As I've thought more and more about saying "**** it" to the current situation, I've been thinking about getting away from the city, buying some land, building a little cabin, having some livestock and a garden and going off grid. Doing it by yourself in our (relatively) stable current atmosphere is fine but what about if the shit really hits the fan? Obviously there's safety (and distribution of work) in numbers, but it brings its own set of disadvantages. How would you view forming a community after the collapse?
In this scenario, I assume that there will be large bodies of people fleeing the cities,naturally desperate and most will be armed with small arms or crude hand weapons and heavy weapons will be few or non-existent.
Here's how I define the choices:
Kibbutz: A centralized village where most people live surrounded by outlying fields for grazing or planting. Provides a limited area for defense, meaning the ability to build defensive fortifications and mutual support is close at hand in the event something goes wrong. Naturally provides the ability to defend in a siege, the downside being of course, the community would lose its fields and anything it couldn't get inside the wall. Stockpiles must be continually rotated to provide sufficient non-spoiled stores. History shows being on the receiving end of a siege is not fun with starvation and disease claiming many lives, but a covered defense from height is one of the best positions. If the community is willing to turn to scorched earth to deny supplies to an attacker, proper planning can enhance the ability to outlast the besieger.
Homestead: A small central community area but homes are spread over a large area on each family's individual plot of land. Mutual support is possible but may be delayed by distance. The central "village" may be fortified but as most people live outside of it, space will be at a premium. Generally there would be no other substantial defenses outside what individual families could provide for their homes, but the dispersal of forces would necessarily weaken those defenses. Stockpiles of supplies would need to be maintained by both the community and each homestead. Otherwise similar to the above scenario.
Isolationist: Just as it sounds, on your own or with your immediate family and all the drawbacks that entails. Small numbers require more work per person as well as decreased security abilities.