I did a 3 day Urban MBO in downtown San Diego, and slept right under the flight path one night. The noise sucked so bad that the only way I got ANY sleep was by making giant spit wad earplugs. haha gross but effective (posted some videos about it actually).

Great post guys!

In the beginning of his journey, he was all about "me verses the bad guys." His preps were secretive lone wolf preps.

In the end however, he had come to realize that the greatest thing about REAL preparedness was the ability to help other people when there the need was the greatest. Obviously you can't help everybody in the world, but if you have the ability to help your neighbors or an old lady out, so much the better.

And you're right, people do band together. I've lived in San Diego most of my life, and I can't count the number of conversations I've had with total strangers after big earthquakes. That's what made me eventually start talking to some neighbors that I never had. Since the beginning of time, people have gathered to live in cities for a reason…

Preach on Colt.

Just my "not-so-humble" opinion

Prepare yourself for real things like hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, riots, etc. These situations do not instantly turn every other human being into a zombie. Zombie scenarios are a fun exercise in planning for absolutely anything, but they're not a reality. When SHTF you should be ready to work with people and help people. Getting the hell out so you can reach a safe enough area to regroup is sometimes a good idea and you should be ready to do that, but if you're actually a human being you should realize that you are FAR more likely to be reacting to a SHTF scenario by (like this wonderful article finally recognizes) jumping in to help.

You shouldn't be carrying a crowbar just to go looting people's houses. You should be carrying that crowbar mainly understanding that you're going to be using it to pry some poor old lady out of a collapsed house or car.

Remember that your dinky little hand-sized medical kit is going to be absolutely worthless when you've got a school bus full of kids needing patched up. Government first responders are not only out to kill you and put your head on a pole outside the city hall. Some time you're going to find yourself in dire need of some backup trying to put out a fire at your workplace and you're going to want to get their attention despite all the phones being down and so on.

I have guns, but I don't expect to go on a shooting spree killing bad guys. It could be used for dire self-defense situations (which are a hell of a lot more likely without a SHTF scenario) but my weapons are far more likely to be used for, and are built for, things like hunting squirrels and rabbits to feed myself, my child, and even my friends and neighbors that would come to my place seeking refuge because they know I have the ability to handle these kinds of situations.

Ear plugs are a bad idea with evil bad guys stalking you in the night. They're not a bad idea when you're trapped by a levee breach and you've got your neighbor who has a one story house and a baby take refuge with you in your very cramped attic.

Don't think about building your own little isolated island in a post-apocalyptic scenario. Think about your whole neighborhood full of yuppies and having the resources to turn your neighbors into farm hands and carpenters to help you feed not just yourself but everyone else.

In real disasters people almost always band together and help each other. If you go around acting like there are no rules anymore and it's everyone for themselves at any cost you will eventually land yourself in jail when things are finally put back together.