Including Bartering Items in Your Preps

Originaly posted at tinhatranch.com

Including Bartering Items in Your Preps

When a prepper gets to a certain point in their journey, they hit the “what now?” phase. They have hit their goals for stored supplies and are on a rotation cycle, they have their paperwork and bags taken care of for a bug out situation, and they are generally ‘ready’ to survive if things start flying.

There are many aspects of preparing that most don’t think about beyond food, shelter, water, and medical needs. It is a good thing that the basics were focused on first. Once you get comfortable and have a good system down though, what next? Many preppers are left wondering if there is more they can do to increase their chances of survival and success in a disaster situation. The answer is a resounding YES!

Prepare to Barter

If the disaster you are dealing with stretches on for any real length of time, bartering items will likely be used quickly and often as people try to get what they need to survive. You, being the savvy prepper you are, considered this and maybe you got some extra ‘extra’ for trading purposes. There are a lot of very small and inexpensive items you can buy and store that will pack a punch of the bartering scene in a post SHTF scenario. Consider the following:

“It has been 10 days since the disaster happened. You and your family are doing ok because of your preparedness and stored supplies. You practiced drills and have a decent support group around your area. No one is starving but there is no power or internet. The only real trouble is…boredom. The kids are constantly at each other’s throats, screaming and hollering and generally complaining in an already morale-crushing situation. Then….you find a set of dice.”

Imagine the excitement of finding a simple set of dice. Literal hours of entertainment that fits in the palm of your hand. How about a deck of cards? Both items are extremely inexpensive, small and lightweight. Uno cards, travel sized chess and checkers, cribbage, and even hand held game devices will all become valuable bartering tools to get the things you actually need. Plus, it goes a long way to keeping morale up in a bad situation.

There are many more options other than small games, too! Consider travel size sewing kits. The longer a disaster goes on for, the more things like that will come in handy. Small mirrors, travel toothbrushes, shampoo and soaps will also be valuable. If you are able to shop at a dollar store and pick up a few of these items a month, it you will notice your stash getting larger but it isn’t breaking the bank. Watch for sales, too! After the holiday season, a lot of these little items will go on sale to reduce stock on hand.

How about making fishing kits or fire-starting kits using recycled prescription bottles or Altoid tins? They are also small, lightweight, inexpensive and are a great way to upcycle the resealable bottles. (Please note that if using old prescription bottles, they should be thoroughly cleaned with very hot water and soap to remove any residue from the pills!)  The best part about these ideas for different bartering items is they give you something of value that won’t bog you down weight wise, could be included in vehicle and bug out bags, and even in your EDC bag!

Bartering skills will be important should supply chains break, even temporarily. (Unless, of course, you choose to go the criminal route.) If you do not have some food and water stashed away already, what will you do when you run out and there are no stores. The disaster doesn’t have to be global to make a huge impact. Anyone who lives in tornado alley, hurricane prone areas, or the northeast states can attest to that.

The way I see it, you think of things that people will need in a survival situation and then turn that you can trade in small, lightweight (and cheap) ways. Using the fire example above, if you are unable to get Altoid tins or prescription bottles, you can always soak some cotton balls in petroleum jelly, put those into a generic ziplock bag and tape some matches on the outside of it. Honestly, how many could you make spending $10 on supplies?

Lastly, there is a side benefit to preparing to barter: you have small, easy to stash supplies readily available. Any of the above mentioned ideas will fit into caches you may create, too! If you find yourself in a situation where you need to get into the cache, it is likely you don’t have much of anything. A deck of cards, an almost guaranteed way to start a fire, and a way to catch some fish or make a snare would be like finding a treasure trove! It would give you hope, motivation, and the means to keep surviving.

Did you know the Saturday Survival Serial is now a book AND that there is a second volume already started? If you missed out on the first one, you can catch up by reading Aftermath, A Story of Survival now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle!

LeAnn InAK lives in beautiful Southeast Alaska with her husband and fur babies. She is the owner of the sitewww.homesteaddreamer.com and focuses on working toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle while trying to be prepared for the unknown.