store a couple of extra of some items that are really small and cheap now, but which might be precious in a crisis.

 

[Sense Amid Madness]

Who knows what an extra tin of coffee might be worth?? (I will probably never find out, cause I doubt if I could keep my wife from using it up.)

Sorry if I'm jabbering too much, but this makes me realize that extra coffee might be an EXCELLENT investment for trade in a time of most desperate need. I can live without it easily myself, but has a lot going for it as a potential trade good.
1. A small amount will be appealing to someone who hasn't had any in a long time, to a degree that is way out of proportion to its price today.
2. It has a reasonable shelf life of two years in unopened vacuum packed cans stored at room temperature. Just rotate the stock regularly.
3. Coffee doesn’t carry with it the moral dilemma of booze for trade.
4. You could demand a very high price for it without the ethical dilemma of price-gouging some desperate person for a necessity of life.
5. Someone willing to pay a high price for a can of coffee, such as a doctor, is more likely to have something that YOU really need than is a person wanting to trade for alcohol.

I can get around the problem of my wife using it up by just not letting her know we have it. There would likely be several things we would need worse than coffee for my wife’s addiction. Maybe I can store a case of one pound cans in the garden shed.

 

[knuckle Head]

You have good point here on trade goods, once again when i did the Appalachian Trail I got to where I rarely drank coffee and this is coming from a coffee holic, but when I was in town eating breakfast I would occassionally have a cup of coffee and sure did taste good, i would savor the taste.

As far clothing goes, in any situation or place you go if you are dressed the same as everyone else or you cannot talk the talk you stand out, blend in. Once again this is why gangs have colors and military has uniforms, so they will who the enemy is. If you do not blend in you may not be at all. If you know what I mean.

 

[Just Jim]

Sorry if I'm jabbering too much, but this makes me realize that extra coffee might be an EXCELLENT investment for trade in a time of most desperate need. I can live without it easily myself, but has a lot going for it as a potential trade good.
1. A small amount will be appealing to someone who hasn't had any in a long time, to a degree that is way out of proportion to its price today.
2. It has a reasonable shelf life of two years in unopened vacuum packed cans stored at room temperature. Just rotate the stock regularly.
3. Coffee doesn't carry with it the moral dilemma of booze for trade.
4. You could demand a very high price for it without the ethical dilemma of price-gouging some desperate person for a necessity of life.
5. Someone willing to pay a high price for a can of coffee, such as a doctor, is more likely to have something that YOU really need than is a person wanting to trade for alcohol.

I can get around the problem of my wife using it up by just not letting her know we have it. There would likely be several things we would need worse than coffee for my wife's addiction. Maybe I can store a case of one pound cans in the garden shed.

Better to learn to make good booze in my opinion. Coffee comes from far away and sooner or later you will run out. Booze however can be made out of everything that fermints. All of which can be grown near you. The less it takes to make the booze the better, yeast and hops may be hard to get if you don't have room to grow them. Ever tasted potato vodka? mmmmm good.

jj

 

[branchbuster]

Good point! You can make booze but unless you have coffee plants, you can't make coffee. Instant should have a much longer life.

 

[mjbskwim]

It doesn't matter if you plan to stay or bug out.You can use what storage room you have to keep as much goods as you can until you make the decision to leave.
Whats that saying? Best laid plans of mice and men? What you decide today,may not be a reality tomorrow.
Some on here say they "ainta leavin for nothin',got lots or acres and guns to keep me safe "
But what happens if a fire strikes and wipes out your farm, ala sunstorms? Lightning? Earthquake?
Then your plans will definitely change.

So,about all we can do is buy one or two extras of things we need.And it could be a good idea to alternate stores so the people shopping and working there don't recognize you as a hoarder,I mean prepper.Sorry

Then buy little things on the side.

Heck,like fishing supplies.You don't have to buy a Lamaglas when a $12 wally world pole will get your line wet.So if you don't fish,but want the option,there ya go
Maybe some archery equipment? Silent and deadly. Nobody know you harvested that cat in the woods or the crow flying over.Maybe a fishing kit for a bow
As stated,just one more case of that food that's on sale.
Some of us buy an extra box of ammo when they have $20 in the pocket.Works the same with all supplies.

