Only you can decide if staying put when the manure hits the fan makes sense.  Clearly, if your home is rendered structurally unsafe in the disaster or outside elements are forcing you out, then bug.  Also, if you plan to stay entrenched, then you must also be prepared to defend your castle.  Make no mistake; if your domicile is equipped to ride out the coming Apocalypse then others will want to invade.

The single most important thing you need to survive in any disaster is your sense of self reliance.  Unlike the Mennonites and Amish, you English depend on the government and corporations for all of your needs.  You’ve become so divorced from your own survival that it will be hard to imagine a world without a power grid, city water and sewer, garbage pickup, grocery stores, gas stations, etc.  If you think that you will be able to start up a magical generator, pop open a can of spam and your life will go on with just a bit of a speed bump, then what is coming will be a very rude awakening.

There’s no way you can truly know how you will react when the world ends, but that doesn’t mean you can’t plan for it.  Over the next several weeks Darwin Law and I will give you information that could help ensure your survival; it’s up to you how you use it.  I recommend picking a weekend each season and doing a bit of “house camping”.  Turn off the circuit breaker, turn off the water, break out the candles and the crank radio and see if you can make it to Sunday.  Your house has several advantages over “the road”.  Most importantly, it’s yours; you know it and you have more control over it than any other environment.

Since you have decided to stay put, we will assume your home still qualifies as suitable shelter.  Provided that you are not exposed to the elements, we can move on to the important considerations of food, water, and security.  Before planning how you will meet these needs you must first have a firm grasp of what your needs are.  For each person in the home you will need roughly one gallon of drinking water each day.  Since you probably don’t have an extra room you can devote to storing water jugs, this means having a way of obtaining and purifying water.  You will also need non-perishable food and perhaps the means to grow your own fresh food depending on your situation.  The average man will need roughly 2500 calories per day and the average woman will need approx. 1600 based on height, weight, age and activity level.  I suggest you look up one of the many sites that can help you calculate your specific requirements before the internet comes to a crashing halt. As for security, you need to make sure that no one can enter your home without your knowledge and consent.  As Darwin so elegantly illustrated in his article, the means of your defense should be dictated by your actual skill level.  Now is not the time to play ninja if your only black belt is made of patent leather.  Also resist the urge to run out and try to get your hands on assault weapons that can fire dozens of rounds per minute.  Not only will it get you on a watch list, but bullets aren’t free or magically self replicating.  Something as simple as a machete may be enough to help with the yard work now and save your life later.

Stay tuned for such useful tips as how to purify collected rainwater, how to host a dinner party with canned ham and sterno, and butter churning for young urbanites.  Together we will find a way through.