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GRID DOWN LONG TERM: BEST BARTER ITEMS TO HOARD
Real trading will be based On ‘long term’ items. Seeds, not food. Arrows, not ammo. Tools, not filters. See, once the ‘short duration expendables’ are consumed, you won’t be re-supplying, you’ll be making your own or doing without. From turning your own arrow shafts, to cutting arrowheads from old license plates; from building filtration weirs to filter water, to needing copper tubing to make ‘wood-fired-water-heaters’.
Knowledge and durable supplies (axes, hammers, spoke shaves, saw blades, etc.) will be the real money. He who has stocked dozens of saw blades will be king. He who sits on a case of toilet paper will be sad he didn’t learn how to replace it with what they used 200 years ago, instead (FYI, toilet paper is only about a 100-year old concept – ask yourself, what did they use before then, and get a real clue – because THAT is VERY valuable in the long term!)
So, forget stocking for that 2-week event, it’s not that difficult. The hard part is stocking for the total paradigm shift, that few remember how to do much of. You won’t be making your own saw blades anytime soon. Now, ask yourself, what else will you NOT be making, that you need to learn how to make, or replace with older technology, before you need it (or need to trade it).
The best barter items list would look like this:
- 1.Tools (saw blades, hatchets, axe heads, hammer heads – many sourceable from auctions, garage sales, etc.)
- 2. A simple still (or the components to assemble one), as this will make your alcohol for drinking, cleaning, medical use, etc. (don’t forget to learn how to make the corn
mash itself, or to have extra parts put back) - 3. Learn to make alternative bows (PVC bows are excellent, weather-proof), and how to turn arrow shafts, as well as how to lace and tie bowstrings – not all string will suffice for it – dacron works well
- 4. Learn to make filtration weirs for water. Forget store filtration units, understand how rain barrels work, how to purify water with boiling, and how settlement works to remove metals. Extra barrels are highly tradeable.
- 5. Forget trading foods, long-term you will have far more demand for trading seeds. Those with the most-seeds and largest fresh selection will draw the best trades.
- 6. Long-term storable items are great (salt, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, some cheeses, dehydrated or cured foods possibly). He who can build a primitive dehydrator, and had the parts to trade to others, will be king. Dried beans and salt-cured hams can last 24 months, these will be in demand as well. Jerky was used and looked-at differently 200 years ago (the jerky was used as a stew meat with the salt extracted to flavor soups and stews – knowing this extends the use of your stocks – and IS TRADEABLE INFORMATION!)
- 7. Survival information is valuable, and in a time when it is desperately needed, being able to have a few copies of condensed information on-hand and barter-ready will be very valuable, indeed. Type up and print a dozen copies of general information that others may not readily have.
- 8. Fire-making will ALWAYS be critical, and having a dozen extra ferroceramic rods and striking steels will be worth their weight in gold, if it all goes south.
- 9. Enough can’t be said for water containers. Seems simple now, but if things go wrong, one of the hardest things to usually find is a good canteen or water jug. Put enough back for yourself, but put more back for trade. The harder to break, the better. I’ve got a dozen military 1-qt canteens laying around here than there, in a pinch, I have 2-3 I’ll use, but the rest can be had – for a price.
- 10. Everyone needs a warm place to sleep. Funny thing is, linens wear out pretty fast – as do blankets. A good blanket is like a good coat. We’ve all planned for clothes (I hope), but when’s the last time you heard someone brag about having a couple of good wool blankets put back? I’ve got two good wool blankets. I paid $40 each for them. Let the power go out, in November, and you not have one. I don’t know how much you’re willing to pay for them, but I know what you’re going to trade me for them, if you don’t want to freeze at night. I won’t trade both at all, but I’ll be looking for what would be several thousand dollars worth of trade for the one I can ‘spare’.
See, barter comes down to how desperate (or how much does your life depend on it) you are, as to how critical it really is to have for barter. Can you live without toilet paper, versus that last wool blanket? THIS is how barter REALLY works.
Barter is far scarier than you can even understand, if you are UNABLE to assess ‘critical need’ from ‘whimsy want’ right now. Fire, water, shelter, warmth – yeah, you’re going to pay dearly for what you didn’t see fit to pack now. Think about critical needs, before you think all that ammo is so important. I bet my wool blanket is worth AT LEAST all of your ammo, if you’re cold and we’re both armed. Again, don’t plan on thuggery, stock what you can’t afford to trade for. Have extras to trade yourself, in regards to those critical things we MUST have.
