WTSHTF preperation.

You could buy everything under the sun and still be faced with an ugly suprise during a SHTF situation. I am in favor of being prepared but the "bug out" should be viewed as a very last resort. If you own a home you should focus on being able to defend it. Turn your back yard into a garden or build inexpensive greenhouses. If 1000 people bugged out in my area (in summer) most would be dead within a month, if that long. The idea of living off the land is appealing but unless you know what your doing you will more than likely eat or drink something you shouldn't. Most would starve to death or die from lack of water. The elements can beat you to your knees in short order.
The forums about survival weapons always amazes me. Most turn to military style weapons which I avoid at all costs. My choices were all sporting type guns. Standard calibers only. The choice of which type and caliber depends on the person and the area of the country they live in. The one gun person could do a lot worse than a standard pump shotgun. If there are more in your party a .22 and a big game gun are nice. I can always find some type of bird to shoot when all else fails. Friend of mine's grandfather (in Canada) fed his family many a day on robins, during the Great depression, with a single shot shotgun. I chose to try and cover all the bases. I bought a couple Marlin XL7 .270 rifles, a couple of H&R 20 ga singleshots, a .22lr and a .357 lever gun with matching revolver. I plan to buy a couple inexpensive Mossberg 500's soon. More than I could ever bug out with but I wanted to have a choice when the time comes.I believe in having two firearms of the same caliber. If you stock up on ammo and your one gun fails you may not be able to get it fixed. Your stuck with bullets and a club. There are always unprepared family members that will show up. Give the kids the shotguns and I'll just bet you'll eat that night.
Defense is another problem some people worry about. Hence the scramble towards the military style weapons I suppose. I can't blame them. In a large city I expect there to be massive looters. But in that group of looters will be honest people trying to live just like you. It disturbs me to read about those that intent to shoot everyone that gets close to their lawn. Will there be armed thugs as most discribe? Probably. But let us look at the makeup of these "thugs". Most common criminals are at heart cowards. I doubt many will group together and charge your home exchanging gunfire as most discribe. To my way of thinking they would high tail it for the hills after the first ones head explodes. Most criminals would rather forage in safety that get killed for a can of soup.
I have stocked up on survival books dedicated for the type of area in which I live. This also included books on wild edible plants that grow around here. I make it a point to map out which hills have year around water sources. I try to stockpile equipment as money allows. I am far from satisfied with what I have so far. Much more is needed. But I have the very basics right now.
I am not a professional survivalist. Probably wouldn't be able to survive any real length of time in the wild on my own. I'd like to think I could make it at least one week. That is an honest amount of time to give a hot spot time to cool off a bit or perhaps some form of help to arrive or sanity to restore itself.
I watch the happenings during the Katrina disaster. For those that were not flooded out survival sould not have been that big of an issue in my opinion. With a little notice and $50.00 I could have come up with enough to get through a week or even two without much issue. A bathtub full of water, plus extra jugs. A big cooler full of ice will keep food cold for almost a week if kept out of the sun. A freezer full of frozen food to eat before it thaws (cook on a charcoal BBQ or a homemade one) and when thats gone a few gallon cans of chile, hominey or just plain cooked beans would get ya though. Eat good and keep a dependable shotgun handy. For those that left their homes or were forced out, they were the ones that took it tough.