With your vehicle properly prepared and your everyday carry and go-bag needs taken care of, you should be able to make it home safely whenever disaster strikes.

But what happens once you arrive?

Most people are not prepared for anything more than the most minor inconvenience, and many aren’t even ready for that.

We drive with our cars on ¼ tank of gas.
We have a day or two’s worth of food in the refrigerator and pantry.
We rely on municipal services for heating and cooling our homes, for electricity or gas for cooking, and for the water we need to drink, bathe, and wash with.
We are completely dependent on an increasingly complex web of services for every aspect of our lives.

The interconnected nature of the various services we need to survive means that a power outage or natural disaster halfway across the country may affect your ability to cook, get fresh water, food, or fuel your vehicle if you were forced to evacuate.

These services work on ever thinning margins:

The average supermarket is only stocked for normal use for 1–3 days. If a disaster strikes (or looks imminent), shelves are picked clean in hours and may not be restocked for days or weeks.
In the event of an evacuation order, fuel pumps are sucked dry or shut down in a matter of hours, stranding thousands.
One disaster could take down power grids and cripple emergency services for weeks, leaving thousands or millions to fend for themselves with no water, food, power, or help.

Despite this dire news, it is surprisingly easy to prepare for myriad different scenarios with a bit of planning and without spending much additional money or time.

Most preparedness organizations recommend being stocked up for 72 hours. That means being prepared to go at least three days without government or commercial services.

That is a good starting point, but to be ready for the worst, you should be prepared to go a week, a month, or more with no outside services.

• Hurricanes, blizzards, and floods often result in power outages of two weeks or more. Hurricane Irma left some areas of south Florida without power for more than a month.
• The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic saw 14-day mandatory quarantines for returning travelers, 6+ week school closures, self-quarantine mandates lasting weeks or months, and supply chain stress meant staples like toilet paper, rice, and beans were out of stock for months.

The good news is that just a few trips to the supermarket and the home improvement store can get you ready. You probably have most of the below list already; you just need to make sure you have organized and taken stock of what you have, and what you still need. What you don't have, you can purchase as time and money allow.

1 gallon of water, per person, per day. Work towards having at least two weeks of water stored for your whole family.

Split this between various storage methods: a few cases of bottled water, a few 1-gallon jugs, and one or more 5+ gallon containers for longer term water storage.

City or municipal water supplies can and do get contaminated for many reasons. Get a counter top water filter to ensure you have clean water, even if (when) the power goes out.

If you live near a creek, river, or well, it’s a good idea to have a way to transport water, and if you live near the ocean, adding a desalinator may be a wise choice.

NOTE: Your regular well or tap water may be safe to drink, but it is almost certainly not ideal. And would you even know if it was contaminated or something happened (think Flint, Michigan)?

The best thing you can do here for preparedness and your overall health is to install a reverse osmosis filter to clean up all your drinking water and/or a whole home filter or filter + softener. These will make all your water better for drinking, cooking, showering, and increasing longevity of your appliances and fixtures. This is a highly recommended upgrade to your home that makes you healthier in everyday life and provides a huge additional safety margin in the event of a disaster or if your well or municipal water gets contaminated.

There are a few ways to deal with the issue of sustenance during a disaster scenario:

Grow your own food. Growing your own food is a good idea on so many levels — from health to the environment, economics, and security — that its utility cannot be overstated. Whether you live on a farm and grow almost everything you use, take up square foot gardening in the backyard of your home, or install a Click & Grow indoor garden in your apartment, you can and should take steps to grow as much of your own food as possible or practicable.

Garden for max calories. Potatoes, beans, squash, carrots, and more are calorie-dense foods that are easy to grow. Lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and others are easy to grow, but provide comparatively few calories. Focus on staples that you could live off if you needed to before using up space and resources on veggies that look or taste good but can't really sustain you and your family.

