So You Think You Will Want To Barter...When S.H.T.F.

[John Galt 1]

Ask yourself how well you know the people that will be coming and if they are trustworthy of OPSEC.  If your not familiar with someone that is going to be coming, do you know that they won’t bring their own group with them?  In other words a tremendous amount of potential issues to contemplate and work through…

The very few family members who would be allowed to stay on the property have been firmly informed "Bring no one else.     If you can't leave your Aunt Matilda or girlfriend then stay at your place."      Nothing else including no pets because there isn't enough food ect.
Everyone has agreed to these terms.
This is something we've all discussed several times as a group on my porch.      Everybody knows the requirements to bug out here.     If SHTF I suspect half won't show but at least we tried.

But I was happy that those were positive conservations with people asking about what to bring and logistics.

[John Galt 1]

Fish anti-biotics are expensive now and have a short shelf life, I would divide them up into smaller containers.  They are cracking down on their sales. 

Finished a bottle of Fish Mox frozen in the freezer in 2012 a year ago with good results.         Prednisone from about 2015 still working good.     
Use at your own risk.

'nuf said.     but use at your own risk.

[Abigayle]

Ordered today and it already shipped. Had to pay shipping under, like 49.00. It was under five. Thanks !

[John Galt 1]

Are you going to barter the battery charger with the  batteries or just sell some you have used and recharged?  Little solar systems are an interesting thought.  My worry would be that whoever you bartered with would be very excited to tell people you had extra solar to part with... just a thought.
 Sugar was rationed until after the war, in 1947.  Cooking oils may be hard to get, as soon as this year, but who knows...  I thought about flour and yeast, but how many know what to do with it.  Maybe those little lanterns you pull up?  They come to about five bucks a piece, but light would be valuable, esp. by people on the road.   Tarps could be good, for water trapment.
So which S.H.T.F circumstance hits us first...There are several in line...

Abigale,      I kind of chopped up your post so I can respond to a few specific questions.

In my semi-rural area I know every face within a mile and most by name.       With only a few exceptions I trust them to not attempt to steal from me.         But still I would consider anybody who walked uninvited on the property to be a potential threat.      "Keep out", ring bell at the end on the driveway."     Keep in mind that there is a bit of a radio network between neighbors within 3/4 mile with small solar chargers.      The neighbors are not a MAG.     Every home is on it's own, some prep, some don't.      But we do help each other out occasionally.
Small town a few miles away. 

No trading or people who don't live on this property on the property.        But if things are really bad I'm not walking into town either.       Personally, I suspect with the exception of people coming out of the more urban areas this area should be relatively safe.

Considering the fact that SHTF may never happen and potential trade items can cost a of of money I try to focus of trade items I'd probably use myself in the future.       I've got honeybees that I use about 150 lbs of sugar a year to stimulate early feeding with so keeping extra sugar works for me.     I'll use it next year.        I salt cure ham so having several years of extra salt plus another 100 lbs makes sense, especially considering that that salt and sugar will probably cost more next year.       

We burn wood and use BIC lighters so they are worth keeping a few extra around although I've got to admit I keep a lot more BIC lighters than I'll probably ever use.

As far as solar goes I already use solar for much of my energy needs.       But rechargeable batteries are expensive, both for the small stuff like AA for  radios and larger batteries to power the well pump.      I don't keep batteries for trade.     But I do keep a few small inverters designed to run off a 12v car battery and solar charge controllers to properly charge 12v batteries.        A friend a few miles away has lots solar panels they may be willing to trade for.        I suspect they and I may be able to talk on the radio to facilitate a trade.

We've used Vegetable and Canola Oil and butter stored in the chest freezer for 3-5 years with great results but it is something we will always need, not a trade item.     With the exception of the cost of the solar powered chest freezer that is a no cost prep.      Possibly even a savings considering how fast the price is going up.       But that requires a larger chest freezer,     we went large when we got the last chest freezer.

Tarps are very useful.        Probably not for trade but we always keep a few spares in different sizes.

hope this helps.

[Abigayle]

J.G. What a lucky man, to know most of the faces in your area!  You have done a lot of work.  Like you, I only store things that I could use if this should be a nothing burger.  I pray for that, but I just don't see, under current circumstances, how it can happen.  I do store some first aid stuff I might never use, but it could still come in handy before the ambulance gets here.  We do have a rural fire station nearby, so I may never need that stuff, IF nothing were to happen.  If something like a tornado comes through you may only be able to count on yourself for awhile.
BIC lighters, as well as others, dry up after awhile. I like to keep the ones where you can view the fuel.  I also keep waterproof matches in a dry place.
Really curious about your freezer.  We are running  several, but would have to switch the use of our solar to run other things at other times.  Do you keep your oil in the freezer?  We keep a years worth of butter, but the oil is out and rotated.  I found that avocado oil kept for three years in my pantry.  It was in a dark bottle.
Yes, it always helps to get the perspective of others, thank you.

[John Galt 1]

Yes the Vegetable and Canola oil in 1 gallon jugs is in the freezer.        Olive oil is kept in the pantry because my wife is the primary user of olive oil and she prefers small bottles.     I guess we use about a gallon of Vegetable oil a year      When I put a jug of oil in the freezer I use a Sharpie to write the date on the jug.      The jug in the pantry is from 2018 so we are storing about 5 years of oil for normal use.       If the stores were al closed I suspect we'd be using a lot more oil; or maybe less if we start eating our cows and producing lard.     But making lard means making heat and smoke so lots of work and the smoke may attract unwanted attention.

I doubt there are more than that there are fewer than 100 people living within a mile of our home.    I know there are only 13 people living within 1/2 mile (as the crow flies in any direction) of our property.        With so few people it makes it easier to know who your neighbors are.

As far as storing Antibiotics goes I'm currently taking Azithromycin 500mg that's been in the freezer since 2017 for a nasty chest cold.    Along with generic Thera-Flu that expired in 2020.