>>522531Depending on where you live, you may experience "SHTF" sometime within your lifetime. For example, if you live on an earthquake fault line, in Tornado Alley, near a coast that sees hurricane activity every year, or just in a city that can see power outages in the winter due to snowstorms, you may see public services knocked out for a few days to a few weeks at a time. I, personally, have lost power for 3 days, along with a lot of other people in my city, during a major winter ice storm. People don't realize that this is what it looks like when shit hits the fan. It's not going to be Mad Max. It's going to be, instead, a reduction of access to the services that you depend on in your day-to-day life. If you want to continue to live a "pampered" life with electricity and daily bread, then you may have to admit yourself to the much maligned FEMA camps. Many areas of the First and Second Worlds have seen these sorts of situations in the recent past.
It would be intelligent to have at least 2 weeks worth of canned foods on hand at all times. Some people would caution to have more, but I think 2 weeks is a good minimum amount. Additionally, you'll need to have the ability to survive the winter in the area where you live. If it gets down to -30 degrees outside on an average winter day, then you may want to buy a sleeping bag and pad that is capable of insulating you at this temperature. You may want to buy a generator or a large propane tank that can operate a heater. Water will be an issue if public services stop working. It may be smart to keep a dozen of those large jugs for water coolers handy in your basement, and own a water filter for camping in case you have to get water from creeks. A battery-powered radio would let you listen to emergency broadcasts about disaster relief crews. Candles will let you see inside your house at night. The list goes on and on into a long conversation about "prepping."
