BACK TO BASICS OF BARTERING
The dictionary defines barter as "the exchange of goods or services for other goods or services." That sounds like a pretty good system:
trading something for something. But one rarely hears a good word about barter. Why is that?
The typical description of a barter transaction is couched in terms similar to this: "You have an apple and want an orange. I have an orange and want an apple. We trade. That's barter." Then everyone smiles at the quaintness of the concept. Well, I should think so!
What are your chances of finding someone with an apple who wants to trade it for your orange at just the time when you want an apple, and your orange is ripe and juicy, and his apple is fresh and desirable?
What if you want a settee, or a set of tires? What if he wants your orange, but has a rutabaga to trade?
Let's look at another "what if." What if we get real, and put aside these grotesque examples of barter which seem designed for the specific purpose of making it look ridiculous. Barter, as the dictionary tells us, is trading something for something else.
The only other way to trade, it would seem, is to trade something for nothing. Is that what most people would regard as superior to barter? Given the nature of modern money, that is precisely what we do today when we make trades: we give nothing for something, if we are
buying, or something for nothing, if we are the seller. Just possibly that has something to do with the deterioration of our economy!
In real life, the absurd "apple for orange" type of barter has never existed; things were never that simple. Barter was indirect: people bartered with goods which they used specifically for bartering. In other words, I would sell you my goods or services for something I didn't need, such as a keg of nails, because I knew that nails were always in demand, and I could swap them for what I needed at some time in the future.
Nails, though a good bartering medium, are bulky. They aren't worth very much, so it takes an awful lot of them to trade for anything expensive. As you probably suspect, we are heading toward precious metals. Their popularity as a bartering agent since ancient times indicates their superiority to other materials which have been used here and there, now and then.
Another dictionary definition of barter declares it to be the "trading of goods and services for other goods and services without the use of money."
That definition, however, confuses more than it enlightens. If people trade goods and services for, let's say, gold, then they are still
bartering, even if they call the bartering medium "money." They are trading goods, or services, for goods (or the services of the gold miner).
They have picked gold because it is a supremely good material to use for bartering; and if its use is universal, or nearly so, people may refer to it as "money." There is, after all, nothing which has the essence, or nature, of money.
There isn't a money tree, or a money mine. Money is simply the name which we give to the stuff we use, among other purposes, for bartering.
For this bartering to work, the substance bartered, the universal bartering agent, or "money," must be useful. It is a grave mistake to assume that there was some sort of tacit agreement, throughout the ages, to use gold as money just as a sort of convention, or habit.
Gold was used because of its utility. There are other valuable substances which have been known to men for centuries. Amber, for instance, is rare and expensive, but it isn't used
as money, because it is relatively useless. Myrrh made whole villages rich in times past, and is still valuable and scarce; but there isn't much use for it today. Gold, on the other hand, is an industrial necessity, besides having an important role in jewelry. The same can be said of silver.
Millions of ounces are used to make solder, and film. In other words, you can safely hold these precious metals without fear that you will
get "stuck" with them. That obviously isn't true with what passes for money today.
Perhaps society has been made contemptuous of barter because our present system is so inadequate by comparison. We trade something for
nothing. Our modern "money," far from being a repository of wealth, is a mental concept.
The Federal Reserve System, in one of its many publications, states that what gives modern money its usefulness is the confidence which people place in it. It is, in other words, a con game. A gold brick is valuable, as long as you have confidence in it. Scrape off the gold paint, and your confidence evaporates.
Because it is intangible, you can't scrape the gilt off modern money. The market place, however, can bring about the same effect. Precious metals have approximately the same exchange rate that they had when used as money. The mental money, however, is losing its exchange value from month to month, and we are expected to believe that this is somehow a cosmic catastrophe, like an impending collision with a meteorite, and not something which could, and should, be anticipated, or, indeed, is intended.
Metal money makes mental money look bad, so let's do away with the real stuff by ridiculing barter, which is the use of tangible, rather than mental, money!
If it is confidence which gives money its usefulness, why not place your confidence in what you can touch and see? If you insist upon using imaginary money, why not use Monopoly money (I mean Parker Brothers, not Rockefellers!). At least you can buy that for a few cents on the dollar.
But if economic stability is the goal, let's get back to barter. Better by far to trade some thing for something else than to trade something for an invalid promise of nothing!
Dr. Paul Hein
6 April 1998
This is one of those categories that could be unlimited. I try to build up a
supply based on what is difficult to make myself.
I have a different method. Every month I allocate $20 to my stash. I usually
add a package of 10 sewing machine needles for $2. It is the kind of thing that
will be useful and nearly impossible to make on a home basis.
