Sorry, I read "take" in a different way than you had intended.
I think the zombie appocolypse thing is fun fiction; however, I see holding some shiny metal for economic downturns as real.
Having a long term quantity of food is tough because you have to rotate stock to keep it fresh. Shiny metal has no shelf life. No waste, spoilage, or eating really bad food on a regular basis to not have loss by expiration.
I was really trying to keep the discussion on economics, not of prepping for a total societal breakdown. I suppose you could make the argument that by holding a large quantity of food you are removing yourself from the economic activity.
To keep it in economic terms and go back to bitcoin. Here is the good and bad of things discussed.
Bitcoin. I am not sure what value this has for any situation other than an absolute speculation. It only has value as people believe it has value. This is true of everything other than hard goods except that bitcoin has no backing to help with confidence. A mild economic disturbance such as a recession or a large paper money decline might push this much higher. I would worry about government intervention if it becomes an actual store of wealth.
Gold Is a great store of value with a moderate collapse. Think economic and not governmental. It may not be bad to hold as an investment and would surely rise in a large economic crisis. The disadvantage is storing it safely and even though it has value bartering with gold would not be easy. Keeping large quantities of gold is usually held in trust and I would not be sure of the safety of your holdings with a big economic collapse.
cash. Probably the best and easiest store for value as long as the government holds firm. The downside is holding a fairly large supply of cash does cost in the time value of that money. I would hold nothing but US cash. If the government is falling or we have huge runaway inflation we have a lot of serious problem that nothing we hold will help.
Food. The toughest store of value to maintain and hold. It is the best if we get to a barter economy a very unlikely event for more than a short time. It would be easily bartered. Buying the prepper pack is not real cheap but does give you catastrophic insurance for quite some time. I have eaten enough backpacker meals to know that it is actually not bad, but not what I would plan for dinner.
what I hold
Bitcoin....No way do I speculate on ones and zeroes. I value my capital too much for that much risk
gold. I hold none as an investment and would have some as jewelry. My main investment strategy has been a broad based stock portfolio thinking that this is the most likely way to real wealth.
cash. With today's economy I have very little cash on hand. A few tanks of gas and a bit of food at most. I actually think keeping some around is a good idea and with this thread may get a small stash. After all it is making all of 0.1% in my savings account. Pretty cheap insurance against a short crisis.
Food. We have a large supply of food in the basement via canned goods. It has not accumulated for crisis reasons but due to good sales and we use it. Can goods last 5 yrs and I cannot pass up a bargain. The good part is my family could live for months on the canned goods and if we have electricty I could go much longer due to a full freezer.
Cash