Here is my full list of some items that I am acquiring and think might be useful for barter or trade
during and after a major disaster: (No, I don’t have all of these items. Yet.)
Barter Items & Skill Sets To Trade is the fourth part of a series. You can read Part 1 HERE, and Part 2 HERE, Part 3 HERE and Part 4 HERE.
Commercial scales to get agreed upon weights of items
Troy weight scale; up to 16 ounce scale; and 1#+, 10#+, 100#+, & 500#+ scales
Blank barter slips to record transactions, especially those with future delivery dates
(pre-printed slips with the who, what, when, how much, etc.)
US Mint Gold Eagle coins in 1.0 oz, 0.5 oz, 0.25 oz, and 1/10 oz denominations
US Mint Silver Eagle coins in 1.0 oz denomination.
Circulated pre-1965 US 90% silver quarters
Circulated pre-1965 90% silver dimes
Various items including
1. A large library of useful books (trade the information, not the book)
2. 8-oz bottles of water
3. 1-liter bottles of water
4. 200ml bottles 190 proof Everclear
5. smokeless tobacco
6. 2 oz boxes tobacco
7. booklets cigarette papers
8. smoking pipes
9. small boxes matches
10. butane lighter fuel
11. Zippo lighter fuel
12. lighter flints
13. lighter wicks
14. disposable lighters
15. straight razors w/strop, soap, & cup
16. shaving soap
17. Q-tips
18. playing cards
19. dice
20. candle/oil lamp wick
21. Coleman lantern mantles
22. Crank flashlights
23. Canned green coffee beans (with a roaster and grinder to use, not trade away)
24. 2 oz jars instant coffee
25. 16 count boxes teabags
26. 2 oz jars bouillon cubes
27. tubs add-water-only drink mix
28. 1 pound boxes sugar
29. various spices
30. small containers of cooking oil
31. 2 oz boxes salt
32. 2 oz cans pepper
33. 5 oz cans evaporated milk
34. 14oz cans sweetened condensed milk
35. 4 oz cans cocoa
36. 2 oz bars chocolate candy
37. 8 oz bags hard candy (individually wrapped)
38. 4 oz cans Vienna sausage/potted meat
39. 12 oz cans roast beef
40. 7 oz cans Spam (or 12oz) (or Treet)
41. 6 oz cans tuna
42. 10 oz cans soup (meaty types)
43. 16 oz bags rice
44. 16 oz bags beans/lentils
45. #10 cans Pilot Bread
46. aspirin pain killer
47. acetaminophen pain killer
48. multi-vitamins
49. water purification tablets
50. OTC reading glasses
51. OTC UVA/UVB resistant sunglasses
52. Cheap wide-brimmed straw hats
53. small boxes tampons/sanitary napkins
54. reusable sanitary napkins
55. Diva cups or similar
56. reusable cotton diapers
57. diaper pins
58. leak proof diaper cover pants
59. clothes pins
60. wooden pencils/ink pens
61. small note books
62. legal pads
63. 6”-12” candles
64. boxes strike anywhere kitchen matches
65. rolls toilet paper
66. bars soap (Ivory, Lava, Fels Naptha, Dial)
67. hair combs/brushes
68. disposable razors
69. toothbrushes
70. boxes baking soda
71. shoe and boot laces
72. packets safety pins
73. packets of sewing needles
74. spools of thread
75. bachelor buttons/jeans buttons
76. clothing snaps and rivets
77. scissors
78. mousetraps
79. rat traps
80. fly swatters
81. mosquito netting
82. window screening
83. jersey gloves
84. cotton/leather work gloves
85. insulated gloves
86. socks
87. tubes silicone sealant
88. tubes Shoe Goo/Goop
89. tubes JB Weld
90. duct tape
91. mechanic’s wire
92. electrical tape
93. friction tape
94. rubber tape
95. sheet plastic
96. divided buckets with a variety of nails, screws, bolts, nuts, washers, staples, zip ties, brads, Velcro
97. divided buckets with a variety of grommets, HD snaps, hammer rivets, and pop rivets with setting tools
98. sealed cans of welding rods (6011 and/or 7018 1/8”)
99. variety of brazing rods
100. cans of brazing flux
101. shovels (round & square, straight & curved)
102. regular canning lids
103. wide mouth canning lids
104. Tattler/4-Ever Recap reusable canning lids
105. Tattler/4-Ever reusable canning lid rubber rings/seals
106. P-38/P-51 can openers
107. 6-hour cans ECOFuelXB
108. 1-lb propane cylinders
109. 10-lb bags charcoal briquettes
110. solar 12-volt battery chargers
111. solar AAA, AA, C, D, 9-volt battery charger
112. rechargeable batteries AAA, AA, C, D, 9-volt, CR123A
113. Aluminum foil (HD)
114. Wax paper
115. Freezer paper
116. Freezer tape
Seed items
1. #10 cans heirloom seeds
2. Coffee plant seed
3. Tobacco plant seed
4. Tea plant seed
5. Poppy plant seed
6. Biodiesel production chemicals
7. Soap making chemicals
8. 50-round boxes of .22 LR RF cartridges
Trade goods items
In addition to the individual size and standard size prepackaged goods here are the things
I think would be good trade goods bought in bulk and traded away in small quantities
when things settle down, plus some items to make it easier.