Toilet paper? LOL, Davey Crockett didn’t have toilet paper and he did just fine. HE DID have a weapon, a knife, a fire flint, a good blanket, and good clothes and boots. He traded horses, burros, saddles and whiskey. Take a 3-year, 1,000 mile trip in your mind, and imagine only meeting others on the road like yourself. Each packed differently, not all are nice, not all are passive. Now, prepare for the trip in your mind and take it. What do you see yourself needing, each day, as the seasons change, as the environment changes, and as bad and good people cross your path.
Once again, toilet paper is like a good cigar or stick of chewing gum. It might give you ‘modern comfort’, but there are far more important things you need first.
Did you pack them?
SOURCE:BIOPREPPER.COM
Other useful resources:
Survival MD (Best Post SHTF Medical Survival Guide Ever)
Blackout USA (EMP survival and preparedness guide)
Backyard Innovator (All Year Round Source Of Fresh Meat,Vegetables And Clean Drinking Water)
Conquering the coming collapse (Financial advice and preparedness )
Liberty Generator (Easy DIY to build your own off-grid free energy device)
Backyard Liberty (Easy and cheap DIY Aquaponic system to grow your organic and living food bank)
Bullet Proof Home (A Prepper’s Guide in Safeguarding a Home )
Family Self Defense (Best Self Defense Strategies For You And Your Family)
Sold Out After Crisis (Best 37 Items To Hoard For A Long Term Crisis)
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I’m stocking weed. Gonna be worth a literal fortune if I don’t smoke it all.
During the war in Serbia or former Yugoslavia a town of 35,000 people were cut off from the outside world for over year, not knowing how long this would last. One of the survivors listed the top items for barter:
Firstly: He said the first people raided were the rich and wealthy homes, most were killed.
Secondly: If you tried to defend yourself or family alone – you were dead, regardless of your weapons or preparation.
Thirdly: Those that survived had grouped together with at least several men per group and were armed. If you were not armed you were toast.
Gold and Silver – were worth nothing – how do you barter a gold coin or bar that you bought for $300-1500 and get change? What is gold worth – being that one day is worth $300oz, the next day 1500oz, no constant worth.
The most valuable items were in relative order this person wrote:
1. Guns – period were the #one barter item if you could part with one or have extra – which was very rare.
2. Semi or full auto guns and ammo, ammo, ammo and magazines. Ammo was the most sought after.
3. Bic Lighters
4. Powdered Gravy for rice, beans and dried foods, to give them a palatable taste.
5. Canned goods
6. First Aid supplies.
I disagree with your number one choice. You barter guns or ammo just one time, and you are painting a bullseye on your back. Once you trade ammo, one of your own bullets may end your life, and everything you prepped for belongs to your enemy.
High-efficiency, wood-fired portable stoves come to mind as a vital survival implement and I have many to barter and at the present time I will accept that worthless fiat cash which I will quickly turn into more GR1s. If you want to actually heat that #4 menu item that JarheadUSMC rightly suggests – all the more reason to consider. Also with a modified pressure-cooker on it you can distill water. Runs on small amounts of native fuels and in fact you could use a tire to fire it. Burns 10x efficiency of wood fires and does not attract attention. Fits in the fireplace of wherever your post-apocalyptic wanderings take you – or shelter in place. GordonRocketCompany.com Send me a note about your thoughts on the design and get $25 off. My best patriot effort, this. Self-sufficiency is the only sufficiency. David Gordon
But remember, you first have to break the martial law thugs that will be stealing everything you have at gun point. If you want a real plan to remove the gov from its power over your community, you need to read this story. I found this the one and only true plan to stop the police state forces from your city:
/protests-demonstrations/2015/03/martial-law-a-citizens-handbook-2455546.html
An Emergency Well Tube has tremendous barter potential. It could be straight up traded or used to secure water for yourself and your family from someone elses well (as well as the well owner). Folks who plan to bug out to the country better have a skill or resource to offer when they get there; this tool fits the bill nicely. Wells may be the most reliable source of clean water in an extended crisis. The Emergency Well Tube allows you to draw water from a well without electricity and without having to pull the pump and mechanical components from the well casing. Check it out at http://www.emergencywelltube.com.