It depends what the crisis is.
If it's as bad as you're saying, keep in mind that you can't eat gold. If crises are what you're worried about, make sure you have the rest of your situation squared away before you start investing in useless metal.
Gold only has value to people who already have enough of everything they actually need.
That is true. For instance I have a shit load of water and no one can find it, that now become way way more valuable then gold. Where I could trade some water for gold. But I know I wouldn't trade water for any fiat curancy, because if I wanted paper I would ask my printer.
Things like seeds water fule are all good things. But they would be sold for other goods or gold and silver. So if you did find a guy willing to sell some water or food, for a currency it would most likely be some kind of precious metal .