Prepping has been the norm for a lot of people for a while now and post-apocalypse shows and movies have become mainstream (Walking Dead, The 100, Mad Max, World War Z, Hunger Games, Terminator and many more).
Here’s a blog post from a couple of years ago about surviving the apocalypse:
https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/how-to-survive-the-apocalypse/
See now you’re singing my song. 
It’s all paranoia, right up until it turns out to be prudence. 
Yep, we prep. And we take it seriously. So far, there’s been no apocalypse but that’s no proof there won’t be one.
We have used our prep supplies in emergencies including ice storms, power outages, injuries away from home, travel issues, and periods of financial stress. It’s not all about the apocalypse.
Here’s my best advice for starting:
Don’t get overwhelmed by it, just make a plan and make progress. The goal isn’t to be apocalypse-ready by the end of the month or the end of the year, it’s just to be in better shape for an emergency tomorrow than you are today.
I have 30 days of food and water. In the winter I stock up on firewood for the wood stove for heat. I also have a generator that powers most of the house but gasoline can be an issue during a severe winter storm. Oh, and enough ammunition to protect what I have in the event that becomes necessary.
Preparing for when the SHTF is an interesting and complex question, one I have considered for some time now. Please remember, all standard caveats are in place–I am speaking as and for myself and not claiming any expert status. Adopt these ideas at your own risk.
There are several primary questions to be considered;
So, for #1, what are you preparing for? Do you anticipate the disruption of infrastructure (power, water, communications, supply deliveries) but a continuation of municipal authority (Police still patrolling/on call, medical services still available as best they can, etc)? Or are you planning for a complete breakdown of infrastructure, technology, and social order? Every person for themselves; root, hog, or die?
Deciding this will tell you what goods and materials (G&M) to prioritize beyond the basics.
#2: Is your goal to survive or thrive? Survival could mean simply having food, water, sanitation, shelter from the elements, and defense. Thriving would include these things plus the ability to engage in useful/productive activities with the goal of improving comfort, security, and longevity, to name a few.
#3: DURATION: How long are you expecting to continue in “prepped” conditions? Are you waiting out a period of disruption, after which life in general will return to a semblance of pre-SHTF conditions? Or are you anticipating a civilization ending paradigm shift in which you will be responsible for ALL your own needs indefinitely, if not forever? Between these two options there is a vast disparity in the type and quantity of G&M to be gathered and stored (and protected).
4: WHERE: Are you planning to shelter in place or would it be better to bug out? If you stay put you mostly have to accumulate and store your G&M and having a way to secure and defend. Bugging out open up many cans of worms, such as: How? By vehicle? On foot? Alone? How far can you go before fuel/security become an issue? How much can you practically carry with you?
These first four questions are the essentials, and the first thing they do is lead to hundreds of more questions dependent on how they are answered. For some years I have engaged in a thought experiment I call “Apocalypse Village”, in which I try to answer these questions and then go on to imagine the necessary preparations to fit the conditions I have settled on.
More later if people are interested in continuing the discussion in depth.
Regards.
@David38 you and I can definitely be friends 
I’ll add one more thing to your excellent list of basic questions:
One thing on bugging-out. If its infrastructure-down, everybody and their brother is gonna be bugging out - there are places where things are going to be really bad and staying would be a poor choice. But you do need to consider where you’re bugging-out to… do you have a specific place? Or are you just heading to “the woods”? I’m fairly certain that by week two of general bugging out the woods are going to be a very crowded place full of the under-prepared and desperate, all the miners lettuce and wood sorrel are going to be gone, the deer will have fled, and it’s not going to be much fun for those trying to survive. Better plans are needed.
The good thing is the apocalypse doesn’t seem to be on for today. You’ve still got opportunities to plan and prepare…
@dawn you might have broke the forum with this topic.
All great advice so far everyone preps to a certain extent whether it’s for a week or a year is the big difference.
My advice to someone who’s just starting is the first big question are you digging in or bugging out. Once you have a plan then you can start with supplies and skills.
Also start with 30 day goals then expand out. It takes away some of the overwhelming aspects.
This thread is gonna get outta hand. But it’s gonna be a fun read.
An excellent addition, one which I consider as a subset of “Duration”. In any case it is a critical first point to settle.
If you are easily upset, you may wish to quit reading at this point because I have a point to make that is as harsh as it is true.
Ready?
In a sufficiently devastating ‘apocalypse’ people around you are going to die. Lots of people of all ages. Strangers, most of them, but also friends and neighbors and maybe even extended family. You will not be the direct cause of the overwhelming majority of these deaths. After the initial “event” the deaths will come in waves, mostly caused by the absence of infrastructure and technology, at least a first. We could go into details, but the specifics aren’t as important as the mere fact.
The first key to survival in this scenario is “You Can’t Save Everyone”. Try to do so could lead to your own end.
Regards.
This is where the rubber meets the road. I’m a bugging out person. My truck already looks like the apocalypse has hit, so it’s ready for bugging out too. All the way to some family property that has ample fresh water, shelter, and game to eat.
800 bottles of wine in the cellar. we are good to go 
Old full face modular motorcycle helmets are kept in the basement - think tornado.