As good as gardening is from an everyday utility and long-term survival standpoint, it isn't the be-all, end-all solution. Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, or fires could completely destroy your crop, so you need additional food storage no matter what.

The best long-term option is to track what you regularly eat and stock up on it.

• If you eat a lot of steak, hamburger, or chicken, just buy more and freeze it (make sure you have backup power for your chest freezer).
• Fruit and veggies can be bought or grown, dried, canned, frozen, or fresh.
• Rice, beans, and other staples are inexpensive and easy to buy and store in bulk.
• Don't forget the "fixin's:" salt and pepper, spices, sugar, mixes, oils, butter, honey, etc.

NOTE: Restaurant supply stores are your friend. While 50lb bags of rice and beans might be overkill (or not, depending on your situation), restaurant-size 10-15 oz. jars of the spices you use regularly are an inexpensive guarantee you can always cook what you want. Lots of other stuff like meats, butter, honey, and more can be bought in bulk, separated into individual or easy-to-use portions, then frozen or stored as necessary.

It is surprisingly easy to store a year or more of regular food that you and your family actually eat and enjoy. Slowly build your stock and rotate it to cook or eat the oldest food first; you don’t want to end up with a year’s worth of food that’s all on the verge of going bad.

Good resources for learning about long-term food storage are Food Storage Made Easy, Store This Not That, and the LDS (Mormon) church, among many others.

Knowing that many will not take the time or effort to really track what your family consumes, there are three easy options that will keep you fed and safe with less effort:

1. For the very short-term you can purchase a few days of energy bars (Clif and Epic are good, or make your own), MRE’s, peanut butter packets, trail mix, and other “junk” rations.
2. After that, stock up on easy dry or canned foods that can sustain a single guy for weeks or months:
   • a 5lb bag of rice,
   • 1–5lb bags of dried beans
   • a dozen or more cans of tuna, salmon, chicken, or sardines,
   • olive and/or coconut oil,
   • hot sauce.
3. Another option is to purchase freeze dried meals. These can be individually packaged meals from hiking/backpacking oriented brands like Mountain House, Backpacker's Pantry, Alpine Aire, Paleo Meals To Go, or 10lb cans in dedicated survival food packages.

Options are available that range from a $40 supply with 16 meals, to $5,000+ packages that will feed a family of four for a year, but vet your choices carefully. Many brands promise 25+ year shelf life but have only been in business a few years and independent tests don't look promising. Mountain House, Backpacker's Pantry, and Alpine Aire offer good meal selections and have shown excellent results for low oxygen levels and low potential moisture penetration in independent lab testing; the same cannot be said for "survival food" brands like Wise, Legacy Premium, and others.

If you decide to go this route, do not go out and buy a one-year (or even a 3-month) supply until you have experience with a particular company. Try various entrees, breakfasts, etc. and pick the versions you like (there will be meals you don’t care for), then order those in bulk (packages or 10# cans) once you know what works for you and your family.

Don’t forget the spices, sweets, and niceties. If you’re used to good coffee, tea, etc., stock up on it. When you’re stressed out and miserable, drinking bad coffee — or worse, NO coffee — will only make things more painful. The same goes for alcohol. If you like a specific drink or drinks, stock up on everything needed to make them.

Most households are entirely reliant on municipal power or gas for cooking. You need a backup method. A camp stove like a Jetboil or MSR is fine for one or two people for a day or two. For extended or multi-person use, you need a propane backup for your existing gas range or an outdoor burner, often sold as a turkey or seafood fryer. And for those that grill a lot, make sure you have enough propane or charcoal to get you through whatever disaster you expect.

The same goes for appliances. You'll need a can opener and non-electric coffee maker like an Aeropress, French press, espresso maker, or 007’s choice: Chemex.

FOOD IS IMPORTANT, BUT DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE HOW IMPORTANT THE "FEEL GOOD" SUPPLIES ARE. When you've just weathered a hurricane, earthquake, or flood and you're without power for days or weeks, it only adds insult to injury to not be able to brew coffee in the morning, eat a hot and hearty meal, and have a drink in the evening. Find out now how you will do all of the above when you have no electricity, no gas, and no running water.