I usually add a brick of 22's each month. I watch at garage sales for combat/
work/ hiking boots for a couple bucks a pair. The boots get a good coating of
Neatsfoot oil before going in sealed bags. I also watch for gloves, it's hard to
make good ones. Shirts and pants are not nearly as difficult as gloves. Cold
weather gear is more essential than summer items. Work clothes, jeans and
flannel shirts, are better than bright colored.
I watch for old radios with short wave bands for a couple bucks.
I figure after TEOTWAWKI more time and labor will be spent supplying your own
needs rather than buying items. This means tools are essential and watch for
shovels, hoes, buckets, etc. Heat will be a wood stove most likely so add a buck
saw for when the gas for the chainsaw runs out. I was buying some steel the
other day and in the dumpster at the steel place was a band saw blade from one
of their saws. I added it to my purchase and cut it into 5 - 30 inch sections
with a chop saw. The teeth are large enough to make some buck saws.
I watch for Schwinn bikes and have a dozen in the rafters of the garage. I
buy them for $5 max that may need a tire or a cable. If you do not frequent
garage sales and free markets watch for police auctions. They usually sell
dozens of recovered but unclaimed bikes. I bought a group of 5 for $10 once. By
having a bunch of the same type, the parts interchange. I have extra inner tubes
in ammo cans and patching kits. Buy spare tires and tubes in the fall when they
are on sale.
I buy baskets of vegetable seeds in the late summer when they are closed out
at 5 cents each. I put them in a glass jar with a desiccant. Store in cool and
dark. The viability may drop over the years but some will work. I can fit a lot
in a gallon glass jar and 100 packets were only $5, some for me, some to trade.
I watch for sewing machines. I will pay up to $5 for a Singer. White or
Brother brands are good too. I especially like old straight stitch singers. They
are strong enough to sew leather.
Canning jars are great. They don't deteriorate unless you smash them and you
can put small stuff like your needles, thread, Zippo lighters, fish hooks in
them until you need 'em. If you think that your family would need one 2 jars of
food per day then you need at least 700 jars. The latest issue of Backwoodsman
has an article on building a vacuum packer that works with the jars. Handy for
packing grain and rice. I pick them up at $1 a dozen at garage sales frequently.
I have a big box of candles. I watch for the big 3 inch ones that often have
maybe an inch burned off and sell for a nickel or quarter. You can buy candle
wick at craft stores if you feel like melting them down or use them as is. Crock
pot works good for melting wax. Candle making kits with molds are good and cheap
too.
In the miscellaneous pile I have slightly less practical stuff that may turn
out to be needed at the time. I wouldn't grab it if I was forced to run but it
was all picked up for next to nothing. I have things like a hand cranked ice
cream maker, ice skates, decks of cards, board games, checkers and dice.
I have some future activities planned for recreation and spare time, or when
the blizzard has you pinned inside. Like a juggling book and balls. Don't forget
to add a few musical instruments or a harmonica.
Goods for Barter
You can prepare, stash, cache, save and survive the end of the world as we
know it, but chances are, you will run out of something or have overlooked one
important item. That leaves you a few options:
Do without; Make what you need, if you can; Try to buy it, and pay inflated
prices; Barter for it
What are good barter items?
Ammo in .22 LR, 5.56 NATO, 7.62 NATO, 9mm PARA, 12 gauge shotshells in #2
buck, #4 buck, and assorted birdshots. Firearm parts (especially springs, firing
pins), trip wire, pens, pencils, paper, golf pencils & medium spiral
notebooks, toothpaste and toothbrushes, disposable razors, fem hygiene supplies,
dental floss (for sewing as well as flossing), drug store reading glasses,
toilet tissue, feminine goods, cotton diapers, condoms, sm. bottles of whiskey,
pain killers & antibiotics, Bolts of cloth material, threads, needles,
buttons, assorted sized zippers, clothes patterns, sewing kits, blankets, Seeds
for gardens, Tools, nuts & bolts of all sizes, washers, nails, wood &
sheet metal screws. Radio frequency books, maps, Automotive maintenance manuals,
survival related reference books and books for educating children, pocket games,
Radio type fuses and the assorted wires and cables to support them, batteries,
short-wave radios, flashlight bulbs, Candles, matches, wicks and lantern
mantles, lighter fluids, butane lighters, paraffin blocks & string, Spices,
assorted kitchen utensils. Foods, water, and water purification materials. salt,
baking soda & powder, fishing kits packed in sealed tins, 33 gal. garbage
bags, road flares, Ball jars. Spark plugs? Bicycle repair stuff? Sling shots?
