"Stuff" is only 1/3 of the equation. Without learning the various skills the finest gear is dead wieght. The final element is networking ; family,friends, likeminded individuals, civilian and civil emergency personel. My grandmother's street in Northridge after the earthquake is a classic example. The nieghbors had all moved in during the 1920s, excepting the Goldfarbs ; the new people ( moved in 1959.) It's hard to imagine looting or fights over food when the lady down the street changed your diapers <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />and her grandson brings tears to your mother wearing his long gone uncle's .45 from Okinawa. That community sadly is now gone. It lives in my mind as a template for my own.