Being dirty and grimy for days or weeks on end will make a bad situation even worse.

Not only a morale concern, you need to stay as clean and fresh as you can to limit potential health problems both during the crisis and afterwards.

Like with the food, your best option here is to track what you normally use, and simply buy more of it so that you end up with a six month to one-year supply.

• Toilet paper
• Soap
• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Deodorant
• Razor blades
• Toothpaste
• Dental floss
• Feminine supplies

Remember that women are particular about what works for them. If you have a wife, girlfriend, or daughter that uses tampons, pads, etc., find out what her brand or preference is and stock up.

In addition to your normal toiletries and supplies, it's a good idea to have a few weeks' worth of "austere conditions" supplies like wet-wipes so you can clean yourself when you can't take a normal bath or shower.

When bad things happen, people get hurt. You need to be able to deal with at least basic first aid, and it's not a bad idea to be prepared for more in-depth emergencies.

In any large-scale disaster, emergency services are stretched thin — often past their breaking point. Even basic medical problems often prove fatal because hospitals are full and ambulances are so far behind that it could take hours for them to get to you, if they come at all.

• Basic first aid kit
• Trauma kit with tourniquet
• It is a good idea to build a more comprehensive kit including:
  • Thermometer
  • Prescription medications (try to keep at least a one-month supply on hand)
  • Additional supplies as necessary:
    • AED
    • Epi-pen
    • Oxygen
    • Diabetic supplies
    • Blood pressure kit (automatic or manual)
    • Stethoscope (if not part of blood pressure kit)
    • Otoscope

Some of these may seem over the top, but the AED and Epi-Pen are life or death necessities to those that may need them. It's fine if you can't afford them, but if you have any disposable income, consider these mandatory. In the same vein, if you're a scuba diver or have family or close friends with respiratory health issues and you can afford an oxygen kit, you should have one.

As you obtain more training and/or get more interested in tracking your own health, everything from blood pressure monitors to a stethoscope, otoscope, and pulse-oximeter can come in handy.

Your medicine cabinet doesn't have to look like an emergency room, but the more prepared you can be, the better you'll fare.

In almost any disaster, fire is an increased danger. Whether from lightning strikes, downed power lines in a storm or earthquake, or rioters and looters burning things, you must be ready.

You need at least one fire extinguisher for each level of your house. In a small apartment, a 2.5lb fire extinguisher might be fine, but in anything larger than a studio, opt for 5lb fire extinguishers. The kitchen, garage, and anywhere else you store or use flammable materials require their own fire extinguisher.

Halotron extinguishers, while more expensive, are easier to clean up and won't damage sensitive items like the normal dry chemical extinguishers. These are a good idea in the kitchen, garage, office, boat, etc.

When the power goes out, you don't want to be left in the dark. Oil lamp(s), candles, or both good ideas for general home lighting, while you'll want flashlight(s) and headlamp(s) for working use.

Stage flashlights at or near every entrance to the home, by your bed, and anywhere they're likely to be needed.

Standardize battery sizes for your flashlights, headlamps, and other electronics as much as possible, then stock up on spare batteries.

From staying abreast of the news to keeping in touch with loved ones, emergency responders, CERT, or neighborhood watch teams, communications in any large-scale emergency are both paramount, and entirely different than what you're used to now.

In many events, the phones will go down — both cellular and land lines. Phone systems may go down for minutes, hours, days, or more. If you're lucky, you might be able to send or receive some text messages, but voice and data use will be severely degraded, if they work at all.

When the phones go down, it's time to go old school. That means radio.

From the Red Cross to FEMA, most preparedness organizations recommend having a shortwave/weather radio. These are receive-only radios that will let you tune into news and weather information.

