TEOTWAWKI Bartering (A different look!)

 

By “The Coach”

            There have been many articles written on “Survival Bartering”. Most are very well written. However, in this article I plan on taking a different look at “Survival Bartering” post TEOTWAWKI.

            Post Hurricane Katrina in the New Orleans metro area, no merchant would accept credit cards, debit cards or checks of any type. The electricity and telephones were not working and merchants did not have a way to verify if credit cards, debit cards or checks were valid. Merchants also did not have a way to find out what gold or silver was worth. The only thing that merchants in the New Orleans metro area would accept was cash! But what would they have done if there was no cash or cash had been greatly devalued?

            I, like most people who prepare for whatever disaster, never have enough supplies. We are always looking to increase our stock pile of food, water, firearms and ammo and other supplies.

            However, there are some people that do not make any preparations of any type. Some of those people believe that the government will take care of them. Others did not prepare because they just cannot afford to. These people live from paycheck to paycheck. There were a lot of people that fell into these categories in the days after Hurricane Katrina had hit. Those people went to the New Orleans Super Dome Stadium and New Orleans Convention Center during and after Hurricane Katrina. These people believed that the government would take care of them. They were sadly mistaken. These people suffered tremendously. 

 

The New Orleans Convention Center – Post Hurricane Katrina

 

 

Another way of obtaining things that you need post TEOTWAWKI is bartering. One good way to practice your bartering skills is going to garage sales and flea markets. Barter for items that you would like to have or try to negotiate  the prices down. If you have something of value and can trade with someone else for something that you need or want, that is good, Right!!! I have found MANY items that I have used for prepping at garage sales and flea markets. Just make sure that they are in good working order before you pay for them.

If you are planning to sell, trade or barter with any item that you have stored, post TEOTWAWKI, I believe this is a VERY bad idea. Any and all items that you have obtained should be for you and your family’s use ONLY!

Why do I believe this way?

Think about it for a minute. After a TEOTWAWKI situation, no matter if it is man, nature or government/military made, you are planning to sell trade or barter the items that you have stored with an individual that you may or may not know. Now that person that you just bartered or traded with knows that you might have a surplus of those items. i.e. farm produce, ammo, gold, silver, etc. You know better than to conduct this bartering or trading at your residence or where you have the items stored. So, after you have finished conducting your bartering with this person, you go back home. All that person or persons watching the transaction, that you just conducted, has to do is to covertly follow you back to your home or storage location. Now, that person knows where you live and probably where the rest of your stored supplies are located. He also knows where to get whatever else he needs, your home. What if he tells his friends where they can get the supplies that they need? That information could be bartered or sold by itself. Think of how much danger you have just placed you and your family in.

Let me put this in a different context.

A TEOTWAWKI disaster, of whatever type, has just occurred. For whatever reason you do not have the food or water that you need for you, your wife and your children. After a few days, your children are crying and asking you to get them some water and food. Your wife asks, what are you going to do to feed your family? My question to you is, what wouldn’t you do to get you and your family what they need to survive? If you knew someone had a stockpile of more food and water than what they needed for the next few days, wouldn’t you go to that person and ask or beg for what you needed. What if that person tells you no. They tell you that the supplies that they have is for them and their family and he cannot spare anything. What wouldn’t you do to get what your family needed to survive? Would you be willing to use force to obtain what you needed for your families survival?

There are a lot of people out there who are NOT prepping for any type of disaster, except to stockpile firearms and ammo. Why you may ask? Because they are planning on forcefully taking what they need, from people who have what they need or want! They may want what you have because they need it for themselves and their family’s survival. Maybe they want what you have so they can barter for what they want. If you do not believe that there are some Preppers that are preparing to do just that, watch “NETGEO’s, Doomsday Preppers, Episode # 44”, which originally aired on 11/12/13. The guy featured on this episode has a group that is preparing to forcefully take whatever they need and he says so on this episode!!! Do not underestimate the brutality of these people. They will do whatever they have to, to get what they want or need. You must be prepared to defend yourself and family or give them your supplies.

