I agree with Don and R.I.
Especially when it comes to a prize situation where the first place person gets first choice, then the next person next choice, and so on...., You never know what a person is going to find "valuable". :grin:
A bag of shot is great....tough to make at home, AND if you don't own a smoothie you can melt it down into ball.
A half-dozen beeswax candles
A half-dozen flints
two yards of
10 oz. Linen Canvas , for making packs and straps and suspenders.
A piece of deer hide that meets your cost parameters - everybody can use some spare leather, from making small bags, to holding flints, to making laces, knife sheaths, ad infinitum
A bunch of "Pewter" buttons, maybe all one size or maybe a mixture..., or maybe bone buttons for shirts?
How about four bars of
lye soap ? Just the thing to wash your clothes for proper patina. As a matter of fact I use it on my hunting clothes (no perfume).
How about a bundle of two or three replacement handles for a 'Hawk?
A couple of pounds of dried American walnut hulls?
A nice tin of authentic flake tobacco
And just because a person may be an old-salt, doesn't mean they wouldn't pick up something they probably have, to have a "spare".
A fishing kit with proper 18th century hooks
A sewing kit
An unassembled
lantern kit
How about a well thought out first aid kit in a "correct" container, or a small, store-bought kit, with a leather or linen cover???
Any of the above if it's not something the winner can use themselves, can be re-traded or become a gift in the future. There are lots of possibilities.
LD