While a shortwave radio to receive news and weather alerts is a good idea, there are a few steps up you can make depending on your situation:

GMRS/FRS portable radios: (UHF/70cm frequency range) — use them like walkie-talkies between family, friends, or community. These are also commonly used/issued by CERT teams as radios of this type are common and inexpensive. FRS radios are lower power, while GMRS radios have more power but require a GMRS license to use legally.

MURS radio: (VHF/2m frequency range) — these offer potentially better range outdoors than FRS/GMRS radios. MURS is not as common as FRS/GMRS, which can be seen as a positive or negative depending on how you look at it; the channels won't be as crowded, but that also means that if you get into trouble, there might not be anybody listening if you call for help.

CB radio: (HF/11m frequency range) — CB use has dropped off in recent decades, but they are still common for long-haul truckers, in off-roading groups, and rural areas.

CB radios have utility outside disaster scenarios for road-trippers who may want to listen in on the truckers as they report road conditions and speed traps.

Amateur (ham) radio is by far the best option for those willing to take the time to learn it. Ham radios are commonly available in HF, VHF, and UHF frequency ranges, and in a pinch can be "modded" to work in any radio band described above.

Price points vary on amateur radio equipment, but the standout is the Retevis RT-85 as an affordable dual-band (VHF/UHF) HT (handie-talkie). This can be programmed to use ham frequencies as well as GMRS, FRS, MURS, marine VHF, SAR, and weather frequencies in an emergency.

NOTE: operating ham radios on non-ham bands is not generally legal but could prove useful. Use this information at your own risk.

You do need a license to operate a ham radio. This is easily attainable with a few hours of study, and well worth the comparatively minimal time and money investment.

The tools above will allow you to stay in touch locally, and possibly further away with proper hardware and knowledge. But if you need to keep in touch or update family across the country, you will be out of luck until phone and/or internet service returns.

In that case, satellite messengers like the Garmin inReach Explorer come in handy. While generally thought of as tools for the adventurer or explorer, these may be of great utility in an emergency because they allow you to call for help and/or give status updates without relying on local infrastructure. Phone lines or other critical infrastructure could be down for days or weeks, but with a satellite messenger or phone you'll still be able to communicate with family, friends, business associates, or emergency responders outside the limited range of your radios.

During any bad situation, entertainment isn't just for fun and games; it can be essential to stave off boredom, anxiety, and depression. But the big screen TV and Netflix subscription won't do you any good when the power goes out and the communication lines go down.

It's time to go old school, and have some fun doing it. Playing cards and poker chips, board games, card games, a chess set, and books are all good options to pass the time and keep everybody sane.

This is another area when the battery powered or crank operated shortwave radio from the comms section above also comes in handy. Turn on the radio, break out the cards, and settle in to weather the storm.

In most disaster scenarios, you're going to be left with lots of work to do after you've weathered the storm. Whether it's structural damage to your home, downed tree or fences, flooding, or any number of other possibilities, you're going to get dirty and sweaty doing hard manual labor to clean up and rebuild.

• Sturdy work boots, already broken in
  • Tall rain boots are often a good idea as well
• Pants
• Short and long sleeve work shirts
• Jacket
• Rain jacket
• Leather work gloves

When you lose power and water, you lose the ability to shower, flush the toilet, use the dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, etc. Be prepared for this:

• Paper towels
• Hand sanitizer
• Toilet paper
• Feminine supplies
• Plastic bucket with tight lid
• Plastic garbage bags (and/or heavy duty contractor bags)
• Poop bags and scooper for pet waste
• Chlorine bleach (REGULAR bleach — NOT the scented, color safe, or versions with added cleaners)
• Powdered chlorinated lime
• Disinfectant
• Dish soap
• Laundry detergent
• Clothes line and clothes pins
• Disposable (paper or plastic) plates, cups, and utensils

No matter where you live, you need to own and be proficient in at least basic tool use:

• General purpose screwdriver(s)
• Precision screwdriver(s)
• Needle nose pliers
• Adjustable pliers
• Adjustable wrench (or wrench-pliers)
• Wire cutters (a cutter/stripper/crimper could also be a good idea)
• Locking pliers (vise grips)
• Hex wrenches
• Hammer
• Knife
• Pry bar
• Water and gas shutoff tool. Keep this accessible, not stashed at the bottom of a tool box or drawer where you'll never find it when you need it quickly.

