What would you be able to barter with?

[themachenic,]

i am working on a alcohol cook stove that you can carry easly and boils water in less than a minute.only 1 once of alcohol and no smoke.if my testing works out i will have them for sell very cheap!

[sam205]

I believe in "Be Prepared" Have a top notch outdoor kitchen from a 1000 gal smoker to a variety of other cooking elements. A strong army must be fed.

[Village Idiot]

I can make soap and I can sew anything. I have a ridiculous amount of all sorts of fabric and notions. I used to sew cloth diapers (to sell), so that's something that could be trade-worthy. I'm a good cook and former dietitian with some knowledge of wild foods and herbal medicines. I'm also great at tending animals, young and elderly humans and think I'd be a great midwife in a pinch.

[Brokenblade]

My fiance works for the abc in Nc .. Seems like every time i swing by there to see her i end up buying something... Needless to say i have a pretty good stash of joy juice. If it worked for the commencheros ... It should still make a good trade

[Mean Gene]

I think brewers yeast might come in handy for the same reason the cheap liquor will.So we're getting that while we can.
And I think distillation skills might be a good thing to learn.Not suggesting anyone make illegal moonshine but even Denatured alchohol is a good antiseptic and fuel.

Matches especialy the strike anywhere kind.

Tobacco is good But I'm looking at buying tobacco seeds.

Primers of all kinds.Like rimfire ammo they are ussualy one shot use items.

I have a garage that I'm getting scrap wheel weights from for the lead.Handy for bullet casting and free if you find the right shop.Trying to find a free source of dead car batteries for the lead too.

I found a big fresnel lens fairly cheap that I'm trying to make a solar furnace with for casting the lead and cooking.But less complex solar cookers are fairly cheap to make and I'd think would be an excellent barter item when people lose power.

I found plans online for a wind generator made from readily available material with a treadmill motor as the power head.As soon as I find a suitable treadmill on Craigslist or in a local thrift store I'm going to try my hand at building one.Then I'd be able to charge storage batteries for those that have them.

I've done a little black smithing in the past too and still have my great grandfather's forge and anvil in my barn.

[pathfinder3081]

I am new and browsing around. My dad once said that you can layer them in a crock with rock salt. 50F to 65F. 6 months. I don't know if the rock salt helps them cool or without Bacteria. He said they would eat them for months after they were laid. I'll do some home work on it.

[pathfinder3081]

Cheese and wine. I am reading up on cheese and instead of selling off my dads' vinyard and wine presses.. I think that I will hold on to them for abit.

[Niki09]

You dont necessarily have to 'stock' it to be able to trade it.

I honestly didn't realize that soap and candles would be useful until you said it and then I was like oh well yeah people want to be clean have some light. So thank you for the idea. I guess I underestimated myself a little!

[Loshali]

ok now that I read the rest of the posts here, I saw that 'Lo said soap and candle making. Is that something you can barter? Because I do both. I just thought of it as crafty not useful?

You dont necessarily have to 'stock' it to be able to trade it.

[Niki09]

ok now that I read the rest of the posts here, I saw that 'Lo said soap and candle making. Is that something you can barter? Because I do both. I just thought of it as crafty not useful?

[Niki09]

I don't know if anyone would want what I have. I may have to stock up on trades. I can cook damn near anything. I will be a mechanic, not that cars will be useful much, but other than that, mostly I'm good at stuff like taking care of kids, cooking, and cleaning. I'd LOVE to learn to kill AND prep things such as deer, small game, etc. I also want to learn to sew. But I doubt I can trade much as of now. But thanks for the post and ideas, I honestly hadn't thought of this!

[Niki09]

Just had an epiphany....HARD LIQUOR!!!!

Gonna stock up......think about it.....even though I don't drink often, imagine what kind of supplies you could get with a decent supply of whiskey, vodka, etc.......and liquor is relatively cheap, with ABSOLUTELY NO EXP DATE.....

wow Saw that is a GREAT idea. I think I will do. I don't really drink either (and I prefer beer anyway) but look at jericho for example, those people lived in that bar.... thanks for the idea saw.... one of the best...

[shadowwalker]

I got lots of stuff. And to sound like a total scumbag. I know that my neighbors have alot of stuff too....

[barkingowl]

I'm stocking up on toothpaste.

[cbprice797]

Trade goodies

There are things that you can stock up and people consider them necessities and might well still consider them so.

1. Vaccum packed 12 and 14 ounce bags of coffee. Great trade item for
me since I do not drink coffe.
2. Freeze or vacuum pack a few cartons of cigs (use a name brand not
generic). Great trade item for me since I do not smoke.
3. Get soap. Save the unscented soap for yourself and trade the smelly
stuff for them (that way you might smell them coming). You can get
15 bar packs for less than $10. Trade one bar at a time. Try to
convince them they are trading for a luxury item.
4. Go to Dollar Tree and buy boxes of 3'x2' fabric bandaids for a dollar a
box. Cheap cost for potential trade item if your trader has a sense of
self-preservation.
5. If you got the cash to spend on buying ammo that you will never use
then by all means stockpile some to trade. But ammo is getting more
expensive so might not be feasible for all.