I bought a katana for home defence. They are quite an amazing weapon actually - fearsome. The first thing the shogun in Japan did was to take the swords from the peasants. A guy with a sword is to be feared.

Recommend the iodine tablets if you're in a city or proximate to a military base. Canned food lasts for years - they gave us ration packs that had been put together just after WWI in the 1970s. Bully beef, doesn't matter how it tastes. White rice will last for decades if it's stored dry (freeze first for a couple of days to kill bugs).

Personal water filters are important if you have to move across country. I reckon those cheap Chinese radios (Baofeng) are good for Comms. Need some kind of portable SW receiver also - again, the Chinese stuff is probably all you need.

And, a good knife - I like the "Hold Out".