The "preppers" I was alluding to were the TV types, who are building the elaborate bunkers and stockpiling weapons and ammo in addition to food and other supplies, with the idea that civilization will totally implode and they'll be fighting off their neighbors - in other words, the wack jobs.

Preparation for reasonable expectations, as you describe, makes a lot of sense. Live in a hurricane area? Good idea to keep some food, etc. in the car - and maybe some 5-gallon gas cans in the garage. Live in a tornado area? Having a stocked storm shelter buried in the yard makes sense.

I'm lucky, I live in a heavily populated area where severe weather isn't very likely. As a result, we put some water and snacks and blankets in the car for winter (unexpected snow strandings), and we routinely keep about a week's worth of food in the house (and some extra fuel for my backpacking stoves!) - the longest power outage we've ever had was 4 days. I also bought my wife a WM Mitylite sleeping bag (which also gets used when all the kids and grandkids come home, as spare bedding.) First aid kits in each car, along with some basic tools (screwdriver and mini-socket sets) pretty well fill our needs.

And, to be honest, I've thought about taking out a couple of the neighbors from time to time - but that had nothing to do with Doomsday.