My precise sentiments. I know many posters here are inclined to trek out into the middle of nowhere, with some gear, enjoy the time and practice some things. But to put yourself in an actual emergency simply for entertainment value, I should hope not. To hope for some destructive force to come along, so that everyone lives less comfortably, but so you get increased prestige or culture, I should really hope not.

I'm sure they'd be happy to see you volunteer at the nursing home :-)

I take small daily satisfactions at having tools, parts and know-how to deal with domestic chaos like broken washing machine, curtain rods coming down, lost eyeglasses screws and such.

I'd prefer that The Big One remained a thought experiment. I don't want to be That Right.

In my nursing school class there were 44 girls, and me. Same ratios in preceding and succeeding classes. If I dated no one, and behaved as big brother to all, life was celibate, but peaceful. If I dated one, life was not celibate, but I had 43 surly classmates. Adolescent daughters are the punishment that the universe inflicts on dads for being men.

My sentiments exactly.

Anyone who wishes to test themselves in the aftermath of a societal breakdown can board a plane to Congo, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, or any of a dozen places. Spend a year living like the locals. Get a good close look. Then come home, kiss the ground and thank your lucky stars.

I look at it this way. Being prepared for a major disaster prepares you also for myriads of smaller problems.

My pocket knife will probably never save my life, but it will open thousands of boxes. I'll probably never need my EDC flashlight to get out of a building after a power failure, but I often need to look for something under a desk or in an unlit closet.

It is seldom a difference between survival and not, but rather a difference between major and minor inconvenience. It just turns out that many of the things that make major inconveniences minor ones also can make life threatening situations less so.

I've always been solo - as a hiker, climber, responder. Always prepared, in the proper context - for wind, rain, snow, falling rocks, medical emergencies. I've gotten myself out of the woods following unexpected snowfall and windstorms intact, and off of a rock ledge with a broken hand, only because I was prepared. Then I got married, then we had kids - I had to extend my role to being prepared and preparing others. We had an earthquake about 7 years ago, and I realized there was a whole realm I was only marginally prepared for - local catastrophe. The Seattle Fault may not slip but every 300 years, it may not slip in my lifetime, but it could slip tomorrow, and I figure I'll be prepared for that to a reasonable level: reasonable defined as every person in my extended family having enough gear and know how to survive the initial shake and the predictable aftermath, and then some. Based on those preparations, we all do really well with wind storms, or large snowfalls, followed by windstorms, which we're facing right now. But I gotta tell you, equipping 35+ people is alot harder than I thought, and these are reasonable people, relations. My future career and professional goal is to attempt the same with 35,000 non-related folks.

I only live a few hundred yards from the Seattle Fault, I will in all likelihood be crushed in the initial shake. Someone else will have to come and pillage all my neat stuff. I hope they take good care of my chain saw though, its been like the second son I never had. But if I survive, I have obligations - to my neighbors, to my employer, co-workers, to total strangers, to the Red Cross - to help them out and help them get past the initial event. Its the obligations that I like, it gives meaning to what I do everyday, much moreso than my 9-5 job which tends to pale in comparison to helping others. There's alot of psychology wrapped up in that, good luck decoding.

As many have already said in previous posts, I like to go out in the woods, camp, and try some things, but I don't want to purposely put myself into a dangerous situation. Each camping trip, I try something new. How would things go if I only had this firelighter or this knife... Obviously I have backups and such, but I see what can be done with self-imposed limited gear. When it does work, I know I need to practice that skill or user my other gear.

It feels odd buying things and creating survival kits that may never get used, but it is like insurance. You hope to not have to use it, but it is nice when it is there when you need it.

Now I try to install some simple things with my wife. Slipping a FAK into the diaper bag so that she has it. Making sure we have water stocked in the house for the baby. Things like that...

My truest intentions for preparing myself with information and gear is to protect my family in case of a civil disturbance that affects my family and to support my friends while we are out.

I don't expect TEOTWAWKI nor do I prepare for the apocalypse or to live in the 21st Century with only 17th Century technology.

I do expect that during any given day, someone I know will need a multi tool. That at some point I may be called upon for a lighter or start a fire. Someone will need a mirror that 'hey what do you know', doubles as a signaling device. That a whistle travels farther than my voice. That I am always in need of a flashlight.

If traveling in a non-cell reception area, (like most state & national parks)or in bad travel conditions I have food, water, shelter and gear to keep warm for an extended period of time.

I have been in life threatening civil conditions a few times and my approach is not 'Rambo' or 'survivalist', its prudent planning and thoughtfulness.

Not so much from a personal experience sort of desire, but I think we get socially complacent and come up with silly ideas about how to live, and every once in a while a good dose of reality needs to come up and bite us just a bit and let us know how things really are. I don't advocate apocolyptic extremes, but Katrina was a good sort of wake up call for many people, not just those who were directly affected by the storm. It should never have gotten as bad as it did, and thankfully it was not nearly as bad as it could've been.

A little exposure, just like a little revolution, now and then is a good thing.