Gun advice from anyone with actual combat experience?

I don't have combat experience so you can take what I say with a grain of salt, but you should do that with all advice on this forum, no matter who claims to have whatever experience.

Flashlight? Common sense says that these are useful. If it's dark, you want to shoot your target. But for home defense, you can just turn on the lights in your home. For farm defense, installing lights on your property will help more than just with defense. I just involved weapon-mounted lights in a recent question of mine. After reading through answers, I will admit that investing in a good strobe light that you carry by hand will be more useful than a weapon mounted light. So don't mount a light on your gun. Install lights around the farm and buy a good handheld strobe light.

Folding stock? I just had one on my AK47 and had to take it off. I installed it because I was in the middle of a Saiga build and couldn't find a decent fixed stock for sale so I went with a Tapco folder. There is ABSOLUTELY no reason to install a folding stock on a rifle unless volumetric storage space is so critical that you can't sacrifice 10 additional inches for a fixed stock. Most fixed stocks will give you better ergonomics than an unfolded folding stock and you will not be capable of firing accurately with the stock folded. So why get one? It's an additional 1.5 seconds spent to prepare your weapon by having to unfold the stock. In a self defense scenario, that time may be there to sacrifice.

Scope? Unless your preparing to keep the Russian army 150 yards away from your home when communism rises, you don't need a scope with magnification for home defense ranges. And if that was your intention, a SKS won't help much. If you prefer shooting with something like a red dot scope or holographic sight, go for it. It's not easy to install it on that rifle, but you can try it. Everybody has their own preference. Some people just like red dot scopes over traditional iron sights. The only thing I wouldn't like about that is now your gun runs off of batteries.

Sights? I personally do not like the sights that come stock on the SKS and the AK47. I got "young people" eyes but something about that rear sight just makes me dizzy when I'm shooting for a while. I think it's the distance between the rear sight and my eye. Anyway, I installed tech-sights on my AK47 and if I had a SKS I would install them on it as well. I won't comment on any improved or worsened accuracy because it depends on the shooter using the sights. I will say however, that if the SKS sights are just not your cup of tea and you would prefer to not install a battery-ran scope on your gun, Tech-sights provides an alternative that a lot of their buyers approve of.

Bayonet? Yes. Install this on your gun. Another answer already gave good reason for it. Still invest in a nice knife.

Laser? This is useless on a rifle. If you want a red dot on your target, get a red dot scope. You'll aim quicker with it, you can use it when it's bright outside, and it won't give away your position to your target.

Bipod? I'm debating about putting a bipod on my Marlin XT22. I shoot it off a benchrest and a bipod may help steady my aim without the need for the gun-vise I carry to the range. I'm trying to be a more accurate shooter. For a farm defense gun though, a bipod only weighs down your gun and stretches out it's overall length. Don't get it.

In the real world, what matters is common sense. A gun won't save you when you don't have a supply of water. If you are really preparing for doomsday, actually do some preparations. Create plans and make investments based on what satisfies those plans. Having a SKS isn't enough. Think about food, water, shelter, power generation for your shelter, medical kits, camping gear, etc. Being intelligent before and during the crisis will help you more than any gun will.

Leave it as is - stock. You do not hang cr@p on your main rifle unless you already know how to use it. Otherwise all that tacticool stuff just becomes one more thing to get hung up when you need to move fast. Or get in the way.

Flashlight - just gives your position away.

Folding stock - good for the truck - no useful anywhere else

Baynet - having the lug installed is not a big deal - if you like the bayonet that attaches and you carry it on your person. If not - skip it.

Laser - useful if you are the attacker - no so much for the defender unless you can afford one that costs 3x what you SKS does.

Bi-pod - useless for this application

What matters - is having a gun that is safely unloaded when you think it is unloaded. And a full mag handy. The Israeli's make Vertical mag holders for the M16/m4 that do this. You can do the same with the kit that bolts two mags together - keep one unloaded in the gun and the other full ready to go. A few minutes practice - you can get really really good going from cold iron to a hot weapon.

A good collapsible folding stock is nice for customising a rifle to a individual. As another said a bayonets very useful.

