Trade items, what are you bringing?

[Hunter Valley Preppers]

I will not be introducing anything into my prepes that will not benefit my family first and foremost. There, i guarantee will be items that people will want, and if it benefits us then yes, i may trade. Key word MAY
Adding items you know others will want but may not benefit yourself directly i think is silly ie: Cigarettes...Why would you plan these in if you do not smoke??

 

[Gazrok]

I heard you can us a tampon to help with bullet wounds, not sure about whether that is true but kinda a neat idea

Well, tampons are made to absorb blood, so yeah, they work good for any would that will bleed a lot. Same holds for maxi pads. I'm sure my fellow horse folk here will back me up in saying that horse wounds tend to be bigger, and may require a maxi pad over a normal bandage....

As for trading....once things settle down after everything goes loco....I'd like to use my place as a trading post. I have some unique ideas on it. If I can stick to my timeline, and assuming if the world goes crazy, it does it AFTER this timeline, I hope to be able to offer excess home-canned food, excess water, reloaded ammo, tobacco, homemade alcohol, biodiesel, medical services, and of course trade items others have supplied for these items. We'd trade it for things other folks loot in the cities, etc. (so we don't have to risk getting shot). I have some unique ideas I'm still ironing out on how to conduct safe trade. I'll post them here when I've finished.

My pick for trade items....cigarettes. They are small, will be in demand, easily divisible, and folks will trade very unequally for them. (and I have no use for them, so won't miss 'em)

 

[GatherYeAcorns]

A mix of everything, but definitely lots of ammo.

 

[Sbrosky1]

I look at my bug in location(farmland) surrounded by farmers. I take my couponing into account. I have tons of tooth brushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, bar soap, laundry detergent, dish liquid, deodorant, shave cream, razors, feminine tampons and pads. I have enough to food to feed my family for 5 months and still adding to it. I put 120 cans of veggies on the shelf and only cost me $30. I put 100 more boxes of hamburger helper meals on the shelf for under $75. When my food runs out I can trade the farmers around me for fresh eggs and milk using cleaning and hygiene supplies. Colgate toothpaste is free using a coupon, doesn't cost me anything to acquire but will come in handy 6 months to a year post SHTF.

 

[sharkbait]

"What am I bringing to trade?" After tshtf,i'm not bringing a damn thing to trade.I put all my efforts into self sustainability and protecting my family and I will not jeopardize that.

I will however barter with some of my farming neighbors with whom we've already talked about and I do have some stuff for bartering when things return to a little normalcy,but depending on the situation,we should be able to hold out for a least a year without dependence on others.

@GatherYeAcorns-I would never trade ammo after an event of any kind to anybody or for any reason.One of the worst ways to die,IMO,would be for you or one of your family or group members to get shot with your own stash.

 

[Sbrosky1]

Yeah, I'm not givin up ammo. Toothpaste yes. Ammo no

 

[DrHenley]

Take a look around the world and at history. Even in the worst of times and the worst of places there are markets where people trade. It's been happening ever since the first time someone traded some shiny sea shells for a fur, and there is no reason to believe it won't happen in the SHTF.

Sure, you can be a hermit for the rest of your life, but what kind of life is that? That's your call, of course. If you just want to be alone and left alone, have at it. You'll get no grief from me. But the bulk of humanity is going to do what they have always done.

I will have an excess of some food items, 22 ammo, precious metals, and water that I will trade for the things I need. Not sure exactly what I'll need, my crystal ball is a bit cloudy on that subject, but I'm sure I'll need something.

 

[Gazrok]

There's a great story out on the web...a first hand account from a man in Serbia, who describes their SHTF situation really well.
Trade is an important part of it too.

Even in the worst of times and the worst of places there are markets where people trade. It's been happening ever since the first time someone traded some shiny sea shells for a fur, and there is no reason to believe it won't happen in the SHTF

You are absolutely correct. For example, a scavenger may find a cache of 9mm bullets, but they use a .40. The bullets are useless to them, but gold to someone with a 9mm, and so on.

 

[Overlord]

am taking a ream of cigarettes. even during Typhoon Ondoy here, people were trading cigarettes for food in our area

 

[DrHenley]

Have you read the book One Second After? The author brings up a good point. The protagonist expects cigarettes to be the coin of the realm in the SHTF, and for a brief while they were. Problem was, cigarettes aren't something people just put away until they need them, they start using them immediately. They all got smoked pretty quickly and then they were gone. 22LR bullets became the common currency after that.

 

[Gazrok]

I stocked up on cigarettes right before Y2K. Took me a while to get rid of them (I don't smoke), but I did finally get rid of them...at a slight loss, but it was good to be prepped.
Any whiff of anything going down, and I'll be sure to buy up a bunch again though. I agree they will become a great currency item:

1) They are small and easy to carry
2) Easily divisible
3) Something I don't have a use for, so don't mind giving up
4) In high demand by others

Perfect criteria for a currency if you ask me. .22 ammo for the same reasons (except 3)
Those folks who bought precious metals will be SOL. That's only a hedge against ONE SHTF scenario (currency crash). For all others, you'll never get the same purchasing power for it, if anything.
Don't get me wrong, if I could afford to get enough of it (gold), I would, just as a hedge for that one case, but only if I had the dough to spare after getting more sensible preps.

 

[ChancesR]

try stocking up on skills if you can or don't want to hoard stuff.... like CPR, picking a lock, First Aid, or for long term how to make things people will need out of things you can loot from abandoned buildings and stores like a still for water purification or how to start and control a fire and where or what will burn safely. and above all how to work with and calm down panicked people so they wont just kill you or if you need them will help you. people in a bad situation run on instinct not intelligence so be careful to learn that. you may need people or need to not be killed by the mob of people that will rise up

 

[Gazrok]

Having a skill is a pretty good way to ensure survivability. Even if you or a group get taken by a gang of rovers, if you have a skill, can likely keep you alive.
Of course, having skills AND preps....

 

[DrHenley]

Those folks who bought precious metals will be SOL. That's only a hedge against ONE SHTF scenario (currency crash). For all others, you'll never get the same purchasing power for it, if anything..

The SHTF will be a golden opportunity to build up your PMs, not spend them. They will become valuable eventually.

 

[Gazrok]

Eventually, I agree.
Anyone ever read that account from a Bosnian war survivor? Pretty easy to find the story.
Anyhow, he lived without power for a year, in a blockaded city of about 6000 people...so a real SHTF scenario.
He told about the things that worked well in the barter situation.

Lighters, batteries, ammo, food, alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, medicine

And Services, like prostitution, medical services, repair services, fixing shoes, making lamp oil, refilling lighters, etc.

 

[Darryl J.]

feminine products (side note on that, I heard you can us a tampon to help with bullet wounds, not sure about whether that is true but kinda a neat idea)

Feminine products are indeed great for using as bandages. When I taught Self Aid/Buddy Care in the Military, I would bring that up all the time. One day I had one of my troops raise their hand and tell me a story where a maxi pad was used for a severe laceration. So, see it has been used in the past.