Prepper told me he was stocking ups on guns, ammo, and alcohol for trading when times get tough.

Why would you give desperate people guns and ammo along with inhibition/judgement reducing alcohol?

Probably because you hadn't thought through the situation very thoroughly....

That is an excellent example of "prepper fantasy world" planning. It might be hard to determine in advance just what might be good items to trade. My wife's grandmother was on the losing side of the 1918 Russian Revolution and she and her husband fled across Siberia to Manchuria (birthplace of my father-in-law), Shanghai, and eventually the San Fernando Valley (DW's birthplace). Several times they traded sewing needles with the locals for food and other essentials.

Alcohol and ammo as trade items has some historical context. The fur trappers of the 18th century would load up on them when they brought their pelts in. But, as Hikermor pointed out, it's a fantasy.

Also, like Hikermore, my maternal grandmother came to the US as a result of the Russian Revolution. They weren't involved directly in the war, but suffered the affects of it. The devaluation of the ruble, which the family fortune was in, cost them most of their liquid assets. Shortly after, the arrival of the losing White Russian Army in Manchuria forced them to flee. It wasn't sewing needles, but the great grandmothers remaining jewelry that bought them passage out.

The point is you need both day to day goods, and bribery goods, for when things go bad. IMHO, in modern context, that would mean consumables like batteries and status items like high end personal electronics. A couple boxes of 5.56 and some rotgut is going to be of limited value.

My wife's grandmother didn't trade all of her needles. She worked in Hollywood as a seamstress, doing costumes for Gone With the Wind...

I thought the White Army was losing when they got to Manchuria and weren't kicking anybody. But there is a lot I don't know about the Russian Revolution....

When the times get tough, the LAST thing I'd be giving up for trade is guns and ammo. Those are for me and my family and close friends. Possibly neighbors for neighborhood defense, but only after significant soul-searching looking at the pros and cons (and the specific neighbor).

What I can't understand is people stocking up on gold. Really, what use is gold? When the SHTF, will people be making massive amounts of jewelry? Or gold-plating contacts on electrical equipment? I can't think of many practical uses for the stuff once society starts breaking down.

Anyone who would trade something useful for alcohol is a dunce. So sure, I'd give 'em a few bottles of Stella Artois as a trade for <just_about_anything_else> if they were willing!

The White Army (anti-Bolsheviks / pro-Tsarist forces) had lost, and with their civilian White Movement people, had dispersed to a number of cities, including Harbin. At that time, Manchuria in general, and Harbin in particular, had become sanctuaries for Jews fleeing the pogroms in the Russian Empire (Pale of Settlement area). Ironically enough, the White Army was one of the major perpetrators of pogroms at the time. My family, being Jews of Ukrainian extraction, emigrated out shortly after they arrived. They took a circuitous route through Japan, Kamchatka, and Canada, and arrived in the US just in time for prohibition. Great grandfather found work building stills for the gangsters.

On a side note: The Harbin Jewish population didn't really crash until the second Sino-Japanese war in the 1930's. I'm not going to get into the details, but look up the Defense of Harbin and the Rape of Nanking. it was pretty much a TEOTWAWKI event. All the ammo and booze you could carry was worth less then a safe passage out.

Fascinating! And we all wound up in southern California...My FIL was born near Harbin(it is not certain just which village) and came to SoCal via Shanghai, and then Seattle. Born "Boris," he was "Harry" and an engineering student at Berkeley by WWII and in the military just in time to occupy Japan. A wonderful gentleman, he passed a few years ago.

One story from their escapades fleeing across Siberia - on one occasion, pursued by the Red Army, and very close to capture, their sled containing valuables overturned. Their pursuers halted to collect the goodies, enabling their escape. Yes, valuables do come in handy!

Rather than stocking up on alcohol, maybe stock up on home brewing kit... Stuff may hit the fan, but who can argue with a microbrewery with fresh hops?

I would suspect that if things like high end personal electronics still had value, then so would gold. I'm no goldbug and in fact have sold most of my gold coins, but if you're interested in trade goods, gold coins are a lot more fungible, negotiable, and easier to store, transport and protect than electronics, consumables or luxuries. But you can never really know in advance.

This is almost identical to the story told to me by my maternal grandfather.