this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2025
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EU tells the public to hold 72 hours of emergency supplies (www.reuters.com)
submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

In fairness, the only thing many people will lack is water. It's not an exclusive stash, but in addition to what's in your cupboards.

You can get 10L or 25L quite cheaply. 1 should do per person, maybe with an extra for cooking. Or just grab some big bottles of water.

A hand cranked flashlight, candles and lighter are all a must anyhow, for a power cut. It might also be worth having a cheap camping stove tucked away.

Food wise. It's just a big bag of pasta or rice, along with some cans/jars to make it pleasant to eat. Throw in some hiking snack bars and you're sorted.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 days ago

72 hours isn't a lot. Many countries strongly suggest having emergency supplies for at least 10 to 14 days.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Be afraid so that we can cut your benefits and you'll forgive us due to nationalism.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Your benefits have been spent to prop up the largest voting demographic. Here is your courtesy response.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Or, we set fire to everything because they tried to cut benefits, so going shopping will be hard.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

They don't really care about that unless it's organized. A few fires here and there is handled by insurance and poses no threat to capital. All the more reason to get organized!

[–] [email protected] 46 points 4 days ago (7 children)

That's cool and all, but where do I put all this shit. I live in a 3 room 60m² apartment with my family of four because of the insane rent. I literally do not have space to hord anything.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

Could you find room for a 20L water can or two? Many are "stackable". That will be more important than a big food cache. The main point isn't "doomsday prep" its for anyone who is able to hold out for a few days. That gives emergency services the space to rescue the truly desperate first.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Well, there's a few, creative ways to do that.

ie, instead of a bed frame, stack canned goods under your box spring.

For water, get Water Bricks, and use them instead of milk crates to build shelving.

Just some ideas.

That said, 72 hrs is like a week of groceries per person, and 14 gallons per person. 14 gallons of water per person sounds like a lot, but you can get creative there with the water carboys stored in "shelving" that supports your TV, for example. Or, Water Bricks like I suggested before.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Water Bricks

TIL that water bricks are a thing and now i feel cheated lol

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I mean, fwiw, I i don't suggest buying them first.... I prefer upcycling 2L soda bottles :)

They are more portable, easier to handle, and not a huge loss when they break.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

but then i couldn't build water brick castles and furniture out of them. lol

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

If you cannot stote 3 days worth of food, my first investment would be a single fridge. Because it can totally hold that much.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Electricity isn't a given during an emergency tho. I think the focus is on non perishables

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

And, if you leave it closed, it's good for 2 days. If you have ice, you can prolong that. If in the NE, you're biggest concern is power outages during winter, in which case, you can put it outside, between October and May.

Good info to have, is all.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Oh, I was just mocking the claim that they can't store 3 days worth of food.

Unless of course they are like 6 people on 60 m², in which case I want to sincerely apologise

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Sorry but I don’t think you understand that there are people out there that don’t have the spare change to buy an extra fridge, bottle of water, and 20 packets of noodles.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

These shouldn't be "extra" really. It should be food you eat already, so it's basically "Keep your pantry stocked" level of "preparing".

And I get it, money is tight. 3 minutes without air 3 hours without shelter 3 days without water 3 weeks without food

Start with water. You can upcycle 2L soda bottles (Rinse them, and don't think about using upcycled milk jugs). And honestly, most Americans are storing 5 days+ of calories right on their bodies.

After water, buy 1 or two extra canned goods each shopping trip. Or a bag of rice. Or a box of Ramen.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It just sounds like ideal world stuff.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Do people generally not have space to keep 7 days of groceries on hand?

I mean, I get some folks are houseless which obvs, they can't do this...

But I am hard pressed to figure how someone can't buy an extra canned good on a shopping trip? That's literally 0.79. 2l bottles of soda aren't things people.buy from time to time? Can't harvest them from recycle buns?

I think a lot of this is looking at the end result, and seeing it to be impossible, because they are trying to eat the elephant in one bit, rather than just one bite at a time...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

It might not be nutritionally optimal or particularly appetising but like 9 cans of tinned meal of your choice will get you through that kind of period and won't take a lot of space.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Survival situation, you can easily get away with 1800 kcal/day. 4 people, 3 days = 21600 kcal.

Rice, mostly starch, around 3600 kcal / kg. So 6 kg for three days. That's 12 western or 0.6 Asian packs. Its like half a cement bag in volume.

Or you can get bulk ramen. A box of ramen has around the same size as that rice above, its 30x360 = 10800 kcal. So needs a bit more space but you can eat it raw!

Most bang for the weight/volume is fat though! Fat stores 7 kcal/g, protein and carbs just 4. And the tastiest way is nuts! So peanut butter for example. Or Snickers. You can also put peanut butter on raw ramen. Get a bag of chips too, you can use them as fire starters!

Don't forget other stuff though:

  • Crank operated radio
  • Combat first aid kit, ideally with Israeli bandages and a tourniquet
  • Power bank with foldable solar panel (+ all the cables you need)
  • Water filter
  • Magnesia fire starter
  • Lighters (plural!)
  • Multitool
  • Compass
  • Cash
  • Paper map of the surroundings
  • Head lamp
  • Bunch of paracord
  • Couple needles
[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Just did the math... a 64oz jar of peanut butter is enough survival calories for 6.75 people for a day. Or, one person, for 6.75 days.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

i'm surprised to learn that they sell bottles of peanut butter that large and disappointment that costco doesn't.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 days ago (1 children)

That sucks, I've been there. I recommend dry, cheap, bulk rice and beans. They are the best in terms of calories per dollar that you can store for a long time. Powdered peanut butter is good too. We used to cook two cups of rice and one cup of beans together in a rice cooker with three cups of water and then season it with whatever cheap dollar store spices we had. Very filling meal. The peanut butter is dessert.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

That's really good advice actually, thanks. And under the bed like the other guy said isn't impossible either.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I would suggest storing some extra water too—It’s likely more important than food—and the good thing is it’s often cheap!

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Under the bed?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago

thats for the dildos and an old box of cables

[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 days ago

The Commission said in its new EU Preparedness Union Strategy that the bloc was preparing for risks […] including the possibility of armed aggression against EU countries.

EU tells the public to hold a 2^nd^ job, private health insurance, and forget about summer holidays.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 days ago (1 children)

That's just good planning. Natural disasters can easily require more than that in supplies. Buying extra cans and a few gallons of water isn't expensive.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Finding a gallon of water might be pretty hard in Europe.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Rain

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I think they mean a 1 or 2 Litre bottle of water, couple bottles of wine and some beer depending on which EU country you are in, wine and beer also count toward calorie count so you need to store less food.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Instead of beer or wine, stock a few bottles of liquor. Vodka, preferably. Whisky works, but not as well. Because you can use it to barter, and as an antiseptic.