I guess I would fall on the list as a more recent adopter of survival prep.

Mind you, growing up our family always kept an eye out for being prepared. We had a sizeable garden as we lived outside of the city with no food stores except in the city... The 72 flood that hit Wilkes-Barre really opened peoples' eyes. My mom always canned veggies every year.

Our basement had a large stock of canned food. The 2 freezers we had always contained approx. 1 side of beef. We had rifles/shotguns, fishing gear, propane stoves, coal stove, etc... On occasion, esp. in the bad snows, we were stuck in the house but didn't worry as we had plenty of stores in the house.

As I got older, I got more interested in aquiring camping gear... Well, for me, survival gear went hand in hand with that. I had purchased a case of MREs (when you were able to get the real ones). I had a tent, knife, survival blanket, fire tinder, etc... I always made sure that I had enough things with me both in a pack and on a canteen belt to make sure I could get home safe. I had paracord before I even realized how useful it was.

Currently, I make sure to keep a nicely stocked survival kit. I keep dehydrated food and MREs on hand (still mostly for camping but makes a great food store). I keep plenty of canned food available, cases of water, and propane in stock. I have a gas grill and camp stove, just in case.

My wife gives me funny looks sometimes as I add to my gear, but I think she appreciates knowing that I would be able to take care of her and my son if something happened. She is definitely a city girl and would not do well trying to survive on her own in the woods... This is something I will make sure that my newborn son does not mimic! He will be in the scouts and will benefit from my taking him out into the woods with me.

Do I obsess over my gear sometimes... Sure I do. Then again, what price can you place on safety? The life of your loved ones? As they say, stuff happens. Best to be prepared.