Thomas Jefferson would have looked for clean socks and good shoes as I suggested in post #12. 
Well, let’s take a closer look at Katrina and New Orleans. It was, without a doubt a major government failure. However, the reports of rape and murder were mostly false. the people in the Super Dome, certainly in horrible conditions behaved themselves. The looting, (that not done by the NOPD members who abandoned their posts in order to get laptops, DVDS and CDs) appears to have been divided along racial lines in the press. In other words, black people “looted” and white people “managed to find” various items. This was noted in several publications after the fact, another example of the poor excuse we have for ‘news’ in this country.
On the wider picture, many of the places mentioned where rape, murder and looting are taking place it is important to note that is usually being carried out by that country’s army in an effort to “restore peace” and “maintain the law.” And this is usually also happening well outside the 72 hour time frame in the given statement. Could it be worse? Absolutely. But it doesn’t mean necessarily *will be *worse.
Again, returning to New Orleans under the chaos of no government, a lot of people also went out of their way to rescue and to help their neighbors. Yes, people can act horribly. But they can also act nobly. And again, we’re looking at the first 72 hours of the collapse. By the second week, or certainly whenever finding food becomes a problem, I will conceded that the baser nature of the human animal will take hold. Which is why it is important in those first few days to try to establish some kind of order again. If for nothing else, the securing of food. I think trying to go it alone or with only a few family and friends invites destruction. If everything goes South from there, retreating to a smaller core of trusted people may be necessary, but it is suicide to assume that people will revert to instant savagery at the first opportunity.
Well, singing for your supper is a time honored event, going back thousands of years. It still has some value. I can’t sing to save my life, in fact my singing might buy me a bullet right quick no matter the state of civilization. The point being people like to be with other people. That too is in our nature. There is safety in numbers. Yes, it is possible the most savage group will wipe out a more passive one, but again, not in the first 72 hours.
Of course, so much depends upon the method of collapse too. I used to think in terms of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union (the good old days!) where the question of survival was laughable. It is now believed that a “limited” exchange of nuclear weapons between India and Pakistan will be enough to kill everyone, under the slow death of radiation poisoning. This gives amble time to prepare, in an “On The Beach” fashion.
Global heating seems the more likely end to civilization as wide spread crop failures take down entire governments. It is still important to note an unnamed Ethiopian official during the famines of the mid 1980s who said something along the lines of “If we do not feed the people in the cities they will riot. If we do not feed the people in the country they will starve.” No points for guessing where the food went.
In the US there is a wide spread distrust of the cities, as if they are filled with cocaine fiends, rapist and perverts. I had to move to a small town in Florida to live across the street from a crack house, so much for perception. Moving back to Chicago, I remain impressed by how friendly most people are. Sure, there are parts of the city one avoids. But most of the city is filled with people who are willing to help a stranger and will give an extra effort to a friend. If you want to survive, being nice to your neighbors right now is a good idea.
As a told aside, I wonder why in every scenario I’ve seen, civilization manages to collapse in the Spring or early Summer. It never seems to go down in Winter, when starting a garden is a lot harder and suddenly losing heat in your home becomes a major issue. I sure hope when our society collapses into lawlessness and chaos, it picks a pretty day in May.
Oh, here is another minor point to toss out for consideration.
My general plan is to stay put, but there is an escape plan as well.
As far as Getting Out of Town goes, I would seriously consider a houseboat over a truck.
this is part of the Zombie Action Plan: get into open water as fast as possible. Clear line of visions for any intruder, fish for food, generally away from the chaos. It’s not perfect, but it offers the illusion of security I like over a panic room or bomb shelter.
This requires getting to or living near a river or lake. The ocean is too unpredictable. Not saying a storm on the lake would be any picnic either, but I’d rather drown in fresh water.
You don’t need good fruit to distil alcohol. In fact, bad fruit can be better.
Give me a decent-sized sailboat on the open seas. The problem with a houseboat is that you are always going to be visible and within range. With a boat of a size you can stay far enough off-shore that you don’t get noticed. Seafood is plentiful, and a solar still can provide fresh water when you don’t get enough rain. You can also relocate anywhere in the world, if necessary.
Considering just the first 72 hours: I would immediately make contact with several groups in my town and offer my supplies and assistance. You can’t survive very long by yourself, and every useful person helps. Luckily, I live among a large number of Mormons, and a large percentage of them think (reasonably) kindly of me. 
I’m talking about Lake Michigan, and you can sail over the horizon if need be.
But even in Lake U Can See Across, a boat isn’t a bad choice for a location.
