Good trade items for SHTF

[Iskander]

Purely hypothetical, I'm thinking of things that will be sought after in a long term crisis situation, but that others might not think of stocking up on beforehand, so essentially to be used solely as trade items.

Examples I've come up with: diapers, tampons (condoms?). I've hit a mental roadblock. Just to clarify this is for 'unusual' things to stock up on, not food, fuel, etc. I'm sure others could add some interesting items to the list. Ah, batteries, assorted...probably not a bad idea either. Drugs (both medical and recreational ones) would probably be the most profitable. But you don't want to make a target out of yourself, or do anything illegal. And, unlike the other items mentioned, expiration would be an issue.

I guess what it comes down to is how much you can profit off said items. Would it be better to just spend your money on essentials now? Probably, but it's possible it will pay off more to sell to somebody who is desperate for diapers, or whatever, and actually get more essentials for yourself than you would have otherwise. There's no way to know what the worth of things would be in this hypothetical situation, so it's just something to think about, and maybe even prepare for.

[crashdive123]

I only purchase items for long term storage that I currently use. I do not want to spend money on items that I will likely never use or be able to barter with.

With that mindset (if it works for you) look at what you use and eat regularly and store those or similar items. If the zombie apocalypse never happens you will not have wasted your money.

Additionally - I will not be looking to profit during times of a disaster, but I look at disaster planning realistically rather than as the latest TV show or novel (not saying that is what you are doing).

[Rick]

This list has been on the internet since before Al Gore invented the internet. Don't know that I subscribe to it but, hey, it's a list and it's on the internet so it must be true. In any case, it might give you some ideas.

http://survivalcache.com/top-100-items-to-dissappear-first/

[Winnie]

+1 on what Crash said.
Anything I put by is there to make my loved ones and my survival more probable and more comfortable.

If however you want to store items for barter I would consider TP, soap, candles, bicarbonate of soda, Borax, razor blades. If you believe in an apocoplypse, look to history. High value items have always been sewing needles, cloth, leather, thread, buttons, flint, hand tools both for DIY and gardening.

[hunter63]

I'm in the "store what you use" school of thought.

You run into problems with storage, transportation, and simply things going bad from age and non-use.

I also do not intend to carry a "store" for barter or sale......that just makes you a target.

[Seniorman]

Snickers. Cases and cases of Snickers. :clap:

S.M.

[1stimestar]

Keep in mind that condoms expire, so you would have to rotate your stock hahahha.

[klkak]

Snickers. Cases and cases of Snickers. :clap:

S.M.
And Twinkies! They never go bad!

[hunter63]

Snickers. Cases and cases of Snickers. :clap:

S.M.

You know that Snickers and oatmeal are about the only thing on a "Do not eat", Gout diet.......
Told my Dr. that.....she said that not true....so I said, "Show me the list"

[TXyakr]

+1 on Crash

Disposable diapers are a waste of space. My mother used cloth diapers on me and I turned out just fine! (well on second though that may just explain a few things LOL). Cloth diapers have many other uses. Baby formula can become very valuable in times of crisis but shelf life is limited if not stored very carefully. Check the expiration date on the label but I doubt you will find any that is good for more than a year. Get a goat! joking a little bit.

Go to any of the peppers supply shops online or in a city near you and you will find plenty of items of value but best if they are items that you actually use from time to time. Even water goes bad after a while, food in mylar vacuum sealed bags should be cycled thru, like on camping trips or eaten once a month or week or whatever. Donated to local Boy or Girl Scouts, ask an NGO if they have a use for it whatever. Just cycle it. Sort of like what Crashdrive said, useful stuff that is actually used on a semi regular basis.

For example I have been camping with people who tried a freeze dried meal for the first time and could not stand to eat it. Well!! I certainly hope they did not stock up on thousands of dollars of it in hopes of surviving off it and trading it for stuff they really needed. LOL

[hunter63]

I just plan on guests being really, really hungry....LOL......Or they don't eat.

Not to fond of it my self....all kinda like pasta something or another it seems, and salty as heck.......but I guess better than bugs.
Of course if you keep you flour and corn meal long enough you get the bugs anyway.....
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y139/hunter63/DSCF0823.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/user/hunter63/media/DSCF0823.jpg.html)

[finallyME]

For example I have been camping with people who tried a freeze dried meal for the first time and could not stand to eat it. Well!! I certainly hope they did not stock up on thousands of dollars of it in hopes of surviving off it and trading it for stuff they really needed. LOL

I guarantee you that they will eat it if that is what they had.

