As previously mentioned, I don't think whatever happens is going to look like anything that happened before. I think we'll be looking at entirely new crazy.
In any case, I want to be prepared. But how?
Skills. Flexibility. Knowledge. And some hoarding of things... but very selectively.
If anything, America in 2023 is suffering a glut of "stuff". We have stuff coming out of our *ears*. We don't just need 'stuff", we need to think through what we actually use, what we'd use if things got tough, and what comes from places far far away.
You must also consider STORAGE. I live in a small suburban home. Our "storage" is a garage. My "pantry" is variously stashed free-standing closets. I couldn't keep a year's worth of food if I wanted to. (Oh, how satisfying it would be, to fill a pantry with home-canned goodness... but such is not for me, not this year).
So, let's talk categories:
Clothes: I do not think you will lack for clothes. Now, you might lack for clothes without holes in them... because most of the clothes on the market are made as cheaply as possible.
- Sewing Skill: But if you can sew anything, there are enough old tablecloths and duvet covers for you to keep your bits covered. What might you need for a wardrobe, if that end of the supply chain busts? Needles. Pins. Good scissors. Elastic - does everyone remember how we all wanted to sew masks at the beginning of the pandemic and there wasn't enough elastic? Thread. There are actually probably enough sewing machines to go around, if we dig grandma's machine out of the attic. Tailoring supplies, if you know what to do with them.
- Laundering skill: How good are you at keeping things in good shape? Probably better than I am, but I'm better than someone who grew up in the last 20 years.
- Hoard? Socks. Good thick denim pants. (Good luck with finding those in the first place). Shoes - hard wearing, comfortable shoes.
Food: America is a food-producer. Again, I don't think we're going to go hungry... exactly. We might have weird food shortages - very probably randomly and piecemeal. Like the egg thing. Say thank you to God that your veggie capital just got rain. We were just about to cut production, we were so low on water. Now we have some fields underwater, but this is a much better problem to have.
- Cooking skill: But food is likely to become more expensive. So, do you know how to cook? And further, do you know how to cook good food that will feed a pile of people? Guess what, the number of people who actually know what to do with the beans and rice and pasta in their stockpiles (assuming they have any) is a lot smaller than you think. Lots of folks made sourdough pets during the pandemic - and this is a good prep! - but there are far more people who don't know what to do with a bag of flour.
- Personal: I am going to push myself to learn how to make more cheap food, and do it more ways so that I am as flexible and resourceful as possible. Beans, yes. Cornbread - also yes. I should learn to make a decent tortilla or other flatbread... something with basically flour-water-salt-technique. It's easy to be a good cook with great ingredients, it's harder to feed folks a diverse and healthy diet when you don't have much on offer.
- Hoard?: YMMV! I will plan to keep the basics in stock, and well-stocked. Otherwise, spices are important. Cocoa powder? Coffee? Tea? What's imported that you can't live without? That. Hoard that. Probably in your deep freeze, so it stays fresh. Again, who wouldn't like to have freezers full of fresh meat, hooked up to generators "just in case"? But I don't, and I'm not going to pretend that I do.
Tools: I'd hoard these, if anything. But space & flexibility > stash size. Can you sharpen and/or maintain the tools that you have? Do you know how?
Seeds: If you can grow food where you are, hoard the seeds you'll actually use. My buying corn seed was a little silly. It DID grow. About 2 feet tall. Poor corns. If you have a good place to plant a fruit-bearing tree, now is a good time. Well, five years ago was a good time, but now is better than never. Fruit bearing vines, likewise.
Books: I like big books and I cannot lie... and my how-to stash is pretty impressive. History, religious books, how-to-study guides... if there's one scent that's on the wind it's that of "thought control". Moar books.
Community Relationships: Hey, random left turn! But guess what's really important in an emergency? Not worrying about your neighbor shooting you. That's important. If you could, you know, maybe work together with neighbors, wouldn't that be cool?
Other Maintenance Things: Are your cars overdue (or almost due) for service or tires? Keeping that up just makes sense. This falls under "maintaining tools" but I was honestly thinking about shovels at that point anyway, so maybe you were too?
Anyway. I figure the more you know how to do, and the more ways you know how to do that thing, the better off you are. If I can get to the point where water, flour, a couple of cans of beans, a bit of oil and a little salt means my family eats dinner? I win no matter what goes down. The stuff between your ears can be carried anywhere.