Musings on preparedness and what that will entail

In case some of you have missed it , im a big advocate of being prepared , no matter what the situation. maybe thats the old boy scout in me i dont know , could be its the conservative prudent side of me.
Before one starts to prepare , one has to think about what are they preparing for,what do they think they will need , what will they actually need , and what is the short and long range goals of whatever plans that are formulated.
I am no expert in the field of telling people what they should and should not have , and what plans they should make. but i am (i hope ) gifted with some common sense. so with that said remember , any suggestions i make , are strictly a matter of opinion , and i think staying with the basics, is prudent for myself at least, and any plans one makes can be as simple or complex as they choose to make them.
I also wont go into detail of the how toes and where of of specifics of planning , there are any number of internet sites , that have training information , lists of things they reccommend.
so lets look at what a preparedness plan actually is , in its most basic and fundimental form, it is for survival, plain and simple , to be able to make it through any particular situation.but what is needed for survival? the basics would be of course shelter , food , and protection, shelter , is usually covered by ones home , but what happens if your home is not available for some reason? do you have a place you can go? and is that place someplace that someone else may be thinking of using as a back up for themselves as well?
Ok next is food , this can get as simple or as complicated as one wants, we have all seen the availability of so called "survival " supplies , prepackaged in neat little packges , if you do your home work you will find , that you can usually get away with a good stock of canned goods , a few dry ingriedients , and particulars that you fancy ,the important thing will be potable water , meaning drinking water, we can go a few days hungery , but we dont last long without that basic nesessity of life.remember , you may not be able to just run down to the local store , and pick up a case of bottled water,or food. and there is no guarentee that anyone will be bringing you any either.and living "off the land " may not exactly be an option either.the desision on how much to stock is entirely up to the individual , because you are the ones that will need to determine what is needed, and that will depend on the situation.You may need to be prepared for as little as a few days , and for as long as it takes for things to return to normal.
Now , if you have planned for shelter and food , you have also protected yourself from the elements , and from starvation, but that is not the protection i listed last, and this is a very touchy subject , and requires some thought on your part, because different areas , have different laws , and even different views on what this portion will encompass. personal security , is something a person should at least give a thought to beforehand , because once in the sitution , its kind of late to be thinking ,ok how to i make sure , that i can keep what i have to survive , from those that may not have had the foresight to preplan. A very good example is to look what happened during Hurricane Katrina , how would you avoid what happened there? do you have the skill sets to impliments what would be needed to survive in that situation? the supplies? or even the will to do what may , or may not have to be done? if not , its highly recommended you start learning what you need to know. beforehand, because if you are thrust into the situation and have to learn as you go, chances are the mistakes made then , could be costly , in the sense it could cost you your life. where as , if you have tried some of your plans out and tested them , and found out what works and what doesnt , it greatly increases the chances your preparedness plan will sucseed.
As i stated , these are to get you , the reader to think , and some of you may have already thought some of this through and have it already committed , but for those of you that havent, its not too late yet to start thinking and get some plan at least formulated, and to get educated and ready.