[finallyME]

Alright, my thoughts...... First you said "long term" survival...and barter. I am shooting for a year supply. Anything less that that is short term. In fact one year is short term as well. Long term would be more than say 5 years. Put yourself at the 5 year mark. You have just survived 5 years of societal collapse, with no indication of things returning to normal. Let's say you had a year supply before things went south. That supply has been used up. What did you do for the remaining 4 to get to where you are? Well, you bartered. But you didn't barter for TP or condoms or cigarettes or diapers. You spent the first year trying to figure out how to replace those items. You also spent the first year figuring out how to replace your food supply. That is the purpose of the year supply....it gives you a buffer time to figure out how to replace it. The only way you can survive that long is with a community. Division of labor. One person makes one thing, another makes something else...everyone trades what they make for what they need. Eventually your community sets up a government, and currency. And of course, that government gets bigger.....etc. EOTWAWKI right? Except the world didn't end because you are still alive and there is still this big sphere orbiting between Venus and Mars with people on it.

[TXyakr]

Children in cloth diapers typically potty train sooner (not as comfortable when wet), my mother was no fool. Also the little shin biters can't take them off as easily and do messes in the corners for the dogs to eat. But that may be your strategy, good luck with that, LOL.

There are several relatively effective alternatives to that 3rd item you mentioned that are space efficient and have a long shelf life and have been used for hundreds of years but I'lI let you Google that yo'self.

[hunter63]

Hummm, Am I detecting a diaper fan around here?

Did ya see the episode of Storage Wars....and Rene' bought a whole locker full of cases of Adult Diapers....
Everyone made fun of him, paid like $500 bucks for the locker.....and ended up selling them for like $10 buck a case.....and made about $10 grand?


FYI....Unusual uses for condoms
http://www.instructables.com/id/unusual-uses-for-condoms/

[TXyakr]

I just plan on guests being really, really hungry....LOL......Or they don't eat.

Not to fond of it my self....all kinda like pasta something or another it seems, and salty as heck.......but I guess better than bugs.
Of course if you keep you flour and corn meal long enough you get the bugs anyway.....
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y139/hunter63/DSCF0823.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/user/hunter63/media/DSCF0823.jpg.html)

Funny Hunter.
As you know and can find many links to here at WS or other camping, outdoors forums etc. There are several methods of sealing up grains, pastas and other dry goods in mylar bags purchased online in bulk that will last for 1-5 years, possibly 20 years put in UV resistant drums etc blah blah. Freeze for a day or two to kill weevils and other bugs. Basic storage ideas like that.

[hunter63]

Funny Hunter.
As you know and can find many links to here at WS. There are several methods of sealing up grains, pastas and other dry goods in mylar bags purchased online in bulk that will last for 1-5 years, possibly 20 years. Freeze for a day or two to kill weevils and other bugs. Basic storage ideas like that.

No ship........Wow........

[oldsoldier]

Besides the normal stuff we store for our selves recently ( I have a friend that owns a hotel supply business) I've been stocking up on the little motel/hotel items like soap, shampoo, and stuff. Just got a couple of 250 count boxes of those little individually packaged toothbrushes for $30.

[xjosh40x]

I'd barter and trade for things in a SHTF situation. But I'm not going to buy items I would not use like condoms or diapers. If someone had an item I needed and I had an abundance like ammo, water or medical supplies to trade sure that would be a smart move. But wasting my money, space and time on an item I don't need and if a SHTF never happens it's a waste. But everyone has their own way and anyone preparing for any situation I encourage. Maybe if I lived in a more populated place that the odds of someone needing a certain item increased than I could see myself doing such. But as of now I don't see the need for MYSELF to stock unneeded items.

[kyratshooter]

I can not figure out for the life of me what all those walking zombies wandering around after TEOTWAWKI are going to have that I would want to barter for???

If you need it, then you should have had it before they arrived with it.

[Iskander]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I came up with a better idea (for a long term plan assuming you have everything you need, a place to call home, etc.) set up a distiller and make moonshine! That will always be a hot commodity.

