With the release of Ted Koppel's book “Lights Out,” which details how vulnerable our grid is to a cyber attack and potentially weeks, even months of power disruptions, being survival oriented is suddenly becoming the “new thing.”

For those of us who have always believed in being prepared for SHTF moments or survival situations, this is long overdone, but let's face it, some of us can tend to go overboard, and some can prepare for over-the-top situations that frankly just are not realistic.

If the earth is hit by a gargantuan asteroid that wipes out most life and makes the planet uninhabitable, for example, that bunker that some of you spent tons of cash on is really just a holding tank for the inevitable.

There is a fine line between overdoing it and preparing adequately.

On the next page, we ask some questions that will help you gauge if you are firmly in the realm of the latter or approaching the former.

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