I’m thinking either Bic lighters or cigarettes, just to trade

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[–] 151 points 1 year ago (12 children)
  • [–] 59 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    This really is it. Sure, a high water ratio soup would provide both nourishment and fluids for living, but basic clean water allows for cleaning and the ability to grow food or trade for other stuff.

    Plus truly unlimited means you can start your own river to help society recover!

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  • [–] 41 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    We're putting Gatorade on the crops and they don't grow. Ground is broken!

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    If you are going that route: Rule of 3

    3 minutes without oxygen. 3 days without water. 3 weeks without food (I think it is also "3 hours without shelter" but that is a much more environmental factor and feels shoehorned in). And, depending on the apocalypse, clean air can be hard to come by.

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  • Yeah, obviously need the first that that will kill you. We take breathable air for granted. But if you need an infinite supply of clean air, you are probably dead anyway. An infinite supply of water has many uses beyond drinking and hygine -- irrigation, power, and cooling come to mind as very useful post-apocalypse.

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  • [–] 33 points 1 year ago (5 children)
  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Evil Genie: "Granted." It starts to rain. It never stops.

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  • [–] 42 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Milk, given an unlimited supply i won't have to worry about it spoiling. Gives a decent amount of nutrients and water and can use it to make cheese or butter eventually, And is a life without cheese and butter really worth living?

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  • [–] 58 points 1 year ago (9 children)

    What flavor of apocalypse matters a lot. If it's zombies, ammo becomes critical. If it's nuclear, ammo is less important and water filtration probably becomes critical. If it's a gigantic asteroid that blots out the sun, water is easy to find but food is critical.

    For an unknown apocalypse, I think I'll go with gasoline. Not critical in and of itself, but helps a lot more generally with a lot of stuff, being able to power a generator and move camp more easily.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    What if it's like impact winter? Asteroid, forever blocked out sun, winter, and vampires.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Enough gasoline could blow the asteroid up, preventing the whole thing. Forever blocked sun means no food but with gasoline you can power lamps for the plants. Burn gasoline to keep warm against the winter and burn vampires using gasoline. It is a christian invention after all /s

    Gasoline doesn't seem like a bad choice tbh. Also good for trading if, for example, water is scarce.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Toilet paper. During apocalyptic scenarios, it's worth is apparently uncountable, so I will be able to trade it and live a life of opulence.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

    Got that covered .... I'm still going through my excess toilet paper supply I bought during the start of the 2020 pandemic. When people started clearing the shelves of toilet paper, we panicked and bought several whole cases of the stuff. It was completely insane.

    I haven't bought toilet paper in five years.

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  • [+] 11 points 1 year ago (1 child)
  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    And a bad problem. If you are panic buying anything for the apocalypse, you're not prepared for the apocalypse. I have a "minimum" amount of TP I'll let the house get down to before buying more. My partner is a teacher and so during the winter months when we're both not home we go through it at a glacial pace. We had plenty to last even when we were wfh. Never worried.

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  • [–] 18 points 1 year ago

    Along those lines antibiotics would be better.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago (8 children)

    All you big brains saying water.

    My first thought was soybeans, since they're so versatile. Or corn for the same reason. Granted, I don't have any way to process them so I didn't think it through.

    But a food source that also provides water would be a good idea. Watermelon is too sweet to be your primary food though.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)

    Potatoes are the best. Easy to grow in marginal soil, varied ways to cook them, and they store easily long term in a simple root cellar.

    Add in some squash like pumpkins which have the same advantages and you should be good to go.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    Ive heard if you need to survive, potatoes, radishes, and beans do really well.

    Personally ive had more luck with radishes and beans. They grow quick in just about anything. I keep killing my Potatos!

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

    You can make pretty nice savoury dishes with watermelon.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago

    I'm diabetic. I choose insulin.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago* (2 children)
  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago

    Iodized salt. I live in iowa, we have planty of water (i can figure out how to filter it), and a great climate for growing food. However our soilis naturaly low iodine and there is no salt around so those are critical nutriants I don't think I could get here.

    second would be iron - we don't have any and It is usefur for a lot.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    Antibiotics.

