So I know a lot of people or fantasizing about crumbling of western civilization and the doom of making due without modern amenities. So a lot of people work to stockpile things: guns, ammo, food, fuel, cigs, gold whatever.
I want to corner the market on a useful chemical that people typically don’t think about, but would find of value. Ideally, small quantities would go a long way so I don’t have to deal with a lot of storage. Also it should be very useful and hard to get, assuming manufacturing would be limited.
I’ve thought of: Ethanol, ammonium nitrate, iodine…but I’m not sure they are most suitable.
Ethanol is somewhat easily produced, but difficult to store in large barterable quantities. Same with ammonium nitrate (coupled with the ATF difficulties of obtaining it). Iodine is a possibility, but I’m not convinced it is an absolutely necessary chemical that people will really want (plus it too is hard to legally obtain).
Any suggestions or humble opinions on a chemical(s) that would be:
a) necessary and valuable
2) easily stored and hard to get later
III) Hi Opal!
Drugs: antibiotics, aspirin, other pain relievers, etc. “Real” drugs, too, though those might not be as good. Anyone will be able to grow weed after the apocalypse.
Spices, especially those that don’t grow anywhere near where you live. It’s not really a chemical, but will be far more valuable. Those that come out wealthy after world transportation collapses will be able to get salt, guns, bullets, gold, silver, etc., but the most valuable things will be things that can no longer be produced (alcohols and cheeses that require years of aging) or things that can only be gotten from across the globe (pure cocoa will be near impossible to get in North America, as will many spices like pepper, cinnamon, vanilla beans, etc.).
The problem with stockpiling alcohol is that it’s so easy to make. As long as I have any form of corn, sugar, grain, or fruit available, as well as a method to heat it, I can make nearly pure ethanol.
Yes on the salt. When civilization collapses so will the power grid. The preservation of meat is going to require salt. So are the ‘morning after’ bloody marys.
But you are going to need a lot of it and the OP says small, managable quantities. But salt is really cheap, so build yourself a shed or warehouse.
Spices as randomface suggests would be a great idea, I was going to say large quantaties of vegetable seeds, they don’t take up much space and other people who haven’t planned ahead are really going to need them. But the OP says ‘chemical’.
Gunpowder and Urea would be my chemical choices. Urea because it has the highest nitrogen concentration of any solid fertilizer, because I’d want to keep eating and growing things. Gunpowder for the obvious hunting and possible protection reasons.
What about petroleum products? With the collapse of civillization, so go the methods to refine gasoline. I imagine Diesel fuel would be pretty valueable, since it could be used to power larger generators and enclaves of human civilization could form little settlements around hospitals/gov’t buildings.
I could imagine the demand for generator fuel to be pretty high, and you could use it as a kind of ‘currency’. Being liquid, you only need a leakproof container to carry it.
It can be used as a mild cleanser, a toothpaste, degreaser, used on itchy insect bites, to settle an upset tummy, in cooking, and to suppress small cooking fires. And it seems almost no one ever thinks of it, choosing everything from salt to TNT first.
I have actually thought about this as I have a thing for apocalypse/self-sufficiency/obsolete technology. It depends on the scenario whether it is a total collapse like “The Road” or a second Dark Age that knocks everyone back to subsistence farming.
.
Salt not just for meat but for preserving veggies and hides as well. It figured big in Alas, Babylon (the best collapse book ever).
Vinegar for preserving food and as a cleaner.
Borax as a flux for forge welding. Without electricity or welding gasses, the ability to join found metals would be big.
Granular calcium hypochlorite (pool chemical) as a water purifier. Bleach works as well but degrades with time.
How about chlorine bleach? It’s still just about the best anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, anti-whatever-might-ail-you-if-you-don’t-kill-it-first we’ve got, and we’re gonna need plenty of that. But I’m not sure how easy is would be to manufacture as needed.
Assuming you mean black powder, 'cause smokeless powder is a whole 'nother beastie and you’ll have to fool around with even nastier stuff for percussion caps or primers.
You’ll already be collecting all the urea you want from making potassium nitrate. Which will also get you the charcoal you need. The hardest of the three BP components to find is the sulfur*.
CMC fnord!
*Oh yeah and a ball mill not a rudimentary lathe.