I was quite interested to see what people were planning on trading and bargaining with in a disaster situation

see:
http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=251670&page=1

I can see lots of you have given this far more thought them I have, so let me skew the question a bit and ask:

What are you planning to bargain for ?

I accept that (situation depending) we don’t know what we may have (after a disaster), so we don’t really know what we need.

But lets take a best case scenario where you are bugged in (at your prepared site), you are healthy, and have your complete “survival store” intact, part of that store is your bargaining and trade items, as well as the items which you have collected for your own use.

Who will want your trade items ?

What will you accept in return for your items ? What will you want and why ?

Will you trade at the first opportunity, or wait ? Until when ?

I’m sure there are many ways to answer, but I’d appreciate your thoughts and ideas.

Thanks

I'm not a doctor. Bartering for medical expertise would be near the top of my list.

Other kinds of expertise to barter for could include dental, mechanical, welding, plumbing, carpentry, information technology, security, firearms training, gardening, nutrition, and water collection. I'm sure I'm missing a ton of others.

I can't know everything but I love collecting books on practical subjects.

well ... I'd strike any bargain that would get rid of "Survivor" on TV. It also wouldn't hurt if they got rid of our local news station, and anything to do with the Kardashians. :-)

Other than that - I'd expect to bargain for some meds and bandages. The problem in the USA is that often we cannot persuade doctors to prescribe extra "backup" meds. They won't do it. The system just seems to assume that things will always be available.

Pete2

Sounds like medical skills, equipment and medical drugs are high on the list of wants.

Will your barter items secure those things for you, or will a higher bidder take them from you ?

What can you do now to lessen your dependencies on those items ?



Seems to me, if I have medical skills I’m probably going to give them freely because that’s the type of people many medics are, which probably means queues of folk, and no express line.
I just can’t see doctors walking around selling their wares, like a broom salesman, waiting for someone to make an offer; at least not in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.
That is certainly the case here when we have floods, fires, cyclones etc, the medical folk head to the hospitals/clinics/community centres to do their best, I imagine it is the same in your part of the world ?

Medical equipment is easy to obtain, its just a matter of buying the gear in sufficient quantities and to suit your budget. If you anticipate needing it, now is surely the time to get it, rather than post disaster.

Regular meds are a much more serious matter. You know what you need and you know you’ll be in trouble if you don’t get it.
I am NOT a doctor, but I wonder if it is possible to investigate the effect of rationing your existing meds, or substituting other meds ?
Certainly making sure that you know the actual drug you take, so you can see if product X is actually the same med which you take, but a different brand, would be a good exercise

(Post disaster) anyone who is selling meds would only be selling them because they don’t need it themselves, so they’re a profiteer. You need the meds to stay alive (or stay well).
What price will they put on that packet, and do you think they would want the type of small item survival gear many folk seem to want to stock ?


(just thinking out loud here)

I would barter for medicine-antibiotics in particular. 12-volt car batteries could be very useful in some cases.

Something rarely mentioned are things like lumber, nails, and roofing materials. Those could be valuable, depending on the disaster.

I've bartered for medical services before. I had a chiropractor who would adjust my spine in exchange for me fixing her PC. In a disaster situation, I imagine that medical practitioners would be helping everyone they could. The "barter" would be to offer them whatever we had that they need, to support their work.

"Thank you so much, Doctor. I have a bunch of OTC meds, bandages and the like that I could give you. Could I interest you in a meal before you go?"

I would think natural medicine practitioners in true EOTWAWKI would be very valuable,an MD without his pharma isnt going to be able to do much for illness. My Doc without a prescription pad would see his usefulness plummet a large amt.

Building supplies and tools and ability to use em,all valuable.

Food? Stop the flow,we are in deep trouble,almost all of us that arent farmers in the Amish vein.

"an MD without his pharma isnt going to be able to do much for illness"
I would disagree. A physician can diagnose a disease based on symptoms and recommend treatments even if he can't give you a script for the pharmacy. He can splint a broken bone and differentiate between a break and a sprain. He can be a resource re. safe foods and water. He may even be able to find plants which have therapeutic properties, such as willow bark. BTW I appologise if any of the other sex are offended by my "He", just quicker than he/she.