Assuming the loss of civilization assumes the loss of a weather channel, and again, I’d rather take my chances in storm on Lake Michigan than in the sea.
Still… sailing to Iceland in case of global heating isn’t a bad choice.
And that helps a lot. I figure if you’ve already isolated yourself from your community, you’re on much shakier ground if/when the walls come tumbling down.
It will be curious if the year 2012 results in some mass suicides, but we do seem geared to thinking about the end of the world ever since we learned how to explode atomic bombs on cities.
Getting farming restarted would depend on a few things - well… how close to harvest time is corn and things of that nature - they could possibly (big possibly) get people to the fields in time to harvest and the food would hold us over easily until the next if we we were close to harvest. Im unsure that they could get everyone organized fast enough.
Why would you depend on the government to care for you? Wouldnt you want to be OK no matter how it goes down, if it does? Thats like not saving for retirement cause of social security.
Guns - You can buy a rifle for about 100 that will never fail you even if you dont clean it anymore than rinsing the barrel out and ammunition is very cheap still even with the president we have. You can buy 500 rounds for around 100 bucks - I mean, seriously, how much ammo will you need? People spend hundreds of dollars a month on insurance for cars, health, house, ect ect. 100 for a cell phone - I dont think you are a responsible citizen if you dont own at least one protective device.
Going to get supplies - if you have to go get them, its too late. You should of had them before hand, the positive part is most people have enough canned foods they never really intended to eat that will last them for a week or two. So the first week wouldnt be insane - you MIGHT be able to buy some in the case of a EMP strike if you did it the first few days. I run a wal-mart, we get 6000 people a day in there, if the world is unstable, 10 or 15k. Fat chance of going to a walmart, youd be better off going to your local farmer ect and seeing if hed part with anything - hes probably not as paranoid at the moment and you might be able to get some preserves or something possibly.
However, like I said, have it before hand, even if you just keep your canned foods full all the time. A couple cans of beans will feed you for a day, or peas, or whatever. You might be hungry, but not dead. Dogs are a positive thing too, If you have dogs, thats a good chunk of meat. However, I think Id honestly kill and eat my neighbors before the dogs. Roving bandits trying to rob me are going to get shot - and itll be fresh meat. Ill stew it up and my wife wont know the difference. Thats a fews months in though. Food for the first 2-3 weeks, and a week or two of low rations, and then you have no choice but to eat something or youll start fading slowly.
After that time, what food is there? None is being produced, none is being produced? This is when the world really comes unhinged. When people realize they arent eating today and no help is coming, or their babies are crying. They start eying their dogs, and then their neighbors. Do you think the donner party started out as a bunch of ravenous cannibals? I would think not.
The people who lasted after the first 6 months (I dont know if it would be 10%) Would basically become farmers one would assume.
Where is the government in all this? The army will be fine for a while, I am assuming they have months of food supply for the army, at least, hell, maybe years. How many people are actually here from our army? Not that many really, spread out over the entire country. After that… well… the army uses its power to take what they need from the people. The question is if the army would be able to keep control after they ran of out rations for themselves. I think it would fracture. Given that we mostly are talking EMP in this scenario.
If it was political instability, it would probably go something along those lines also, except a little better. Military takes over, everyone pretty much does what they do now, the masses become wards of the state kind of, but we still would have a government.
If its EMP - wouldnt we have some enemy soldiers landing shortly afterwards unless it was a terrorist attack - I would also assume that if it was terrorist attacks, that NATO might come to ‘help’ us. We have bases all around the world also, Im sure wed just pack up and leave iraq and afghanistan. - Which would be a good reason for the terrorists to emp us.
How bad would the nuclear fallout be from a nationwide EMP attack?
Vlan
Ammunition will be the new currency, and looting in the first 72hours of the event will get you shot. The vast majority of survivors will be armed and won’t think twice about spending a round on you.
What type of “end of the world as we know it” event occurs, and where I live when the shit hits the fan, will determine how I react.
I think in a complete collapse of civilization situation, the vast majority of people, especially urban and suburban dwellers, will be incapable of basic survival. The will hunker down and wait for help to come. When it doesn’t, they will venture out to (as several people here have stated they would do) loot. This is when things will become very, very dangerous.
I’m in a very large metro area and I’ll need to bug out. I’m an hour south of the Appalachian Trail, and that’s where I’d head. I could completely disappear there.
First thing I’d do is take a nice relaxing shit since it’ll be the last time I get to sit on my own toilet.