The next few tools don't necessarily fall into the "shelter at home" category, but are generally useful as part of a well-rounded tool kit:

• Level
• Stud finder (magnetic or electric)
• Drill with drill bits
• Non-contact voltage tester
• Plastic sheeting
• Duct tape

If you own a home, whether it's in a city, suburbs, or out in the country, you should be prepared to do more substantial work. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and more can cause substantial property damage that will require cleanup and repair:

• Broom
• Rake
• Shovel
• Buckets
• Wheelbarrow
• Hand saw
• Power tools (cordless): A circular saw, reciprocating saw, and drill with drill bits may all come in handy.
  • Simplify your life by picking a brand/system and sticking to it. Bosch, Dewalt, Makita, and Milwaukee all make quality tools that are easy to find, service, and replace if necessary.
  • Keep up with the batteries. Make sure they are charged and cycled appropriately so that they're ready when you need them; you don't want to need your tools after the power goes out only to find out that all your batteries are dead.
    • Batteries are one of the prime reasons for picking a single system and sticking to it; the ability to use all your batteries with all your tools makes life easier, especially in pre- and post-disaster scenarios where you're doing lots of work with your tools and keeping batteries charged and rotated is a job in its own.
  • If you don't need a case or bag for storage, you can save money by picking bare tools, appropriate batteries, and a charger (or chargers) that work(s) with everything you have.
•  Chainsaw: Stihl, Husqvarna, or Echo are the big-3 to choose from. Get a quality tool once, and it will do everything you need for many years to come.
  • You probably do not need a large chainsaw. Especially when cleaning up after a storm, you'll appreciate a smaller and lighter saw, rather than a large and powerful saw that can cut down huge trees but is heavy and unwieldy.
  • Don't forget you'll need fuel, oil, and bar-and-chain oil for your saw.
• Axe: For home use you need a real axe, not a camping hatchet. If you live in an area where you use fire wood for heat, keep a splitting axe or maul in addition to a general purpose axe.

You need to breathe clean air. But wildfires, volcanoes, pandemics, nuclear events, and even seasonal allergens could jeopardize that.

These recommendations won't be necessary most of the time, but you should consider having them on hand if you live in an area where you may need clean air or if you have any respiratory health issues.

• High performance filter for your furnace and A/C system (MERV 13+, MRP 1900+, FPR 10). You don't need to spend the extra to run high-performance filters year-round, but keep them on hand in case you do need the extra filtration.
• Air Purifier (how many and what size depends on your home).
• Respirators
  • N95 or P100 masks (if you're not sick, masks with exhalation valves offer an easier work of breathing; if you are sick and want to protect others, you need masks without exhalation valves)
  • Half-face respirators offer better work of breathing and comfort if you need to work in potentially contaminated environments; opt for full-face respirators if you also need to protect your eyes from contaminates like vapor, smoke, dust, etc.
  • Gas masks are overkill for most scenarios; if you do opt to have them, make sure it accepts standard NATO 40mm canisters, not proprietary filters that may be hard or expensive to acquire.
• Sealing the windows and doors with plastic sheet and tape may be necessary in cases like hazardous material spills or nuclear, biological, or chemical events.

Everything needs power. From your refrigerator to make sure your food stays fresh to lights, computers, phones, and even electric ranges to cook or water pumps to have running water - electricity allows modern life to function properly.

Power outages for a few hours are an inconvenience.
Lose power for a few days and things start getting serious.
When the power goes out for a week or more, life gets very difficult. Emergency services lose efficiency and people get desperate. Riots, looting, and societal unrest move from a vague possibility to a deadly certainly.