I' also invest in at least one sks with a bipod plus optics to extend your defensive perimeter. I'd say up to 4x zoom for your range. You can get foregrips which pop out into a bipod which is good. Additionally if you go ahead with a number of mods a good rail systems useful.

I can't really say for sure about some of this, because so much has changed since my time as a combat infantryman in Vietnam, back in 1970 and '71... Back then we carried basically a "stock" M-16. We carried a bayonet, but it was in a sheath. I don't believe I even mounted it but a few times...and I never actually used a bayonet on my rifle in a hand to hand combat situation, altho I do know some people who did. (But, I'm sure some people would prefer to leave it on an SKS rifle, just because you never know.)... For your SKS rifle, I'd think the flashlight could come in handy, and possibly the laser...but I would not bother with the scope. At combat distances that the SKS is designed for, the scope is really not necessary. It's not considered an accurate long range weapon. The iron sights that come on the SKS rifle will do fine for combat distances... Personally I am not a big fan of folding stocks, but that's just personal opinion. I'm sure they make after market folding stocks for the SKS rifle, but I've never seen one myself here in the states, and would prefer not to have one... A good many of the VC carried SKS rifles, and never once do I recall seeing a scope, or for that matter, a laser, on one... I've seen a few with folding stocks, but not many.... Also, I doubt you would ever need the bayonet (most of them are the "spike" type anyway, but keeping it on or removing it,as I've said earlier, is personal choice, but, either way, I'd still carry a good quality sheath knife of some kind. A knife is always handy for a number of uses, besides just self defense..... A bi-pod, I would not bother for the SKS. Like I say, it is not considered a long range accuracy rifle anyway.... I'd suggest you make sure you have dependable rifles, handguns, and you both are skilled in their use...then stock up on ammo...and if you use magazine-fed handguns, stock up on extra magazines... You might be surprised how they can get dinged up in combat.... And you may even want to consider picking up several dozen stripper clips for your SKS rifles. They make reloading faster than loading each cartridge individually... I'd have flashlights, they are a necessity, I feel, but I don't know that I'd have them mounted on my rifle(s)... They can make it easier for you to see and hit your target, but they will also give an enemy at distance, a clear aiming point..................... As for shooting at distance, I'd go with something along the lines of a good, bolt gun with a scope, perhaps in .308, .30-06, or .270...something common, and "pedestrian", and easy to find ammo for in a tough situation.... In fact, I'd suggest all of your "SHTF" weapons be chambered for easy to find, common cartridges... That nice rifle you have in .25-06 may be a dandy...but in a bad situation you may have a problem finding ammo to feed it...so stay with common chamberings... That's .223, 7.62X39, .308, and .30-06 in centerfire rifles.... .357 Magnum, .38 Special, 9mm Luger, and .45 ACP in handguns, and 12 gauge in shotguns.... And make sure you have a couple of cleaning kits and basic tools.

My wife and I are not actually "preppers", but still we've laid back a couple of SKS rifles... 2 .30 Caliber carbines... 2 .357 Magnum revolvers...and 2 9mm pistols....and 2 pump 12 gag. shotguns...the only gun we had to buy that we did not already have was one of the SKS rifles.... And we have also laid in more than plenty of ammo (I'm just glad we stocked up on ammo about a year ago, and before all this "craziness" started)..... Now the .30 caliber carbines, .357 Mag. revolvers, 9mm pistols, and 12 gag. shotguns, are basically just the way they came when we originally got them, and some of the guns we have had for years...and one of the SKS rifles (my wife's), is original too, altho we removed the spike bayonet...... However, on the other SKS rifle, mine, I also removed the bayonet, and then I replaced the stock with a full-size Ram-Line synthetic stock. It just fit me better.

Sorry to have run so long, but everyone will have their personal ideas, and opinions about how would they prefer things...and those are just mine.

That SKS was designed by people with battle experience.

In general, the less of that cr*p you hang on it, the better off you'll be.

The exception is a dependable sight that you know how to use at

long range, and is 'quick' at close range.

The only thing from your list that is anywhere near important, is a bayonet. There is a valid reason they are still put on military rifles. When you run out of ammo and cannot take the time to reload, then your 8 pound SKS turns into a spear and / or a club.

Meds. Refrig for meds.

No refrig? Uh oh, back to the real world.