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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Urban Survival Planning – Barter Goods

This post follows the Survival Financial Planning posts concerning possessing Gold, Silver and the various phases of Survival purchasing where very possibly paper cash and precious metals may not be as valuable or even accepted by many. 

As a re-cap, we think that after a infrastructure collapse, we would go through several different periods of commerce where paper money, then precious metals, then material items (barter items) would be distinct.  We can’t even begin to determine how long each period would last.  Paper Money, in a Survival Situation, may only be good for two to three days,…maybe more, maybe less, but certainly no-good after the realization that things are not going to go back to normal hits the people square in the head. 

Gold and Silver had traditionally and historically been of value.  Their value based would fluctuate based on the increasing inflationary value of life saving material, e.g..food, water and material things during a Survival situation.   Commerce using Gold and Silver may rebound if and when various segments of the population achieve some sort organized society. This may be based on locations and access to material goods than it is anything else.

Barter goods in a Survival Scenario will always be of value.  Imagine negotiating with someone for 3 gallons of fuel:  “Yeah, I got 3 gallons of fuel,…what do you have to trade?” “How about 4 Morgan Silver Dollars?”  or  “How about 6 cans of vegetables and a bag of rice?”   What do you think this guy is going to want to trade for?    

In a Survival environment where commodities are in very short supply, what products do you think would be of high value? 
     
Obviously food such as high caloric/high carbohydrate items; Water and devices to carry water such as canteens are a sure bet; Alcohol may be a prime barter item; First Aid supplies especially anti-biotics pills and ointment, aspirin and other pain killers are also good Survival barter items; Lighters and/or butane fuel for lighters; firearms and ammunition would be high, may even be number one on the Survival item Barter List. 

Plant seeds for vegetables are another good bet; clothing items such as socks, sweatshirts, sweat pants; backpacks may be another good Survival barter item. 

The idea is not to try and stock a retail store, just realize that what may be important to your survival is also important of others facing the same commodities shortage.  

The benefit to a total collapse of society as we know it, lapses us into a Survival mode, be it an Urban, Suburban or Rural environment is that your spouse may not be getting on your butt about getting rid of some things.  The ‘Hey, maybe I can use that” excuse for all material things will take on a new meaning.            

11 comments:

  1. Love the site, Glad I caught you on Facebook, Your right about Good, Ammo, and Meds being at the top of the list, of course I don't believe in stocking up on barter items only items I need and use.

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  2. Sorry I meant to say Guns, Ammo, and Meds, I'd love to see you feature the Show "Off the Grid" with Les Straud on your website too.

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  3. I am blazabes and I Like the barter
    barter

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  4. Amoxicillin can be purchased cheaply at farm supply stores or at pet supply stores. I've even seen it for sale at Wal-mart. (fish antibiotics) It is about $20.00 for 250 pills. They are labelled not for human consumption but they are safe. They are 250 mg per dose. Might make the difference between life or death. I always keep a few bottles in my kit.

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  5. Liquor and tobacco products make excellent currency in a barter market.

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  6. never barter ammo----you give me a box of 9 mm for 5 gallons of fuel. guess who's going to walk away with the ammo and the fuel-----which was actually 4 gals of water topped off with 1 gal of fuel

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  7. A highly overlooked bartering item: Toilet paper. Easy to stock - get Ziploc storage bags and vacuum out the air. Once you open the seal, it will re-inflate. Meanwhile, two or three 12pks of tp will condense into a 16" x 24" x 3.5" container. Stack baby wipes. JackDaniels: antiseptic, firestarter, etc. Tobacco. Books/magazines... you'll be amazed what people will be willing to trade for a bit of normalcy.

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  8. Women will always want their cosmetic products ! Stock up on those !

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  9. I have two stockpiles; Freeze dried food; and different types of alcohol, from 151 proof rum to 90 proof whiskey. Although I'm getting older, my skills with a scoped rifle have not diminished since my Combat Infantry days in Vietnam. Survive at any cost, but help as many folks as you can.

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