Apocolypse survival kit

I have been thinking about this for some time now and have also been lurking for sometime and finally thought “who better to ask my question to than these fine people?” Actually, I have asked others, but have only gotten strange looks and chuckles so I quit asking. Anyway…Suppose the world as we know it were to end. War, epidemic, wayward comet, whatever. 90% of the population is wiped out and the rest are left to fend for themselves. No electricity, running water, mass food or fuel production for the forseeable future. What would you do to prepare for survival? What would you stock up on? I’m thinking seeds to grow food, weapons for hunting and defense, fuel for warmth and cooking. Instructional books for survival. What kind of entertainment? Also, does beef jerky or canned food last forever? What about dried beans and rice? If not, how long will they hold? How can I get a hold of things like penicillin and other prescription only drugs for future use without stealing them? Do certain drugs have a shelf life? I know it sounds paranoid but anything is possible. It would seem a good idea to have this sort of stuff in stock before hand so you don’t have to get into a shootout over a bottle of water at the local convenience store.

I apologize in advance if I put this question in the wrong place or if it has been asked before. Also, in case this is my first and only thread, I’d like to say I’ve been reading these forums for a long time and want to thank everyone here for the great entertainment and insight that I’ve been exposed to.

First let me say WELCOME to the SDMB! It’s good to have you here and you are right about this being the place to ask questions. I never seen a greater collection of minds for both info and wit.
To the matter at hand. I would suggest a book called Alas, Babylon discussing such a happening and the steps people took to survive. Things you mentioned like weapons would be necessary to keep whatever you might have stored or found from being taken by others that would seek to relieve you of them.
They also put a heavy value on salt. It is vital to health and the perserving of meats. Cigarettes, coffee and liqueur would be valuable for trading purposes.
If, as in your description, the majoity of people are dead, but what killed them is no longer a threat (disease, radiation, etc.) them there should be a great deal of food products at hand like canned foods and cured ham and rain water if contamination is not a worry.
It is late and I’ll think more on this and return.
Again, welcome

I suggest you’re not thinking correctly about the problem.

If you’re going to be stranded temporarily someplace but rescue and civilization will return, then a “survival kit” is a useful concept.

If those things are gone forever, then what you need are SKILLS, not stuff.

You will have to feed & care for yourself every day for the next 50 years. No, you can’t plan on just stocking up on 50 years of canned beans, penicillin, and reading materials.

Stocks of canned food might last a couple years. Sophisticated medicines might last a couple years as well, but without the knowledge of diagnosis, you’re as likely to hurt yourself as help.

To survive the magical destruction of civilization and humanity, you need to have the skills of an Old West mountain man or medieval peasant. If you can farm with a sharp stick for a plough you’ll have a chance. If you can make fire from two sticks you might last through the first cold winter.

Very few humans were ever able to survive solo. It takes a group to live the natural way. You need to eat every day, but you also need to make some tools (spears, traps, ploughs, domesticated animals) to be able to eat every day.
We have had discussions here about this before, and many people pointed out that an intact but depopulated city contains a tremendous wealth of stuff for you to use. The trick is to live off that at first while learning how to become self sufficient against Nature before the civilized stuff rusts, rots or is eaten by vermin.

If the cities / towns are largely destroyed that means you’re forced to revert to Nature much sooner. Hope you’re a quick learner & in good physical condition.

If there are many survivors, even 1% of the current population, then you can assume most of them will be killed fighting with each other over the remaining local remnants of civilization. And a solo person is not able to defend their possessions against a group. Rambo movies notwithstanding, 5 low-quality attackers can defeat 1 superb defender every time.

In my opinion, the best preparation for post-apocalypse survival is to move now to a largely uninhabited area with decent climate and learn to subsistence farm. With a few years practice backed up by civilization, you’re well-positioned to make the transition when the Big One hits. You’ll live to the ripe old age of 60-something assuming you have enough kids before then to take over the hard work as you get to be 55+.

Not willing to go that far? Then plan to perish like the rest of us.

Certainly as a suburbanite you can stock up on canned goods and practice your camping skills & shooting. That’ll keep you going for 6 months or so unless you get ambushed by your former neighbors. (That’s my plan.)

You can move now to a rural / farmland area and grow your own veggies & hunt occasionally. Those skills will keep you going for a couple of years.

But those are both plans to fail. “Survival” in this context means staying healthy in primitive conditions until dying of old age in those same primitive conditions, not staying just barely alive only until rescue comes to take you to an ICU. Very different problem. Very different solution needed.

I don’t have to go very far from my front yard to find everything that I need to survive, even thrive. Every day food walks by and water is not far. My Daddy taught me how to live off the land. I can skin a buck and run a trot line, this country boy can survive.

To expand only slightly on what LSLGuy said: joining up in a small band with other people is probably one of your best survival strategies. There truly is safety in numbers. If the population has suffered devastating losses that might be a problem, but diplomatic and social skills could be every bit as important as how well you shoot and whether or not you have a green thumb.

What are the basic needs? Food, clothing, shelter. Post-SHTF, you will also need #4: The means to keep others who don’t have the basics from caving in your skull and taking your food, clothing, and shelter.

As one who spent much of the 80’s and 90’s as a survivalist (that’s a crackpot to you and me, Rusty), I would like to tell you that much of what you hear on this topic is tinfoil hat nonsense. If you have a couple weeks worth of canned goods and dried food on hand, along with some candles, bottled water and a water filter (Katadyn is excellent), a really good first aid kit, and a good quality rifle w/ a couple hundred rounds of ammo, you are ready for just about anything the 21st century can dish out. The SHTF is going to be localized and relatively transient the overwhelming majority of the time. All you have to do is last the couple weeks until the gummint finally gets things back under control.
As for the Apocalypse/TEOTWAWKI, I no longer believe that it is possible to really prepare for such a thing. Survival would be strictly luck of the draw.

Other stuff I’d want-

a set of home chemistry & defense & medical books & the tools to apply them
(Maybe the book set by Kurt Saxon)

a bow (guns run out of ammo, but you can make arrows)

a motion-activated flashlight

a wind-up radio

IF such things exist- a cycle-powered generator