Forget stocking for that two-week event, it’s not that difficult. The hard part is stocking for the total paradigm shift, that few remember how to do much of. You won’t be making your own saw blades anytime soon.
Now, ask yourself, what else will you NOT be making, that you need to learn how to make, or replace with older technology, before you need it. Once the ‘short duration expendables’ are consumed, you won’t be re-supplying, you’ll be making your own or doing without. Knowledge and durable supplies will be the real money.
Think about critical needs, before you think all that ammo is so important. I bet my wool blanket is worth AT LEAST all of your ammo, if you’re cold and we’re both armed. Again, don’t plan on thuggery, stock what you can’t afford to trade for. Have extras to trade, in regards to those critical things we MUST have. Take a 3 year, 1000 mile trip in your mind, and imagine only meeting others on the road like yourself. Each packed differently, not all are nice, not all are passive. Now, prepare for the trip in your mind and take it. What do you see yourself needing?!… each day, as the seasons change, as the environment changes, and as bad and good people cross your path.
In my opinion these SHTF items will have a really great trade value .
Items Everyone Will Be Looking For After SHTF
Antibiotics and painkillers
Antibiotics are hard to stock up on unless you have a very understanding doctor. Fortunately, there are sources for antibiotics you can take advantage of now. Go to your 
local pet store and buy fish antibiotics (its amoxicillin). They come in 250mg capsules, I buy them at a feed store near me and vacuum seal them in doses (two tabs in one dose x 3 doses a day x 7 days) then in mason jars. It sure is best learning to make penicillin.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. A bit of pain here and there is the last thing you’ll worry about when the SHTF. Maybe when it comes to a little pain, yes, that’s true, but what happens when you get a cavity and that tooth absolutely has to come out?
Get some reasonably strong over-the-counter pain meds, and make sure you have enough to last you if the SHTF. Though painkillers have expiration dates, they don’t really expire. They get weaker instead, so don’t be afraid to stockpile pain meds just because of the expiration date. Try to mix and match since many painkillers like Ibuprofen (Advil) and Acetominophen (Tylenol) have different uses, and can even be take simultaneously. Stronger pain killers like Codeine will become useful too, as medicine will run out pronto. It’s also beneficial to keep quite a few of these in a bug out bag if you happen to have one. Read also the article below. It might come handy when your pills run out.
17 NATURAL ANTIBIOTICS OUR GRANDPARENTS USED INSTEAD OF PILLS
THE BEST NATURAL PAINKILLER THAT GROWS IN YOUR BACKYARD (SIMILAR TO MORPHINE)
Tools
Saw blades, hand drills, hatchets, axe heads, hammer heads, wrenches etc – many of them coming from auctions, garage sales, etc. These items will be in high demand after SHTF. If the grid is down, power tools will be worthless. Without tools you won’t be able to build or fix anything or you’ll have to improvise. Having more than one of these tools will be a big advantage as they make great barter items.
Fire starters
Fire-making will ALWAYS be critical, and having a dozen of extra ferroceramic rods and striking steels will be worth their weight in gold, if it all goes south. Lighters are good too but eventually they run out of gas. Really and truly, you cannot have enough of these lying around. Sure you can make fire without them, but it’s hard, really hard. Unless you have apt practice in the fire-making field, stock up on these as much as possible. They’re so inexpensive. You might as well spare wicks and flints for your gas-fueled lighters wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
Screws, Nails and Building Materials
You’re definitely not going to regret having stocked up on hardware materials post-collapse. In fact, you’ll probably wish you’d stocked up on m
ore. Nails and screws are
essential hardware materials. They go fast and are a giant pain to make from scratch. Make sure you have enough lying around while you still can. They’ll become highly tradable items.
Batteries
Even more useful than the candles are the flashlights. So, having a good stock of batteries will be of great help. An excellent prep would be to have some extra rechargeable batteries with a solar charger for when the light stay out for a long period of time.
Soap
Along the lines of disinfecting, you’re going to really regret not having enough soap post-crisis. Without basic sanitation, you’re going to get sick fast, and ill is something you definitely don’t want to be when medicine is in short supply and you need as much energy and strength as you can possibly have. The best tip you could possibly have is to learn how to make your own soap out of fat leftovers and lye obtained from ashes. Here’s a great DIY for soap that anyone can make:
BASIC SOAP MAKING TUTORIAL THAT ANYONE CAN FOLLOW
Tampons & pads
They’re essential to a good survival pack, and not just for the obvious reason, but for bandages, for emergency water filtering, and can be used as tinder to start a good fire. They’re also better than a lot of other methods for stopping a nosebleed that won’t quit.