Biggest thing for me is some of my meds I need to stay alive. Sometimes I pay non insurance price on some when I go to Canada just to have extras of them. My c-pap machine is my second biggest problem. The battery I have for it can run the c-pap for 4 - 5 nights.
We have all kinds of camping gear also including multi fuel stoves. so we have options of digging in on the farm or leaving.
House has a wood fireplace, I have a wood fired stove in the man cave also.
When we grill we use charcoal not gas so we have lots of charcoal on hand
keep 50 - 100 gallons of gas on hand because of the farm equipment.
Lots of home made canned goods, some freeze dried (lighter to transport if leaving)
For bulk water storage, I have a totally enclosed crawl space underneath my living room. Could I get away with using something like this if we have enough warning about a ZA event for bug-in?
yes, if you had time to fill it after the sirens went off but before the power grid shut down. But you might need to keep it lidded to have it not be totally nasty, and possibly chlorinated. Or have filtering capability and means to boil it.
@Zee Thank you sister. Since I haven’t won the lottery yet, I have no place to bugout to. No sailboats on the Chesapeake. I do have a large Katadyne Filter that is manual pump. Now if I could just stock up on toilet paper 
Hope it never comes to that.
How about one of the most realistic of today’s “human induced” disaster, EMP? Think about it. North Korea or Iran or ??? Pop off a couple medium sized nukes in-space over our heads-instantly our power grids, motor vehicles, water system etc are toast! The infrastructure we depend on no longer exists (everything’s still there, just nothing works. Methinks that’s when the Amish will have the last laugh😏
@Dwayne I have heard upwards of six nukes to cause a total blackout across the USA. Not a covert engagement. I’m more concerned about an asymmetrical attack with plenty of cyber. The more digitally connected we are the more vulnerable we become.
All of the above are excellent ideas and options and I won’t rehash them but will add things not listed.
My SHTF prepping started back when Red Dawn was a real possibility. My FIL believes in having Gold to be able to buy things (to his credit for that thinking he did grow up in Berlin during WWII) I am of the opinion that with enough copper and lead that I can do the same but both are a little hard on the teeth.
Water is important and it is best that you have a way to get it out of the ground if you are fortunate enough to have a well. I have a old time hand pump that I bought at an antique store and went through and completely refurbished it with all new seals and have several sets of seals to go with. The threads of the pump also just happen to match the TPI of my well head should I need to disconnect the electric bit. Good clean water is a must and while I have a gas grill and lots of propane tanks I have a fair number of “Non-Enhanced” bags of charcoal (they are getting hard to find) to turn into a filter is the time arises.
Paper Knowledge: We are all of the digital age but how many of us have PAPER books that actually tell us stuff, like how to make charcoal, what plants are edible, how to make bread, how to make corn meal how to cook it?
Having done disaster preparation, mitigation and response in the military for military/civilian natural and man made disasters my greatest fear is the EMP (ElectroMagnetic Pulse). Somewhere along the line I ended up with a Rand report on the Effects of an EMP and one of the things that stuck out in my head was that after 30-45 days of no power, 20 - 40% of the population would be DEAD due to no medications and no refrigeration as well as the general disintegration of society. After 120 days of no power all of the commercially canned and bottled food stuffs would be depleted and unavailable to the remaining population which for metropolitan and suburban areas would be a virtual death sentence.
180 days of food for the who and how many doesn’t sound so crazy after all.
Oh an with a nod to @Jeff-A1 there is also the issue of all the pesky little viruses that keep popping up.
Cheers,
Craig6
@Craig6 This China outbreak sounds familiar. Good put on the well pump and real books. Our kids are smart but they have a dependency on easy. Not just the kids, though. Try explaining to a 50 year old engineer why IoT is a bad way to go in DoD. Most IoT protocols don’t focus on security. What is plan B if GPS stops working? Keep the faith brother,
I’m with you on having “copper and lead” to trade for goods. I could trade a handful of rounds for some clean drinking water and a loaf of bread. In a full breakdown of society, gold coins won’t last long. Shoot, a roll of duct tape would probably be a better choice than a gold coin.
I have been prepping since 2005 when I saw Dubya and FEMA drop the ball during Katrina.
When I met Nancy in 2012 she took to prepping very quick (I love that woman).
After almost 15 years I almost have it all, I started with $50.00 I received for my birthday and bought something every payday even when money was tight.
I did a lot of research online and found info and like minded people, it becomes a way of life, you should never stop learning and teaching.
Water is about the most important and the hardest to store, you need many ways to gather, filter and store it.
If it is just Nancy and I we will be OK for a year that was my goal and now to maintain it all.
P.S. Spend your gold and silver on duct tape, toiletpaper, lead and steel.
I’ll survive the apocalypse by getting out of the multiplex or switch channels on the tv.
Being prepared for bad weather, power outages, economic troubles, sanitation failures and disease the best you can is the part of life called common sense…
Of course you can buy all the toys and live in a bunker and then get backed over by a purple Scion on your way to Little League practice, or stroke out on the golf course.
A fine lot of good that haz-mat suit, backyard chickens and AK will do you if that happens.
Not that I have anything against backyard chickens mind you 
