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

Originally posted by dave_welch
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.

This +1 in any SHTF senario being a jack of all trades is a must.

reply to post by joechip


Huzzah! I will have a skill to barter in a post-apocalyptic 'society' (storyteller). A very good point.

Also strongly agree with the guy who mentioned morphine. As someone who suffers from chronic lumbar pain, I can tell you that painkillers would be one of the things I'd be hunter-gathering for.

I'd also suggest anyone who has decent philosophical and sociological ideas will be prized as a 'brain' to help the survivalist seed societies grow. There was a great film out a few years ago, called 'Defiance' regarding Polish Jews who began a small society under the radar when the Nazis invaded. They formed a small 'saboteur-like' armed resistance against the Nazis, but managed to protect the non-military aspects of their little society too, recognising the need to balance military prowess with other skill sets. Worth a watch if considering the kind of tensions such societies might encounter.

Food
Medical supplies
hygenic supplies
manual tools
water
tobbacco and tobbacco seeds
food seeds
weaponry
clothing/shoes
nails and screws
bicycles
boats
fishing equipment
Camping equipment
propane
matches and lighters

Honestly, in the event of a global economic meltdown, and leaving the idea that a or the central government is still in place, the backup currency to be used is Gold & Silver. It's what we've been told for years. The way your describing your panic is not in the event of the Governments collapsing, just an economic collapse. In the event of an economic collapse, the government would surely enforce and use this currency, without resorting to colonial days where you traded bread for a goat

Great idea for a topic...S&F

I have actually commented in several past survival posts pointing out the very idea you postulate here. I have a supply of silver coins I put back many years ago just for bartering for incidentals. But the essentials of water, food, shelter, guns and ammo need to be thought of in advance.

The emergency water can be stored in a food-grade 55 gal drum in a dark cool place. They can be purchased here:

beprepared.com...

I have bought #10 cans of freeze dried foods as sold here:

beprepared.com...

Beyond that, one of the best books out there on everyday survival tips is "When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes by Cory Lundin. This informative book can be ordered at:

www.amazon.com...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298721400&sr=1-1

Hope this helps someone get prepared.

gold and silver might be of some use, who knows some metal munching aliens might come along

reply to post by kdog1982



Just fyi.. most poultry hatcheries are having a 3 month waiting period to get chicks!(the feed store posted a sign" there is a chicken shortage in 2011, pre order chicks limited supply) I knew this was coming and have stockpiled chickens/roosters.. Just planted 2 acres of chicken feed (corn,oats, millit and sunflowers) to sustain the flocks....
My phone is ringing off the hook with people "begging" for chickens..(wont sell any yet) no one. cant get hens anywhere! I am waiting for the price of eggs to skyrocket and planted a huge people garden too.

I will trade excess food (and hope not to get caught!)

If you want chickens and CANT get hens....

1) call farmers markets for "fertile eggs" that have not been washed or refridgerated... buy a incubator. fast... start hatching your own now....

2) contact country churches, country feed stores, country auctions, country stores, 4 H clubs, and look for board with signs of folks that sell "yard eggs" usually fertile.. ASK and ACT as though you are going to eat eggs, but you want unwashed and not in fridge eggs.... (DO NOT BE PICKY ABOUT HEN BREED, YOU WILL BE LUCKY JUST TO GET A FEW FERTILE EGGS ANY BREED!) purchase as many as your incubator will hold.. (1/2 will be roosters) LEARN how to tell sex of chicks and get rid of most of the roosters... my prediction????? hens/pullets will sell for $50 each at least... I will bet on it....

id say petrol would be the best thing look at how much the price if it is going up anyway. In times of despiration id say it would be worth more then its weight in gold

AK-47 with as many spare parts as you can manage
9mm, .22LR, .45 ACP
7.62 x 39mm soviet rnds
5.56mm NATO rnds
7.62mm NATO rnds
12g and 20g shotgun shells vareity pack(slug,birdshot,incendary, etc)
as many explosive devices as you can manage
copies of current military field and survival manuals

Any "thing" that you have that is in excess of your own need is barterable, so it doesn't much matter what you pick. Aside from this, maybe harder to anticipate, are the weirder, almost goofy sounding things that people haven't thought of. Here again, you could just pick just about anything and just have vast quantities on hand. Ideally, it might be something that doesn't have an expiration date, is relatively portable and easy to store. Copper, rubber, or any other kind of wire or tubing, aluminum foil, pens, knives, reading glasses, duct tape, solar blankets, batteries and battery chargers, gloves, socks, glue, candles or candle wicks, scalpels, rubbing alcohol, lime, bleach, nail files, flint, steel wool, chocolate, hypodermic syringes. water purification pills, sewing needles, thread. Anything easy to stockpile.

