Would moonshine, and the ability to make it, be a good barter item when the SHTF?

Yes

Sure, why not?

In several years of these threads, the only thing that I have ever seen posted that will be worthless is gold and silver.

Anything were there is a demand for it, you have something  of value...alcohol is a very useful item...it can warm you with a shot on a cold day/night
relax you, sterilize items, clean things, disinfect things, and yes get a buzz from it to...but its more than just a get drunk on item.

Would you trust alcohol from a supplier you didn't know? Could it be methanol?

I think actual paper currency might be in demand. A local goverment could just stamp original US notes and actually hold grain or gold reserves to back it.

And remember, only about 10% of US currency is actually printed.

x2.  Think 150 + years ago.  What was in demand?  You think long and hard, there is your answer.  Ammo, water purification, hand saws for firewood cutting, spare weapons parts, candles, matches, first aid, ect......................

I like history and have read a lot about Louis and Clark, Mountainmen, and early american settlers.
There are a lot of things that we could use from nature instead of buying it at the store...plus if your store bought item(s) wear out or break, you need to know how to fix it or make something to take its place or you'll have to do without it. Depending on the area your in...you might have all you need year round or you might have to store/stock up on things like food and water, depending on where your at...down south you would have a lot longer growing season and not need to store as much, but up north or in the mountains you might need to store food and fuel for heat for up to 6 or even 8 months...your Area of Operation has a lot to do with what you'll need and want...it also adds weight to you bug out bag...or reduces it.

LOL.  Ummmm, after a few months of SHTF people will be making their own brew on the street corner.  A "trusted" supplier will be one who can get you some go-juice in trade for a 4-pack of AA batteries.

of course it is ILLEGAL to make it in MODERN SOCIETY....well, since the 1700's


unless proper paperwork is submitted to the TREASURAY DEPARTMENT....

chocolate, coffee, sugar, fruit (dehydrated), and ammunition

All of these things have become very scarce in countries where SHTF.  I have an excess of each in my preps specifically for bartering.  Chocolate should be chips or cocoa powder  and vacuum sealed with an O2 eater to prevent oxidation.  Coffee the same way, preferrably whole beans.  Limited shelf life on these items, so I use them and rotate them, but I keep a reserve.

I could also see vegetable seeds as a viable barter item.

No.

Food, medical supplies and raw materials for building.

What about the ever popular .22?

Last time this thread came up I learned was supposed to be buying all my milk, bread, eggs w/.22LR.  
Damn, now I got to go buy more stuff.

yes



I'm sure you have the grain, fuel, water and tools to do thus all ready to go don't you?



If you have enough time to make the moonshine, then I suspect there is not much you need to worry about SHTF.



 

Depends if there is a customer for your product

At a minimum suger, yeast, and water to do this, and depending on your weather and location you don't even need to provide yeast, it will naturally happen. So mainly a good stock of suger or corn. I know about all the other items in SHTF i just never see this brought up regarding SHTF and was just curious. I thought for its multiple uses and long shelf life it would great to know how to make it and have the ability to make it when the time comes.

Smithy, your avatar is full of awesome.  Love it.

I think it would be a decent barter item.  Even if not for consumption, it could still be used as a disinfectant, cleaner, fuel, fire starter...

And like someone already said, if you get a reputation as having good, well-distilled alcohol, people will grow to trust your product and seek you out.

I think there are definitely other things that will be in higher demand and better for barter, but I certainly don't think being able to produce your own hooch will hurt

How much sugar do you have stored then? I think sugar would be better used to can jellies/fruit to get me through the winter than to make moonshine for trade. If you don't have stockpiles of sugar on hand now, then you can't use it in the SHTF. Fuel is another issue. It takes a ton of propane to boil off all that water to get to the shine. Hell it would take a ton of wood that you have to cut, split, season just for the shine. If your going at this for trade, then you have to do it on a scale that would net you some "profit" to make it worth your while.  





Everybody has this fantasy that a total collapse we will just magically be transported back to the good ole times and easily pick up old trades. They have a idea that it will be easy to corner a market of some type and live like a king. Ie the ammo/bean crowd, the gold/silver crowd, the (insert commodity here) crowd.



If you actually plan it out, stock the needed items now, practice and learn all the mistakes now it might work a little better than just "picking it up" in the SHTF which will not likely happen.  



That might seem like a rant but there are many threads on here where people are thinking about trade if/when SHTF, vice living a prepper lifestyle now.





YMMV





 

It's totally dependent on the nature of the SHTF. Regional natural disasters, economic collapse, civil war, solar flare EOTWAWKI, etc. A school bus with monster truck tires, filled with sandwiches and bottled water would have made you a millionaire in Katrina.

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until the .gov confiscated said million and prosecuted you for price gouging.

Meat, meat and meat...



Every documented hard time in history, fresh meat is right at the top of things that are desired....

Only if you accepted food stamps and "Louisiana Purchase" cards...

Thinking long term SHTF situations, 'moonshine' is not hard to make.  It is not illegal to purchase/own a 'still' - just illegal to make ETOH (check your State/Federal laws).  At the least, ETOH can be used for medical/sterilization purposes.  If (big if) you know what you are doing , making home made ETOH is not hard.  Sugar of any kind (raw, mashed fruit, molasses, etc.) can be used (say about 12 lbs. per 25 liters water) with yeast = viola (produces approx. 14% ETOH which you then distal (ETOH 'boils'  at a lower tempature that H20).   A practical skill .

