If the scenario is an upset that lasts for months a much greater effort is required.
There is much wisdom here. What, and how, you "prep" has to do with what you are going to prepare for, and how long it lasts.
"Preparing for everything, for months" is great if you can do it. But what's realistic? What's likely to actually happen? Can you afford to buy the right property and invest in a significant infrastructure on it?
If there is an EMP event, I submit it is likely that even the most sturdy "prepper" is going to be hurting. All kinds of critical infrastructure is likely to be wiped out. The odds of not having something you need (water, medicine) is fairly great. Kudos if you can out-think everything. But nobody in the US has been put to that test. Ever.
Anything else is likely to be regional; even war, to an extent. As long as you can drive -- or even walk -- to somewhere else, you can get by until things improve.
In my case, we had two events in my lifetime. One was a devastating flood. But, it was hit and miss. I lived on the high ground and was largely unaffected. I even had power. Thousands were not. But, they went to Red Cross shelters and within a week, things were normal enough that everyone could go home. Including folks like me that volunteered a bit.
In the other case, we had a freak accident that crippled the local AC power for about three days. The whole town was affected, about 100,000 people.
Well, we all ate up our refrigerated stuff pretty fast. But, as long as you could drive, or even walk, to the next county, your life was more or less normal. You could get food, water, whatever you needed.
For my two actual events, then, all I needed for "prep" was a bank account with a little cash in it. And, barely that. I didn't even have to leave home. Maybe a working bicycle is the best prep for anything short of EMP?
Some of this is a health statement. If I were diabetic or needed dialysis, a lot of these scenarios, the ones involving very long term outages means I have to refugee somewhere fast or else simply die. If you are a regular person, then a six month shelter is fine; you can stand having your generator break down for a day or two. But, if you have problems like diabetes or dialysis, your margin for error is much less. Being a refugee makes a lot more sense if it is available to you.
To me, "prepping" is about a situation so dire that being a refugee is impossible. Being a refugee really sucks -- you have to depend on the kindness (however well or ill organized) of strangers. But, it seems to work surprisingly well.
The only scenario I can identify that probably doesn't allow one to be a refugee is the EMP event and I'm dubious if anyone can prepare well enough for that one. All you need to do is neglect
one thing -- or have it spoil or something -- and you're no better off than anyone else. But, it's a free country -- try if it is important to you.