This topic is more Cafe topic than General Flashlight discussion.
It boils down down to two factors:
1) Psycology- Amongst other things, we Brits are (to massively generalise) optimistic whereas the Americans (to continue the generalisations) tend to be more pessimistic. The culture of self-sufficiency/self preservation seems to be much stronger in the States, look at the number of "Recommend me a light for my home defence assault weapon" posts that come up.
2) Need- We don't have the vast distances and/or frequent extreme weather events you get across the US, so people are 'reluctant' to spend money/thought on investing in useful skills/gear. As a nation, I also don't think we're quite as gear obsessed as they are on the other side of the pond.
Personally, I spend most of my life in the car with the current job, the 'kit' is more for day to day survival than Armageddon. Glovebox has a basic First Aid Kit, ZL SC600 with film canister diffuser, hand sanitiser, spare cigarette socket to USB charger, ML103 charger, thin PU coated gloves for all things engine/greasy/muddy, couple of cereal bars.
In the back is waterproof rucksack with waterproofs, thick fleece, beanie hat, thermal gloves, neck warmer, folding saw, Leatherman, couple more cereal bars, Fenix LD20 and a pair of boots- have you ever tried walking any kind of distance in formal shoes!? None of this 'stuff' has been bought specially for the purpose, but I feel it's more use in the car than cluttering up shelves at home.
I also have various socket sets/screwdrivers/jump leads/snow shovel/tools, but they're samples to show to clients, besides, I probably wouldn't be able to fix the car myself, that's what the RAC membership's for
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There are some great posts tailored towards UK survival on BushcraftUK.com, I really like the laid back, common sense approach from people who have a lot more field experience than I do.
Essexman: I'm sorry for your loss, it's easy to think that these things only happen to people we don't know.