Ammunition will be sought by everyone who has or gets a gun and who didn't set some aside. Ammo is probably one of the best barter commodities.
Salt might be the same. Candles, matches, needles, thread, fishing hooks, bleach, antiseptics, and even alkaline batteries will be in demand. If people are surviving in place, meaning that they don't have to leave their homes and stored goods, then even in my very rural area there will be many hundreds of families within five miles who would be quite willing to trade.
The biggest threat will be the "government" accusing preppers of hoarding and demanding that committees decide who gets the goods.
One of my biggest problems will be that I am on a well and can't store a great quantity of gas for the generator to run the well. In a real emergency the generator will be run for just minutes while water containers are refilled. But when the gas runs out, more will have to be obtained.
Agree with all of the items you mention as potential barter items. Saw one on a survivalist board awhile back which makes some sense......a few bottle of Jack Daniels.
” One of my biggest problems will be that I am on a well and can’t store a great quantity of gas for the generator to run the well. “
Old fashioned manual pumps can be found easily in antique stores and flea markets - and they’re easy to repair and refurbish....
(It might be worth a 6-pack to have the local plumber come over on a Sunday afternoon and show ya how to install it..)
When planning for SHTF scenarios, plan for worst-case: no electricity, phones, gasoline, services available.. And don’t plan on going-it-alone — kick things around with a small (emphasize ‘small’) group of trusted neighbors...
JMO, of course
What about installing an old fashioned hand pump? I used to use one when I was a kid - the only thing you HAVE to have is some water to use if you lose prime. You would feel a lot safer...
You could make a digester for your waste products (they use them in some third world countries) to produce methane and get a natural gas generator that can be tuned to run on the gas. However, this is very low pressure gas so accumulating and storing it would be problematic.
Alternatively, you could ferment plant waste to make alcohol and use the alcohol to run the generator. Not suggesting moonshine here as making it requires a lot of valuable inputs (sugar and grains).
However, some sort of muscle-based solution (hand cranked rotary pump) would be probably be the most easily implemented.
Whatever the solution, make it one that you can fix using on-site tools and lay in a stock of spare parts to do the repairs when needed. Maybe stock a complete replacement system as water is one resource you can’t go without for long.
My 2 cents.
Yep and they will not be easily dissuaded if they are hungry too.
Bars of soap?
Hand pump? Wind mill? Put them in storage until needed.
My well is 220 feet TBH. Can not hand pump. But my pool has about 3k in it and most of the local surface streams can be treated.
Actually, I have not looked at backup pumps recently. Something to do until quiting time.
One morning years ago my parent’s well pump went out. My dad, being the man that he is, had an extra one on hand (don’t ask). Until he and my brother got everything in working order, mom tied a rope around a jar with a handle on it. We dipped water out of the well with it. It wasn’t easy or fast, but we had water.
That's why I recommend investment in precious metals..like lead encased in brass.
One of my biggest problems will be that I am on a well and can’t store a great quantity of gas for the generator to run the well. In a real emergency the generator will be run for just minutes while water containers are refilled. But when the gas runs out, more will have to be obtained<<<<<<<<<<<
Have you considered getting a generator that runs on propane? You can store large quantities of propane for a long long time.
I have stated this on many posts for the past several months and have never received a single reply.
See my tagline. I bought 5 of these so that when my neighbors come for my drinking water, they can just sit their butts down and help me make more. They work great.
Lordy be. There are a lot of them out there now.
Now I need to find out how deep my pump is. Then I will know what to buy.
If you have the money, invest in a hand pump. Or do a search for a how-to for using a pvc pipe to dip water out of your well. Or attach a plastic cup to a string and lower it down for water. And set out water collectors aka garbage cans when it rains.
At this very moment it is raining in Sparks, Nevada. If I needed water to drink, bathe or for the garden, I would certainly have an irrigation system connected to my roof rain gutter system because of its efficiency. I could have filled a small lake and a few swimming pools in the past hour, with just a little forethought.
How deep is your well? Solar powered wells are pricey, but are worth it if power goes out, and worth even more if the power never comes back on.
Agree on barter. A box of cheap foreign military sidearms like the 9mm Astra or similar and compatible ammo seems to me like the thing for barter since barter is based on scarcity, utility and value per pound. I think ammo is overrated because it won’t really be consumed much unless the squirrels are on the menu.
As for food, I think its all in the calories. If your stored food doesn’t have the calories as well as being edible, its a waste. Call me a fool but I think MRE’s give you the biggest bang for the cubic inch. I have lots and eat them regularly not only to rotate the stock but because they are good. And, at 3000 calories per MRE, one could eat two a week to survive in a dormant state or one every other day on the move. 10 cases of MRE’s costs about $600 and they will last for ???? I’ve eaten five year old MRE’s and you can’t see any aging.
Finally, everyone should have an off road capable DIESEL vehicle. There will be endless supplies of diesel in dead rigs and heating oil tanks. Gasoline? None. I have diesel truck that is direct injection requiring nothing to run other than fuel oil and a couple of rotations of the motor, a nice long hose and a battery operated pump.
If the SHTF I will have 1400 gallons of fresh water available immediately. After that it will take about a hour of generator time to refill it.
I purchased plastic 50 gallon drums that once contained hydraulic fluid to float my dock. I kept a couple of these to hold gas for the generator so I should be able to have fresh water for many years. I also live beside a 100 acre lake so there are a few more gallons of water available.