# Following Up on My Earlier Question What Should I Purchase Now for Barter Economy Before We're in TEOTWAWKI



## Gein (Oct 15, 2016)

From the response I got to an earlier question advising me not to use a future $10,000 insurance settlement for Gold & Diamonds to have if we reach TEOTWAWKI, what would you advise me to invest in for a barter economy?

I assume guns/firearms & Ammo are probably the most valuable assets to have for TEOTWAWKI. Anything else you'd recommend for a Barter economy World?

Thanks for your input.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

things that people will NEED - sugar, salt, flour, oatmeal, basic meds, soap, hygiene items - These items will always be good bargain items

Sin items however will bring the best return - cigarettes, other tobacco items, alcohol (learn how to make wine)


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

If you decide to stockpile ammunition for barter, either go with the most common caliber, or a variety of calibers. If you have what people need, you'll be able to barter.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Keep in mind, barter can be anything that someone else wants in exchange for something you have.
This is not limited to physical items. Those will be commonly traded, yes.
But skills and specialty tools to accomplish required tasks will be exceptionally valuable. Investing in yourself might be worth a part of that cash.

For tradeable goods, I think MM hit the big ones. Everybody will want them. But you'll need to consider what others could possibly have to trade to you.
What would you want/need that you're willing to trade for? If you stock pile that stuff, you won't be in the market for them, and won't be looking for trades.
It's an odd gamble to think about.


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

Some people will barter for what they need, others will barter for what they _want_. Booze, cancer sticks, sex.... well, you get the idea.


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

Little bottles of booze, ammo, health and hygiene products. You have to think outside the box looking for what others have missed and now need.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

I don't trust people.
If i was bartering with strangers, what is to keep them from coming back later to bushwhack me and take everything?


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

You don't barter on your own threshold.


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## ErickthePutz (Jan 10, 2021)

Back Pack Hack said:


> You don't barter on your own threshold.


So…Barter Town? Who sets that up?


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

ErickthePutz said:


> So…Barter Town? Who sets that up?


Whoever wants to.


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## ErickthePutz (Jan 10, 2021)

Back Pack Hack said:


> Whoever wants to.


And how is that more secure than dealing directly?


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

ErickthePutz said:


> And how is that more secure than dealing directly?


I think you took a wrong turn somewhere in the last 5 posts.

I said don't barter on your own threshold. I never said don't barter F2F.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Chipper said:


> Little bottles of booze, ammo, health and hygiene products. You have to think outside the box looking for what others have missed and now need.


Exactly. As we learned from Toronto Girl who survived the collapse of the USSR as a teen ager in the Ukraine. The big barter items were cigarettes..vodka and toilet paper. They ate house cats they called roof rabbits and her mama made soap out of dog fat in the back yard. Hope I aint told this story too much lol.She said gold and silver were not hot items.


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## Gein (Oct 15, 2016)

Maine-Marine said:


> things that people will NEED - sugar, salt, flour, oatmeal, basic meds, soap, hygiene items - These items will always be good bargain items
> 
> Sin items however will bring the best return - cigarettes, other tobacco items, alcohol (learn how to make wine)


Thank you Good suggestions


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## Gein (Oct 15, 2016)

paraquack said:


> If you decide to stockpile ammunition for barter, either go with the most common caliber, or a variety of calibers. If you have what people need, you'll be able to barter.


Do you think Ammo is better to stockpile then guns? Thanks


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

Gein said:


> Do you think Ammo is better to stockpile then guns? Thanks


It can be. I have ammo in calibers I don't have guns chambered in.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Gein said:


> Do you think Ammo is better to stockpile then guns? Thanks


my gut answer to the above

Post SHTF - if you did not have a gun before, not sure i want you to have one now.....you will either hurt me, yourself , or somebody else

Ammo - means you already have a weapon


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## stowlin (Apr 25, 2016)

$10,000 hmm;

a. Stills, budget about $4,000 and go with the cheapest on amazon first; learn it and when you figure it out spend the balance on a unit that makes more. The final investment will be in containers so you can package and barter it. Ultimately I'd have 3, the initial small one, a larger beer type and a third for ethanol. 

b. Reloading, budget $3,000, and do it just like "a" buy an affordable re loading device and put the resources into a variety of dies and components so you can service some who others can't. 

c. Canning Foods, budget $3,000 for the pressure cookers and raw material (can's / jars) to preserve foods that you'll then barter.


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## Gein (Oct 15, 2016)

So isn't having more Ammo on hand better for barter than guns just to get cheaper items to trade for?


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## ErickthePutz (Jan 10, 2021)

Back Pack Hack said:


> I think you took a wrong turn somewhere in the last 5 posts.
> 
> I said don't barter on your own threshold. I never said don't barter F2F.


And of course that person would NEVER think to follow you home…


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

ErickthePutz said:


> And of course that person would NEVER think to follow you home…


Speculation.

But let's run with it for the moment. What safer alternative would you suggest?


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

ErickthePutz said:


> And of course that person would NEVER think to follow you home…


Yeah, we're all too stupid to consider that possibility....