To make sure you're as prepared as you can be, you have a few options: purchase a generator, install solar power, or use a combination of both for efficiency and redundancy.

Generators are the first step for most people. These can be as simple as a 2200W portable generator to charge batteries, run some basic appliances or tools, and make sure the food in your refrigerator doesn't spoil, to more substantial (and expensive) standby generators that automatically kick on when the power goes out to power your entire home and then some.

If you're an apartment dweller in the city, a generator may be a no-go due to noise and/or ventilation requirements. In that case, something like a Goal Zero power pack with solar charging capability will go a long way towards keeping your basic necessities up and running for minor disturbances.

Going further are the home power systems like the Tesla Powerwall, Solar Roof, and other high end solar options. These are becoming available, affordable, viable means of powering your home for extended power outages. In the best cases they may even let you go off-grid completely. You may need some other type of power available (municipal, generator, both?), but these will go a long way towards making you and your home more survivable in any situation.

Your needs, your pocketbook, and your location are the deciding factors for all of this.

Modern life means modern fuel needs. Almost everything you use every day requires fuel of some type. Cars, trucks, tools, and generators all require fuel, and may require all different types of fuel. But in any disaster the gas stations are the first to go, often running dry within just a few hours and not restocking for days or weeks.

You almost certainly need more fuel than you think you do. Lots of folks have one- or two-gallon gas cans tucked away in their garage for lawnmowers or chainsaws. Maybe you have a five-gallon gas can, just in case. You probably need more. Much more.

• Fuel for your vehicle: at least one full tank, maybe more. Most passenger cars and SUV's are 15–25 gallons and some pickup trucks have 35–45+ gallon fuel tanks.
• Fuel for your generator: natural gas, propane, gasoline, or diesel as required.
• Fuel for tools: gasoline and/or pre-mix gas and oil for chainsaws, trimmers, etc.
• Fuel for tractors, ATV's, anything else not mentioned.

Fuel does not store well. You'll need to implement a fuel rotation routine so that you use and replace stored fuel at least once a year (every six months is better).

Store enough fuel to be able to get real use out of any tools you have for as long as you can imagine a disaster lasting. Whether that's storing 15 gallons of fuel for one tank of gas to get out of Dodge, or thousands of gallons of fuel to run vehicles, tractors, generators, and more for months without needing resupply is up to you. Just don't bet your life on one little two-gallon gas can.

You don't necessarily need everything on the above list — everybody's needs are different — but with just a little preparation, you can increase your odds of survival greatly if (when) something happens.

Whether it's a snowstorm that kills power for a week, an earthquake, hurricane, terrorist attack, or civil unrest, you should have the means to shelter at home and rebuild when the threat passes.

If you're only without power for a few hours or a few days, you might be fine with only the most basic preparations. But that isn't always the case.

From the LA Riots to Hurricane Katrina and countless other disaster scenarios, including the run-of-the-mill home invasion or burglary, a little bit of preparation goes a long way.

Most home security basics were covered in the Home module of the Lifestyle training phase.

There isn't any change here, except to add that if you haven't gone through and done any real security planning or testing, now would be a good time to do that.

• Make sure you've upgraded your exterior deadbolts and installed quality strike plates and hinges with 2.5"–3" screws.
• Verify that your landscaping doesn't give easy hiding spots to intruders.
• Install motion sensor lights outside.
• Don't advertise that you are safe and secure with food and power. If things start getting really bad, knowing that you have food, guns, and more make you a potential target.

Defensive firearms have been covered in the Guns and Shooting module, but it's worth having more information here from a preparedness perspective.

For the purposes of this program, your defensive pistol and rifle are the most important choices from a practical and life safety standpoint.