[hunter63]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I came up with a better idea (for a long term plan assuming you have everything you need, a place to call home, etc.) set up a distiller and make moonshine! That will always be a hot commodity.

Now that, my friend is the best idea yet......

[TXyakr]

I just take these Girl Scout cookies out of the boxes, vacuum seal them in heavy duty mylar every February with oxygen obsorbers then put them in UV resistant drums and hide where my Wife and Daughters cannot find them. If the SHTF I can barter for what I need with them. If not my wife and daughters will be on their best behavior and not force me to watch "female drama trash" on the TV with them in December - next GS cookie season if I let them have some. The best of both worlds, something that I want to watch on TV and GS cookies as SHTF barter items preserved.

10559

On second though a world with no more Girl Scout cookies? What The Heck, Just Beam me up Scotty, I'm done. LOL

[Iskander]

Nice lol I wonder if there's a worldwide epidemic/whatever and we're forced into long term survival of the fittest, would people still be interested in tobacco? I guess in that situation you'd be better off growing weed than tobacco as far as trade goes. Or just grow what you need alternatively and not worry about barter. I guess if it comes down to it you can trade your essentials for others...really my mind is just going back to precious metals, assuming people are willing to accept them for trade. You don't have to worry about it perishing, can be buried, doesn't take up much room.

[TXyakr]

If you lived near this chemical plant in the Barcelona, Spain area where the SHTF for real, you would be glad your Girl Scout cookies were carefully sealed in mylar, LOL.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/12/us-spain-toxiccloud-idUSKBN0LG1LS20150212

So don't forget to pack a MSA/CBRN Gas Mask in your kit so you don't have to barter away a pound of silver for one.

I read they told 60,000 people to stay indoors and not take pretty pictures of the orange cloud outdoors, especially without a properly certified Gas Mask and suit. But you know those Spaniards and what they will do to have something cool on their social media pages.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/12/toxic-orange-cloud-spreads-over-catalonia-after-chemical-blast-spain

"would people still be interested in tobacco?" well if it made pretty orange smoke they might.

[Tokwan]

I do store some, but prefer to be able to know how to make items from the natural resources....I only store what does not expire but still rotate the usage (use and replace)...but I make sure the tools that I store are able to make me make things from the natural resources for the comfort and most importantly, allow my family to survive.
Identifying medicines from natural resources, and learning and practicing to notice and confirm them the moment you lay your eyes on them, being able to find and process water and food quickly, being able to identify the best and safest (also in natural surrounding protection) to make a base camp.
I always believe that stocking supplies makes you a target when others have none...but being able to produce your own quickly, is not.

[MrFixIt]

*IF* I was going to stockpile anything for use as a trade item for SHTF, it would be liquor and cigarettes.

[Rick]

If it's a true EOTWAWKI then.....smoke 'em if you got 'em.

[LowKey]

Without an outpost-like setup and a home grown, 24-7 security perimeter in place you'd be hard pressed to keep your barter stash safe in any SHTF situation.
We've talked on here before about how noise and cooking food smell can draw in two-legged predators in a breakdown situation.
Heck, even in just an ice storm, it didn't stop thieves from stealing generators in several towns here when owners foolishly left them running while not at home. My next door neighbor went to work leaving his generator running to keep his furnace going but asked me to keep an eye out for him.
Even the early Native American villages posted scouts to give advanced warning of unfriendly raids.

Bullets as a trade good have a bad habit of being returned. In a most unfriendly fashion.

Like Winnie pointed out, look to history for high-value, non-perishable goods. Fabric, sewing supplies, heavy duty gardening tools, nails, sheet metals of various sorts, shoes and boots, rope of all kinds, sheets of glass, grain grinders or the metal screw parts for fruit/cheese presses, arrowheads, knives. Don't be using valuable space for things that can be made easily.

