I'M considering the Lost Coast of Northern CA. Mendocino ,Ukiah, Shelter Cove. Believe me, in the case of a famine you would want to be here. The daily harvest of quality seafood is staggering! Abalone are abundant close to the shoreline.-just look out for sharks!
Self-sufficiency may be necessary, but it's not sufficient. You also need team-work. One person with guns and ammo isn't going to defeat 10 people with guns and ammo. And 10 people with guns and ammo aren't going to defeat 100 people with guns an ammo. The people that survive will be the people that band together in sufficiently large numbers to conquer local survivalists (and steal their supplies) and to defeat any marauding bands that come their way.
Traden, I'm certainly no expert in this field or anything, but the problem with teamwork is that during the tough times especially, there becomes issues between team members. If the team has 10 people but runs low on food where only 5 or 6 can survive for example, stuff gets bad, etc. - egos and stuff like that get in the way. I am thinking more along the lines of as being an individual, it's easier to hide, to hide provisions, etc. No question it would be hard to fend off an attack from a larger group, but easier to avoid such group. I'm suggesting the McGyver (seasons 1-4) route over the group route. Of course, hoping and guessing it won't come to that! JJacksET4
Yes, the team needs good leadership and cohesion. Some teams will fail for the reasons you state, but the teams that don't will grow stronger (and probably attract new members, too). The economics of marauding does not favor the loner. If each lone survivalist stores a year's worth of food, a marauding band of 10 only needs to find and conquer one survivalist per month (that's plenty of time for scouting and ambushing). A survivalist that stays in cave or underground bunker might be safe. But as soon as the survivalist starts a fire, plants a farm, or even hikes in the woods (e.g., to hunt for game), they will create trackable signs that lead the marauding band right to the hiding location. And the first time the survivalist fires a gun to kill game or fend off an attack, any marauder scouts within miles will know that there's a target in the area. There's a reason, you don't see any one-person castles in Medieval Europe. As am i!
Commune in the '60s. Kibbutz in Israel. And in the internet age--- Intentional Communities http://directory.ic.org/iclist/geo.php
Right now we live in California. My wife was born in Toronto so she is Canadian for life they say, so I got that going for me,.......which is NICE
The only thing that could cause a breakdown like this is a nuclear war, where all civil, military, technological etc. infrastructure is suddenly destroyed without warning. Even a very dire economic situation wouldn't lead to a collapse into anarchy, but instead to the imposition of a fascist government or police state to control the unrest, and direct social anger and frustrations towards outside groups. Think Children of Men or 1930s Germany. ...though I have thought about this a lot, I think the best thing to do is buy a ranch in Montana, Idaho or the Southwest, at least 20-30 miles from anywhere, and with enough land, water etc. to sustain yourself.