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In my opinion, the three currencies of the apocalypse are: ammunition, water, and diesel fuel. Ammunition is the universal apocalyptic currency. You can hunt

In my opinion, the three currencies of the apocalypse are: ammunition, water, and diesel fuel. Ammunition is the universal apocalyptic currency. You can hunt with it and you can protect your family, food, and possessions with it. It is shelf-stable and easily subdivided. It can be put in a box and buried or carried in your pocket. Lots of people own guns but few have significant stashes of ammunition. A staple of chaotic times. Water, that’s obvious, but you need a way to collect it and clean it. Those are their own currencies. Diesel powers computer-less trucks like my old Land Rover Defender 110. Probably the last running vehicles in an apocalypse. It also runs generators and water pumps. It can potentially be manufactured by civilians.

Clubber 9y ago
Believe it or not, diesel (and regular gas) is perishable. It starts to degrade as soon as 30 days without additives. It's still usable for a while though. Assuming a long term (lifetime) apocalypse, most of it will go bad eventually. https://www.goldeagle.com/tips-tools/how-long-does-diesel-fuel-last-storage https://www.goldeagle.com/tips-tools/how-long-does-diesel-fu... Ammunition is tricky because there are so many "denominations" (i.e. calibers). It would certainly come in handy. One of the biggest benefits of the M16 for the US military was that it was standardized, meaning every branch used it and they all used the same caliber. I think canned food would be important too. Quite a revolutionary concept we take for granted (we can thank Napoleon). Fun fact, canned food was invented 48 years before the can opener. I think drugs and alcohol would be a huge currency. Always have been in one form or the other. Of course most people in cities would be hosed after the canned food ran out, unless there was a severe population drop. Read the book "Alas Babylon," it is a good fiction about nuclear war.
- sliverstorm 9y ago
  Not to mention many diesel appliances would break down and be unrepairable in a few years or less. There would be backup generators and such that might go a hundred years, of course, but the point is demand for diesel might be high at first, but rapidly vanish.
  - KGIII 9y ago
    They are not very complicated. A decent machinist can replicate the parts. There isn't much of a call for exotic alloys or anything. This is, of course, assuming society starts to reform and not all knowledge is lost. There will still be pockets of tech and society left, and there will still be power sources that stay running - like hydro. Humans are pretty resilient and adaptable. If we don't kill the entire population off, we will probably be okay. Maybe not okay as an individual, but okay as a species.
- deftnerd 9y ago
  Excellent points that most people overlook. As impractical as it seems at first glance, the best post-apocalypse vehicles (barring an EMP scenario) would be electric since scavenged solar panels could provide the energy source for generations without significant degradation. Scrounging for electricity-based energy generation is much more practical than petrol-based resources that degrade, need refining, etc. Batteries won't last as long as the solar panels, but as a personal observation, I've noticed that my parents hybrid Prius still has over 95% battery health after almost 15 years. High-quality batteries with well-engineered charge controllers have really impressive life spans in terms of maintaining their charge capacity!
  - unlmtd1 9y ago
    A bicycle is by far the best post apocalyptic transport. Electric is worse than gas; at least the gas powered vehicle is lighter when its empty.
    - KGIII 9y ago
      Technically speaking, an EV will be lighter when the batteries are discharged. Not that anyone is going to notice or appreciate the difference. Note: This has no impact on your argument. I only mention it because I love me some physics. Here's a citation, if you're curious: https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/34421/does-the-mass-of-a-battery-change-when-charged-discharged https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/34421/does-the-m... The short version is that it will have less mass when the battery is discharged. However, you're not going to be able to detect a difference on your bathroom scale. Again, this is being posted as a mere factoid and not meant to argue your point.
  - wwweston 9y ago
    Out of curiousity -- how many people on HN have a faraday cage where they store stuff? Maybe a box/room/shed/garage? As prep for a Carrington Event or nuclear EMP scenario?
    - DanBC 9y ago
- barsonme 9y ago
  Most of that stuff can be cycled through, though. For example, I buy ammo in bulk but shoot through it so it doesn't sit around.

Clubber 9y ago

Believe it or not, diesel (and regular gas) is perishable. It starts to degrade as soon as 30 days without additives. It's still usable for a while though. Assuming a long term (lifetime) apocalypse, most of it will go bad eventually. https://www.goldeagle.com/tips-tools/how-long-does-diesel-fuel-last-storage https://www.goldeagle.com/tips-tools/how-long-does-diesel-fu... Ammunition is tricky because there are so many "denominations" (i.e. calibers). It would certainly come in handy. One of the biggest benefits of the M16 for the US military was that it was standardized, meaning every branch used it and they all used the same caliber. I think canned food would be important too. Quite a revolutionary concept we take for granted (we can thank Napoleon). Fun fact, canned food was invented 48 years before the can opener. I think drugs and alcohol would be a huge currency. Always have been in one form or the other. Of course most people in cities would be hosed after the canned food ran out, unless there was a severe population drop. Read the book "Alas Babylon," it is a good fiction about nuclear war.

sliverstorm 9y ago
Not to mention many diesel appliances would break down and be unrepairable in a few years or less. There would be backup generators and such that might go a hundred years, of course, but the point is demand for diesel might be high at first, but rapidly vanish.
- KGIII 9y ago
  They are not very complicated. A decent machinist can replicate the parts. There isn't much of a call for exotic alloys or anything. This is, of course, assuming society starts to reform and not all knowledge is lost. There will still be pockets of tech and society left, and there will still be power sources that stay running - like hydro. Humans are pretty resilient and adaptable. If we don't kill the entire population off, we will probably be okay. Maybe not okay as an individual, but okay as a species.
deftnerd 9y ago
Excellent points that most people overlook. As impractical as it seems at first glance, the best post-apocalypse vehicles (barring an EMP scenario) would be electric since scavenged solar panels could provide the energy source for generations without significant degradation. Scrounging for electricity-based energy generation is much more practical than petrol-based resources that degrade, need refining, etc. Batteries won't last as long as the solar panels, but as a personal observation, I've noticed that my parents hybrid Prius still has over 95% battery health after almost 15 years. High-quality batteries with well-engineered charge controllers have really impressive life spans in terms of maintaining their charge capacity!
- unlmtd1 9y ago
  A bicycle is by far the best post apocalyptic transport. Electric is worse than gas; at least the gas powered vehicle is lighter when its empty.
  - KGIII 9y ago
    Technically speaking, an EV will be lighter when the batteries are discharged. Not that anyone is going to notice or appreciate the difference. Note: This has no impact on your argument. I only mention it because I love me some physics. Here's a citation, if you're curious: https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/34421/does-the-mass-of-a-battery-change-when-charged-discharged https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/34421/does-the-m... The short version is that it will have less mass when the battery is discharged. However, you're not going to be able to detect a difference on your bathroom scale. Again, this is being posted as a mere factoid and not meant to argue your point.
- wwweston 9y ago
  Out of curiousity -- how many people on HN have a faraday cage where they store stuff? Maybe a box/room/shed/garage? As prep for a Carrington Event or nuclear EMP scenario?
  - DanBC 9y ago
barsonme 9y ago
Most of that stuff can be cycled through, though. For example, I buy ammo in bulk but shoot through it so it doesn't sit around.