Bump that.
The whole “it’s SHTF/TEOTWAWKI, flee to the countryside” notion is rank ignorance.
1. There’s a whole lotta people doing the same thing.
You won’t be the only one thinking “get outta Dodge”.
You won’t be the only one on the gridlocked roads.
You won’t be the only one finding the hard way that walking all day out of the city only gets you to a different part of the city (a 15 minute drive is an all-day walk).
And by the end of the day you won’t be anywhere that isn’t already overpopulated by like-minded but under-equipped refugees.
2. When you finally get to the rural areas you had in mind, and have somehow out-run & out-traveled most of the refugees and zombies, you’ll find that it’s still more densely populated than you expect, and the residents dug in, prepared, informed, and fiercely territorial. All that land belongs to _somebody_ - even if “owned” via “possession is 9/10ths of the law”. For context, consider: people who move into a rural area discover that it can take _ten_years_ to achieve acceptance by the locals; random strangers setting up camp without permission should not expect friendly accommodation.
3. Even if you can get to your chosen target location, and don’t have a problem with the locals in doing so ... now what? Short of having your own well-maintained well-stocked cabin, you’ve only got what you brought with you - and you just used up 2/3rds of it getting there. Great, now you’ve “made it” with 1 MRE left and a tarp for shelter. You have no refrigeration (short of northern winters), which wouldn’t do much good if you had it ‘cuz the big game population just went to 0 in 2 days flat thanks to everyone else doing the same as you. Yes maybe you’ll survive. Go watch every episode of _Survivorman_ and learn the core lesson: yeah you’ll get by for a week, but you won’t _eat_.
There is only one place for you to go: home. The “high-mobility 72 hour kit”, aka “Bug-Out-Bag” (BoB), is for you to get there. It better be ready for off-the-grid operation.
What is always a risk is localized disturbances. Here in CA, the "big one" (earthquake) will happen eventually. There might be extensive destruction. Roads will be damaged, so we won't be driving anywhere. The vast majority of us urban dwellers have no outdoor survival skills, so a long trek into the "country" won't enhance our long-term prospects.
I think the best preparation is to keep some stocks of extra food and ammo. If mobs start pillaging the neighborhood, be prepared to resist with deadly force. Make yourself a hard target, and they will likely move on to find an easier target. Hold out for a few days and wait for order to be restored.
Precisely. My kit is dsigned to get me out of a 'problem' area and back home - which is in fact out in the countryside. I'm fortunate that the semi-industrial area in which I work has multiple navigable back road routes out while driving is still practical. And once I'm home, we're not going to be taking in strays, if you know what I mean.
In any case, I'm watching for signs. At the first hint of real trouble - like the declaration of a 'bank holiday', for example - I'll be calling in 'sick'. Or excusing myself from my desk and promptly heading home. Why wait for it to get worse? The folks who live in urban areas, well...
Most of them are monkeys who will be wondering what to do well past the time that the gov't pellet-dispensing machine shuts down.