beauanderos wrote:...consider what would happen if peak oil was real... cheap items made of plastic such as disposable razors, lighters, eyeglasses can be picked up very inexpensively now and could be used for barter if ever TSTF or there was a lengthy supply disruption.
Of all the items i've considered gathering in bulk i've never thought of cheap plastic items. /facepalm It makes a lot of sense. Lighters i'm not so sure about though. They surely will be very valuable...but how long does a Bic keep it's fluid in storage? One year? Maybe two? i've bought lighters in shrink wrapped packs before and some of them did not last long at all.
Regarding peak oil, i think it's pretty certain we've passed it...or at least peak cheap oil which really is the issue anyway. The Canadian Tar Sands seem to be a pretty strong argument for this. That oil is expensive to get out of the ground and expensive to refine. They wouldn't consider it at a long term price of $40-50/bbl let alone the prices of "free oil" in the 90s. The late 90s sure were great for travelling. i once drove from Indiana to the Gorge Amphitheater in the middle of Washington and back for $70-75. /tangent off Natural Gas could be in the same position too. i don't know the particulars of fracking, but i'm sure it's pretty expensive even before dealing with all the lawsuits it will cause.
Anyway, thanks for the new ideas.