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## Alteredstate (Jul 7, 2016)

Pussy, seems to be the most bartered item in the world


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## wraithofroncollins (11 mo ago)

Gein said:


> From the response I got to an earlier question advising me not to use a future $10,000 insurance settlement for Gold & Diamonds to have if we reach TEOTWAWKI, what would you advise me to invest in for a barter economy?
> 
> I assume guns/firearms & Ammo are probably the most valuable assets to have for TEOTWAWKI. Anything else you'd recommend for a Barter economy World?
> 
> Thanks for your input.


Heirloom seeds, land, hand tools, chickens, water filters, OTC medicines, bicycles (with gas prices and they will probably get worse), clothing, shoes, first aid kits and so on...


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

Alteredstate said:


> Pussy, seems to be the most bartered item in the world


And the relevance of that would be....?


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Back Pack Hack said:


> And the relevance of that would be....?


You were the first to bring up sex as a barter thing...
I think he's just agreeing with you.


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

Kauboy said:


> You were the first to bring up sex as a barter thing...
> I think he's just agreeing with you.


Oh. It appears the extraneous comma confused me. I thought someone was getting called a pussy.


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## Gein (Oct 15, 2016)

wraithofroncollins said:


> Heirloom seeds, land, hand tools, chickens, water filters, OTC medicines, bicycles (with gas prices and they will probably get worse), clothing, shoes, first aid kits and so on...


I like your idea of OTC Medicines, hand tools. Bicycles are going to take up too much room for my purposes. I still overall like the idea of hand guns, firearms & Ammo the best with Freeze dried canned food & OTC medicine though they probably have a 1-2 year life.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Gein said:


> I like your idea of OTC Medicines, hand tools. Bicycles are going to take up too much room for my purposes. I still overall like the idea of hand guns, firearms & Ammo the best with Freeze dried canned food & OTC medicine though they probably have a 1-2 year life.


Most medications, including prescription antibiotics, have an effective life FAR beyond the "best by" dates on the labels.
I think it was a branch of the military that did a study on potency for medications, and found the majority of them to still be safe and ~90% potent 25 years after their label date.
I'll see if I can find the study, if nobody beats me to it.

EDIT:
Study in 2012: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/ja...ations do not,actual long-term drug stability.

For additional research, look into the "Shelf Life Extension Program (SLEP)" the FDA established for the DoD.


> "The aim of the SLEP program was to reduce medication costs for the military. SLEP has found that 88% of 122 different drugs stored under ideal conditions should have their expiration dates extended more than 1 year, with an average extension of 66 months, and a maximum extension of 278 months."


Source: Drug expiry debate: the myth and the reality


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## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

Just curious - why would precious stones (like diamonds) be worth anything in TEOTWAWKI?


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## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

Kauboy said:


> Most medications, including prescription antibiotics, have an effective life FAR beyond the "best by" dates on the labels.
> I think it was a branch of the military that did a study on potency for medications, and found the majority of them to still be safe and ~90% potent 25 years after their label date.
> I'll see if I can find the study, if nobody beats me to it.
> 
> ...


I'm still using cortizone cream that's about more than a year past its due date. Still works nicely!
If it's only a few months expired - don't throw it away. It could stretch to at least a year or even more. 
Sure, it's possible that its efficacy has been reduced (or maybe not) - but, if you don't have a lot, it's better than nothing.


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## Mr.penguin (9 mo ago)

I Think aluminum and steel items would be worth more than its weight in gold. Anything with utility, especially tools like knifes, shovels, and axes. Pots and pans. car parts, building materials.


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

IMO, bartering post SHTF can only happen if/when societal conditions become stabilized. Well, obviously if you're desperate, what else are you gonna do? But for my money, shoring up supplies for whatever it is you and your family needs is a better investment.


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## MaterielGeneral (Jan 27, 2015)

Skills

My buddy is building a blacksmith shop and is slowly buying the tools for it.


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## Mr.penguin (9 mo ago)

Alteredstate said:


> Pussy, seems to be the most bartered item in the world


So you are saying I should keep sex toys for barter and stockpile lube and dirty pictures?


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Gein said:


> So isn't having more Ammo on hand better for barter than guns just to get cheaper items to trade for?


Like booze. You get more in return for small
Bottles than one big bottle. You will get more proportionally for a few rounds of ammo than one firearm. Plus it’s more likely to make
Multiple smaller trades than one big one. JMHO


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

A nice lady named Toronto Girl who used to post on here quite a bit..survived the collapse of the USSR as a teenager in the Ukraine..early 90s? Maybe. She said gold was cheap. The hot barter items were vodka..cigarettes and toilet paper. Anybody who had a lot of those things did ok. They called cats roof rabbits and apparently ate em a lot. Her Mama made soap ouf of dog fat in the back yard on an open fire.


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## jbrooks19 (May 22, 2014)

Honestly, if I didn't know you very well pre-collapse, then I would likely not trade with you unless it was under necessity - I don't trust people now, let alone when
crap goes south,..


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