Bartering items & your thoughts

[Tc343]

I know ammo, food, water, exc are all good bartering items. But it got me thinking outside the box at some items people will need and probably don't have a stock pile of. I'd like to hear your thoughts on different items.

A big one I have been considering is a carton of smokes. I don't smoke but I figured it would be a great item to use for trade that is "relatively" cheap but would run out fast in a major situation. They are very light to and wouldn't add much weight. This way atleast I wouldn't have to trade vital supplies like food, water, ammunition, exc.

 

[snapping turtle]

All of the "sin" products will work well. They will be in demand with individuals that have habits that need fed.

Playing cards, lighters. Tampons toilet paper, flashlights. Will be needed at first then the tools supplies for rebuilding and gas will come I to play. Then after a bit the antibiotics and medical supplies.

Certian an things that can eventually be used against you are best not bartered. Ammo. Guns. Knives etc.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

I'm not a smoker either, but thought about making a similar investment, not only for trade/currency, but as I have some friends who smoke who I might want to help keep their heads straight. I have considered tins of loose tobacco instead of cigs.

The reason I have not put any money into this stuff is that I just do not like tobacco and never have. I know it could come in handy, but it's hard for me to invest in things I cannot use myself. Instead I have been buying pints of liquor. I don't drink more than a few beers a year, but at least vodka and similar spirits have practical uses for me as well as the primary utility of barter/currency.



Here's one for the tobacco smokers on INGO, how long will a carton of cigs be worth smoking? Would you smoke a ten year old pack of cigs if you were hard up? Any experience with tins of loose tobacco regarding shelf life?

 

[nra4ever]

I don't smoke but smokes need to be kept fresh. You would be better off with liquor it keeps longer. Pints are a real good idea but cost more for what you get. The best values are in a 5th liter or 1.5

 

[littletommy]

I don't know.....the topic of storing smokes for barter has come up before around here, and I'm thinking most agreed that freezing would be the best way to keep them "fresh". I have also considered the snuff type tobacco, especially in the plastic cans, they seem to last longer. I have been buying the small, airline sized bottles of various liquors for awhile, and have a pretty good stockpile, like someone else said, the vodka has many uses. I also buy, everytime I see it, a few cans of zippo lighter fluid, figure it may come in handy some day, and I have several zippos. Flints for zippos, too.

Me and Mrs. Littletommy do a lot of couponing, and, being the tight ass that I am, have found myself buying stuff, mainly canned goods, that we don't really like, or probably would never eat, to use as barter items, but that's only if I can get something REALLY cheap. That has the added attraction of being on hand in the worst case scenario, it may suck, and may not be something we like, but it's food.

 

[Bunnykid68]

Do not freeze them unless you have them vacuumed packed and only in a deep freezer. If you put them in a standard freezer on your fridge they will simply dry out very fast as the humidity is sucked out of the fridge.

I have smoked dried out old cigarettes, I would just assume eat a skunks butt than do that again

 

[buckstopshere]

I travel about 24 weeks a year. I always grab the bottles of shampoo, condition, lotion and soap. Great for barter.

As for the tobacco, I'm not sure but maybe a humidor would help. Works on cigars.

Would not not be a bad idea to lean to grow weed and hemp.

 

[x10]

cheap whiskey or other type of booze, it stores forever doubles as painkiller, and will be highly desirable

 

[nightgaunt]

Even airline sizes of booze might be good if your BOB is small. Beef jerky, AA and AAA batteries, Bic lighters, and bubblegum are all good barter items.

 

[10-32]

I've got a lot AA and AAA batteries, small METAL flash lights that run on one battery I picked up for a $1 each, and some of the LED lanterns that Menards ran on sale for 2.99 & 4.99 that I bought just for bartering. The lanterns probably won't last long in the rough outdoors but for in home emergencies they are fine.

I've been thinking about buying a few cheap am/fm radios that run on one AA/AAA battery but for what I want to pay, I've only been able to find the ones with a off/on/volume knob and a scan button. I'd rather have some with a tuner knob because the scan feature usually skips over weaker signals. Sometime that weaker signal may be all that's out there.

 

[spectre327]

I was just about to start a thread on this particular subject as I turned my comp.
Candy would also be good as a comfort item and barter tool

 

[MCgrease08]

It never hurts to buy the bulk packages of match books. A couple thousand books won't take up much space. Everybody needs fire.

 

[No2rdame]

cheap whiskey or other type of booze, it stores forever doubles as painkiller, and will be highly desirable

This. Clear liquors are especially good because they can also be used as antiseptics. High proof liquors are also good for fire. As others have pointed out cigarettes would be good once SHTF but there's no easy way to stock up on them now because of the short shelf life.

 

[Enkrypter]

Cigarettes, Condoms, Chapstick, Soap, makeup, bandages, and socks will be gold!

Some of these are highly perishable and wont last long though. Socks would be a good thing to stock up on. Chapstick or petroleum jelly would be another.

Vanity, Sex, and Vices won't go anywhere...

 

[metaldog]

What about simple (yet high demand) commodities?
Coffee, salt, sugar, oil, etc....

 

[Tranquil]

I would stock up on fish antibiotics, honestly. In a SHTF situation, having access to fight off infection would be a huge upperhand in terms of bartering. They are the same as human antibiotics but you don't need a prescription to buy them. Another thing I would keep handy for bartering would be building supplies. Nails don't take up much room at all and if you're in a situation where there's widespread panic and riots, boarding up a house would be on the top of a lot of peoples lists.

Cigarettes? No. Canned tabacco and rolling papers to barter? Absolutely.

 

[churchmouse]

Do not freeze them unless you have them vacuumed packed and only in a deep freezer. If you put them in a standard freezer on your fridge they will simply dry out very fast as the humidity is sucked out of the fridge.

I have smoked dried out old cigarettes, I would just assume eat a skunks butt than do that again

I can see you dinning on skunk butt....really I can. Beer in one hand....raw butt in the other.

Seriously, even dried out skunk butt (smokes) will be worth something in a SHTF scenario. Go a week with none and the weak who can not stop will smoke rolled underwear if they have to.

 

[littletommy]

Absolutely! Everyone should stockpile at least a few 5lb boxes of #8 and #16 nails, would be priceless in shtf! Another similar item is tarps, you can buy em cheap at Harbor freight, and there will always be plenty of uses for em. This leads to the question, how many actually have sheets of plywood stored away for a shtf scenario?

Also, since the wind storm several years back, I've been buying spare chainsaw chains, bar oil, and even a few cheapo chainsaws....just in case. You couldn't find any of that stuff for weeks after the storm went through.

 

[Tranquil]

Absolutely! Everyone should stockpile at least a few 5lb boxes of #8 and #16 nails, would be priceless in shtf! Another similar item is tarps, you can buy em cheap at Harbor freight, and there will always be plenty of uses for em. This leads to the question, how many actually have sheets of plywood stored away for a shtf scenario?

Also, since the wind storm several years back, I've been buying spare chainsaw chains, bar oil, and even a few cheapo chainsaws....just in case. You couldn't find any of that stuff for weeks after the storm went through.

Great point! You always see houses boarded up in the movies, but where did they get the supplies? Did they run out to the hardware store in a mass casualty situation to protect themselves? I sure as heck wouldn't leave my family under those circumstances. I think that everything will have some value, but we should focus on what's the most practical, because those items will have the most value. Pleasures are not something that are going to be important in my camp. Just necessities.

 

[usafmora]

Tarps, Tarps and more Tarps