Posted on 11/03/2011 9:06:40 PM PDT by Kartographer
If you’re fully stocked and prepared to survive anything, you may want to take that next step and start stockpiling popular bartering items.
The exact items you choose to start stockpiling will depend on the situation your planning for, but in general the following items will all probably be in high demand after a total collapse:
Water Purification Most people don’t realize how hard finding clean drinkable water will become in a post-collapse situation. When the water treatment plants stop running, people are going to be scrambling to find a way to purify their drinking water. Iodine tablets, bleach, water filters, canteens and even cooking pots will all be needed and in very high demand.
Ammo
1 out of every 3 Americans own a gun, but how many of these gun owners actually stockpile an adequate amount of ammunition?
In a SHTF situation Ammo is going to be a highly sought after item and will quickly become a very popular barter item. I recommend stocking up on calibers that you actually use followed by the most common calibers (.22, .223, 9mm, .45, 30-06, 12ga, & .308)
Guns & Accessories
If the SHTF those 2 out 3 Americans who don’t own guns are going to be wishing they did. From people looking for parts to repair broken guns to those who are currently anti-gun, I can almost guarantee that guns will become one of the most wanted items after a collapse. Even pellet guns might be a good items to stock up on. They’re cheap, easy to find and would be easier to part with.
Alcohol
Let’s not beat around the bush here, in an apocalyptic SHTF scenario there’s going to be a huge number of people who will want to drink their sorrows away. Hard liquor is going to be the best option because of it’s shelf life.
Medications
Almost half of all Americans are currently taking at least one prescription medication. In a post-apocalyptic world prescription medications will be another highly sought after item. From people who need to treat life threatening illnesses with antibiotics to those that will just want to forget everything that’s happening, medications will be worth their weight in gold.
Food
Check out our list of some of the most important foods to stockpile. These will all be in high demand and are all a good idea to start stocking up on.
Assuming those fools will bug-out before it totally hits the fan. If not then someone else could use their back up homes. All in the name of the public good of course. :p
With the high humidity here in the Ohio Valley, unless you have a dehumidifier going, moisture is going to get into everything. The Indians were pretty smart when they used this region primarily as a hunting and war region and actually lived north of the Ohio and south of the Cumberland.
Same here, for regular salt, but iodized salt (recommended for thyroid health among other things) is a little more, so that this bucket is actually a little cheaper. I have both regular and iodized salt in my larder, and recommend this to others.
We’ve got a bunch of those little .99 to 1.50 airline type bottles of hard liquor put back. They’re small and tough so they store easily and indefinetely.
If things get really bad they’ll be pretty good currency. If not we can always drink ‘em.
You make a good point. I don’t live in the high humidity, but my folks do (in OH). I never did like the perpetual feeling of being wet, lol.
Your recommendation to stock up on salt is good advice.
There is no substitute for salt in the diet.
When it is gone from the stores its importance will sink in.
Extra salt will also be needed to preserve food by different methods, to make pickles, etc. Some recipes specify non-iodized salt as it can change the color texture of foods.
Where I live there is no difference in price between iodized and plain table salt. Both run about $ .50 for a 26 oz. cardboard container.
For long term storage we take it out of the cardboard and put in gallon zip locks then in a larger container for protection.
We also use kosher salt for some recipes and food canning so we have some of that on hand too.
Nice, but I hate mead.
Made the mistake of brewing 3 gallons of it. Took me a year to choke it down.
But I like the way you think :)
Cheers,
kneshound
Can you add me to it, please? Thanks.
Good points.
“Agreed. Wouldn’t want a crazy drunk around.”
I a crazy drunk is coming around giving you problems, shoot him and take his stuff.
But then I’d have to dig a hole. Lots of extra trouble.
“But then I’d have to dig a hole. Lots of extra trouble.”
Take him down the road a bit and hang him upside down.
You know...to encourage the others.
Ah, fatten up the coyotes and then bbq them later. You might be on to something there.
Good post. Another thing preppers can consider is donating $ to your church soup kitchen or the Salvation Army’s food bank. You will be effectively building up your communities
food reserves.
Non-preppers who who are able but still refuse to help themselves or their families for whatever reason can also donate $ and realize they will be helping someone else in Jesus’s Name:)
ping for later read.
“Local store has the generic Claritin tabs on sale, ten tabs per box for 8.99, buy one, get one free. I got one and tomorrow will go back and get anther one or two. I personally have no allergies, but my wife swore by the Claritins, and they literally could become priceless if none were available out there.”
It is far, far cheaper at Sam’s and Costco. Buy their generic brand of Claritin for about $0.05/pill, same dosage as Claritin itself. Ditto for most recently off-patent medications.
I found another place where they are 5.00 for 30 tabs, so I bought a box.
It’s just EXACTLY that sort of thing that might get to be hard-to-find, if not impossible, in ta SHTF scenario. And it doesn’t take much space to store a couple hundred tabs. That was/is my thinking.
Thanks! I’m not a Costco member...
It is aspirin in the raw. Just be very careful about taking it on a empty stomach. Bleeding ulcers = no fun.
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