[JPL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'S')o much effort tapping keys expounding on things few will do.

How many that posted here have more than a couple weeks groceries, fuel and water?

What this whole thread is missing is that stockpiling is for the short term: a pantry, a granary, a pasture, a woodpile, etc.

If you think you may need to barter, what you need is a distribution channel from the producer to the consumer, not a bunker full of toilet paper. And if you think there will all of a sudden be no producers why are you tapping here anyway instead of staking out your territory in some remote rainforest?

Unless you are wealthy beyond comprehension you can not hoard your way to security and any false sense of security you may gain will evaporate as you realize you just wiped your butt with the last cardboard tube.

If Marco Polo can build a distribution network in his day I suppose some of us might come up with an idea or two on the same lines.

Or maybe I am just spoilin the fun.

Sorry, fantasize away…

[Roccland]

Well - I am hoarding as much as I can now...

then I am diving into my bunker...sliding the 300 lb manhole cover shut...

and will emerge when I think most of you are dead because you thought hoarding was not gonna work to begin with.


Cheers.

[Pops]

Yea, JPL, me too!

And Cheers and good luck to you roc.

[Jellric]

Having some in-demand items handy can get one out of a bad spot someday or help smooth the transition to whatever world we end up in. I don't get the impression most here are relying on just a few baubles to get them through however.

As one part of a larger transition strategy I have found this thread very useful and I hope it continues.

[Ferretlover]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'T')hanks for the reply kjm.

I just gottta poke the folks who think they can buy and stock their way to security. ... But I will venture to say the effort expended here both by the folks who type and those who read all this could be much better spent….…

[Chesire]

Maps , marked with people who prepared locations marked .

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ferretlover', 'P')ops, are you saying that the only good posts are those that are, wordcount wise, equal to or less than your posts? lol

[Cloud9]

During the second battle of Manasas, the confederates liberated boxcar loads of Northern provisions. Records of watching raged barefoot men eating lobster can be found in many journals of the period. One fellow filled his rucksack and pockets with mustard. He bartered these items to eat well long after most of his contemporaries were relegated to corn meal and bacon.

[Jellric]

Great point, Cloud9. The small things we take for granted today will loom large once they become scarce. Quickly perishable items can be great in the immediate aftermath for comfort and to ease the transition but it is the relatively non-perishables which will be truly valuable for bartering purposes. Especially the truly non-perishable ones. Things such as salt and sugar which store indefinately.

My list includes salt, sugar ( in granular form or honey which my bees will continually supply ) and alcohol. I plan to have a few bottles of good bourbon which I would be reluctant to trade actually. My bees will provide all the honey I need to make mead ( honey wine ) for bartering purposes. And of course beeswax for candles and propolis ( bee-made antibiotics ).

A lot of bang for your buck in beekeeping post-collapse. One great thing about it in terms of bartering is that whatever you trade will be continually replaced by your bees. You lose nothing.

Barter items are great because no matter how carefully you plan you are going to neglect something. Anyone who has ever been camping knows how often you arrive at your location only to find you forgot so-and-so. Well when the store shelves are cleared and your money is worthless your barter items will allow you to trade what you have in surplus for what you lack. So make sure what you have will be in demand.

I plan to go through this list soon and cull what I consider to be the most useful items for barter.

The item that just jumps out at me right away is salt. It is essential to life and was once needed for food storage and may be again. And it's dirt cheap! Almost anyone can afford a ton of the stuff.

[AFO]

Don't forget Gold Coins.

It will still have some value left, for those who need to fix their cavities.

[kevincarter]

Some stufff that I think wasn't mentioned:

Pornography / erotism magazines, even if you don't like it it will sell good, lasts for a long time too.

Cigarretes, my grandfather saw a guy trade a whole caw for a pack of 100 cigarretes after the war. Cigars are also good, short life I guess, but maybe thay can be sealed without air or some other way.

Hand powered flashlights, I just bought one for 2 euros.

Non electronic scales, such as roman scales or other.

Solar powered calculators.

Mercury thermometers.

Small solar pannels that will power a radio.

If you or someone in your group enjoys making clothes get a non electric sewing machine, not to trade but to work with it adn trade for hours of work.


And on what's been commented:

Toilet paper, shaving equipment and women stuff its a must, people will get used to pass without only AFTER a long time or when they can't afford it, but during a long period of time they will pay lots and lots for it. (Now we should start talking about morals maybe)

Alcohol, there will be rich people, they would want to offer their friends a drink of good quality alcohol, it will be a sign of wealth, it will sell good.

Amo, wouldn't sell any, wouldn't tell anybody how much I have, same with guns.

Condoms, last short (2 yrs I think)

[Ferretlover]

Sheb, was that trip to Russia with 'People to People?'

[TommyJefferson]

Some people buy gold coins for post-peak bartering. Some people horde physical bars of gold as a hedge against U.S. Dollar devaluation.

I like that idea, but there's a problem. Click on this search on the Home Shopping Network ... 119 Products Matching (gold + coin)

They sell everything from 24K Martha Washington mint coins for $1,400 to gold-plated US state quarters, 5 for $15.

Consider the huge number of these crazy crap coins floating around out there in every imaginable grade, face denomination, and purity. I see them for sale every time I flip across that TV channel.

In a post-peak world, how the heck will people like my plumber and gunsmith be able to tell which "gold" or "gold coins" have value?

Many years ago I sold a gold ring to a pawnbroker. He rubbed the ring on an emery board and put some kind of chemical on the resulting gold to test the purity. What was he doing?

[Jack]

There are lots of tests...dip the metal nitric acid, and it isn't attacked. Or, weigh the sample, then determine how much water it displaces.

Here's more: LINK

[SinisterBlueCat]

i do not believe we are going to return to a commodity based economy post dollar or post peak. it will be one form of fiat or another for a long time to come.

[Roccland]

I have always believed assayers will be of high importance in a PO world.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')n a post-peak world, how the heck will people like my plumber and gunsmith be able to tell which "gold" or "gold coins" have value?

[Blacksmith]

Gold can easily be identified with a scratch plate which is a simple peice of unglased porcelin, if the coin is gold plated the base metal underneath will quickly be visible.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TommyJefferson', 'S')ome people buy gold coins for post-peak bartering. Some people horde physical bars of gold as a hedge against U.S. Dollar devaluation.

[Roccland]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TommyJefferson', 'S')ome people buy gold coins for post-peak bartering. Some people horde physical bars of gold as a hedge against U.S. Dollar devaluation.

[Tyler_JC]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Roccland', '
')Exactly!!

I think folks 20 DAYS from now are gonna look back and regret that they blindly trusted the dollar.