Barter is the Future!

When?????

impossible to give a specific day... It all hinges on confidence.
of the world in the dollar, of the consumer in the economy. When the Dollar is no longer the world Reserve currency it will be over for the U.S. If the public quits consuming, It will be over. 79% of our GDP is dependent on people buying shit they do not need. Once the dollar is not linked to Oil its over, once the derivitives bubbe bursts its over. There are so many scenarios that one cannot predict what will be the catalyst. The only thing that we can be certain of is that history repeats, Human nature insures this cycle, and that all democracies/republics end in Tyranny.

If were forced to guess I would say between the election and March.

There is no way to fix this broken system, It must collapse. Some people are awake, most are not though. Just trying to make people think is exhausting,,,, Never give up!

agree OP. There's no question it will collapse. And because most don't see it coming it will be horendous. And location will be everything.....

I just had this talk with the wife about getting chickens if shtf .And she said where from? A farmer i said and she was like ya because he is going to just sell us some right .i said no but he may need ammo.A big light went on in her head so that is why you have so much

And even if you have stuff set aside eventually it will run out .So i just ordered heirloom seeds for the next year Everyone has to eat.

Location and a plan! They say without electricity half the population will be dead within a year. The pentagon is actively wargaming for economic collapse and civil unrest. They will open the FEMA camps after the water and electricity goes off and most will line up to get in, Self Reliance is dead and they know it. They will promise, Food, water, shelter, cable internet and prscriptions filled... 90% will go willingly,,, they are planning on 10% to hold out. The average american does not even know who to blame who to be afraid of, Who has the power. Hell most do not even know what is in the constitution, how many branches of gov there are, or the capital of the state they live in. There is no hope for this society, this country, or western civilization. Remember hitler got 98% of the vote, and everything he did was legal!

Seeds for sure! We will have to start over.

No doubt about a collapse. Thats why the Federal Reserve is printing money on a huge scale.

It matters not about the long term budget and what the U.S. owes.

Even if there's no major "Event," we'll not survive (economically) 2013...No way no how.

The trick in bartering is stockpiling cheap items that will be in demand during a collapse of our systems overall.

Amo, matches, lighter fluid, sunglasses, reading glasses, books, games, coolers, GAS, tea bags, sugar, coffee, coffee filters, coats, jackets, thermal underwear etc..

Non of these items are expensive on this side of a crash. Some of these items could be priceless in the right situation.

I have a ton of preps. I buy more every week. I grew up in the auto repair business. I am putting together a still.

Alcohal will be a huge feather in your hat.

Protect that still brother.

Magnifying glass, dutch oven, Alcohol, ciggerettes, Peanut butter, SALT. Salt will be like gold in a world without refridgeration. Also books with knowledge in them,,, wild edile plants, how to dress wild game, army first aide, the 1888 Household cyclopedia (Amazon) gives great info in a world without modern day luxuries like Electricity. You cant know everything, so have access to books that can help.

The original Joy of Cooking written in 1936 is also priceless, not many places to find recipies for Racoon stew, or possum soup these days!

I figure if I missed something, I can always trade booze for it.

You'll be the king of the area man.

Yup I agree, bartering is not only the future but for some it's already here.

It reminds me about a year ago aftering talking to a customer of mine about bartering for some work. He said he had been doing it for awhile and found craigslist a good place to start. I had looked into it but haven't much since.

Somewhere around this mess of my home office I had jotted down some ideas about bartering values. Would like to find those notes just to see the difference in value of items over this last year. My idea was to figure what items would be worth others in trade. For example a dozen eggs would be worth 10 ears of corn or something like that.

The reason for that would be for those that have most things they need but somebody came along an offered something you didn't need but knew of a neighbor who would. You could go ahead with the trade knowing the item you were getting could be traded with your neighbor etc. If that makes sense.

Just thought it would be ,for fun, to come up with a barter exchange or currency (whatever you want to call) to establish some sort of value for items so everybody would have an idea on what things would be worth etc.

Would be interesting to put up some ideas here just to see what people would be interested in trading for versus what they have.

Thanks for reminding me about this OP.:)

It will differ from person to person i suppose, depending on what you stored and what they stored. Knowledge also will be worth alot!

Something I've been growing out in the back 40 is bamboo.

This type grows to 6 inches around (+-) and is used as building material in Asia.

Eat the shoots and use for firewood etc..

Good Idea, Make weapons out of it too. I recommend everyone learn how to use a bow and arrow too. Ammo wont last forever and there will be times when hunting silently will be required, Guns are loud

just got to disagree with this part of your post the trick
to bartering is being able to trade something you have unlimited supply of either through harvest or construction
for something that you need.

what i mean by that is you have to be able to produce
whatever it is you want to trade away.

its nice to have extra stuff stockpiled but i promise you
you will not want to trade it away if you cant replace it.

what we all need to be doing is developing our own sustainable cottage industries and for those with
more resources perhaps more advanced industry.

nice thread OP

That is true, Im not really referring to immediate barter, more later after things have settled and we begin to rebuild. During the chaos and collapse it would be better to hunker down and remain invisible

Yes. Invisible.

Dont forget Vitamins,,, sooooo important. Immodium AD, Pepto, Tums, Ambusol, Pain Killers, Gauze, ace bandage, Machete, Canteens, Oil Lamps, Wicks, Duct tape, Wet stone, Axe, Hatchet, Saw, Hand tools, Dry active yeast, toothpaste, hand sanitizer, wet wipes, Toilet paper!

this is what i mean by producing yourself from local
sources.
as far as vitamins are concerned anyone with good knowlede of herbs and local wild forage would do a great business

will you realy care if you have a bottle of FDA approved vit C pills or a good supply of rose hip tea?

same goes for the pain killers willow bark is the common one

any yobo with a fire and a bit of knowledge can make a better machete than you will buy in any walmart.

etc etc etc with most of your other examples

I agree, BUT... With the little time before the shit to hit, there is no time to become a blacksmith, or herb specialist, or seamstress. ect ect. Later yes, but right now stock up

Don't forget silver.

After you have prepped, if there is any left yes, but you cant eat bullion

Please know that the fist couple cups of stuff from your still really should not be consumed -- but it will make excellent fire starter, antiseptic, etc. It is kinda like extra nasty PGA from what I understand.

There are some great recipes out there for distilling from pretty much any non poisionous vegetation like fruit, dandelions, etc. This could greatly increase you output.

I plan to make honey mead since I am a beekeeper.

hey its all good fun and its never too late to start learning and ultimately knowledge and skills will be much more valuable than stored product because you just never know when you will have to abandon all those preps.

it realy does not take a lot to start learning i started learning herbs fom my grandma and mum and did not realise
how much i even knew untill much later.

same goes with blacksmithing i started learning that sitting
around a camp fire with a couple of hammers and a old piece of railroad track

If you have a boggy area, do not ignore cattails. The roots can be cooked like a carrot & the fibers from the top can be mixed in with flour/cornmeal/etc as an extender. Just watch out for snakes!

I have all the books I can possible think of to help with the knowledge that will need to be acquired... I have taken every step possible to plan for what I know is coming, and what I cannot imagine.. All we can do. The vast majority are not prepared. You do not have to be the fastest camper when the bear shows up, just faster than the slowest. Just being aware and informed makes you ahead of the averege idiot. Shock and Panic will be the rule of the day for most.