I've bought 'old' auto jumper cables for $0.50 to $2.00 each. Some of the heavy-duty cables can be worth $10-20.00 each for the copper content.
Other items I'm collecting for barter, Coleman camper stoves, propane/gas lanterns, chain saws/and parts, 20 pound propane tanks(that I fill), throw away Coleman one pound propane cannisters (I refill those myself), etc.
If the electricity goes out or...people can't afford the bill...these items could be in demand and traded for items that I need.
Thanks for the jumper cable tips! I’ll be looking for them. I’m into propane too. When I see someone throwing out a beat up gas grill I take out my knife and cut off the hose and fitting. I have about 10 of those. Now that you mention barter I will definitely snip off every one I see now. I have three 20lb propane tanks and two cook stoves that can be hooked up to the 20lb tank. One is a camping stove I bought for $10 at the flea market. The other is made in Colombia and is a regular 2 burner for the kitchen that you put on a table. That’s how they do it in the 3rd world. A woman is very happy to have a two burner propane cook stove. Now I wish I had bought the other camping stove I saw that day
Nearby town used to refill propane tanks for only $10. How do you re-fill yours? From an underground propane tank? I started my propane backups after a hurricane knocked out electric for 12 days. So no use of the electric stove for those days
Obviously the key words here are redundancy, back up systems, and many fall back plans A,B,C,D etc
Thanks for the jumper cable tips! I’ll be looking for them. I’m into propane too. When I see someone throwing out a beat up gas grill I take out my knife and cut off the hose and fitting. I have about 10 of those. Now that you mention barter I will definitely snip off every one I see now. I have three 20lb propane tanks and two cook stoves that can be hooked up to the 20lb tank. One is a camping stove I bought for $10 at the flea market. The other is made in Colombia and is a regular 2 burner for the kitchen that you put on a table. That’s how they do it in the 3rd world. A woman is very happy to have a two burner propane cook stove. Now I wish I had bought the other camping stove I saw that day
Nearby town used to refill propane tanks for only $10. How do you re-fill yours? From an underground propane tank? I started my propane backups after a hurricane knocked out electric for 12 days. So no use of the electric stove for those days
Obviously the key words here are redundancy, back up systems, and many fall back plans A,B,C,D etc