Ask Lemmy

drinkable water

I think alcohol would be useful for trading.

Will "fully equipped cruize ship" count as one item? Then I can scavenge them for all parts required to build new civilization.

And if it is not, then question to OP, what is the limit for the composite items to stop being counted as one item?

ammunition could get you anything you could need. drinking water would be a second i guess, but you could with effort gather drinkable water.

ammunition is heavy, but no where near as heavy as water for trading purposes,

Not a single mention of bullets? Seriously?

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

Depends on the apocalypse.

AAA batteries

Gout sufferer checking in, Prednisone

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

Waterproof matches.

A) Something to trade (rely on others)

B) Something for ME to survive on (rely on nobody)

C) Something to rebuild (everyone relies on me)

I generally lean towards rebuilding, but it really depends on what apocalypse we're talking about here. Zombie? Nuclear war? Asteroid? Nazis? Waterworld?

So, assuming I can survive enough, I'd pick rebuild critical tech like rubber or a way to forge steel or a critical chemical. Think, "Doctor Stone".

But if I need to survive like a water world or a desert world or a zombie outbreak, what I pick is going to be pretty fucking different. Cigarettes don't mean shit if there's no water. Water don't mean shit if that's all you have. And none of that matters if you're stuck in a world with aerosolized zombie infection that results in smart running zombies that fast heal.

Paper, good for lighting fires and keeping people honest. Also I'm guessing pretty hard to make

Ok so some people are asking what type of apocalypse but I feel that's mostly irrelevant because you said it's a post apocalypse scenario. The apocalypse has already passed.

So there's kind of two options. One is where I would be the sole survivor on the planet, and the other is where there's still pockets of survivors out there.

Most post apocalypse situations involve other people surviving, so I'll start there.

You didn't put a limiter on what the item could be, whether it had to be realistic or not, and how this supply would come to be. So I'll give three answers, each with different degrees of what I'm assuming your intention behind the question is.

The first would be an infinite supply of non tricky, non malevolent genie lamps. Infinite wishes baybee, this trumps pretty much everything.

Something more fantastic but more reasonably grounded would be computers, with a complete set of data on human history, art, music, science and schematics, with instructions on how to rebuild society in a more equitable way, translated into all languages possible, with a pictogram of how to charge it up etched on the outside. Pass those suckers around, rebuild society, got infinite of them, everyone gets one and it has the windows space pinball from the 90s on it just for fun.

But since you said lighters, to play with the idea of things that exist, I'm gonna go with tents. Probably those onion shaped ones that are designed to be permanent housing, or yurts. Sure water and food are important but without shelter you're fucked, and I could house everyone.

Now if it were an apocalypse where I'm the only survivor, I would want an infinite supply of one thing.

BACKUP. GLASSES.

Mainly maps, but also other informative reading materials such as natural medicine, almanacs and other foraging guides.

Flour. Maybe rice. Something of that nature. The only alternative option that's even close to food might be fuel, depending on the nature of the disaster.

Water is everywhere outside of deserts, and there's enough raw materials for a thinned population to recycle for a long time. Food and medicine is what separates the living from the dead, and medicine isn't a single item. Edit: Although antibiotics or water treatment tablets are probably the closest approximation.

Pleasantly surprised to not see more throwing star-type answers.

Genies in a lamp

Potable water is good, perhaps wheat berries or ibuprofen would be good too.

As for an unorthodox answer, I'm going to say survival guides. Most people have some idea of how they might survive, but it couldn't hurt to have a resource to fill any knowledge gaps.

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

unlimited other earths to live in

Sorta depends on the apocalypse but for most I will take the airline bottles of a high end vodka.

Antibiotics.

We all would die so quickly and horribly without them.

clean water

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?

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

also cum