what can you sell if the SHTF...

[longshot]

here is a list of what i anticipate being able to produce if the bottom comes out of it.
Blacksmith products:

Knives, each of these can be made from old car parts such as leaf and coil springs or sway bars. Skinning knives, general-purpose knives, Ulu knives, and fillet knives.

Axes, tang type axes such as made in Africa. These are made from leaf springs and Tomahawks like popular in American west are made from heavy coil springs or half shafts from trucks.

Sickles for harvesting hay and grain. Made from straightened coil spring from a car or truck.

Spearheads high carbon to hold an edge, tempered to prevent breakage in the event that something hard is hit.

Harpoon heads high carbon to hold an edge, tempered to prevent breakage in the event that something hard is hit.

Arrowheads high carbon steels such as from band saw blades or forged from leaf springs.

Hoe blades from medium carbon steel, can be obtained from old oil drums and home heating fuel tanks.

Cultivator (hand), mild round or square bar split and forged into shape.

Hay forks and fish prongs. *Made from round bar mild steel

Shovel blades. Medium carbon steel such as found in oil drums and home heating fuel tanks.

Roasting spits use round bar and use punched and drifted holes (through the main bar) to hold fork (forged separately) and slip the other fork on over the bar (through a hole punched and drifted) to secure the other end of the meat.

Pots and pans?

Forks 2 tine forks forged from mild steel

Spoons forged to shape from mild steel

Candleholders made from mild steel rod like those found in linkages in cars.

Boat gaffs/hooks round bar, mild steel

Fish prongs/hay forks. 2 tine forks used for moving fish from the boat to the stage head and for making hay. Make from mild steel.

Fishing spears/tridents, mild round bar.

Steel hoops for dip nets. Made from steel wire used for guy wires on telephone poles

Sled runners. Cut from mild steel body panels taken from cars and trucks

Fishhooks, small gauge steel wire, tempered.

Nails and spikes. Mild steel rods can be forged into these.

Jiggers, cast lead or steel weights in the shape of small fish, for catching cod and other ocean fish. *Use large hooks, forged and tempered, cast into the body of the lead jigger.

Wood working tools; such as adzes drills/bits planes and splitting wedges can be made from discarded car parts like leaf and coil springs..

Wood working/carving products:

Bows?

Arrows?

Atlatls?

Sleds; cut from natural bends and crooks of trees.

Boxes, made from local spruce and fir split into boards from round logs if unable to saw into boards

Bowls, carved from local birch and larch. *You may also be able to use a burning chunk of charcoal to burn the unwanted portion of the vessel out and seal the wood at the same time.

Platters, also carved from local woods such as birch and larch. May also be burnt with charcoal.

Trenchers, elongated bowls usually carved from wood such as birch but most any hard wood may be suitable.

Cups carved from local birch and larch

Salt, evaporating seawater and collecting the residual salt left on the sides and bottom of the vessel make sea salt

Salt fish salt/sun cured fish

Smoked fish (smoker made from an old refrigerator) cut the fish in thin strips and hang in smoker on horizontal poles till completely coated in smoke may take many hours of smoking time.

Smoked meat. (See above)

Dried fish (biltong, make like jerky)

Dried meat (jerky)

Salt meat, meat cured in a brine solution. *Mix salt with the water till a small potato will float

Soap, combination of lye (run water through hard wood ashes or the ashes of burnt seaweed and then through a filter such as straw and collect the liquid that comes from the filter medium and you have lye. *This substance is very caustic use protective equipment when handling) and oil (use vegetable or animal oil not mineral oil or petroleum), carefully combine these two components and blend over low heat, pour into moulds or into larger vessel and let cool. *When cool remove from the moulds or the larger vessel (and cut into useable pieces.) you should let this cure for a period of time weeks or months if possible.

Vinegar, need to make “mother of vinegar”; virtually unlimited vinegar can be made from the mother.

