scratch in the P.A.W.

[jbpgx]

I think coffee and tobaco will probably be the best items for trade but also medical suplies my wife has a small animal rescue center on our property were she keeps all kinds of surgical tools and medications like morfine and kedamine ( she can oun them legally) since we have no use for these they would make great trade items. we will most likely keep what we need but those meds are to strong to think clearly during the paw I would rather deal with the pain.

[Cazmonster]

Of course, if what you're really going for is survival in the now-zombie dominated wasteland, you're having little to nothing to do with any other human settlement. Hidden away someplace remote and inhospitable, your compound is your entire world. With any luck, you've been able to stock the larders with 'luxuries' like coffee and sugar (although a beehive or two will provide honey and wax for several uses) and have good company and morale among your other survivors.

Long term survival depends on you and your fellows not having to depend on anyone else for years at a time.

[Valarius]

::goes into walgreens::
"Hi. I'd like a case of salt, all the batteries you have, two cases of syringes, a case of epinephrine, 20 pair of combat boots in assorted sizes... oh you don't sell those? What about ammunition? No? uh... granola? YES! okay we're back on track... let's see, a case of granola, two of kotex, ....."

I'd like to state that I shopped at Longs Drugs yesterday. Not only did they have most of the items I mentioned plus ammunition, I picked up a knockoff Arctic shirt from the surplus BDUs they stocked on a shelf.

Boots are apparently hard to come by, though.

[American]

so...what would be a good thing to stock up on now so as to have good stuff for trade in the future.

Why would you want to trade when you can just take? Everything will be lying around, waiting to be picked up.

[Ivan]

Its not like everyone else will instantly vaporize or turn into zombies. It will probably happen slowly enough that there will be looters and panic. Plenty of other people will have the exact same thought, but will be much more earnest as they didn't even think about what they might need until the s has actually htf. You think parents fighting over the last Tickle Me Elmo is bad?

[the lone swordsmen]

Let's not forget the value of services e.g. auto/bike mechanics, shoe/boot repair, tailoring, laundering, first-aid, teaching, cooking etc.

belive it or not i could make a good teacher and i'm only 17

[badseed]

i dont belive it

[punkahontas]

so...what would be a good thing to stock up on now so as to have good stuff for trade in the future.

As bad as it may sound, people's vices would be the way to go. cigarettes, something to read, porn, or even a Hershey bar would be like gold in the wasteland that was society.

[American]

so...what would be a good thing to stock up on now so as to have good stuff for trade in the future.

Cigars. Cigars are good when trading

[grim]

Yeah I was thinking that cigarettes would be great becouse I dont smoke and there pretty light weight and Im sure people will probably trade allmost anything for one in the PAW. Also I have access to very strong pain relivers and since I won't want to put my self in such a vulnerable state of mind they would be realy good to trade with.

[grim]

Also If you plan to store coffee as I do dont throw away the grounds after you use them, they can cut havest time by a third if you mix it with fertalizer and evan cut it in half if you use fresh grounds, the caffine will make the plant grow very fast but produce a smaller yield so if you need food fast thats one answer, then use the seeds you get to grow more crops so haveing a smaller yield wont be a problem.

[Xunudo]

You guys have the right idea with the kotex. I'm thinking shampoo will be big too. Beanie babies - not so much.

I don't know, would probably make good shooting pratice with a BB gun (real one would just be a waste of ammo), or your prefered distance weapon ^.^

On a serious note, I think tobacco would be extremely valueable in the early PAW, but after that when people start having to go cold turkey....

[hellodarkling]

...

Motor oil, brake fluid and spare parts for places that maintain a fleet of vehicles.

Yeah.

Fuel and other vehicle maintenance products, alcohol, tobacco, guns and ammo, lumber and building materials, pharmaceutical and medical supplies. Batteries, generators...military issue chemlights and night vision stuff.

Livestock, smaller animals like geese, ducks, chickens and turkeys, and maybe some rabbits.

Soap.

From a girls' perspective:
Condoms, I would definately trade for those- I certainly wouldn't be looking to reproduce (or acquire HIV for that matter) during an outbreak.

Feminine hygiene items aren't that much of a luxury. Many women used cut up strips of soft fabric during the depression, so I suspect that modern pads and whatnot would just be a useless but plushy luxury like lipstick or hairspray. Though they do double well as bandages.

[ProZombieHunter]

I'd imagine they're nice for, uh, keeping, uh, blood... in...

My dad showed me a picture of a bunch of Korean men who were mistakenly using... "Sanitary Napkins"... As headbands. So I imagine they'd be good for keeping the sweat out of one's eyes, but, uh, I don't think anyone who realized what they were (i.e., not the Koreans) would want to do that (certainly not most men, anyway).

I don't know about condoms. Useful to have around, but... I dunno, humpin' would be the last thing on my mind when I'm surrounded by rotting face-eaters who stink of death... I mean, the prospect is so completely un-sexy.

[Ivan]

I think that if an item might increase the percentage chance of ones survival, one should not hesitate to use it.

That photo of the Koreans is a perfect example of one(3) of the things that make humans so great at survival. Inginuety, improvisation, and creativity.

[ProZombieHunter]

Right-ho, Ivan-hoe! Ha! It's a joke... Ivanhoe... Bleh.

But the prospect of putting... THAT... On my head. Call it immature, but it's gross-city.

...Although I can imagine several other uses for them, now that I'm thinking about it...

[ghostface]

In sports we used to have to put tampons up our noses (to stop bleeding) back in the day.

I don't know why you'd be weirded out, it's not like they're used. That's like saying you wouldn't put toilet paper squares on your face if you cut yourself shaving...

[jamoni]

Tampons in the nose? Dude, we just rolled up toilet paper balls. Weirdo.

[ghostface]

When you break your nose, it takes a little more than tp.

[jamoni]

Heh. Yup. I broke mine in wrestling, they rolled up a gause pad and stuffed it up there. I can see using a tampon. But I still enjoyed making fun of you about it.

[ghostface]

I think part of the reason why the coaches gave us tampons was to see our initial reaction...

These were the bullet sized kind. They were the perfect size and could hold a lot of blood. Gauze would have been less weird seeming I guess. Then and now.

[ProZombieHunter]

If you wanna stick tampons up your nose, that's fine and dandy. I'll wait until mine breaks.

And I don't stick squares of TP on my face when I cut myself shaving. I tough it out, because when you can open up a tiny nick on your face that is completely painless and only bleeds for a few seconds, plus has a snowball's chance in hell of becoming infected thanks to all the soap, well...

TP just seems a bit superflous.

[ghostface]

I can understand why you think it's unnecessary, but you don't see anything inherently gross or weird about people using toilet paper to stop bleeding or blow their noses, right?

[ProZombieHunter]

I'm not going to say it's weird for a nose bleed or something.

But for sweat, I've got my sleeve. I don't need Tampax on my freaking head. That simple.