[Arsenal]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', '
')Actually not entirely... it is just that I'm not that far from the Atlantic and salt could be traded for... more locally than could pepper & cocoa which come from the tropics...

But you are right about salt being valuable... moreso if you are in the desert, but I'm in Maryland...

[vaseline2008]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', 'W')hen it becomes apparent that it is about to hit the fan with peak oil economically, what should one do financially?

I am personally planning 2009 as a year when I stockpile ETFs in Oil, like ticker USO.

I figure when TSHTF I need to sell all ETFs and stocks take profits as get cash, but then I should use the cash to buy something tangible.

Should it be gold, silver, what?

[Geodesic]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', '
') I know lots of well intentioned people that still refuse to use microwaves because the 'waves' are radioactive.

[patience]

Roman soldiers were once paid in salt. Salt is the root word from which we get "salary". "Not worth his salt", may also may have originated with the idea of salt as wages. In a severely powered-down world, salt could again become valuable enough to be used in trade. I have a couple hundred pounds for meat preservation, and will buy a lot more.

Copper, brass, and tin have been valuable enough in the past to be used for trade, also. Zinc and lead were used, but much less valuable, based on useage at the time.

My metal stockpiles are useful shapes and sizes of steel for general repair work, brass and bronze for bearing materials, copper electrical wire for general use, lead ingots, and babbit alloy (lead/tin/antimony) for cast bearings. Lead/tin solder, and brazing alloys are worth having, along with silver solder.

Fuels of all sorts will be actively traded. Firewood is NOW. Standing timber is a great resource, if you have the means to put it to use. A barrel of kerosene will store forever, and keep gaining in value. Kerosene lamps, wicks, and their glass chimneys will be in demand as electricity gets more iffy. How about a 5 gallon bucket full of cheap stainless steel forks/knives/spoons gotten at yard sales? Decent pocket knives-folders, not the wannabe Rambo stuff.

Prowl junkyards now, and collect steel hand tools--hoes, rakes, shovels, spades, and such, minus handles, and learn to make and replace the handles. They store compactly, cost about 10 cents/lb. now as scrap, and could be invaluable later. A barrel full of such refurbed tools, say 25 of them, would cost over $500 today, new. Probably will be a lot more later on.

If you just have money you want to preserve as buying power, US junk silver coins come to mind, as they are recognized widely and could be a reasonable "money" if the paper dollar goes poof.

[zoidberg]

cigarettes will have value always

[Gorm]

If money fails there will be new/other money. There is no option, what was the currency after Weimars hyperinflation? after argentinas collaps and so on? money, alwas money!

[Heineken]

These microwave scare jobs are an example of squandered, misplaced concern.

There are so many legitimate things to fear.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('sameu', 'w')hy is salt so important?

[Narz]

Anecdotal. I'd go a year without salt for $1,000.

If you felt that was a moral concern I could get bloodwork done thruout.

For $100K I'd got the rest of my life.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Narz', '[')b]Anecdotal. I'd go a year without salt for $1,000.

If you felt that was a moral concern I could get bloodwork done thruout.

For $100K I'd got the rest of my life.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'H')ow about popcorn. I mean, unpopped popcorn.

[Narz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'Y')ou'd die and I'd take the money out of your pocket.

[Revi]

I think we get plenty of salt in a normal diet, but the lack of iodine in some places really messed people up. I think there was a part of Michigan where the people had goiters before the second world war.

[Narz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Revi', 'I') think we get plenty of salt in a normal diet, but the lack of iodine in some places really messed people up. I think there was a part of Michigan where the people had goiters before the second world war.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Narz', 'I') fed my cats almost 100% raw meat, organs & eggs for a long period (until it became cost prohibitive). Why didn't their bones atrophy without salt?

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Narz', 'E')ven the article posted said sodium deficiency is rare.

[Nefarious]

I would be interesting to see somebody go all through the summer working outdoors in 90+ degree heat, sweating their arse off and not eat any salt.