Do NOT, under any circumstances sell, trade or barter your firearms or ammunition. Selling, trading or bartering your firearms or ammo is a VERY bad idea. People after a disaster will be looking for firearms and ammo. However, if you sell trade or barter yours, they can turn those firearms and/or ammunition on you and take everything that you have. Also, if the person you bartered a firearm or ammunition to is arrested by the Military, during enforced martial law, they can trade the information of where they got the firearm and/or ammo from, for their release. Now the military will come to your location and confiscate all of the firearms and ammunition and anything else they want from you. You might even be arrested.

If you plan on bartering or trading after a TEOTWAWKI situation, I recommend that you barter or trade some type of service that you can provide and not some type of physical object, such as food, etc. If you have not already done so, learn how to be a welder, blacksmith, repair firearms, building construction, farming, animal care, bee keeping, Doctor, Nurse, E.M.T., Veterinarian, well construction, electrician, firearms instructor, martial arts Instructor, wild foods expert, hunting, sewing, soap making, candle making, small appliance repair, electronics repair, HAM radio expert, homeschooling, small engine repair, etc. In other words, learn an occupation or skill so you can not only benefit from that occupation or skill post TEOTWAWKI but can also barter that service for whatever you need. Such as, by becoming an Emergency Medical Technician, you could provide emergency medical service to your family and barter your service to obtain whatever you may need in a TEOTWAWKI situation.  You win two ways. If you wish to survive after a TEOTWAWKI situation, you must be able to make a necessary item, repair a necessary item, or teach a necessary skill. In addition, you could earn extra money now that you could use to buy more prepping supplies now.

Under no circumstances, tell ANYONE outside your immediate family what supplies you have stockpiled or where they are located. There is an old saying, “Don’t keep all of you eggs in one basket.” This should be used when storing your stockpiled items. Divide your supplies in to two or three equal parts. Then hide or burry them in several locations. Then if you or a member of your family is overpowered by someone or group of bad guys, you can offer one of your cashes to the bad guys to let you go. Or, if you and your family get separated, they can make their way to one of your stockpiles and have the items need to sustain themselves until everyone can get back together.

“Guard your Secrets”

If you tell one person your secret, no matter how much you trust that person, it is no longer a secret.

I will give you an example. You partner with one or more very good friends and begin prepping. Each of you has your own stored water, food, weapons, etc. A nationwide disaster occurs and all of the electricity in the United States is knocked out for an undetermined amount of time. Since the electricity is out, you cannot receive any news over the TV or commercial radio.

Six months has now gone by and your friend has enough food for his family for another six months but you have just run out. People that did not prepare have emptied all of the store shelves and have hunted and fished to the point where there is no wildlife left. Your family has not eaten anything in days. You ask your friend for some food to feed your family. However, he says no. What would you do to obtain some of your friend’s food to feed your family if there is no other source? A better question is, what wouldn’t you do to get your family some food?

Have you stocked up on gold and/or silver? What is it going to be worth post TEOTWAWKI?

Let’s think about this for a minute! You have ten (10) American 1 oz. Gold Eagles. You go to an area that is known to barter food. You ask one of the people there how much is a case of MREs? They ask you how are you going to pay? You tell them you can pay with 1 oz. American, gold, Eagles. They ask you, how many do you have? You tell them 10 Eagles. They then tell you that the case of MRE’s will cost you all 10 of your 1 oz., American, Eagles. Now you have a choice. Make the trade or leave empty handed. All of a sudden your American Gold Eagles are worth pennies on the dollar of what you have paid for them.

How much would your wife give in a post TEOTWAWKI situation for some toilet paper or bath soap, if she did not have any”? Many of these would be necessary are not only a creature comfort but are needed to stop the spread of diseases. Consider not having these items and how dirty and smelly you would be. People who have not stored these items would be willing to trade a lot for them, especially toilet paper. Ask your wife what she would trade for just one roll of toilet paper after a week or two of not having any!

Like Rourke always says, prepare now while you still can!

In addition, I say, learn a skill now before you regret that you did not!!!!

 

Quote

Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.

Benjamin Franklin

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