Is now so Im sure it will be then. As an anesthetic or as a disinfectant if not for consumption

The title says currency- moonshine would make a lousy currency- no easy way to measure strength, and no way to assure quality, and all the problems inherrent in a liquid.

The only historical currency is metals gold, silver, and copper at a minimum,  Paper currencies may or may not hold their value.  I assure you the US dollar did in Katrina, egypt, colapse of the soviet union, etc.

As a barter item, yes.  I'm not sure it's worth a whole lot more then the cost of the ingrediants.  In the south, no one ever got rich on shine.  Wheat,  corn, sugar and barley are dirt cheap now, compaired to what they might be without modern agriculture.  The 3 counties (or areas) where I know moon shine is still available are all dry.  I'm not sure moonshine can compete with cheap rotgut gin and vodka, at least outside the high taxes of AL.

Mulled wine is cheap, you can get drunk, and you don't need much fuel, and you have no loss of the food content.

I would buy it

Right before Gaddafi was killed, NPR reported that the price of chicken in Libya was 60x what it was before the revolution started.  We keep about 40 pounds raw-pack-canned at all times.  



 

How much 22 ammo will it cost me to get my tooth pulled?



There are several extremely intelligent people on this board who know a lot about precious metals. Sadly, I'm not one of them-my knowledge relative to the coin of that particular realm is severely lacking. Consequently, I'm more heavily invested in other types of precious metals like lead and brass, as well as durable goods like quality hand tools, building materials, generator parts, water purification, and medical supplies.

I don't begrudge anyone who has a vast stockpile of gold and silver. Quite the contrary-I envy their skill in knowing how to invest in PMs properly. Since I know so little I've stuck to what I do know. I only have a couple of grand worth of silver and pre 1965 coins, and that's about as deep as I'm comfortable going.

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Food, Shelter, Tools, Weapons, and  especially Ammo will be in high demand

Whiskey Rebellion.


How bad of SHTF is it?

SHTF is shorter term, TEOTWAWKI is where barter town is most likely.

In a real true EOTWAWKI...or major long lasting(many monthsor years)SHTF. I could care less about silver, gold, copper, or whatever other metal you suggest....reason being...

You cannot eat it
It would weight you down, more than you would be if you had to be mobile
I personally wouldn't want it...TP, matches, a stove, food, a gun, spare parts for weapons and equipment would be way more valuable than ant piece of metal to me...and everyone else, that doesn't own a country or have an army in there pocket.
Once things started to get to life as we know it know....then it would, but for quite awhile, I would turn anyone with it away..if they wanted to use it for trading....but again once things start to get back to normal, I would gladly trade 5 pounds of rice for a pound of gold...I might even charge a pound for a pound...because no matter how you slice it...you still can't eat it.

Short of nucular war I don't see a longterm SHTF that would not have rebuilding efforts happening quickly.

Hell, even in a nuke war, they will still rebuild.And when it does, gold will have value in the new currency, which will buy tools, land, etc to establish yourself comfortably in whatever's on the other side.

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OP asked about currency. That is different than batter. Currency or money has key elements. Foremost is a generally acceptance followed by a store of value and divisible. Currency is necessary to promote trade.

Follow this example. I am an expert trapper and have many pelts to sell at the end of winter. For me to get the supplies I need I have to find someone willing to take those pelts in exchange. Maybe I get lucky and hit a trading post or maybe I spend days wandering trying to trade my pelts for a wooden chair, to trade with the guy with a calf, to bring the calf to the woodworker to fix my canoe. That is just a simple three person exchange. I seem to remember a couple of MASH reruns where all the barters that had to be made just to get xyz item they needed.

As for moonshine? Well, it doesn't degrade over time. +1, It is divisible, +1, Testing for quality/strength would be at least as easy as some other items used as money in the past. I am not quite sold on its durability and portability. You want me to bring you how many mason jars for that calf?

Also, with the relative ease to produce large amounts of alcohol I think it would be hard to have an generally accepted value. In the back of your mind you really are thinking is that currency is worth x amount of your time. Being able to flood the market with your currency leads to inflation and uneasiness in accepting your currency because no one knows what it is really worth.

Also, your currency can never exceed its worth. If it does it will no longer get traded as currency because it is more valuable as the commodity. Think silver quarters. Would you drop a silver quarter in a gumball machine? Is it harder to get what you want with a silver quarter or regular quarter?

Currency in a SHTF of epic proportions would mean items to barter with. So allow me to rephrase. Would it be a decent item to barter with. I also know what is involved in making it and that your ability would to barter with it would  mean that you had the supplies to make it. But im not asking about all that.

Some of you like to read into to these to much. Its simple.  In an epic grid down for a long amount of time scenario, if someone had the supplies to make it, would hooch be a good barter item.

I guess it would be more of a TEOTWAWKI. I beleive in this scenario precious metals will be worthless. Items of use will be king.

Moonshione, nubile virgins hotties,smokes, tools, food, it will all be the new currency after the end of the world. 45ACP, 5.56, 7.62, 12ga, those will be worth like the current equivalent of one dollar.
So say you walk into McDonalds and trade for a quarter pounder, that's going ot be three 7,62 and five rounds of 22LR. Dont try paying with a nubile virign becuase the change wil be too much to drag home, sorry, I mean the survivalist retreat.
FerFAL

This made me laugh, thanks.