In a post-apocalyptic world, survival would be all that matters. Many of the things we value today would cease to have any value at all.
Money, luxury items, and even social media fame would have no use when food, water and security are all that matter. People would need useful things and skills, not mere luxuries.
Here are 11 surprising things that wouldn’t have any use in a post-apocalyptic world.
Featured Image Credit: Ash & Pri.
Money
Money is useful only because we all agree it is. But in the post-apocalyptic world, money would have no value.
You can’t eat dollar bills or warm yourself with coins. When there are no banks, no shops, no economy, money would be only paper and steel.
People would exchange food, clean water, and tools in its place because they’re the things that help you survive.
Jewelry and Gold
Gold and diamonds may be valuable today, but not when you’re starving or on the run. You can’t eat a necklace or fix a shelter with a bar of gold.
Blankets, medical equipment or petrol would be much better. When you’re just surviving, value will be based on what people need and not what is beautiful.
High-End Electronics
Your fancy smartphone or laptop might seem necessary right now, but without electricity they’re just pieces of plastic and metal. Without internet, GPS or power, these devices cease to be useful.
Even batteries would be scarce; low-tech products such as flashlights or hand-held radios are far more valuable. Survival devices such as solar chargers would also be more valuable than new technology.
Luxury Cars
Luxury cars are impractical for use in a survivalist situation. Without gas, it’s just a big piece of steel you can barely move around.
Even the most luxurious vehicle might be immobilized by post-apocalyptic roads that may be damaged or flooded. More durable bikes, all-terrain trucks or even a good pull cart will be far handier for transportation.
Designer Clothes
Most people love to buy designer clothes today. An expensive dress won’t warm you up in the cold, or high heels won’t help you trek through rough train.
Hardy, breathable, insulating clothing such as trekking boots or thermals would be more useful. Looking good isn’t what we need if we want to survive.
Makeup and Beauty Products
Good looks wouldn’t even have much value in a world that relies on survival. Lipsticks, foundations & perfumes would be forgotten as people searched for more important goods.
Sanitary goods such as soap, toothbrushes and disinfectants would have a high priority as they prevent illness. Beauty would become secondary, replaced by cleanliness and good health.
Collectibles
Rare items such as sports memorabilia, comic books or collector’s coins might be worth thousands of dollars today but nothing in a post-apocalyptic world.
Nobody cares about a collector baseball card if it won’t provide food or shelter. Practical items, such as cookware or seeds for crops, would take their place among what people most treasured.
Alcohol (for Drinking)
Alcohol can seem valuable at first as a source of comfort or a good for exchange. But eventually it would no longer be popular.
Too much alcohol makes you bad at judgment. In a world where every decision counts, that could be fatal.
Alcohol could still be used for wound treatment or fire-starting, but even then, it would not be priority over food, water or shelter.
Entertainment Media
DVDs, video games and novels that give us entertainment now wouldn’t be as important if you have to spend all your time surviving.
Instead, people would worry more about getting food or protection. But practical books such as survival manuals or farming manuals would come in handy. Fictional novels and entertainment can be only a temporary distraction.
Credit Cards and Bank Accounts
Credit cards and bank accounts are convenient for buying things today but they rely on a working system.
Without banks and networks online, credit cards would remain just empty plastic. You couldn’t sell them for food or other necessities. Physical things such as canned goods, medicines or tools would replace them as the new “money”.
Social Media Influence
Followers and likes might make you famous today, but in a survival society, this fame wouldn’t count.
Survival would rely on practical skills, such as gathering food, building shelter or defending a tribe. There would be no point in how many followers you had if you weren’t doing your part to stay alive.
Skills, both functional and applied, would be more important than a social media profile.
16 valuable things often mistakenly thrown away as worthless
Sometimes we throw things away without thinking, assuming they’re useless. Old manuals, tiny scraps, or broken gadgets often feel like clutter at the time. Only later do we realize some of these items had value we didn’t notice: practical, sentimental, or just hard to replace. Here are 15 everyday things people toss, thinking they’re worthless, but later regret losing.
16 valuable things often mistakenly thrown away as worthless