Pottery? Provided that suitable clay can be found.

some will ask what i plan to get for my services. *good question.

i live by the ocean, but i dont have a boat. so for me harvesting cod and other *sea products would be difficult, trading for fish in exchange for products that i make would be mutually benificial.

ls

edited to add, what sort of products can you produce if things should go south in a perminate manner?

[wax]

Longshot- what sort of products can you produce if things should go south in a perminate manner?

Wax- Everything of course! Just kidding... in a way.
I could realistically reproduce 1899 for myself and those around me... maybe 1912 concerning some things.

You see it is an issue of need... subjected by want.
Part of survivalism is gaining a basic understanding of what a resource is. You are well on your way by pointing out that a "leaf spring" is actually a knife, that a coil spring is actually a sickle.

My sons and I often play a game called "change it".

What is that computer speaker?

It is more rope than one would ever need for an emergency shelter (actually more than one hundred feet of wire).

It is a substitute for cheese cloth for straining materials.

It is a ready made bowl for holding liquid.

Is that all I ask?
Is that ALL my fifteen year old declares!
That plastic shell can be snapped to form hundreds of spear points, fishing hooks, knives and other sharp objects.
That computer speaker is more than a thousand generations of my ancestors could have ever dreamed of in and of itself!
And they didn't just survive, they thrived!

Leave me in the wild and I will survive with a sharp edged stone and willpower... give me a computer speaker and I will restart society without much of a pause!

Keep up the good work, but most vistors here will have no clue how to turn an oil drum into a shovel blade unless we tell them.

[bookwormom]

are you guys expecting all the shovels in the country to wear out as soon as the SHTF?
I can felt, I can make shoes out of long rye straw. How about making shoes out of old tires, they did that after the war. Actually, now that I think about it, I was a kid in a SHTF scenario. (but this will be worse, no one wills end us care packages). I am planning on stocking up on cotton socks and underwear. would have a hard time making that. Not that it is necessary, just that we are used to it. I have a friend who spins and I am good at knitting, so warm socks, mittens, caps.
Potions.
I doubt there will be much need for wooden utensils and pottery, unless all the household stuff (more tan enough) that people have accumulated over the years and are trying to sell at yardsales, suddenly vanishes. Folks can mine landfills.
A lot of clothing will wear for a long time, but not for ever. Good garden and harvest tools is a good idea, not much around of that. My neighbors use a roto tiller, I use a spade. I am faster than a Mantis.
I will make you socks if you will chop my wood. I still can do it now, but the old grey mare she aint what she used to be.
I am good at telling stories and teaching children.

[longshot]

well there are more than shovels on the list but if someone bugs out in a hurry they might forget to pack a shovel.

shoes from straw? sounds interesting. good shoes are hard to find in any conflict times.

ls

[Rama_das]

i stock alcohol, pearls, silver bullion, silver rings, chains etc. this will be my money. everything else is for me.

[longshot]

the silver is a good idea i cant rationalize trading booze as i feel that doing such can bite you on the butt. but what are you gonna do when the silver and hooch run out? med knowledge is usually a good trade item

ls

[RangerRick]

Lots of honey and bees wax.

Great Wall of Chinamart is still selling 550 rounds of Federal .22 ammo for under $10, that's 5500 rounds to the $100 FRN. Ammo as the "coin of the relm" makes more sense than anything.

Rick

[homesteadingnky]

I guess it depends on the length of time we're talking but if it's long term how about food? Home grown fruits and veggies and perhaps better yet .... open pollenated seeds. I save seeds every year and try to have more each year.

I guarantee you that all those folks who have made fun of people like you and me for being so "prepared" are going to be hungry and want food.

Saw an interesting book titled "Don't get caught with your pantry down". Thought that was a pretty cool title, it says it all. Stock up now! It will be worth more than gold someday

Homesteading Dad 'n KY

[CarolAnn]

I can mend and sew on my treadle sewing machines, I know many wild plants, not only for food, but for medicine. I've made a good healing salve, linement, and although I haven't done it, I know how to gather willow bark to make pain-killing tea. I believe I might be able to barter these skills for things I can't get for myself.