Next, I’d fill my bathtub, sinks, and plastic containers with whatever water is still available in my home. I have a gas generator and electric pump I can “pull” water out with. Next, round up all my fuel. Siphon it out of the 2nd car, mower, etc…
Load the car with survival essentials: Canned and dry food, shortwave battery radio, tent, tarp, shovel, saw, rope, blankets, and sensible clothing. Take lots of plastic bags to keep things dry. Grab a couple maps, my first aid kit, and basic medicines.
I’d put on my old army camo fatigues. Looking military and like I know how to protect myself won’t hurt when I encounter other survivors.
Grab my guns and ammo. Wear my 9mm pistol concealed. Keep my shotgun handy but concealed in the car with me. Hide my ammo and other weapons in trunk. Openly carrying a weapon will attract unwanted attention, and could result in ner-do-well’s trying to steal it from me, or vigilantes trying to confiscate it.
Put my bare survival essentials in one backpack that I can grab quickly if I have to abandon my vehicle. Rack my bike on my vehicle and use it for transport if I run out of fuel or the roads become impassable. I want to put max distance between me and the unhappy masses as quickly as possible, and humping out on foot will be my last resort.
Once I reach the woods, I’d find somewhere to leave my vehicle and do my best to conceal it. I’d remove all my gear and move it away from the vehicle. Conceal it, then look for a good place to bury the stuff that I can carry with me. When this is done, and I’m ready to head out on foot, I’d make my way to high ground and look for a good place to shelter and hole up. I’d probably stay off the main trail, and away from cabins and yurts, which will attract other survivors. Get “comfortable” and listen to the shortwave radio for HAM operators to try to get a better picture of what’s going on “out there”.
The longer you wait to bug out the harder it will become. I think doing it sooner, while people are confused and apt to wait for help to come, is the safest way to go. After a few weeks, when people are out of food and water, and it’s starting to dawn on them that nobody is coming to rescue them, things will start to get violent and dangerous. People will go “feral” very quickly once they realize this is a permanent situation. That’s not the time you want to be out on the roads with all your valuables. If you’re by yourself, even armed, you won’t be able to stop a mob from taking your stuff. I’d do my best to avoid people, stick the backroads, and “fly under the radar”. I wouldn’t trust anyone who claimed to be in charge or an authority. I wouldn’t want to be disarmed and forced into some sort of refugee camp. I’d want plenty of time and space to form my own interpretation of what the general situation is. Hopefully, I’d get really lucky and bump into a few like-minded souls along the way. There’s strength and safety in numbers (sometimes).
You’re correct - in the first 72, it won’t be “savagery and lawlessness”. People will be hunkered down in their homes, waiting for news and help. This is exactly why I would bug out during this period.
Saying that you’re “amused” that someone would want to leave a major metro area for the relative safety of a rural area, suggests that this is a foolish notion, and that you have a better plan.
I’m operating on the assumption that this is an end of the world scenario, and no help is coming. The first year or so following the event will be the most dangerous. people will be at their most desperate and violent. I want to be far away from large groups of survivors. Yes, I am heading to a National Park with over 100,000 square miles of uninhabited wilderness, and yes I’m doing it armed. I will need arms for personal protection and hunting.
Many people woudn’t be able to survive there, granted, but that doesn’t mean it’s a foolish decision for me. Life is cheap now, after the EOTWAWKI, life will be worthless. People will shoot first and ask questions later, the strong will take from the weak, and people will generally behave rudely, and not put the seat down after they pee. I don’t want to be in a populated area, because I don’t want the stress of being “on guard” 24/7. Being alone in the wilderness will at least give me the chance of sleeping without one eye open.
I’m a combat veteran with 10 years of military experience, 6 of those as a grunt. I know how to make fire, potable water, and shelter, and I know how to catch, kill and gather food. I know how to maintain and handle firearms, and how to conceal and evade. My primary concern would be accidental injury. Beyond that, I’m confident in my ability to survive on my own for that critical first year or two. At some point, when I feel safe, I will come down and reintegrate.
The “savagery and lawlessness” will start when people start to starve, and yes, things will spiral downward very quickly. The people with the guns will take what they need from the people without the guns. This isn’t academic for me, I’ve seen it with my own two eyes. I’ve also seen “good guys” with guns, become as bad as the bad guys they initially set out to defend the poor and starving from. I’ve seen vigilantes execute people in the streets. Talk to anyone who’s served in Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti, et al…
A lot of the people here are very optimistic, with talk about crops, tobacco, brewing beer, etc… The first year or two, IMHO, won’t be a commune hippie camping trip with homebrewed beer and nights of kumbayah around the campfire. It’ll be barricaded streets, burning cars in the intersections, and sporadic gunfire throughout the night.
I’ll wait it out and come down once the heard thins.