Once money is worthless, what is the best thing to stock up on for trading?

reply to post by Hot_Wings


If you are smart enough,with ALOT of common sense ,you can survive.Book smarts and training
can only take you so far.The ability to adapt to your current situation is the key.
Keep your head,access the situation,and respond accordingly.
Adaptibility is key to survival..

Originally posted by Johnze
Nah i still say selling children as sex slaves will be the most proffitable.

If things go downhill and I catch any person doing any harm to any children, you can bet that they'll be breathing their last few breaths here on Earth. I really can't believe you, or anyone, would post or even think about such a thing and there is NO humor in it! Children will be the ones adults need to protect and protect them with their very lives.

Besides, it doesn't matter how many canned goods, medical supplies, camping accessories even weapons a person has. If that person doesn't have any common sense, a good knife and the will to survive, he might as well die on the first day.

Tobacco, booze and drugs? These things are the last thing a person needs.....well the alcohol for disinfecting wounds and not for internal consumption would be the exception.

Oh,and PLENTY of toilet paper,otherwise the wife gets really
cranky and distracts you from the real problems!

And make sure the kids are safe from those molesters out there,then get really drunk!

I always ask myself. What would Macgyver do?

Forget all that "stores for years" BS. The changes are coming quick. Plenty of canned food with ammo to defend it.

I think seeds and water purification systems (or the materials to make one - sand, charcoal, large drums, etc.). Of course medical supplies, batteries, and the other items mentioned would be good for bartering, but when it really comes down to it, people want to live. Food and water.

foodstoragemadeeasy.net... This site will give you ever idea you would ever need, plus good links to reliable long-term food dealers. I have tried a few. But, the longer you wait to buy, the longer the back order list grows.

Once money's worthless. Trading will be pretty much nonexistent and you better hope you have the supplies to self sustain.

Let's think about this senario. The S^&T has Hit the Fan, you make one of three decisions. One, you maintain your position. Two, you bug out and relocate to a position worth maintaining. Three, you stay on the move.

In the process of either or these senarios you may, at some point, run into the opportunity to barter.

We can assume a few things here. The party that you intent to barter with will have a reason to make a transaction with you. One, you have something he needs or wants. Two, he has a surplus and wishes to better his situation with that surplus. These are your reasons for bartering with the party as well.

It would be wise to stock up on useable items. Items that serve a purpose in a survival situation.

Ammunition. This is a great item for barter. It, coupled with a weapon, serves as a hunting tool and protection. What type should you carry a surplus of? Choose a variety based on both your own loadout (your arsenal) and the popularity of the round. For example, the 6.4 Grendel is a great little round but you will be hard pressed to find someone to barter with, using it as a currency.

I suggest:

2-3/4" 12 Gauge; Half bird shot (#4), the other half 00 Buck and slug rounds.
.223/5.56
.308/7.62
.45 ACP

These rounds are among the most common in America. You should strongly consider making your own hunting/defence firearms compatible with these more common ammo types. This assortment will prove useful in defence and hunting.

Penicillin. This is a great item to barter with. It's not easily accessible to stock up on now. This makes it a likely item, for even the most prepared individuals, that will be highly sought after. They are small and lightweight, making a large surplus both easy to carry and conceal.

Seed. Consider a good variety of seeds. A food garden is something most will want to have. Again, seeds are small and easy to carry. Consider the location you plan to call home. The weather, soil, and the different uses for any given plant. Hemp seeds, if they are legal in your state/country, can be a good item to stock up on as well.

Hard Currency. Gold, Silver, and Gems. These will always be worth something, history has proven this. How much they are worth will depend on the "marketplace." Let say you are approached with intentions of barter by a party. You are already very well supplied and fortified. Everything the party has to offer, in trade, you don't need. However, the party has gold. The party offers gold for an item(s) you have a massive surplus of. Let's say you have a large pond and the party wants some of your water. You can turn them away or you can accept gold. By accepting the gold, it will give you something to offer any party that has a item(s) you wish to barter for, when you don't have any useable good(s) said party is interested in.

I am of the opinion you should carry some of each, Gold, Silver, and Gems. Silver is nice to trade for small quantities. One ounce of silver is going to be worth less than an ounce of Gold...obviously. If you only carried Gold how much would you offer for a 9v battery? How much would you offer for a new tire for your vehicle? A few 1 Oz Silver bars may go along way. Few really keep tabs of the current price of Silver, they just know it is valuable. I think $500 in Silver bars will get you farther than $500 in Gold bars or bar. The downside to AU and AG is weight, carrying large amounts of these precious metals can be tedious. Gems are nice because they are small, lite, and easily concealable. $10,000 in Diamonds will be much liter and managable that $10k in gold.