I know how to make lye, and with the lye, to make soap. I know how to make knives "scary sharp" - and have lots equipment to manage it. I can make rough baskets, do reed weaving, small things that might be valuable to someone who needed it but didn't have the skills.

I know which plants make things taste better - and which ones to put into the stew in case of thieves who would take what is mine. (Women are more subtle than men sometimes, but can be just as dangerous!) ;)

[homesteadingnky]

I know which plants make things taste better - and which ones to put into the stew in case of thieves who would take what is mine. (Women are more subtle than men sometimes, but can be just as dangerous!)

I'd sure hate to be on your bad side. :o stew huh? LOL!
That's pretty good.

Homesteading Dad n KY

[flatwater]

I will sell my knowledge " give a man a fish and he eats for a day teach a man to fish and he and his family survive and you have gained a valuable friend which is something more precious then gold or silver".
Flatwater

[remington]

Flatwater, I think you have the right idea. I don't like the idea of trading ammo. They might give it back, if you know what I mean.

[sam12six]

Obviously, knowledge is crucial for everyone. To me this thread is more about what would be good barter material for a SHTF scenario.

Necessities are good, but I think you would be well-served stocking some vices. First, let me mention: If you're going to be doing a significant amount of trading in the first place, you need to be able to protect yourself.

I would personally stay away from weapons, just because you might be arming your future home-invaders.

I believe a couple dozen cartons of vacuum-packed cigarettes and a couple of cases of Wild Turkey would enable you to buy several people's first-borns. Obviously, if you consider yourself a modern representative of the Women's Christian Temperance Movement, you'll be staying away from such barter items.

On the other hand, if you're just looking at what you could buy now for not so much money and turn around and trade it for pretty much anything you want, this would be the way to go. You could get your wood chopped for a good meal, but you could get heaven and earth moved for a fifth of bourbon and a carton of Marlboros...

[cheyenne]

I was scrolling thru this til the end and finally caught the reference to sufficiency I was looking for; treadle sewing machine.

I live on an orchard, so my apples, peaches, asparagus, blackberries and tomatoes could go far in barter system, assuming we haven't been nuked or droughted out too badly...

We have 2 greenhouses, and you can accomplish a lot w/them. *Liked the reference to honey and beeswax; we have a fellow drop bees off here every spring. *They scare the bejabbers out of me, tho; I'm wary...

Plenty of firewood, always handy. *And yeah, I have a sock/underwear fetish too, only to be outdone by my need to have heavy duty hiking shoes/boots, rubber boots, insulated and as high up as possible, and good tennis shoes on hand. *I see em on sale; I BUY em. *Ya gotta walk, barefoot ain't fun.

Vitamins; we buy vitamin C in increments of 250-500 grams; heck you only 25 grams to stave off scurvy. *Asprin, basic meds not bad to have around. *We keep our decongestants in syrup form or capsules up to date constantly and they're cheap. *Good to have on hand; keep your neighbor healthy and you'll be worth saving in their eyes.

Blankets; heavy duty good ol' blankets. Found some good wool blankets at Army Surplus and grabbed them. Wool keeps you warm even when it's damp/ wet. Can't beat that. If you see wool socks, GRAB EM. Tarps I grab everytime I get the chance - heavier ones I am willing to pay extra $ for. And those throws everybody is making and tying all the way around; buy as much of that material as possible. I made a large one sewed up the middle for extra width. Put a large wool blanket in between, stitched and blanket whipped stitched the edges all around and tied it full length every 6". Man that thing is WARM. Power was out 9 days here from the ice storm and we heated the house w/wood heat, but those bedrooms were cold. Crawled under that blanket and it was bliss!

[lostinthewoods]

Here's kind of a different spin on this. If the world ended tonight. What would you trade away in order to get something that you don't have right now?

As for what I can barter........kids? ;)

lost

[RobertRogers]

I agree - choose .22lr ammo over precious metals. gold and silver are useless compared to useful items.

