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One of the things that I get when I'm putting away preps is barter goods. It's stuff that I'm going to want to have around anyway, but I get it in small units that would also be easy to trade (or bribe) with. This is the sort of things that I've thought about (I don't talk about what I actually have on the net)

  • Mini lighters
  • Tea candles
  • Toilet Paper
  • Cheap makeup
  • Salt and pepper packets.
  • Airline bottles of booze.
  • Toenail clippers
  • Travel bottles of shampoo
  • Small rolls of duct tape.
  • Those tiny sewing kits (or maybe the $4-5 Family Dollar ones)
  • USB battery banks (I try to grab the ones that are less than $10 -- intend to do a sort of deposit/exchange program on those, because I'll have the solar.)
  • Those $10 jogging FM/AM radios
  • Cheap folding knives

Any other ideas? I can't be the only one who comes up with shit that no one else thinks about. (Ammo and silver coins we already know about, that's not barter goods, that's currency.)

One of the things that I get when I'm putting away preps is barter goods. It's stuff that I'm going to want to have around anyway, but I get it in small units that would also be easy to trade (or bribe) with. This is the sort of things that I've thought about (I don't talk about what I actually have on the net) * Mini lighters * Tea candles * Toilet Paper * Cheap makeup * Salt and pepper packets. * Airline bottles of booze. * Toenail clippers * Travel bottles of shampoo * Small rolls of duct tape. * Those tiny sewing kits (or maybe the $4-5 Family Dollar ones) * USB battery banks (I try to grab the ones that are less than $10 -- intend to do a sort of deposit/exchange program on those, because I'll have the solar.) * Those $10 jogging FM/AM radios * Cheap folding knives Any other ideas? I can't be the only one who comes up with shit that no one else thinks about. (Ammo and silver coins we already know about, that's not barter goods, that's currency.)

(post is archived)

[–] • 1 pt

Yeah, getting known as the general store is a great idea. What are you gonna barter for? How about getting that stuff now instead.

[–] • 2 pts

If I can't think of anything else that is good for barter, what are the odds that you've thought of everything that you will need?

People will trade away insanely useful shit to wipe their ass with TP (or not listen to the woman complain about not having TP again for a while)

[–] • 0 pt

If shtf its best to avoid all people, not let them know you have shit to trade. But to each their own.

[–] • 1 pt

You can't avoid them forever. Eventually, they will stumble across you -- or just realize (like you did) that your land is a good place to homestead.

[–] • 1 pt

What do you think about pain relief medication?

[–] • 1 pt

I think that heroin and hard narcotics will be widespread and there won't be so much call for aspirin. I've got enough for me and mine, but I don't intend to become known as a drug dealer (or even a drug possessor.) Too much of a target.

[–] • 0 pt

If you openly barter you will be a target, for druggies to steal from you to barter drugs for themselves. Among others.

[–] • 0 pt

Newport Cigarettes

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

Depends on how soon you think SHTF and how long you plan to survive. Barter is only meaningful after a year when everywhere local has been scavenged, although some useful things will remain in place for a while because there is so much of it, like copper wiring and car batteries

if you have a few months, get building materials, cement will last 5 years if sealed, same for hydraulic lime. Sawmill blades if applicable, otherwise plywood, tin roofing, screws, fencing wire. Lead acid batteries. LED torches. Painkillers and vitamins, soap, isopropyl alcohol, vodka, vinegar, bleach, Baufungs would be more valuable than radios and harder to replace.

you can grow peppercorns, salt comes from the sea and wax comes from bees, heirloom seeds would be essential

if you have tools and welders/rods then it's possible to repair existing things if you have a lathe/mill/forge/materials then it's possible to make new things

bear in mind that once law and order is gone then it's going to revert to tribes and warlords pretty quickly, and staying outside of that and being able to retain possession of your stuff (whilst making it known you have stuff to trade) is going to be difficult.

Barter as a concept is somewhat idealistic, because in most situations they may need all your stuff more than they need another human, so your knowledge and skills need to have greater value (or just be female)

I don't know why preppers devote any space to toilet paper, when warm water and soap is more hygienic

Just stock things that are annoying to do without and impossible to replace, like clingfilm, toothbrushes, tinfoil, sponges and coffee, or a laptop with a copy of Age of Empires on it. People remember bandages but forget about dentistry kits

[–] • 0 pt

Most of this aren't barter goods, those are preps. Are you really going to trade away a sawmill blade? Are you going to give up a lead acid battery?

Also, I doubt the kind of people who fail to have lighters around are going to be interested in vitamins. I'm interested in goods that are light-luxury or obvious-survival. Flashlights might be good, especially if I do the rechargeable battery exchange concern.

I have a neighbor that keeps bees -- one of the people I hope to trade with.

Do they want all my stuff? Sure. Do I let them know where it is? No, and I make sure they know that. I want them coming back. Like it or not, society will reform, and you will either be in or outside it -- and what is outside it is a danger to it. I'm bringing plenty of knowledge as well, and I'm pretty good at identifying good leaders to prop up (and which ones to knock down.)

I'm hundreds of miles from the sea. The US isn't the UK, where no place is more than 70 miles from the sea. Piper Nigrum only grows in tropical areas. Why do you think they sold it in Europe at the same price of gold in the middle ages? You think they didn't know how to plant something? Salt and pepper are either imported or they don't exist here.

Toothbrushes are a great idea. Will be added to my list. Hotel soap bars too.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

Are you really going to trade away a sawmill blade?

yes, because it's one of those things that if you need it, you really need it. Same for a lead acid battery, there will be cars abandoned everywhere, so they have no worth until you really need a charged one in the middle of winter. Notice that {car name} batteries on next day delivery cost an absolute fortune, but if you look for say a compatible Bosch one, relatively cheap. The sellers know that anyone who doesn't know what they need is going to pay through the nose for one that says Ford F350 on it..

I'm interested in goods that are light-luxury But everything on your list I can do without or is going to be lying around in every single home, nobody needs more than one pair of toenail clippers etc. I'm thinking only of stuff that can't easily be replaced and which people will travel to obtain.

I didn't list survival stuff because if you haven't already got stuff like that you aren't going to have anything to trade anyway

vitamins are a long term thing, if people are struggling to grow food they are going to be short of those, and pharmacies are the first thing to be looted.

Do I let them know where it is?

ever been followed home? at what distance can you shoot a head sized object, 500 yards? bartering with strangers is basically suicide. Like nobody sells anything to niggers for a reason.

I'm hundreds of miles from the sea then buy a sack of it, you'll be good for years, wait long enough and there will be hundreds of carts trundling by and trading it because it's the easiest thing to make and transport. Nobody is going to get shot for something that low worth

Piper Nigrum only grows in tropical areas nope, I thought that too, anywhere above 60°F is viable. https://www.logees.com/growingpeppercorn . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOoBqQmz8jc and plenty of people grow chillies with just some grow lights. The reason it was only traded in the Middle Ages is that Europe didn't know how to grow it or transport viable plants from that far away. A heated greenhouse can grow anything now.

[–] • 0 pt

Vitamins are short term items. They dont last long term.