Another barter item is dogs - esp. trained guard/attack dogs. A good male and
female will continue to produce barter goods for quite awhile. Chickens and
other fowl are great barter items. They are great to eat, edible eggs, feather
for pillows and mattresses; and they make great fertilizer. Plus when your
vegetable plants get large enough, they will take care of any insect pest you
might have. Rabbits are nice to have because of the way they reproduce. And
lets' not forget about goats. They produce hides, meat, milk.
Trade goods have to be portable, hard to make for yourselves, and represent a
high value-to-weight. Here are some of the best sellers, pre-1850: guns; powder
and bullets; flints; hatchets; traps; blankets; cloth; awls; needles; whiskey;
tobacco; beads; mirrors; knives; salt.
Karen Brown has pointed out in the past... is a very good barter item as it
increases morale in tough times. Avon will sell bags of assorted samples.
Anything having to do with food preservation and storage will become
important. Such things as mason jars, canning pots, spare rings and lids for
mason jars, paraffin, canning instruction booklets, solar dehydrators in your
area...nitrogen packed vegetable seeds...fishing and hunting supplies...maybe
even a good stock of cheap single-shot .22 rifles to throw in with ammunition.
Victor traps, vitamins, non-prescription drugs, herbs and spices, sugar, salt,
coffee.
Tents, sleeping bags, camping stoves, fuel, etc are always in short supply
during natural disasters...water filters are equally important...
Small radios..."walk-man" style are available for under $20 at
Radio Shack. You can also get stereo speakers that plug into them. I carry one
(AM-FM) in the mountains for news and weather reports....so don't forget
batteries...NiCad batteries and solar chargers might be a real hot item...vhf-fm
walkie-talkies are available cheaply...there are about three frequencies
authorized and the range is limited, but they are very small. Mini-mag
flashlights work quite well and the AAA and AA 2-cell units fit in your pocket
easily. For fire starting, stock up on butane lighters. I prefer the BIC variety
because you can buy them individually sealed in cellophane wrappers. Cigarettes
and rolling papers/tobacco make good trading items. You may want to look for
tobacco seeds...Alcohol, including beer and wine making supplies can be good
trading stock. The small airline bottles are easy to keep...as are half-pints if
they are still sold in your area. Ever clear is a good solvent and can be used
as a base for making liqueurs. It is also a good disinfectant and fuel...
Bartering is the true measure of work and materials. I live in a very small
valley where I am surrounded by huge ranches.
There is not much I can offer except my labor and small farming deaire,
desire, as most of them are not interested in that. Therefore I raise lambs for
them, milk a cow until a replacement calf is found when one is lost, feed horses
and calves, and help at shearing time, calf marking and haying.
In exchange not only do I get to live in Eden, but I get lumber, lambs, beef,
and access to tools and machinery, plus the experience of working the stock and
learning to use those tools (I am from N.Y.C.!) I couldn't pay these ranchers
enough to teach me how to do all this but by having skills and the eagerness to
help I am going to ranch college!
I sell eggs to the store in town, then spend alot of the money in the same
store buying things I can't grow. When moving to this ranch 5 years ago I
thought I would get ranching skills, raising stock and working the land,
learning what I could. But amazingly enough besides those skills that I am still
learning ( yesterday I helped mark lambs, and did work I hadn't done yet after 5
years) I am learning neighboring. Why neighbors have to get along out here, how
to be civil and polite even if there is a problem and how to work it out.
Responsibility to the land and to neighbors, and what a wonderful compliment it
is when they introduce me as their neighbor
Forest service modified topical maps available in camping and hunting stores.
Shows the trails, roads and major landmarks but much easier to read. Get a good
portable atlas, like Rand McNally. Include a good range finder compass and learn
how to use it before you have to.
Barter Supply Lists
Trade goods have to be portable, hard to make for yourselves, and represent a
high value-to-weight. Here are some of the best sellers, pre-1850: guns; powder
and bullets; flints; hatchets; traps; blankets; cloth; awls; needles; whiskey;
tobacco; beads; mirrors; knives; salt.
The Old Guide:
The four B's: Bible, Beans, Bullion and Bullets.
Or the five G's: God, Grub, Gold, Guns, and Goods.