If you are going to think barter, think about the bigger picture.
The most important part of being a bartering tradesman is actually having the knowledge and wherewithal to set up a trading network. Everyone looks ahead one year, or maybe at most 5 years, but a true world changing event may require living as though it were the early 1800s for quite some time.
What do you know how to do - and how much of that can you teach others?
Do you keep chickens?
Do you have goats?
Do you have alpacas (or sheep, but alpacas are more predator-proof)?
How about spinning and weaving?
Can you build a working loom.
Can you knit?
Can you butcher an animal?
Can you tan a hide?
Can you build a fish weir or manage a stock pond?
Can you make soap from collected ashes and animal fat?
Is there land nearby to plant corn, wheat and silage? Even if the plow has to be man-pulled for lack of draft animals...
Do you have a large herb garden?
Can you ID plants native to your area?
Do you know how to save seed?
Can you build a wood fired hearth?
Can you bake course breads?
Can you forge scavenged metals?
Do you have neighbors that do any of this?

Survival may depend on establishing and using cottage industry to keep a community viable. Everyone contributes one small part to the whole. The whole "I got this for ME" may have to be set aside.

Likely as not though, it will be every man for himself, at least for about a decade while the Great Sorting takes place.
I have so little faith in humankind these days.

[LowKey]

TP is not a bartering item. I'm keeping my private supply to put off the use of corn husks and leaves as long as possible.
:)

[Rick]

I'm not sure where the "every man for himself" concept comes from. We have no history, regardless of peril, that's supports that. Indeed, the very opposite, of neighbor helping neighbor, is the norm. While there will always be individuals that will take advantage of any situation on the whole that has never proven to be the case.

The very fact that mankind will always seek his comfort level along with greed or the desire to not give up wealth (however you choose to measure it) will always return us to buoyancy. Simply put, we don't want to live as if it were the early 1800s so we will strive to return to today's standards. That's why we rebuild after something is torn down. The World Trade Center, New Orleans and the greater Gulf Coast, town after town ravaged by tornadoes, etc.

[hunter63]

Rick, ...movies, the movies......it's the movies.

[Rick]

http://cdn.mamamia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/facepalm.png (http://cdn.mamamia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/facepalm.png)

[LowKey]

You cannot appeal to a man's better nature if he has none. That probably would have been a better post without the last sentence paragraph though.

I have no doubt that mankind would claw its way out of any hole it digs for itself. It really just depends on how deep a hole that is and how long it takes to dig out. I always see these type of forum threads with their hypothetical TEOTWAWKI that don't think beyond a 5-year plan. If that far even. On the more childish forums it seems to be the mindset of the BOB-and-blackrifle crowd to take what they want should they end up "out there."

My philosophy is to plan for what I expect to happen (snow, ice, tornado, hurricane and earthquake) to the best of my ability and hope for the best on the rest.

[Roel]

I think it's like other's said, be a farmer, be a blacksmith, be a carpenter, be a wine maker, be a whateveryoucanimagine... and you might survive a shtf sutiation... may be...
But there is no promise, no way to make sure you will survive.
There is only the possibility to make it a litle bit more likely that you may survive the first stroke.... sorry, that's all there is.
But is it not like life always is...?

[hunter63]

Alright, which one of y'all is gonna stock high blood pressure meds......?

[richbat]

I'm in the "store what you use" school of thought.

You run into problems with storage, transportation, and simply things going bad from age and non-use.

I also do not intend to carry a "store" for barter or sale......that just makes you a target.

Absolutely right there on making you a target.Your best bet in my opinion would be to take things from your stash secretly and privately and only what you need to take to the bartering table for your own needs.

[xjosh40x]

Another idea is to invest in a torch and welder, with a supply of steel. If someone wants to barter and they have what you want. Build them the item that would suit them. I believe in helping friendly people. But my family comes first and I'll let your family perish long before I would mine. I hate to sound cold hearted but that's how it'll have to be. Medical supplies and food are two things I really over stock for barter if needed. And I can hunt my own food. Weapons and ammo are also ranked high in numbers but that'll only be traded after there pried from my dead fingers

[LowKey]

Weapons and ammo are also ranked high in numbers but that'll only be traded after there pried from my dead fingers
Don't tempt fate.

Rick, I certainly hope you are right regarding the every man for himself thing.

When it comes to bartering, what happens when you run out of stuff to barter. My solution offered earlier keeps the goods flowing through YOUR establishment. Perhaps also with the object of being a resource protected by others too.
Though I certainly never hope to "live 1800s" any time in my lifetime. At least not 100% of the time.

[Rick]

If I have to live any part of my life in the 1800s I just hope it's as John D. Rockefeller. With my luck it will be more like Ernest T. Bass.