What do you store that you don't actually use for bribe or barter ?

I am not much into alcohol but I know that there are those that will be stressed out or those in pain that need relief that alcohol can help with.
I also store feminine pads and such ,some for gunshot wounds and some for those that were not prepared.
Many of my medical supplies are for those that have unusual needs and books as well from brushing up on various procedures.
It is not possible to meet every need but meeting those I can can promote cooperation and team bond.
I've also got a selection of books and musical instruments as we'll as music and movies.
There are even a few games both kids and adult card games .
What have you set aside ,not for your self?

 

Lots of Raman Noodles. two liter pop bottles for trade water. disposable Lighters.

 

Glasses, ( the seeing reading kind) something I thought of was in a SHTF situation people will need them and you can get them all over for like a $1.00. My next is to try and get a bunch of sun glasses too even some dollars stores have them. The other is as mentioned lighters.

 

I have a working deep freezer that is not plugged in that is filling up with a ton of liquor and wine.
And a huge collection of muscle relaxers, I get the prescription filled almost every month but only ever need it 2 to 4 times a year for a few days, same thing for my wife she gets some kind of narcotic migraine pill that she only needs about once every 4 to 6 weeks, get it filled every month. Trade stuff that will keep people f-ed up so you are less likely to have to deal with them later.
I still think the worse thing you can trade off is weapons and ammo. That means you have that much less and they or eventually someone else has that much more.

 

I headed in the opposite direction on this.

I do not go out of my way to keep anything I can't/won't use myself. It does not make sense. If one is going to to invest the time, money, and space for barter items, then why not at least use the resources for more of what you can use?

What is the point of purposely maintaining a pile of stuff you 100% know you'll never use to trade for stuff you will use? Why not keep more of the things you need anyway and use that as your barter items?

Liquor may be the sole exception because it stores pretty much indefinitely and it's a universal currency like gold and silver: Someone will always want booze and pay a premium to get it. But be careful: You don't want some raving drunk with a gun to come back later, and you don't want to be known as the neighborhood booze depot.

I also have a menagerie of hardware, hand tools, and radio equipment for barter. None of it was acquired for the sole purpose of bartering. It's all the extra odds and ends I've built up over the years.

 

Oh no, when they run out of trade goods and know you have their fix .. You will have to deal with them.

 

@oil pan 4 "I have a working deep freezer that is not plugged in that is filling up with a ton of liquor and wine."
Why are you freezing (most likely it isn't frozen) your liquor? I would think that it would be fine keeping it in a moderate temperature, no? Doesn't freezing ruin the flavor of the wine?

I have a lot of antibiotics to trade but other than that I wouldn't trade anything else. I do have thousands of eBooks but wouldn't consider trading them unless there was absolutely no rule of law. I would never trade my food, water or even extra firearms.

EDIT: I just had a thought...Wife can make some darn good Blackberry/Raspberry vodka for trade and sell!!!

 

I own a small business, so I could argue that I regularly store and barter a lot of items that I have no intention of use. It is actually a pretty good way to test some things out without having to do much. Haha. Of course, I have found a few grand worth of new toys, but that is a discussion for another day.

 

That's how I plan to feed my dogs.

 

Am I the only that has had that "Oh crap" moment after getting home from the store??

 

The freezer is not plugged in. Its more or less a metal cabinet with a lock on it.

 

When 22LR was absent and I had no 22 firearms it was like gold if I had wanted to sell it, I sold little and at my cost but I didn't need it someone else did. I think if one chooses items that will be on others lists for sure thats a good item. Maybe not too far out in left field like saving all sized shoes LOL, but typical items even if not used by a person is often worth more to others then it was to you.

 

There will certainly be no more of them than the number of rounds stored in the magazine of a standard M1911

 

That I don't use? Nothing...no booze, no cigs, no left-field calibers that someone might have a weapon to fit.
I stock what I use, and use what I stock.

ETA: I take that back...I do have a stock of medical equipment, but have been fortunate to not need sutures, eye patches, etc. But to say it is specifically for trade/barter would be erroneous.

 

vacuum sealed blocks of coffee.

 

I think I fit somewhere in the middle of this group. I find it to be a wise choice to have barter items. Almost a duty in terms of when we stop "surviving" and start thinking about rebuilding, we will need something to barter. Also, its better to have things you don't "need" and can spare than have to trade your last bottle of propane/gallon of gas/can of food/bottle of water...etc...etc. to get through a road block or receive medical attention.
My problem is the funds. I seem to always "need" something else. Just as I think I have prepped my last necessary prep, something will expire or need rotated out of stock! so that needs replaced. Or I'll learn a new skill or be told about a scenario a friend is prepping for that I had not previously thought of and now I need those items.
I have learned that in order to have any barter items I will need to store things that would normally end up in the yard sale pile or the thrift store piles. I used to think of it as a "pay it forward" sort of thing. I love to find deals second hand and so thought, "I should take my excess and do the same for the benefit of others." Now I use a different approach. Instead of yard sales and thrift store drop offs, most of the cloths, blankets, boots, tents, camping gear and the such that a single guy like myself regularly gets for birthdays, holidays and the like gets rotated into the preps and the old is now stored as barter items. expired food stores ( according to the labels) are now kept as barter items, so on and so forth. I cant spend money stocking booze and tobacco no matter how well I think you could barter with it. but I make do with what I have and I do set aside barter items. If or when I have the funds for things I do not need, key words being "I" and "not need" I will first stock up items for hygiene (male, female, and baby), then comforts (tents, sleeping pads,clothing), then pleasure/entertainment (booze, smokes, hard candies, games, instruments).
does this make sense or am I just rambling on here?

 

I keep a little liquor, tobacco, cheap (but decent knives, like Chinese Kershaws) and, kind of special, children's aspirin, fever reducers, electrolytes, etc!
Good parents will give what ever they can for a sick child!

BTW, I've been told, many times over the years, that tobacco isn't a a good trade item because it goes stale.
And it does, it gets dry, bitter and nasty! It burns fast! However that is not going to bother a smoker doing withdrawal a bit!

 

Moral is going to be large having been a society accustomed to entertainment, so I've saved movies and spare video equipment .
Also I've saved lots of musical instruments and sheet music and a library of antique "how to" books .

 

I'm planning on competitive games, like blowguns, cornstalk shoots, tug of war, needing to eat or starve...