[BadKarma]

I opt for putting some reference material together for barter. When SHTF I estimate about half in the country would starve to death in the first couple of months, cuz their microwave went down. You would be surprised how many people have no clue about survival.

[walls0stone]

I don't think so little of the world any more... in most cases I think people will adjust. sure, many will not make it in such a case, but lesser men have adjusted in other situations when they had to..sure some fall, but I don't think that people will look at a kitchen and say "what do I do."

They will find a way or starve and the latter is harder to do than the former. *Hunger is a great sause.

But I'll play along. Since Woolrich still has all that equipment and megga looms in the factory from the days before. Since the world still has plenty of land for sheep, woolen products will go back into production in Woolrich PA. The ships won't sail from China any more and all the computer people and smarties will need work some place if all the world falls aprt. *Woolrich made clothing for loggers in the 1800's so that teck will work.

I'd also say that anyone who can read a book will find a way to make a mill along a stream. And since we won't have a need for a DEP, we'll put those jokers to work in the Grist and other water driven mills. *

I guess if we don't have concrete blocks, I'll be a rich man HA! oh yea, Portland type A is very very old teck... hhmm so is the cinder block, the Romans made that.

Actualy so is mecanised equipment, and that's simple teck... guess we won't totaly starve. We'll just put all the accountants and nerds to laboring in the wheat fields behind all the horse drawn equipment. :)

We will certainly need to use steam teck' so basicly we can go back to the industreal revolution of the 1870's...but since we evolved this far into the computer age.....

the fan won't be dirty to long.

[LeatherneckPA]

Portland type A is very very old teck... hhmm so is the cinder block, the Romans made that.The Romans made cinder blocks? Cool!! I love trivia like that.

I suppose I have two pretty valuable skills in a SHTF situation. I am a very good wooodworker, who is becoming more than passably capable with hand tools. And I am just plain GOOD at planning and ensuring physical security of a facility, even without high tech.

[walls0stone]

That's why a block is the size it is... Romans made that choice. Check out hot lyme mortars. THAT IS A JOB FROM HELL! Not the way they make it now, but the way they harvested it back in the day.

Next time I lecture at PCT I'll let you know Leather

[Farmer]

Tobacco products. Everything else I keep.

[remington]

I think like farmer. I trade as little as possible. It will be hard getting everything I need. I might stock something unnecessary (to me) to trade for something I do need.

[Boris859]

I will sell nothing,money will be useless,might trade for guns,ammo,knives,clothes,shoes or food,but I will only trade stuff I have alot of anyway,that way I gain ,but not lose

[rantinraven]

Here lately this has really been a talk in our family. Also the do we stay or do we go type argument. This year I learned to make a cob stove, I learned how to make adobe bricks with the sun, or I can fire them in the cob stove, I made some solar tubes from cans and industrial metal tape cause I needed more light in my basement and had a central closet in the house. I have the compost toilet idea fully in my mind at all times, researching wood gassification, wondering if I should try to acquire a junk yard that would be wonderfully useful! I can heat with the cob stove, I can cook and bake on it. I am passable at herbs I grow myself but I don't know where I could find them in the wild. I think its important to note that the dirt I used for the cob came from a closed off room in the basement I have no idea why things were done this way but its colder than crap in there even in the summer. I figure this area can be used for cold storage? most of what I can do or know how to do is centered around the home I have now so I don't know what I would do if we had to up and leave it. I have over the years learned how to tan hides the old way so that will become useful. I guess when I imagine a shtf type situation I see boards going up on the windows and us going into the basement, lately though I think that might not be the best plan so I am open to suggestions. Reading this list has given me a lot more to think about so keep the comments coming, Raven

[Archangel]

Abbie Hoffman's "Steal This Book" Page 22-23 show you how to make sandels out of tires. I suggest using a jig saw intead of a knife.
I hope this helps,
Michael

[Archangel]

I was rereading "Alas, Babylon" by Pat Frank and honey would be a great trading item. What would you do for something sweet when the sugar runs out.

( I fat fingered so two posts.)