Or six Gs God, Grub, Gold, Guns, Goods and Ground.
| Small | Medium | Large | Scrounge & Non-Essential |
| sewing machine needles | .22 cal ammo (brick) | sewing machines | galvanized sheet steel & tin |
| threads | Neatsfoot oil | Used work/hiking boots | steel safety plate
"diamond pattern" |
| Gloves | Tools | (Used) Work clothes | |
| vegetable seeds | Canning jars | old short wave radios | |
| Zippo & Bic lighters | candles | Schwinn bikes | |
| Flint & Fluid for Zippo | board games | handcrank ice cream maker | |
| fish hooks | musical instruments | toilet tissue | |
| candle wick | 5.56 NATO | cotton diapers | |
| Pens, pencils, golf pencils | 7.62 NATO | Bolts of cloth | |
| dice | 9mm PARA | blankets | |
|
Firearm parts (especially springs, firing pins) |
#2 buckshot |
Nuts, bolts, washers, nails & screws of all types/sizes |
|
| Trip/snare wire | #4 buckshot | Radio frequency books | |
| Razor Blades | assorted birdshot | Auto maintenance manuals | |
| dental floss | Med.spiral notebooks, paper | survival reference books | |
| condoms | decks of cards | Scholastic Books | |
| Hand Sew Needles | Toothpaste & toothbrushes | Encyclopedias | |
| Crochet/Knitting Needles | disposable razors | assorted wires and cables | |
| buttons, assorted zippers | Knife blanks | Bicycle repair stuff | |
| sewing kits | fem hygiene supplies | tar paper | |
| maps | reading glasses | salt blocks | |
| Radio type fuses | First Aid Supplies | rabbits | |
| flashlight bulbs | Medical Supplies (PO, IV) | bolt cutters | |
| Matches – strike anywhere | Alcohol - Drinking | PVC pipe | |
| lantern mantles | clothes patterns | toilet seats | |
| fishing kits in sealed tins | batteries | trained guard/attack dogs | |
| MACE/pepper spray | paraffin blocks & string | Chickens and other fowl | |
| snares: pre-made | Spices | goats | |
| light sticks | asst. kitchen utensils | axle grease (1-5 gal.) | |
| folding stoves & Fuel tabs | water purification materials | Bleach – Liquid & Powder | |
| sunglasses | salt, baking soda & powder | handcrank radio | |
| carabiners | Plastic garbage bags | flashlights- handpowered | |
| Reflectors, reflecting tape | road flares | rappelling rope | |
| Para-cord, Ranger Bands | Spark plugs | bug repellent | |
| magnesium fire starter | Sling shots | How to manuals | |
| Women’s makeup kits | eye protection goggles | Fiction Paperbacks | |
| hard hats | |||
| padlocks | |||
| sm. butane welding torch | |||
| Velcro | |||
| bar soap | |||
| 1-2 qt. canteens | |||
| mosquito screening | |||
| BB’s & Pellets for airguns |
From: "Cheryl Hively" <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 06:35:32 -0600
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [PrepJr] Bartering Goods
In my not so eloquent way of saying so, this is what I was getting at!!! Thanks Papa - and I would like to hear what else you have to say on the
subject!
Cheryl in Idaho
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Bartering
© 2003 Glenn A. Anderson
While cruising the internet, I have seen quite a few posts regarding ³bartering² wherein some seem to not quite understand the connection between
the actual practice and the proposition of survival. People tend to want to store up what they term loosely as ³extra commodities² that they somehow
believe they can trade for something more useful that they might need during a survival
scenario.
However, that¹s not true bartering ... the foregoing is more like a wishful act, done out of sheer desperation as a substitute for any real
planning and preparation. Here¹s what I call the ³Ten Commandments of True Bartering² ... think about
each of them very seriously.
1. How much is ³extra?² In that we never know exactly what the full
ramifications of any survival scenario might be in terms of duration ... exactly how much is "extra" when it comes to storing truly useful things
like toilet paper, razor blades, etc ?
The truth is we don't know, so I wouldn't realistically count on having any thing USEFUL that might be considered as "extra barter goods." Better
you should do some advance planning and store what you actually need and spend your money in a manner that you won¹t have to count on trading for
what you need.
2. Useless trade goods. There is a question of morality involved in specifically storing less useful things such as tobacco, alcohol, etc., as
trade goods in that one is merely depending upon the bad habits of others to hopefully swap something worthless for something of greater value.
Frankly, I don¹t consider having to do business with someone that has such a great dependency on something worthless that they might trade
something useful away for it as an idealistic individual to trade with. They would be not only dependent, but dumb as a post....perhaps even
dangerous.
More importantly, why waste your money stocking up on some useless item intended for someone else when you most likely can better use the money to
purchase something more useful for yourself? Your family is more likely to benefit from an extra case of beans as a useless carton of cigarettes.
3. Boomerangs. I repeat ... for the upteenth time ... never trade anything to anyone that they can shoot back at you. Firearms and cartridges
are not a reasonable form of exchange for anything. First, you never can tell when you might need the last one you own for your own defense. Second,
a single .22 cartridge, fired from out of the darkness, can put a very quick end to you, your family and all of your most well thought out survival
plans.