    We all would die so quickly and horribly without them.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago

    Bottle caps.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Army MREs, the modern ones.

    Assuming I'm not teleported elsewhere, the place I live has plenty of drinkable fresh water and other supplies, so the only real concern is having consistent high-quality food available, and MREs are engineered to support people in the wild for several months, if not years. In case of a major war breaking out, so it would contain everything I would need to stay alive, or to trade to other people.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    Easy answers first. Potable water! You need it every day, helps with sanitation, growing food, etc.

    If you wanted more like discrete consumable objects, keflex.

    Edit: Or salt!

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  • [–] 30 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Hugs from a nice person. The apocalypse is going to be really depressing I'll need the love

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    thank you for being on this platform and being so positive. I enjoy seeing your posts and they somehow give me motivation to keep my chin up and be more outgoing with someone I recently met at the dog park who's acting curiously shy and different from most people.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    That's a lovely thing to say Fiivemacs thanks so much

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I second the sentiment. You and other frequent posters of delightful posts help this place to feel more like a community. It's also nice because you make me reflect on my own online presence in a manner that provides a positive pressure to be the kind of person I value in my community; I see usernames like yours crop up again and again, and when I find myself noticing that organically, it makes me wonder what kinds of patterns people notice across my own comments — it's introspective, but in a good way

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Electricity would be tempting. If you have access to water, you can boil it to make it safe. Run a refrigerator to store food. A convenient source of heat for cooking. Stay warm in the winter, stay cool in the summer. Lights for when it's dark. Use power tools to build things. Listen to music, watch movies, play those old Nintendo games.

    Even after some time when your electronics break down and scavenging working ones gets tough, it's not difficult to build things like simple resistive heaters. Making crude incandescent light bulbs wouldn't be impossible either.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Goats. Food, friends and defense.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)
  • [–] 21 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Fresh, hot pizza from Ray's.

    Not fresh at the time of the apocalypse. Fresh at the time I seek it.

    Of course that would mean I would also get a steady supply of clean water and of all the ingredients required to make the pizza. But that is simply a secondary side effect of having made my choice for the one, single thing.

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    [–] 7 points 1 year ago

    Drinkable water.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago

    My meds. I don't think I'll be able to do shit without them.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

    nobody has said rice or potatoes or anything like that. you're all completely fucked

    also cum

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago

    unlimited other earths to live in

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago

    Beans. Not only about the most important food source, legumes are also natural nitrogen fixers for soil health.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Gin, I don't plan on surviving in an apocalypse

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Not a single mention of bullets? Seriously?

    In an apocalypse, ammunition will be worth more than gold.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Maybe in a zombie apocalypse, but what are you gonna do with bullets in a regular apocalypse?

    You may be the only person you'll ever see for years at a time. You can't drink them, you can't plant them, you can't build with them.

    You could probably use them on yourself if you've got a gun that they work in, though, especially if that's the only one item you decided to choose for long-term survival. 😮

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (1 child)

    The bullets aren't for the zombies...

    They wouldn't be much of an issue after a year anyway, but ammo will still be extremely valuable, especially if you're trying to rebuild society. Gonna need something to defend yourself with against invasions from rival gangs.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Gonna need something to defend yourself with against invasions from rival gangs.

    Bullets won't protect you against an intentionally set fire to your home or base. Without laws, it won't be gun vs gun situation.

    That said, it would really depend on the type of apocalypse we're talking about.

    Massive natural disaster? Nuclear? Pandemic? "Zombies"? Global drought? A breakdown of society?

    Bullets might be fine depending on the situation. You might not even survive long enough to use them.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    You guys were smart to say water, first thing I thought of when I read the question though was peanut butter.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago
    [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    Heroin. Either build an army of addicts who're completely loyal to me or I can just off myself depending on how things are going.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago
    [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    AA-batteries

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