Just a few thoughts on all of this:
Survival of this type can be broken down into two major categories: 1) short/medium-term-lights-go-out-chaos-in-the-streets survival (Katrina) and 2) sustainable living. Store-bought food storage is a good thing for scenario 1 but NEVER let your neighbors/friends/sorry-ass relatives/etc. know what you're doing. You will be sorry when another Katrina or worse disaster hits. Take care of your OWN, and by that I mean don't be feeding starving kids in the street because you feel sorry for them. If you do, then the sorry-ass parents will be at your door next and they may have bigger and more guns than you. Option 2 is a better plan: for those that have the ground to do it on, it's wiser to start working on sustainable living such as growing a garden, canning, etc., practicing the "old ways, etc. (think of how folks lives 50 or 60 years ago). Along with supplemental store-bought food also be thinking about hand tools and learning how to use them. Forget about Gold and Silver for the most part. It's a survival myth for the most part brought about by those who profit from such things (and yes, I understand gold holds it's value and always has). If gold is such a great survival commodity then why do companies hire G Gordon Liddy to sell it with 100,000 dollar ads on TV. I think if I was those companies I would keep it all for myself and not tell anyone. Back in the day, even our ancestors relied more on what their hands could produce, and their network, than what their coinage would buy. Nor do you need a whole house full of various guns. A few RELIABLE weapons, ammo to feed them and practicewith them is sufficient. Simplicity is often looked over when it comes to this, simply because we all think we need those high-tech war gadgets to fend off the invading masses. Bullshit. The ability to think, stay low-keyed and be good with a few tools/weapons is much better than the gun-of-the-day club I often see. Remember the old saying, be careful of the man who only own one gun because he probably knows how to use it.
I always find it funny when someone claims they are going to wait until chaos hits then go raid walmart with their guns. Maybe they didn't see what happened with Katrina? The smart man will always be the unassuming, low-keyed, "gray man". Without going into details I know of an operation that is putting sustainable living in play, but they're doing it under the guise of being a commercial operation. In other words, if a neighbor comes by and sees all these groceries in the ground they might think these people would be preparing for end-times, so, by making the appearance of it being a commercial operation it keeps the neighbors thinking they're not some paranoid end-times people hoarding food and ammo. Meanwhile they're quietly canning, building, arming and making a low-keyed, full-scale sustainable living operation that no one even knows about. There is no visible measures of security, but the place is like Fort Knox in it's underbelly. No need to make an appearance of being tough because it attracts people and there is always someone tougher than yourself. If the day comes (and that's a HUGE "if" in my mind since I've heard this shit all my life and it hasn't happened yet), then any thieves or moochers who may show up will be silently taken care of. No fanfare, no Rambo shit.
Survival is a cold-hearted game. What typically gets most prepared folks is being soft-hearted and looking out for the crying kid in the street or wanting to help their neighbor. Screw that. Survival should be about your own family/network jointly putting sweat equity into building something. It also has to remain low-keyed. In the end, survivalism is a way of every day life, not just something practiced on a whim. It encompasses MUCH more than storing food or water. It means being self-sufficient when it comes to fixing things with your hands, being innovative in the way you live your life, it means living conservatively, it means learning new things. In the end it means thinking every day.
As a side note: survival, to me, is short term staying alive. Sustainable living is not survival. It's a way of life.