But the best things to barter might be those that don't run out or leave your possession. As many have said, there's your energy (work) and your skills (soap or candle or medicine making, baking, cooking, and so on), If these involve special supplies, you might want to make sure to stock up on those or learn how to get or make them. There's also the service angle you can leverage from your tools or equipment setups. Things you can lend to someone or let them use without them taking it away from you and where in exchange for their use, you might be able to get a portion of what they produce. Think moonshine stills, wine making, or beer brewing equipment; chain saws, gristmills, garden tools, welding torches. So again, if this is your angle, stock up on the supplies you might need to keep them running.

Anyhow, just some not-quite-awake-yet thoughts.

Depending on what country/area you find your self in, I think you will find children make good units of exchange.
failing that...if your wife is pretty, and not to diseased...
I saw on TV in some places that sisters sometimes might be rented out.
( this might work better than an outright trade, and would provide a more long term income than out right trade.)

though if you don't bargain from strength people will have a tendancy to just trade your life for what ever you have...
which hardly seem like fair trade...
but then fair trade
( nafta gatt nau nwo etc )
is what got us into this mess in the first place

reply to post by Elieser


When the bottom drops out on society, a lot of things we depend on, that come from far away, increase in worth, sugar and coffee are good examples. The trick is to know the scenario - if your talking total sudden apocalypse, or a gradual descent into economic mediocrity. Myself I've been preparing more for the sudden model. Dried and canned foods, water filtration systems, firesticks and matches, candles, dynamo powered radios/flashlights, weapons and ammo, seed and tools for subsistence farming, firstaid supplies. All of these things will have a great trading value, that will only rise if the emergency is a long one.
More important than what to trade is where to trade. When the situation is so bad that barter is being used for commerce, the last place you want to be is in the city. Find yourself a small community and integrate if you wish to survive. Having a good amount of things to barter will make it easier, but you will need some skills useful to the community.
I wish you luck, I get the 'feeling' we're all going to need a lot of luck to survive the near future.

Some really cool hats and some really cool knives would be good to have...

Im sure pimps will do just fine. They sell women. Truth be told. most women sell themselves everyday for monetary gain anyway. Married = sex = money. Job and low cut necklines and short dresses = ? = money. Strippers = more money than even a respectable job. Prostitutes = money for the owner of the women. Women will be the most useful commodity when the system breaks. They will be worth money.

I think - for trading purposes only, of course - the thing to have is alcohol. Just because TSHTF doesnt mean people will want to give their vices.

reply to post by Elieser


I would suggest

(don't laugh)

pellets/ bb's for air rifles and .22 bullets.

They are small and almost everyone has one or both.
these are both good game getters to feed the family.
They take up very little room.
They are still CHEAP.

look up methods of making soap. The basic process is using normally discarded bits (fat and ashes).

Abilities may be better at times than possessions. Wine/Booze/Beer take up a lot of room. Have the tools and make it if your in an area with the basic components. Obviously, the wine or beer would be vastly easier.

Phenomium, Danbones, anyone else.

I'm on the verge of pissed but will treat these suggestions of "human barter" as jokes . maybe these are general suggestions about mans ability to sink to the lowest levels.

Dan,

You of all people im surprised at.

I would keep it simple and stock the hell out of food and water. Enough for 5 years or so Whatever else I may need I can get if I have enough of those two basics.

Originally posted by Phenomium
Im sure pimps will do just fine. They sell women. Truth be told. most women sell themselves everyday for monetary gain anyway. Married = sex = money. Job and low cut necklines and short dresses = ? = money. Strippers = more money than even a respectable job. Prostitutes = money for the owner of the women. Women will be the most useful commodity when the system breaks. They will be worth money.

What felonius said. I don't think you would last very long because in a society where people have to barter for the basics, your mindset just wouldn't fit in.

You would be ostracized or killed.

If you intend keeping livestock, a supply of veterinary meds will be needed too. What I would like to lay my hands on before a SHTF senario are euthanasia drugs for my dogs . They're not hunting dogs and I would not be able to care for them as well as fight for the survival of my family but I do love them dearly and I certainly don't want them to suffer.