[hankpac]

The reason it seems so overwhelming for so many people is because so many DO have to start from scratch. Because they don't camp or hike of have any experience in the outdoors, they have to buy all that stuff since they don't have it (and worse don't know how to use it), Next, they never canned or stored food for two years, as they were growing up, so that is not a part of their lives (we have always canned our garden produce, so we have always had in mind, that it had to be used up and replaced in no more than two years). Since we garden every year, we put up stuff every year, and that means nothing is ever over two years old.
finally, some of the other stuff like generators are just a huge expense to those who don['t camp, since they never use them other wise, but I wear one out about every 5-7 years. We have a 1200 watt and a 7 thousand watt gen-set.
Because we live in the country and always have, we know the power goes out with regularity, and may not come back on for two or three days. Each person living int he house knows how to shut off the water heater, and how to drain all pipes in case of a freeze, and how to run up the RV trailer that we keep stoked and charged up, so we can move into it in moments.
Also, a subject that so many LDS people wont discuss, everyone in the household has their own firearms, knows how to use all the firearms, and can clean load, and do minor repair of all the arms.
many LDS people simply by a packaged two year supply of wheat salt and honey, put it in the garage and never give it another thought.
Finally, the real important issue is that we need to be able to respond to the needs of the community in an emergency. We are going to be looked to for help and assistance, since we are supposed to have it together.
We are not preparing to just ride it out, we are preparing to man the pumps, staff the relief centers, organize the sheltering and feeding of hundreds or thousands, because we are supposed to be informed and prepared to do so.
Instead of worrying about will hordes of people come to my home to take my storage, we should be considering that our local Sheriff will come to your house and ask us to lead a team of neighbors in searching the homes in our block for earthquake survivors, or Asking the Bishop to put together a team of people to staff the kitchen of the relief effort every third day. Not all scenarios are just hunkering it out or running like refugees. We need to be creative, and helpful in maintaining order and restoring the community.
Bet you hadn't thought of that?