I inherited silver from both my Grandmothers - tea service, cutlery, serving utensils, etc. My aunts think I keep it for sentimental reasons. We use it all at big family gatherings. Little do they know that it's all part of my "just in case" supplies.

EDIT: The quilts and cedar chests I inherited are just plain awesome utilitarian goodness. My cousin got the good wool blankets though. dang!

What would I barter? Pretty much anything I have that I think is worth losing in order to gain something else I need.

As a specific item, I like bartering in alcohol. I figure it's not really essential to my survival and if they're totally inebriated they're less likely to be a real threat.

With that said, I will not barter weapons/ammunition. I know some people who think .22lr ammo is a great bartering item, but I just feel like there is too much potential for it to be used against you. Plus I'd rather not let people know whether or not I'm armed unless I have to; as it could make some situations more tense than they need to be.

I have some junk silver coins and also have some gold coins from before the price shot out of sight. Alcohol and furs have historically been high-valued barter items, though I don't stock excesses of the former and have none of the latter at present. Excess vegetables from the garden and eggs from chickens, if it gets to that.

I supposed I could dust-off my old electrical/electronics skills, but I doubt that my current IT skills would be worth much if we are down to trading fish hooks and corn.

I would hope to barter from a position of power. Giving the impression of not needing anything would be a starting point. I would trade ammunition to those that were low but not out. I would also suggest that I could offer them more if they needed it later. I have already offered firearms and ammunition to a poor family in the area. I told them to continue stocking what they are good at and we would trade later.

Snake Doctor – You have some medicine to trade? I do need Flagyl & Leviquin & Cipro, what do you need for it? I will store medicine in return for firearms and ammunition.

NightHiker – What type of manual labor would you like to do. How can I pay you? What would you charge me to bury these 8 Foxholes that I just got form Lar-Ken concrete in Garden City? Security? What kind of a group can you shoot at 400 yards?

IzzyJG99 – I could use as many multi tools as you can spare. What do you need in trade?

LesSnyder – I also have quite a collection of large hooks for mammals. I will trade you one for one and we will each be better supplied. I could trade you RV parking at my location for RV parking at yours. What caliber firearms and ammunition do you rank the highest?

Paul810 – Liquor, you say. What are you short of? I think we could be friends. Continue to stock as much as you can. I can provide the hard core equipment.

ponder... not sure if that was a legit question... but here goes...as I've said I'm a paper puncher...the 1050 is set up for 9mm (G34) and the 550 with case feeder for .45 (custom 1911) and try to keep a 5gal bucket of brass on hand for both... still have a couple of bricks of .22lr from the Chevy Team Challenge days (M41 and 10/22)...if need be can feed the 870 or Benelli with MEC Grabber... don't hunt so my AR10 is a game gun, but somewhat limited in ammo... my 4x32 topped 5.56 carbine will shoot 4inches at 400m with 55grain S&B and about 5inches with USGI

IMHO - those are all quality barter categories. I will expect all of your centerfire ammunition to be in short supply in the future. I am stocking a significant quantity of .308 & .223. Both are in high demand in Idaho. I also favor long range targeting with a Remington 700 Sendero in .300 WM.

If you are riding thru Idaho, you can resupply here.

[quote=Paul810]As a specific item, I like bartering in alcohol./quote]

The interesting part about bartering in alcohol is the value variation across the country. A redneck in Skagway, AK took a liking to my Benchmade AFO. He supplied Bud Tall cheaper than the Bud delivery truck supplies our store. Idaho liquor taxes are extremely high. Nevada residents use Everclear to trade for ammo in Idaho.

I have taken my ideas for barter from history. There were many traders that worked with Natives here in North America. I will NOT trade away alcohol, food, medicine, weapons or ammunition. I have a few skills, but mostly I am looking at sundries- thread, needles, disposable razors, nail clippers, clothing/fabric, tarps, mirrors, old camp pots, soap, boot laces, etc.

Keep the customers at a distance and trust no new folks.

Of course, this is all a TEOTWAWKI situation.

For the most part, I am not all that worried about barter after a TEOTWAWKI type event. No matter what you have, getting good value for your stuff is going to require widespread knowledge of just what you have and I think a much lower profile is in order.

I also think the idea of bartering services for hard goods is probably more fantasy then reality. I often see people suggesting they would be able to barter their service as security guards or first aid suppliers. Really? Those kind of skills are very widespread in varying degrees. I am personally not going to hire just anyone that shows up with a gun as a security guard. There will be a lot of supply of unskilled and semi-skilled labor and not much demand.

I don't think that even highly skilled people like doctors and nurses would be in that great of a position. Our modern medical system sucks up a lot of skilled people to care for the chronically and acutely ill people who will die off pretty quickly if things get really bad, leaving a large overhanging supply of skilled medical people with little to do.

I think it's true that the skills (and they definitely are real skills) of a good many of those highly trained medical people is dependent upon the technology available in hospitals or treatment centers. The further into the woods you are, the more reduced anyone's treatment capabilities become.

I am currently reading, with great pleasure, the latest edition of [/u]Medicine for Mountaineering[u], which goes significantly beyond typical first responder/first aid measures. Still, in a good many discussions, the ending is the familiar "evacuation to definitive care is required." In a good many disaster situations, that option may not be realistic.