Just my opinion guys...

reply to post by miracleretiree


I think you'll find by the time the USD$ is worthless, a new currency North American Union (NAU$) will be released.

reply to post by Elieser


Beautiful women for roadside ambushes. Have them laying on the side of the road pretending to injured. When good samaritans stop to help, come out from hiding and rob them. This way, you don't need to stock up on anything. You can just rob those who did.

Silver is very important but it only comes into play until things have settled and it is universally accepted as a form of currency (kind of like a general consensus in your community). You can still use silver to pay others for goods and services in the beginning. Precious metals will always be in high demand. If you look at history silver is a great investment as it is currently extremely undervalued.

Best thing you can do even if things go bad or not is to start learning agriculture and growing your own foods. Find friends who want to do this with you and split responsibilities and crops so you can share as a community. Even if nothing goes wrong, all the food you're getting is whole and natural (better than the crap in the mega markets).

reply to post by Ahabstar


While i do respect the terms of use at ATS a SHTF scenario will consider none of these. If it is the owners wish to refrain from issues that are sensitive to the terms of use, I cannot dispute that. However, in a true SHTF scenario the terms and use of a website will be meaningless. Would just like to point that out.

On topic: Anything one can think of from the early days of civilization would be fair game for trade: Slaves, prostitutes, herbal drugs, chemical drugs, pure food, pure water...and anything else someone could think of.

This is not intended to be a horrific list of bartering items. It is simply historic fact of what has been used as currency in the past.

Best of luck to everyone if TSHTF.

reply to post by Elieser





It is very important to have a good supply of water on hand but it takes up lots of space and it's also heavy. So here is a good solution. Years ago I began saving dehydrated water as a precaution. I now have the equivalent of 4,000 gallons down in the basement in case of major drought. Also I have lots of canned goods and jerky and candy bars and ammo too. So I think I'm ready for trading and bartering. Cheers.

reply to post by Elieser


Yourself. Your skills will be your currency.

reply to post by Elieser


well the best thing would probably be a plant of some sort that has medical benefits and can be traded for anything, something everybody would enjoy smoking and wouldnt like to go without

What ever you keep make sure it can't be found by the Army, local law enforcement or goverment body.

The reason for this is killing your neighbour in a SHTF senario to stop him steal you food is likely and acceptable in my book, killing the TPTB when they come to take your food for forced redistrabution is gonna get you in a world of hurt without food or water and possibly up against a wall and shot.

The worst people do deal with in a SHTF senario are the TPTB still trying to keep control which they will only do through force because they know no other way.

Hotel soap bars/ shampoo, matches, wine, coffee, chocolate, gum, toilet paper, how to books, ammunition,
antibiotic ointment, seeds, diet coke.....

first off, get a vehicle made before 1985-ish, what you want, carburator, minimum emissions equipment. fill the trunk, or bed if it's a truck, with, transmission fluid, brake fluid, and motor oil. also, get a very common tire/rim size, 14 or 15 inch, because, although large rims are popular now, 14 and 15 inch rims were the norm for 50 years or so. making those sizes more common. also, the vehicle should either be a ford or chevrolet, or a chrysler product (if you are in the US) preferable with a 300 cu inline six, or 302 v8 (Ford), a 250 inline six, 231 v6, or any small block V8(Chevrolet), or a 170 or 225 slant six, or 318 V8 (Chrysler product) not only are these all reliable and low maintenace engines, they are super numerous and parts are easy to come by, most of them were used in one form or another for at least 30 years and most parts are interchangeable.

buy or make a stil and learn how to make alcohol out of wood and other non food sources, this is not to drink, but to use as fuel and also to sterilize things, if you want to drink, grow corn and potatoes to turn into alcohol.

grow, corn, potatoes, squash, and peppers, maybe a few fruits if your climate permits them. get a few heifers and a bull, get several hens and a rooster.

learn to be a mechanic, carpenter, welder, learn to shoot, hunt, fish, farm, reload ammunition.

learn which plants are edible, which are not, same with fungus, example-- you can make a pretty decent soup out of dandelions.

learn to make butter. stock up on salt and black pepper, also, get a few bee hives, honey (which hasn't been mentioned yet) will be worth it's weight, in, well, it will probably be like diamonds.

i know this sounds like a lot, but honestly, i'm 24 and can do all these things, so it's not that big a deal, also, dig yourself an outhouse, and i suggest finding if it's possible to make your own paper. also, buy a loom.

i'm sure i've probably forgotten something, but i don't think so.