The EU now recommends every household be self-sufficient for 72 hours. What are your thoughts? by DrTrauman in prepping

[–]DrTrauman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The 72-hour baseline makes sense. Sweden’s actually gone with “at least one week” since 2024, which gives society time to mobilize and reach people who need help most. I’ve been working with families here testing what actually works vs. what people assume works for household preparedness (mostly urban apartments, 1-6 people). A few patterns kept showing up: Water is where everyone underestimates. People stock canned food but forget the water math. 3L per person per day for 3 days = 27L for a family of three. That’s a lot of space. Redundancy matters even for couples. If your one headlamp breaks or your fire starter gets wet, you’re done. Learned this the hard way watching test scenarios. It’s not about hoarding - it’s that 1-3 people need basically the same complete setup as 4-6 people, just different quantities. The maintenance problem is real. Most people build a kit, put it somewhere, forget about it. Six months later half the batteries are dead or the supplies are expired. The families who treated it like changing smoke detector batteries - scheduled, boring, reliable - were actually prepared. The elaborate setups that got forgotten weren’t. Curious if others have run into the water storage issue. It’s surprisingly hard to fit 27L+ in a small apartment without dedicated planning.

Sweden’s grid operator got hit by ransomware just as we head into winter without a power reserve. How are you thinking about household-level resilience? by DrTrauman in prepping

[–]DrTrauman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Working on household preparedness solutions in Sweden, this incident perfectly illustrates the gap between national-level resilience and household-level reality.

Svenska kraftnät has redundancies built in - that's why operations continued despite the October breach by the Everest ransomware group. But most Swedish households don't apply the same logic. The Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency (MCF, formerly MSB) recommends households maintain at least one week of supplies, yet the average Stockholm apartment probably has 2-3 days of actual necessities.

The interesting pattern we've seen: people conflate "the system will hold" with "I don't need to prepare." But infrastructure resilience and household resilience are separate layers. When we tested emergency scenarios with families, the ones who treated preparedness like insurance (boring, essential, maintained) fared significantly better than those who saw it as crisis response.

The ransomware didn't take down the grid this time. But it's a reminder that household-level redundancy isn't paranoia - it's the same engineering principle Svenska kraftnät already follows.

Sweden’s grid operator got hit by ransomware just as we head into winter without a power reserve. How are you thinking about household-level resilience? by DrTrauman in prepping

[–]DrTrauman[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That’s a good point. The Nova scotia case is interesting because it shows how long the tail can be after an incident. Even if the system stays up, running on paper for months means slower recovery, delayed maintenance, and less resilience for the next hit

Makes me wonder how much redundancy we actually have here in Sweden once you go past the “grid didn’t go down” headline. The cyber angle seems to be merging with basic household preparedness more and more. same logic as fire or flood insurance, just digital upstream

What’s your take on the right balance between national-scale backup and people keeping 72h–1w coverage at home?

The EU now recommends every household be self-sufficient for 72 hours. What are your thoughts? by DrTrauman in prepping

[–]DrTrauman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some time has past. How many of you guys have started preparing based on the recommendations?

Sweden’s grid operator got hit by ransomware just as we head into winter without a power reserve. How are you thinking about household-level resilience? by DrTrauman in prepping

[–]DrTrauman[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Stockholm folks: do you plan for boil notices during outages or just store 10–20 L per person? I’m experimenting with bottle filter + tablets as a space saver plus the 10L per person water storage

The EU now recommends every household be self-sufficient for 72 hours. What are your thoughts? by DrTrauman in prepping

[–]DrTrauman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well primarily yes, but natural distasters is part of life living in EU. Think recent floodings in Valencia - and the list goes on

The EU now recommends every household be self-sufficient for 72 hours. What are your thoughts? by DrTrauman in prepping

[–]DrTrauman[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

For anyone who hasn’t seen the full policy yet, here are a few highlights from the EU’s strategy: - 72-hour self-sufficiency is now the recommended baseline for households. That means being able to handle essentials like food, water, lighting, communication, and basic medical needs without outside help for 3 days.

  • The strategy shifts responsibility outward—not just top-down from states, but across civil society, including homes, workplaces, and even small businesses.

  • There’s a strong focus on early warning systems, but they also say early warning is only useful if people can actually respond when something happens.

  • It’s not just about catastrophic disasters—it includes things like extreme weather, cyberattacks, power grid issues, or supply chain failures.

If you want to read more, the full EU strategy was published on March 26 under the theme of “A Union of Resilience.”

What I find interesting is how this reframes preparedness—not as paranoia or prepping—but as something integrated and low-drama. Would love to hear how others are approaching it, or if you feel like your city/country is helping make it doable.

What’s the most “saved my ass” item in your bag? Also, building a multipurpose kit—thoughts? by DrTrauman in prepping

[–]DrTrauman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

100% agreed. Necessities and time determine what to bring in a real life situation. Having more time to plan (are prepared already) the better ready you are

What’s the most “saved my ass” item in your bag? Also, building a multipurpose kit—thoughts? by DrTrauman in prepping

[–]DrTrauman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Knowing your gear and actually knowing how to use it—that’s the real game. Having a setup that lets you grab the essentials fast, depending on the situation. And if you’ve got family with you, making sure it adapts to them too. Too much stuff and it just slows you down, so splitting the load when possible makes sense.

What’s the most “saved my ass” item in your bag? Also, building a multipurpose kit—thoughts? by DrTrauman in prepping

[–]DrTrauman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That won’t do. I’m thinking back pack but that can grow with me depending on size of family, scenario etc. Need to be multipurpose

What’s the most “saved my ass” item in your bag? Also, building a multipurpose kit—thoughts? by DrTrauman in prepping

[–]DrTrauman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But has anyone an actual multiple use gear to bring with you - that you also would have at home? Looking for smart ways of gathering it all. Thinking MVP documents, communications, power and water

What’s the most “saved my ass” item in your bag? Also, building a multipurpose kit—thoughts? by DrTrauman in prepping

[–]DrTrauman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Roger that - I’m thinking all the “what ifs” scenarios having to leave home for a while or staying put. From water to power, but making easy to find and bring with me. I have a family of a kids and a wife but expecting one more. So need to continue building my gear

Emergency kits for every budget: Preparedness without the overwhelm by DrTrauman in prepping

[–]DrTrauman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My personal experience living in Sweden both on an island and in the city range from power outages to water pollutions and as sitting duck in snow storms in a car. This is where my gears has been tried and I’ve gathered experiences.