I put Ammunition after Water, Duct Tape and Coconut oil and before Fuel, Tarps, Paracord and Whiskey. But, that’s just me. On a recent trip to Peru I noticed a fresh role of toilet paper on the dash of every taxi.

A man’s got to have his priorities!

Life Priorities – (LP)

For the purposes of preparing for a non-specific crisis I’ve chosen to order life’s priorities in the following categories:

1. Water
2. Shelter
3. Food
4. Security
5. Health & Medicine
6. Communications
7. Power
8. Hygiene & Sanitation
9. General Tools
10. Transportation
11. Spices & Vices

Going through your own reasoning process and placing these categories in order is surprisingly useful. Knowing your priorities is key in making disciplined and balanced choices when allocating limited resources.

Any situation requiring something akin to a remote control drill is eligible for the deployment of firearms and ammunition. Contrary to mainstream media brainwashing firearms have a broad range of application: They serve needs in three out of ten of my top 10 Life Priority categories: Security, Food and General Tools.

Differences of opinion on the value of barter items will be rooted in Life Priorities. Your vision of where Food, Security and General Tools fit into the big picture –And your strategy in providing them– will change the ‘price’ and liquidity you assign to firearms and ammunition.

Informed Subjectivity

In a barter economy you are one half of the pricing system and your fellow trader is the other half. Making subjective judgments about the value of a barter item is not a weak method; It’s the only method. Barter economies have no broad pricing system other than the subjective judgments of the traders. Instead of complaining about subjectivity develop an informed subjectivity to become a better trader.

In barter price is expressed in terms of the desired item. To save myself from drowning in a sea of subjectivity I came up with Your Optimal Barter Equation. Please see that article for a description of the equation. Simply stated:

(M * N * LP)_1-n = YO Barter

Where M are the money qualities, N is how directly the item fulfills a need and LP is the Life Priority of the need fulfilled. Note the 1-n subscript. That’s because an item can fulfill needs across multiple categories of life. In fact, the best barter items do.

Money – (M)

Ammunition is compared with the attributes of Money in the first part of this series. Ammo fairs well in the comparison. On a scale of 1-to-10 where 10 is money I give Ammunition a rating of eight. It is viable, if not strong, in seven out of the 10 attributes of money; it is not fungible, is divisible only within the same cartridge and is best traded in manufactured lots. It is also destroyed or unpredictable if wet.

Direct Need Fulfillment – (N)

Bartering ammo instead of a gun is like bartering fuel instead of a car. The ‘fuel’ for these machines have more of the attributes of money yet directly fill needs for the same Life Priorities.

Because ammunition requires a gun I’ve given ammo an eight instead of a 10 when scoring its direct fulfillment (N). Before settling on eight, however, substitutes should be considered.

Ammunition Substitutes?

1. Security. Walking through the aftermath of Haiti or Katrina with pepper spray or rubber bullets is a weak security play. Even if you emerge unscathed what’s your strategy to provide security for your family? The stabilizing peace that follows in the wake of responsible gun ownership is dramatic, even in good times. How much more so in a crisis? Avoidance, lights, fair trade, keeping your word are minimum behaviors of rational people. However, security is not holistic until violence that may be thrust against you by less spiritual or less rational creatures can be stopped.
2. Food. Yes, if complete proteins are stocked in advance. Have plenty of beans & rice, whey, TVP, Hempseed, milk, eggs, soybeans, etc. You can leave hunting to hunters only with advance preparation (And hunters would be grateful if you would be so prepared).
3. General Tools. Need a remote control drill? Then you need firearms and ammunition. No substitutes as of 2010.

Substituting peace for violence is a noble quest undertaken within one’s own heart. Would you stake your life on all those around you achieving this state of Grace? Stockpiling a nutritious variety of complete proteins will quell your families need to hunt. Do you have this food set aside and ready to go?

At best, substitutes for firearms and ammunition are indirect and require advanced preparation. While encouraging all reasonable avoidance of violence and advanced preparation my direct fulfillment (N) score of ammunition remains an eight.

How Does Ammo Stack Up?

I took the best money substitute candidates from the  400 Item Barter List and narrowed it down to 44 Items. After assigning M, N and LP values to each item a spreadsheet was used to calculate scores using Your Optimal Barter Equation:

(M * N * LP)_1-n = YO Barter

The equation was applied to the items primary (LP1) and secondary (LP2 thru N) Life Priority categories. The top 21 items ranked as follows:

As you can see, accounting for a barter items use across multiple categories yields surprising results. I didn’t expect Lighters, for example, to rate so high. However, it’s difficult to protest a Lighter’s compactness, money-like qualities and it’s direct fulfillment of needs across six of my highest Life Priority categories. Water, Lighters and Duct Tape are clear winners (Using my values).

The next three items grouped closely; there was no clear winner among Batteries, Coconut Oil and Ammunition.

I expected Eggs & Milk to rate higher but the equation is a measure of a barter items liquidity in a barter economy. The ranked items are not a preparedness list, per se. It would be a tragic mistake to stockpile excess of the above items instead of focusing on your overall preparedness needs. However, having an excess of top scoring barter items would be among the easiest errors to correct in a crisis and might help fill in the gaps of your overall plan.

Point in Time Value

Change the scenario and change the price. A box of .357 costs less when golfing at Pebble Beach than in the aftermath of the LA Riots. The value of everything changes in time for too many reasons to list. That doesn’t mean there’s no use in taking a stab at relative value in the only moment we have: Now.

My ranking of these barter items was done in the same way as a trade: Subjectively. If I place a higher value on Coconut oil than Aloe does that make me an informed consumer of Coconut oil or an ignorant one of Aloe? You tell me, my fellow trader. The subjective evaluation of the price of a barter item is not a weakness of method: It IS the method.

Ammunition is a Barter Superfood

These top 21 barter items are the superfoods of a barter economy: They provide a kind of nourishment across Lifes’ Priorities. Even after a good meal a bag of Salt still appeals. Even with a full tank of gas a spare five gallons is not to be dismissed. And, you don’t have to be a shooter to know that a few boxes of .38 Special could be traded for just about anything.

While discussing the subject of this article with a friend he jokingly said, “Forget about other barter items. A gun is your ticket to get everything you need!”. When we were done laughing I realized he had perfectly captured the spirit of the unprepared, less rational or desperate. Unfortuneatly, even in good times there are at least 76 Reasons to Have a Gun and the ammunition they use.

Like water in the desert, food during famine or shelter in a storm, the value of a gun and the ammunition it uses is exactly equivalent to the value of the life it defends at the moment it defends it. Unlike water, food and shelter, however, the gun may not have to be fired to achieve its full value.

May only one half of that decision be left to someone else.

Ammo for Barter — Part 1: Ammo vs. Money

Copyright © 2009 by Terence Gillespie. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given to McGillespie.com