Survival kit: what the European Union recommends

What the EU survival kit actually is

The European Union has asked households to be able to look after themselves for at least 72 hours during a crisis: a long power cut, a flood, a water outage or a break in supplies. It is not an official box you buy in one place, it is a household reserve each family puts together at home.

The reasoning matches national civil protection bodies across Europe: in the first hours rescue teams go to whoever is in immediate danger, and everyone else has to manage without running water, without power and with shops closed.

What a 72-hour survival kit contains

Think in needs rather than products. Every need has to be covered even with no electricity and no running water.

• Water: 4 litres per person per day for drinking, cooking and minimal hygiene — 12 litres per person for three days.
• Food: items that can be eaten cold and need no water to prepare, for three days.
• Light: one torch per person plus spare batteries; never candles as the main source.
• Information: a battery or wind-up radio, because mobile coverage fails before your phone battery does.
• Health: personal medication for several days, prescriptions and a basic first aid kit.
• Documents and cash: paper copies of ID, health card and insurance, plus small notes.
• Hygiene and warmth: paper, bin bags, wipes, an emergency blanket and warm clothing.

What it costs and where to start

You do not need to buy everything at once or spend hundreds on a sealed pack. Commercial packs tend to add eye-catching accessories and fall short on the heavy essentials: water and medication.

Start with water and medication, the two things nobody can improvise. Then add light, radio and food. Each small purchase raises your real autonomy, and the PrepKit checklist tells you exactly what is missing for your household.

Common mistakes

Most kits fail for the same reason: they are assembled once and never touched again.

• Storing food nobody in the house eats — it will not be eaten in a crisis either.
• Relying on one phone for torch, radio and documents.
• Forgetting a manual tin opener or a safe stove when the food needs one.
• Never checking expiry dates: set a six-month reminder and rotate what is close to expiring.
• Keeping the kit somewhere unreachable, or where the rest of the family cannot find it.