Gear Patrol

While we don’t expect the world to end this Friday, the possibility does make us think about how we’d want to face it.

As social animals entangled in our web of formal and informal, obligatory and optional, pleasant and painful, the question of who’s brain would we like to crack open (not in the zombie way) just before we’re done for good is a complicated one. Each of our proposed companions offers something in the face of terminal adversity — perspective, redemption, reflection, levity, pathos.

There are a number of different ways to use your final hours on this earth: You could scramble for last-minute supplies, or put the finishing touches on that coffin bunker in the backyard. Pack up and bug out to hopefully greener pastures, perhaps; visit with family and friends for some final goodbyes, if you’re the sentimental type. The way we figure, though, this final Friday affords you the perfect excuse to settle down, put your feet up and enjoy one last drink (or five) and enjoy the show.

So, you’ve been invited to participate in an apocalyptic event? What to wear, what to bring, who to party with; all important decisions. But the really important choice is where you’re going to experience this life-changer (life-ender?). The “where” selection is strongly influenced by what type of apocalypse you’re getting walloped by, and most importantly,…

You don’t have to believe that the end of the Mayan calendar signifies the beginning of the end, you just have to go to your local theater and see how many apocalyptic movies are out. It’s like we want it to happen. Whatever the case, make sure your bug out bag is ready, have ample…

The world isn’t going to end in 2012. But things could still get hairy sometime in the future. So, what would you need to carry on after the grid permanently dissolves? What are the necessities, and how could you improve your chances of accessing them over the long haul? As a team of curious souls, we decided to dive into the brain trust of the unsociably paranoid and prepared — the sharers of secrets across dedicated survival blogs and forums — in search of answers.

Clearly Mayan watchmakers hadn’t cracked the horology of the perpetual calendar complication before their ateliers closed for good. Whether December 21st, 2012 portends an ominous implosion of this rock on which we live, a collapse of civilization or just severe disappointment for the crazies no one knows for sure. But it sure does present a great excuse to stock up on bombproof gear. We’ve got five timepieces to see you through the fire and brimstone — and if the Mayans were wrong, well, you’ve still got yourself a pretty badass watch.