Seeds
Get Heirloom seeds, and then you can save the seeds from what you grew for the next year. The seed type you are looking for is “open pollinated”, so don’t limit yourself to the “heirloom” name. The open pollinated will breed true from generation to generation, and there are many excellent commercial versions available in large quantities at low price. The seeds sold in most stores will not produce usable seed.
Bleach
What happens if your septic tank overflows and you’re left with contaminated waste everywhere? Need a quick way to disinfect water so you can safely drink? One simple and effective way to fix both these problems is by using bleach. It’s as cheap and easy as a cleaning agent gets. Once you’re out of bleach, you’ll definitely notice. Get your hands on as much as possible while you still can. One caveat to the Bleach: store bought liquid bleach (Clorox or Purex) begins to degrade the moment it is manufactured. I’ve seen lots of different expiration dates, but they all run from 6 months to 2 years. I have stocked up on Calcium Hypochlorite. You can either find it on the internet or buy CH at the pool store. Just make sure it does not have algaecides or clarifiers in it which are said to make you sick. It comes in a powdered form which you mix as needed (1 tsp to 2 gallons of water to make the solution). This solution will then degrade just like bleach, but if you have the powder, you can keep making it for years. There is a learning curve, so do your research on the internet first. The ratio is 1:100 (such as 16 oz of solution to 12.5 gallons of water to be disinfected) which is slightly different than the household bleach numbers. One bag will purify 10,000 gallons so the directions are important –a little goes a long way.
Keep the bag cool and dry and it has a forever shelf life, not like commercial bleach.
Ammo
This one’s obvious. Even if you’ve got the guns to hunt or protect yourself and your family with, you can’t without ammo. You’ll probably need more than you expect, so really, you can never have too much ammunition. It would be best to have the means to make your ammo, so stockpiling on primers would be your best choice.
Along the same lines, it’s also beneficial to stockpile arrowheads and bow strings. Just remember that in a SHTF situation, you probably don’t want to advertise your position and the fact you have guns. Best of all, learn to load and shoot all the things you have. When you trade a gun and ammo to someone who doesn’t have a clue, they’ll want to know how to use it. Become proficient.
Honey
It’s one of the few foods that has an unlimited shelf life; honey will never go bad due to its antibacterial properties, which are also part of what makes it so healthy. Considering its versatility in the kitchen, along with its medicinal value, honey is likely to prove to be an extremely valuable commodity to have on hand during a long-term survival situation.
The medicinal importance of honey has been documented in the world’s oldest medical literatures, and since the ancient times, it has been known to possess antimicrobial property as well as wound-healing activity. The healing property of honey is due to the fact that it offers antibacterial activity, maintains a moist wound condition, and its high viscosity helps to provide a protective barrier to prevent infection.
Sponges
Keep sponges for just in case…. It worked for the Romans… You can only store so much toilet paper! True.. But Synthetic sponges have evolved! And their cheap….Sooner or later TP will run out. Once again, toilet paper is like a good cigar or stick of chewing gum and then what?. It might give you ’modern comfort’, but there are far more important things you need first.
Water containers
Seems simple now, but if things go wrong, one of the hardest things to usually find is a good canteen or water jug. Put enough back for yourself, but put more back for trade.
Candles
In the coming winter months, if you get hit by a major ice storm and the light go out, candles will make the difference between having to spend the night in the dark or not. Light gives us a comfort feeling. In case you run out of candles here’s a great alternative. Boiling soup bones to get the fat out of the marrow, then rendering it will make a decent lamp fuel. Keep the wick trimmed low enough to keep it from getting smoky. Make sure that, if the lamp spills, the spill is confined and maintain the ability to smother the whole thing with something that isn’t going to catch fire.
History has shown us many times that it can all fly away in a split of a second. The biggest misstep that you can take now is to think that this can never happen in America or to you! Call me old fashioned; I don’t care…but I completely believe in America and what our ancestors stood for. They all had a part in turning this land into one of the most powerful countries in the world. Many died and suffered before a creative mind found an ingenious solution to maybe a century old problem. Believe it or not, our ancestors skills are all covered in American blood. This is why these must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same for our children and our children’s children. Would you like to learn the lost skills that made our grandfathers completely self-sufficient? Than you really need this book:
You can get your paperback copy HERE
What items do you think you’ll miss the most when the SHTF? What would you add or remove from this list? Leave your suggestions in the comments below!
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I would think paper and pencils. Also small games.
Wire and rope or cording.