Everything you buy is of trade value to someone.
All kinds of changes will change what we will need to do. And may happen many times over the years,depending on how things are rebuilt,what areas will change more than others.

We can speculate all we want.No telling what will actually happen.
Or how soon

 

[coop44]

pinto beans, white rice, flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, tea, powdered milk, freeze dried coffee (better than nothing) in all can be had cheap now, but when folks are starving, the basics will become valuable. all can be had in large bag sizes and can be broken down to more manageable 5 pound packages. All will keep for years if stored right.

If I have the room, chickens (eggs and meat)

With a reasonable supply of these items I can last a very long time.

can't eat ammo, but I'll trade you some food for yours.

 

[jdub75]

Skills. Learn how to make stuff, fix stuff, people skills, identify plants, etc

 

[coop44]

Skills. Learn how to make stuff, fix stuff, people skills, identify plants, etc

I guess being able to text with my thumbs and google won't help.

I overlook this, having skills. A lot of folks will be without a clue when something breaks. I suppose I ought to add nails (lots of nails) to my list, maybe a few tons of rebar and 50 sacks of portland cement to my inventory. More stuff thats not really expensive, but valuable as hell when you need it.

 

[knuckle Head]

I guess being able to text with my thumbs and google won't help.

I overlook this, having skills. A lot of folks will be without a clue when something breaks. I suppose I ought to add nails (lots of nails) to my list, maybe a few tons of rebar and 50 sacks of portland cement to my inventory. More stuff thats not really expensive, but valuable as hell when you need it.

Excellent Point you just made me think of something else.

Depends on where you live but you may consider some buckets of tar for seal metal roofs, screw and nails for these panels as well. And plenty pairs of cheap gloves, I bought a few pairs of these at harbor freight a few weeks ago. I guess I am going to have buy a bunch of them, because as you all know they can used for many different projects and sometimes hikers, workers and farmers will trade dearly for them.

There goes my budget again. Dang it!

 

[billdeserthills]

What is so bad about having a speedy stitcher with some thread & leather?
I make stuff with mine all the time

 

[sheepdip]

baby wipes, booze, ammo, loose women! oh yea, camels.

 

[Just Jim]

Fertilizer for the gardens that are going to be needed. Trade it for food from the gardens. However if things get rough there may be fetilizer laying about that is free for the burial LOL

jj

 

[knuckle Head]

What is so bad about having a speedy stitcher with some thread & leather?
I make stuff with mine all the time

Don't know who said it was, but imho hey if you have the skill and tools, it works for me, you never know I may come across you and need to trade you a lighter for some stitching

 

[mjbskwim]

Fertilizer for the gardens that are going to be needed. Trade it for food from the gardens. However if things get rough there may be fetilizer laying about that is free for the burial LOL

jj

BTW vegetarians make better fertilizer.

 

[Burt Gummer]

The best trade goods are the things everyone wants/needs. Probably the top two are water and toilet paper.

 

[Just Jim]

Well, if goes on long enough being able to make arrows and war clubs might get you somewhere. Really though I think owning a chicken ranch would make a person a king in no time. Chickens for food and Chicken sh!t for fertilizer. Feathers for arrows and save the feet and lips of the chickens to put in hot dogs

jj

Ya and you can trade the eggs and the feathers could go in pillows. Yeppers chickens just might be the critter to raise if you can stand all that clucking. Be like haveing hundreds of women around always talking..... MMMM better rethink this a bit lol

 

[ch139]

After pouring over SELCO's blog I'd think "investing" in little tea lights/candles/ matches as well as TP is what I'd be looking towards "investing" in. Don't know that I'd "invest" a penny into firearms/ammunition/accessories to be used as trading fodder.

 

[mjbskwim]

After pouring over SELCO's blog I'd think "investing" in little tea lights/candles/ matches as well as TP is what I'd be looking towards "investing" in. Don't know that I'd "invest" a penny into firearms/ammunition/accessories to be used as trading fodder.

Thinking about it,you will really only want to trade ammo to trusted people,that you don't mind telling you have a few extra boxes.Not really something to broadcast.

As I have been reading all this,movies came to mind
Not for trade,but that maybe we have been watching too much MadMax and that has put some far out ideas in our heads as to what will come.

But sometimes movies have some semblance of fact in them