Hello all! Rob Raskin of Las Vegas here, and today I want to talk to you about what to do when you need to prepare for the inevitable downfall of society. When the SHTF, a barter stockpile is a must. When you’re stockpiling barter items, first consider what people need to use every day and if they’d still be necessary after a long-term disaster. Many of these won’t be readily available after. While some things can be made from common items, which you’ll also want on hand, some while need to be available ready to go. This is part one of a four-part series, so be sure to check back for more!

 

What Should You Have in Your Barter Kit?

Ammunition

I know you’re thinking this isn’t smart, because you need that ammo and you don’t want someone to use it against you of course, but in one way it could be useful. The exception for ammo falls on shotgun rounds. When you’ve stocked up a good deal of 12-gauge ammo, like 500 or so rounds, you can use smaller shot sizes for barter purposes. Birdshot could kill someone but it’s shallow penetration and short-range makes it one of the least menacing ammo types, making it okay for barter purposes.

 

Water Filters

Clean drinking water is always in high demand during a crisis and while storing water won’t be a great option, it’s easy to store water filters. Smaller filters are excellent barter items, they are easy to store, have a long shelf-life, and are small and lightweight. You can potentially store over 25 water filters in a small space like a military ammo can.

 

Lighters

Even smokers, who you’d think would always be prepared for smoking, are always asking for a light. Once the SHTF and we rely on fire for everything from cooking to light, don’t expect your average person to be any more prepared than they are today–which is to say not at all! Everyone will need matches, lighters, and other fire-starting implements, so the more you have to trade with, the better. You can buy them in bulk for discounts.

 

Garden Seed

Seed is one of the if the best barter items around. Both non-hybrid seed and hybrid vegetable seed are great. It’s light-weight, inexpensive, and worth more than gold to a survivor. Do some research on what will grow best in your local area. Also, maybe think about starting your own garden and printing out any resource you used to hand out with the seeds. It will make this barter item even more valuable.

 

When the time comes to survive after a long-term disaster strikes, BE PREPARED, BE SAFE, BE SMART. This is part one of a two-part series, so be sure to check back!

 

Watch this video by Dr. Bones Nurse Amy to learn more about Bartering for Survival

Do you have a plan in place for what kind of trading you’ll do after TEOTWAWKI? Let me, Rob Raskin, know in the comments!