How much ammo

[fleebag]

Kinda baffled that no one mentioned ammo as a currency (that I saw)

If hyper inflation or some such cripples everything and Bob has seeds that Bill needs, what would Bob need with paper money or silver ? that will get him how far ?
I keep probably an excessive amount of ammo on hand but I suppose that we all have our reasons :P

 

[dunkel]

I'm not too keen on trading you ammo that you might turn around and use on me.

 

[polaris30144]

Kinda baffled that no one mentioned ammo as a currency (that I saw)

If hyper inflation or some such cripples everything and Bob has seeds that Bill needs, what would Bob need with paper money or silver ? that will get him how far ?
I keep probably an excessive amount of ammo on hand but I suppose that we all have our reasons :P

Actually ammo has been debated as a barter currency. A lot of people see it as a dangerous barter tool, but some don't think people will revert to uncivilized behavior even in a long term survival scenario and think it is a valuable trading essential.

Trade Bob some ammo for his seeds and he shoots you and still has his seeds plus he now has more ammo.

Not everyone is going to be honorable in a survival situation, in fact most probably will not. I would rather keep my ammo secret from strangers and trade other goods if I needed something from someone else. I would rather stockpile personal care items for barter. In a real long term situation, toilet paper, tooth paste, Tylenol, Aspirin, antibiotics and cheap whiskey or Listerine for antiseptic would be worth more than gold or silver for barter , paper money is worthless. Precious metals only have an intrinsic value if people still see them as valuable(serve some useful purpose). Ancient peoples did not "value" gold or silver, they saw it as a decoration or something that was easily formed into something artistic or a religious idol. If we are thrown back into the ancient way of survival, only useful things have value. The biggest advantage we have is modern firearms over our ancestors. I am not trading anything to someone to "even" the field against myself. Let someone know that you have enough ammo to trade, they will hunt you down and take all of your ammo.....and guns....and probably everything else you have. They won't have a gun fight, they will just kill you any way they can without putting themselves in too much danger like shooting you in the back with the ammo you just traded them.

 

[dunkel]

I concur...personal hygiene items will be worth more than their weight in gold. In fact, a truck load of gold won't get my last bottle of Motrin, roll of toilet paper, box of tampons, pack of baby wipes, etc.

Cigarettes, dip, travel bottles of booze, etc are also on the list. Maybe even old fashioned Playboy mags...no free Internet porn in SHTF!

 

[polaris30144]

I barely trust strangers in our "civilized" world.....I sure as hell will not trust anyone in a SHTF scenario.

 

[polaris30144]

I posted some items for people to think about. My personal stockpile is more diverse than what I posted.....I try to think of things that the average person "values" and probably never thinks about until they no longer have access to them. Sanitary napkins are very valuable for more than their intended use, they make great trauma bandages for controlling bleeding from wounds. When it comes to ammo, I try to have enough to last me a lifetime considering I don't intend to get involved in any firefights and don't intend to leave my house unless it is on fire or to go on foraging/hunting ventures. I don't have any weapons that do not have a substantial amount of ammo stockpiled for their intended use. I would rather have less number of weapons and more ammo for the ones I have.

 

[dunkel]

Fwiw, choose tampons over pads for trauma use...you don't want to absorb blood, you want to stop the bleeding.

Just saying...

 

[fleebag]

Actually ammo has been debated as a barter currency. A lot of people see it as a dangerous barter tool, but some don't think people will revert to uncivilized behavior even in a long term survival scenario and think it is a valuable trading essential.

Trade Bob some ammo for his seeds and he shoots you and still has his seeds plus he now has more ammo.

Not everyone is going to be honorable in a survival situation, in fact most probably will not. I would rather keep my ammo secret from strangers and trade other goods if I needed something from someone else. I would rather stockpile personal care items for barter. In a real long term situation, toilet paper, tooth paste, Tylenol, Aspirin, antibiotics and cheap whiskey or Listerine for antiseptic would be worth more than gold or silver for barter , paper money is worthless. Precious metals only have an intrinsic value if people still see them as valuable(serve some useful purpose). Ancient peoples did not "value" gold or silver, they saw it as a decoration or something that was easily formed into something artistic or a religious idol. If we are thrown back into the ancient way of survival, only useful things have value. The biggest advantage we have is modern firearms over our ancestors. I am not trading anything to someone to "even" the field against myself. Let someone know that you have enough ammo to trade, they will hunt you down and take all of your ammo.....and guns....and probably everything else you have. They won't have a gun fight, they will just kill you any way they can without putting themselves in too much danger like shooting you in the back with the ammo you just traded them.

I definitely agree with this, like I said it just shocked me :P I'd give somebody some smokes or a bottle of jack for his seeds but I'd have to keep my boolits :P

 

[polaris30144]

Fwiw, choose tampons over pads for trauma use...you don't want to absorb blood, you want to stop the bleeding.

Just saying...

No problem.....we carried the pads on our trauma rigs. One or two pads as a compression bandage was more effective at stopping/ controlling bleeding than rolled gauze which is more like a tampon. Pads don't just absorb blood when used as a compression bandage, tampons are pretty ineffective as compression bandages unless you bundle a bunch together.....just saying. Tampons work good for packing a wound, but not my first choice for initial bleeding control for most trauma.

 

[Powderdry]

As much ammo as possible because it does not go bad and everyone will need it. Thus making it a GREAT trade item