Cigarettes expire one year after manufacture. Probably still usable for a while afterward, but I don't smoke so I never tried old ones.

Confirming, 1-2 years. But "Hand rolling tobacco and cigars for example can be easily reconditioned by exposing them to moisture, indeed there are commercial products available to recondition cigars. To recondition cigarettes however would be more difficult."

Processed cigarette tobacco has so many chemicals in it, including formaldehyde, that it may last as long a twinkie. It may not be as "fresh" after a few years, but it should still be smokeable. A tobacconist would know for sure. Try a Tinderbox store. Are those still around anymore?

So, if cigarettes "expire" after a year does that mean they are safe to smoke?

My quick .02 on the tabacco/booze thing. Having some form of tabacco product or alcohol for barter may be a good idea in the short term. In 1992 my battalion at Ft. Bragg was deployed to the Homestead area of FL after Hurricane Andrew. As we were hurrying up and waiting to move out I went to the small PX across the street and bought two rolls of Copenhagen, even though I didn't smoke or dip. Three weeks later when the dip ran out and there was no resupply, I became the man for several days and people were very nice to me. I would assume the same could be said for alcohol in a similar situation.

However, comma, using these items in the longer term (more than a few days/weeks) as a barter item may back fire. By the end of the deployment to FL, everyone knew I had the extra Cope and I found the leadership skill of several higher ranked individuals became quite lacking when they ran out of their own stash, and I found my duffel bag gone through on several occasions when I was out on patrol. After a few days or weeks when word has gotten around that you have these items, the desperate and weak that can no longer control their addictions are gonna use whatever means they can to get to your stuff. When drug use goes up, so do local burglaries and robberies, because people do what they can for their "fix." This may also apply to other items you store specifically for barter, but these two things are the biggest addictions in society and would tend to cause the most problems when they are not available. Again, my opinion based on personal observation.

Safe? They just became too dry, thus burning too fast and releasing almost no flavor. But they will still provide the necessary nicotine dose to ease the smoker's cramps. I've personally had smoked a 17 years old cigarettes once (military surplus). Not that bad at all. (Just a side note: I quit smoking 2 years ago).

That story proves exactly why tobacco and booze are valuable barter items. People will behave exactly the same for any necessary item, including scarce water, scare fuel, etc. If it is known that you own anything of value, then you will always be a target to someone. If your barter items are valuable to nobody but yourself, then expect to be totally safe with all your worthless goods that you cannot barter.

People are neither inherently good nor inherently bad. People just are.

Logically it must be a standard proven by ages bandit's portfolio: gold, booze, tobacco, guns, and a lot of ammo then.

Though, I love the Blast's idea - Electrical energy. It's not just a big solar panel on the roof but also the indispensable knowledge of how to operate and maintain it, how to store the energy, safely recharge different batteries and devices, e.t.c. So in fact that's also a skill set for trade.

By the way. Did you see the "The Book of Eli" movie recently? The guy who could recharge an iPod player is a very reputable person among bandits, and even a happy owner of a junk shop (goods he's traded for charging I believe ) in the middle of the post apocalyptic chaos...

Gold, nope. Don't want it. Doesn't do anything but look pretty.

You want to bargain, beans, bullets, bandaids. Then luxury items that I can re-barter for the basics. Hell, if I have stock of P38 can openers and there is no power, I could be king or the world.

Something else to ponder on - Knowledge. Books. How-to and more back to basics than pure survival. You can copy this article outta my book for XX rounds of .22. Or what is it you have that I may need?

Okay, I buy this thread as an interesting "thought exercise." Though I would point out that in every historical hyper-inflation event I've read about, people still did most of their trading in cash. Yeah, the cash might not have been worth much, and you in fact may have needed a wheelbarrow to take it to the market (this has happened), but it was still a major moving force in whatever economy there was.

My guess? It's still more efficient than any barter system. It's just too hard for small buyers and sellers, each having what the other wants, to find each other. A roadside stand selling lemonade, bullets and beans on a barter system is a waste of time. (My $0.02, though I think it's true.)

Blast is right on the money. And what is he selling? A service, not a good. Like others who suggested it, services are the key (a service being a person with expertise, tools and materials to solve your particular problem).

Proof, you say? I saw news reports after the Haitian earthquake of guys recharging cell phones with bicycle-powered chargers. Seems the towers were operational but few people had off-grid means to charge their cell phones; and in the third world, everybody uses and needs their cell phones. Instant business -- cash on the barrel head, please.