I'm gonna have to go with the $1,000 option too, now that I think about it. In small bills, too. $10's and $20's.

We all look for the right tool to do a job when disaster strikes. We save, to be able to buy a nice knife or a comfortable back-pack. Money is has a very special status in our world. In a survival situation it is just a tool. Unless you want to start a business just after the earthquake. :-) It is a tool to get stuff done. Invest in a nice knife. Invest in a money stash.

The interesting thing about money is that it is like a cellphone. They both rely on an infastructure to give them value. Cash can buy you a boat ride off an island and Cash can buy you a ride into a town to get out of the woods. Just like a cellphone with out the infastructure to back it up both are kinda usless.

The thing that I always like about this site and about Doug's phylosophy is that while in a survival situation you can't rely on the infastructure, you will eventualy return to civilization.

If a Katrian like event occured and you had to bug out of where you are Yes it will be very "apocoplitic" in both resorces and in feel. But after a few hours drive, maybe even a day, you will find civilization, and then the bowie knife and camping equipment that helped you to survive,(I am exagerating and speaking figurativly) is quickly replaced by cash, and maybe credit cards.

Yes if the civilized world today stoped, Cash would be usless, but I am hedging a bet that having about $1k in cash will still go somewhere in helping you get what you need to keep you and yours safe. .

Dang-when I read the heading, I thought I might be able to trade in my BOB for money somewhere...I am distressed at how attractive that seemed...

My BoB, GHB, E&E bag, and my SAK & Kabar are non-negotiable. But that's just me

My interest in survival is of the wilderness/short term type. I don't think we'll see TEOTWAWKI in my lifetime, and if it does happen no amount of preparation will guarentee survival. My interest in life is in living it, not merely existing on as a hardscrabble survivor fighting with the cockroaches after Armageddon. True, if it comes to I may have to reconsider. But since there's rarely if ever been a complete worldwide collapse of civilization in all of our written human history, I think it's prudent to devote the bulk of my resources to the emergencies I'm more likely to face.

Personally I look at the $ in my BOB as a tool.

I keep $1,000 in it broken down as follows .

$10.00 Quarters
$20.00 Ones
$270.00 Fives
$700.00 Tens

Hope this gives me the ability to get what I my need (gas , food , lodging etc ...)Hopefully I will never need it , but it is there if I do.

Thanks everyone for the replies. $1000 in a BOB is a lot of cash for someone like me with a low paying job and no car. I do have an emergency account at ING Direct with $6000 at 2% interest rate in a "tax free savings account" (a new Canadian plan started in 2009) and after just a couple of months I earned something like $70 in interests so if inflation rate is 2% you better reevaluate your $1000 cash after a couple of years... What I will surely do is get more quarters, toonies and loonies and some $5 and $10 dollars bills.

François

Whatever the amount each of us keeps on hand for emergency situations --my feeling is don't keep all your eggs in one basket applies.

This. Cash is great for dealing with day-to-day problems that crop up, especially when traveling. But all the cash in the world will be better used as a tinder source or T.P. in TEOTWAWKI.

What are the people with gold stashes really going to do? Stroll into their neighborhood grocery store, slide a gold bar across the counter, and walk out with bags of groceries? You can't eat gold, you can't cook with it, and it won't keep you warm at night. If anything, a barter and trade system will be developed to "buy" goods and services.

I think at least a few hundred dollars in small denominations in your B.O.B. is good. More than that just makes you a target.