Those recommendations are nothing new at all, except I've never seen the time frames broken down like that.  Usually I see that everyone should have 6 month's worth of cash set aside for emergencies, and that seems reasonable.  I'd think even dual-income households should put that much away, assuming they can afford to.

Me?  I'm not doing much of anything to prepare for a recession, but that's only because I've got so little money to work with.  But for argument's sake, if I did I'd be stocking up on non-perishable foods and other household consumables (like shampoo, soap, and the like) to hedge against inflation.  And I'd do that right now, because inflation is already getting bad.  Christ, a little thing of cream cheese is over $5, and that's outrageous!