Blank barter slips to record transactions, especially those with future delivery dates
Diamant #525 grain grinder to grind grains for customers, with spare grinding plates
Katadyn Expedition water filter to make clean water for customers, with spare elements
Crown Berkey water purification system to supplement the Katadyn, with spare elements
Commercial scales to get agreed upon weights of items:
Troy weight scale; 16 ounce scale; and 1#+, 10#+, 100#+, & 500#+ scales
Containers
1. small containers for measured out items (spices, meds, etc.)(really small zip-locks and envelopes)
2. set various scoops, funnels, etc. for measuring & transferring goods
3. 5/6/7-gallon dispensing containers (to hold filtered water)
4. 5/6/7 gallon buckets w/lids for water (deposit)
5. 1-gal zip-lock bags/cloth bags (deposit)
6. 1-quart zip-lock bags/cloth bags (deposit)
7. medium paper sacks/cloth bags (deposit)
8. small paper sacks/cloth bags (deposit)
9. pint cans w/screw lids (deposit)
Bulk trade good items
1. Chicken wire
2. Stock/game salt/mineral blocks
3. Game feed/bait
4. 20# propane cylinders for refilling from large home tank with wet leg
5. 1-lb propane cylinders
6. 10-lb bags charcoal briquettes
7. 1- & 5-gallon containers kerosene
8. 1-quart bottles of lamp oil
9. 5-gallon buckets of Sodium hypochlorite (pool shock) to make bleach
Cases of
1. #2½ cans baking powder
2. #2½ cans baking soda
3. #2½ cans corn starch
4. #2½ cans or vacuum packed spices (cream of tartar, allspice, season salt, pepper, mild chili powder, cinnamon, ginger, Italian seasoning, lemon pepper, nutmeg, spaghetti sauce spice, taco mix, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, clove, BBQ mix, basil, cumin, oregano, Paprika, anise, cayenne, garlic, curry mix, mustard, celery seed, turmeric, chives, Tabasco, caraway seed, cardamom, dill, fennel, tarragon, coriander, Worcestershire sauce, spearmint, peppermint, savory, mace)
5. 2 ounce bottles of extracts (Vanilla, mint, peppermint, butterscotch, maple, almond, anise, etc.)
6. 1-lb packages yeast
Buckets of
1. wheat
2. rolled oats
3. rice
4. small red beans
5. pinto beans
6. great northern beans
7. cornmeal
8. sugar
9. olive oil
10. coconut oil
11. shortening powder
12. iodized salt
13. kosher salt
14. powdered milk
15. vegetable stew mix
16. dried eggs
17. nutty granola
18. butter powder
19. cheese blend
20. tomato powder
21. macaroni
22. noodles
23. spaghetti noodles
24. peanut butter powder
25. honey
26. beef bouillon
27. chicken bouillon
28. hard candy
Miscellaneous items
1. rolls of toilet paper
2. bundles of red shop rags as reusable TP substitute
3. 100# bags fertilizer
4. 100# bags non-iodized canning salt
5. Large containers of simple homemade cleaner ingredients (Baking soda, Vinegar, rubbing alcohol, washing soda, Borax, mild dish detergent [castile soap], cream of tartar, hydrogen peroxide, Lemon juice, sodium per carbonate, salt, corn starch, olive oil, calcium hypochlorite)
Join us for the next (and final) part of this series when Jerry shares what tools he thinks are great for prepping and barter, coming soon here at 3BY.
About the author:
Jerry D Young
About the author: Jerry D Young is an Author, Prepper, Consultant, Philosopher who resides in Nevada. He has written over 100 books, many of which are available at this link:
“I have been a prepper for more than 50 years. I believe that the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have had it right for decades…”Be Prepared.” Unfortunately, we, as a country seem to have gotten away from that philosophy. There has been a disconnect from the “Old Ways so profound, some people don’t really understand where their food comes from.
That’s not a problem until the “System” fails. Be it from a hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flood or even a closed road or train route. The system is designed to get JUST what is needed to the stores JUST when it’s needed. So if the “System” fails, then the things we need…the things we believe will be there aren’t. That’s when being a prepper makes sense. Being able to be self-sufficient for the the time needed until the “System” recovers…regardless of how long that takes.
That’s why so many of my books incorporate the theme of “Being prepared.” Hope you enjoy them!”