I see no particular reason to put my trust in anyone outside of my own immediate family in a serious survival scenario, and that particularly
pertains to the wisdom of not putting anything into the hands of anyone less familiar to me, who might do harm to either me or mine. It has nothing to
do with ³parnoia² and it has everything to do with common sense and good judgment.
In today's world, while we make perhaps hundreds if not thousands of ³acquaintences² we make relatively few real friends. Among that number we
are fortunate indeed to have one or two that we might regard as close as we would a blood brother. And of the lot, we honestly know very little about
any one in particular. What little knowledge we do have is often more superficial
than not. We think we ³know² someone, but that ³knowledge² is often only based on casual ³glimpses² of the other person while at work, or
during some social function of a rather brief duration.
Essentially, in such instances, there is nothing of substance to base good judgment
on and therefore common sense should tell us that it would be particularly unwise to give firearms or
ammunition to any supposed ³friend² of that description, let alone to attempt to use such things as a barter
item with a total stranger.
4. Don¹t make yourself a ³marked man.² Becoming known locally as the well heeled merchant about town with lots of valuable goodies to trade is
the best way I can think of to put a fat bulls-eye on your own back during a survival scenario of any kind.
Neither can I think of a quicker way to get undesirable parties to seek you out along some lonely stretch of roadway between home and your ³place
of business,² or to beat a path directly to your doorway, now involving not just yourself, but the security of your home and family. Needless to say
the risk involves coming in contact with people who would not necessarily be interested in doing any good for anyone but themselves...by whatever means
necessary.
5. Never trade commodities for commodities. Trade an intangible such as knowledge, skill and/or labor or the temporary use of a tool versus
something tangible that you need yourself. The objective is to always come out of the bargain with everything you went into it with plus whatever
you bargained for. Essentially you will lose nothing and gain something on each such occasion.
6. Barter nothing that is not a renewable commodity ... swap potatoes for ears of corn if you will... but save the last razor blade on earth for
yourself. This is ³real bartering² as one party has produced a true excess of something like
potatoes and the other party has produced a true excess of corn. When one meets and bargains with the other, each will come away from
the deal with something of value.
7. Bartering during an actual emergency is impractical. During an emergency, you want to be hunkered down, tending to matters concerning the
well being and security of your family. You do not need to be away from your place of security. So it is far better to have spent your money on
anything that will actually help keep you ³tucked in² safe and sound during an emergency than some useless commodity that you ³might² be able to bargain
with.
8. The time for genuine bartering is after the danger is over. Call this during the "recovery phase" of a disaster scenario, after law and order
have been reestablished, transportation and communication have again become possible to some degree, etc. Until that time, there is nothing in your
possession that you are not more likely to have future need of than anyone else.
9. Loose lips sink survival ships. Think about these things and be very careful of what you say or do around others concerning your
preparations. The only "secret" in the world is the one you have never divulged to anyone. Your families security, what you have accumulated as
personal and family preparedness supplies and equipment, how many people live in your home, etc., should be regarded as no ones business other than
your own. Don¹t invite disaster to your home.
10. Attempting to barter during an emergency is an act of desperation. Pray that you never have to attempt to trade anything for something that you
need ... planning and preparation should eliminate any need for trading for absolutely necessary items such as water, food, clothing, shelter, medical
supplies, etc.
In order to insure that this is the case, be practical and prioritize your needs honestly ... you are far more likely to have a need for an
extensive first aid and medical kit to handle accidents and illness than you are for a ghillie suit and a .308 with a range finding telescopic sight for
some imaginary survival scenario. Having to barter for something that you really need in times of a disaster puts you at a distinct
disadvantage and totally at the mercy of whom ever is holding what you need.
If you don¹t plan ahead, if you don¹t prioritize, and if you are not practical in determining your actual needs, you may find that yourself
trading away some costly, prize piece of Walter Mitty survival gear for something that you or a member of your family could have just as well had
for just a few dollars during better times, had you not squandered them away preparing for highly unlikely and primarily fear based survival
scenarios.
This doesn¹t mean you can¹t have both if you can afford them ... its just that you have some serious decisions to make along these lines if you
can not. Having a good rifle and a good first aid kit is more practical than having an excellent rifle and no first aid kit.
Bottom line ... remember what bartering is ... it is trading either intangibles or renewable resources during times when it is practical to do
so... it is not attempting to trade worthless, or assumed ³excess goods² for something of greater value during times of duress... it just don¹t work to
your advantage that way.
Glenn A. Anderson
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