• Pistol: The pistol is the one weapon that you can always have with you. Whether you're out running errands or home asleep, you can have a pistol on you or right next to you. It's concealable, easy to use, and inexpensive. The pistol is usually your first and last line of defense. A 9mm Glock or SIG, loaded with quality hollowpoint ammunition, is your best option here.
• Defensive Rifle: The defensive rifle — either an AR or AK — is the next step. There's a reason that Tier 1 military units, SWAT, counter-terror, and hostage rescue teams use assault rifles as their primary weapons: these are the best tool for the job when it comes to violent encounters. Whether you need to defend your home in the middle of the night or put meat on the table, the AR or AK will get the job done. For the AR-15, 5.56x45/.223 is the standard caliber that is good for defensive use, small game hunting, and can take deer-sized animals if necessary (though big-game hunting with .22-caliber rifles is prohibited in many states). 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.8 SPC, and .300 Blackout are newer all-around calibers that will handle defensive use, as well as hunting mid-size animals like deer, hogs, etc. If you want the most flexibility for defensive use, hunting, and sporting use, opt for a platform that allows you to easily change barrels and calibers like the LMT MRP, LaRue PredatOBR, or SIG MCX.

For the urbanite, this is arguably all you really need: the pistol and defensive rifle together provide for almost everything you are likely to encounter. In a pinch, these two weapons can be pressed into service for almost any task; the same can't be said for most other choices.

Those in more rural areas still need the pistol and defensive rifle — they're listed first for a reason — but may find utility in a more complete battery. Whether it's hunting for food, dealing with pests, or just fun and games, the guns below round out most "real firearm needs":

• Hunting/general purpose rifle: A semi-automatic, bolt action, or lever action rifle in "all-around" hunting caliber appropriate for the area you live will give you the most bang for your buck. .270, 7mm Rem Mag, .30-30, .308, and 30-06 are global standards that have been used to kill just about every type of game animal on every continent. 6.5 Creedmoor is a newer design that punches similarly to the tried-and-true .270 or .308 and is better suited to long-range shooting while being more comfortable to shoot.
  • Any basic bolt action will do the trick; even lever action 30-30's have been putting meat on the table for 120+ years.
  • An AR-10 pattern rifle in .308 or 6.5/.260 is an excellent multi-purpose option, though you may pay a weight and price penalty versus a more traditional bolt action or lever action rifle.
• Shotgun: A quality 12 gauge pump like the Mossberg 500 or semi-auto like the Benelli M2 with both 18" home defense and 26–30" field barrels can serve many roles. It'll work as well when things go bump in the night as it will putting Thanksgiving dinner on the table.
• .22lr Rifle: From pest control and small game hunting to practicing and plinking, .22's are fun and useful, and ammunition is cheap and plentiful. The Ruger 10/22, Marlin 795, and S&W M&P15-22 are your top choices.

The basic list of guns above will allow you to do just about anything you could ever really "need" to do with a gun. You can have more guns — collectors' pieces, safari rifles, long-range rifles, dangerous game rifles, custom pistols to hunt or compete with — but beyond the basics, they're fun toys, not necessary tools.

Others in the "survival" niche recommended a far more comprehensive weapons battery including keeping spare guns in case any of your primary weapons break. But unless you live a life that requires more guns, the basics above are all you really need, and you may not even need everything listed above.

Pick up a defensive pistol first.
Then a defensive rifle.
You can add whatever else your budget or lifestyle dictates later.

The difference in advice between Gentleman Spy and most others lies in the next step.

The advice in this Shelter at Home module will cover you for most of life's inconveniences: natural disasters, power outages, and more. You're ready to live off the grid anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. You can feed and protect your family until things return to normal.

But when looking at disaster scenarios, if a situation is bad enough that you're looking at having to live off the land, barter for supplies, or defend your home against looters or roving bands of thugs, your best option is almost certainly getting out of Dodge. Not to your "survival retreat" in the mountains or a rural area somewhere, but leaving your home, state, or even country entirely. The next page will show you how.