I think the answer has multple parts depending on the duration of the disruption. Most people would be hurting in three days. My household can function at subsistence level for two weeks with zero outside resources. Eat for six months given water. Defend life and property through any reasonable zombie apocalypse (I will run out of zombies before I run out of ammo). Hunt for a lifetime (including the zombies I would butcher cure and put by). But the long run answer is community solidarity. A combination of sharing barter and collective effort is the only thing that will get even the best prepared past a few months. Each of my immediate neighbors has a specialy or resource I don't have. Two have pools. One is a medium to large game hunter. Another is former Army, an EMT, and a more extreme gun nut than I am. My wife is a nurse. And I can cook gourmet roadkill. I will have to learn zombie cooking, though. But how tough can that be? Long pig, yum!
I have a Big Berkey: http://www.amazon.com/Big-Berkey-Br...1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1281755908&sr=8-1 It requires no electricity and can clean dirty river water. It has been used by relief organizations around the world for decades in regions hit by natural disasters. I can use it to clean the water from my swimming pool. If you do not have a pool, you can purchase a rain barrel and collect water from your roof through a downspout. For $200, I never have to worry about being without water. A friend of mine who lives in New Orleans spent a few hours several days a week standing in line to get bottled water for his family after Katrina.
GPS, Gas, Boat, Fishing Rod and Bait, and cigarettes. All of a sudden a complete collapse doesn't sound too bad at all.
Nice list, Nutmeg. This is my favorite site for survival information: http://www.survivalistboards.com/
try to explain that to my townhouse association..no rain barrels..even on the back of the house,where i have nothing,but the woods..
tell you what..water distillers are awesome product..when you have enough pure water(and some sugar and yeast) you can make damn good moonshine using same distiller but..some electricity is required
What if you need food but do not have anything to trade that someone with food needs? I guarantee you that there will have to be some medium of exchange and old silver coins will become a very valuable commodity. Better buy some junk silver on the next pull-back, because when the masses realize that paper money is becoming worthless, the price of gold and silver will sky-rocket and no one will be selling their silver for dollars.
This is an unwise discussion. Do you guys realize that the US is the largest producer of food. US also has more than plenty of energy and the only reason we need all that foreign oil is because people drive around in big cars and people take planes to screw around at 33K feet. So, we have the oil and the food and the technical know how and the strongest army. What scares me is the moral bankruptcy and the sense of entitlement among most Americans. Gold and Silver and canned foods and ammo does not hurt, but above all, good relations with neighbors, being physically able are the real assets.