The Barter Network :-)

[Toddy]

The BN is one of life's happy pleasures

I've had a busy morning and came home to find HWMBLT with a grin on his face; my friendly neighbourhood poacher had come by with a new pair of goretex breeks to be shortened and brought a brace of ready prepped pheasants, a leek and a neep in exchange

And there was a parcel for me with eucalyptus bark and flowers from Hiraeth ....all he wanted were some of my leather celtic knotwork straps for his new kuksa.

It's been a very good day
Toddy

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

A Mod hanging around with a poacher ! Not very PC is it Toddy

Anyway, how was he pheasant Hope it was cooked in red wine, love it done like that

 

[Toddy]

He calls himself a poacher, he's actually one of the finest hunters I've ever known. No fuss or histrionics, alive one moment dead the next.
He is also one of the neatest butchers I've ever met, trimmed carcasses, properly trussed joints, and never, ever 'full' of shot.
He salts a local pond, feeds geese all winter and maybe takes out a dozen but the rest are in better condition because of his actions, and a hundredweight of barley is only £3. He keeps the pigeon and squirrel populations down............basically he really knows his stuff, his area.
To call him a sportsman would offend him. to call him a hunter would embarrass him, to call him a poacher gets me a quiet grin

What did you barter this week then ?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[falling rain]

He calls himself a poacher, he's actually one of the finest hunters I've ever known. No fuss or histrionics, alive one moment dead the next.
He is also one of the neatest butchers I've ever met, trimmed carcasses, properly trussed joints, and never, ever 'full' of shot.
He salts a local pond, feeds geese all winter and maybe takes out a dozen but the rest are in better condition because of his actions, and a hundredweight of barley is only £3. He keeps the pigeon and squirrel populations down............basically he really knows his stuff, his area.
To call him a sportsman would offend him. to call him a hunter would embarrass him, to call him a poacher gets me a quiet grin

What did you barter this week then ?

cheers,
Toddy

Good for you Toddy,

I think the barter system is great and we should make much more of it.
I know we do a bit on here, like a knife for a bow, or a leather pouch for a day learning plants, a days fishing tuition for a days leatherwork tuition, flint knapping lessons for scrimshaw lessons etc, etc........ but I'm sure we could do so much more. Not just Bushcraft or countryside stuff either. I'm a mechanic and I'll fix your car, if you (a CORGI enginneer) come round and service my boiler type of thing.
I'm not a mechanic by the way, or a CORGI engineer but you get what I mean.
Of course travelling distance may come into it, but maybe we could get a little network going or even another section on the BCUK website dedicated to bartering or services offered in exchange (no rude comments please at the back)
I havn't really considered all the drawbacks or plus points but why shouldn't it work?
Lets get it on

Does that fella you know do courses? Sounds like an interesting chap. Just kidding. By your description he sounds like a modest person who just gets on with his business. Fair play to him.

I hope you enjoyed your pheasants Toddy.

 

[Ozhaggishead]

Love the barter system wish they was more of it about.Cool little post mate,can I ask what you wanted the eucalyptus bark for?I find that paper bark makes amazing tinder for my firesteel.

 

[BigShot]

How does the barter system work in legal terms?
I mean, once upon a time the government put a direct tax on the products themselves, now they want money...
...do they have some way of taxing the system these days? I can't imagine HM Inland Revenue have many grain silos or much they'd do with a share of bark, leather or a brace of pheasant.

I really do like the barter system, but I'm curious as to how the official (thieving no good tax...... I'll stop) side works.

Or is it one of those things that "never happened, dunno what you're talking about guv"?

 

[Toddy]

I haven't a clue
Probably it's the black economy, but how the hang there can be a price on doing a friend a favour and having the favour returned
Now if anyone was making money from it, that would be a different thing.

I know we rant about the excise men and their infernal assessments, but I took my son to hospital yesterday afternoon for yet another set of tests. He developed cancer of the lymphatic system when he was 23, and the NHS means he's alive and recovering.

Everyone of you who pays National Insurance has my heartfelt thanks and we are by no means the only family in the land who say that.

Taxation is, and always has been a pain, but the alternatives don't seem to work out so well.

rant over sorry.

Toddy

p.s. I wanted the Eucalytus bark because I'd never seen it, and apparantly it's growing happily in Wales

 

[Galemys]

The past 6 monthes I have exchanged some Bushcraft-DVD-copies, fire pistons & cramp balls for other bushcrafty filmmaterial, a traditional firesteel, a crusader mug, a collapsible mug, 3 foreign birdguides and both bushcraft books by Kochanski & Akkermans.

So yeah I think I can fairly say I love to barter!

Cheers,

Tom

 

[FGYT]

dunno about barter i seem to fail dismally

this year i have been Given a glass and Alu cold frame (circa £80 ) form a lady up the road who i got chatting to and asked for a cutting of a rosmary bush she gave me a massive rosmary in a pot instead

oh and this week i have mostly been taking down a 6' x 10' alu green house from a freind of a freind who wanted shot of it only a couple of broke pains and in very good nick (circ £400-£600) and im having trouble forcing a bottle of scotch on em ....some people just wont barter they are to busy thanking me for taking it down :yikes:

always up for a swapsy
did some building work and gardening for a freind and she has been doing our Ironing weekly

ATB

Duncan

 

[BigShot]

Toddy - I'm with you there.
I (unusually for such a dyed in the wool libertarian) actually do agree with having free at point of service healthcare - I just get annoyed that so much tax is taken from people and wasted. A lot of the things tax is spent on would be more efficiently provided . That's where my gripe is, but I guess that's probably treading into "politics" so I'll leave it there.


Back on topic...
How can there be a price? Well, that's the kind of thing that makes me wonder.
Where does a favour stop?

Say you're a brickie and your mate is a plumber, sparks and CORGI engineer.
You build yourself a house and he does all the services.
You build him a house and he does his own.
There's a lot of "value" there - though not a penny has changed hands. It's wierd I know - but that's why they used to tax grain and things rather than just money.
Now things are almost entirely based on monetary trade, there's not the old style of taxing the goods themselves - but I can't help think the revenue would still want their cut of basically everything that goes on. That's what got me wondering.

How the hang can there be aprice? Well, to a normal human being - there can't. I always thought the Revenue were some kind of different species though - they don't seem to see things in the same positive light the rest of us do