this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2025
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More is better. Dry pasta and white rice store very well for carbs and don't take up a ton of space.
I have a 14-day supply of freeze-dried food under my bed. In an emergency, finding sufficient water to reconstitute it would be the main concern.
But three days? Like, what is that accomplishing? I decided to go off grid after the 2021 ice/snow storm wherein the Texas grid nearly collapsed. Some in Austin retained power the whole time (helps to live near a hospital), while load shedding forced the rest of us to go without power for a week.
We didn't get anywhere near to above freezing for days (highs around 18F/-8C). I survived by boiling ice and snow on my gas stove that I had to light with a match at that point. I was able to maintain indoor temps above 40F/4C that way and had sufficient blankets to survive, but this is not a standard threshold.
One starts to rethink reliance on the grid at that point.
Three days is the (generously calculated) time until civil defence will have soup kitchens up and running, and at least over here they stock three months worth of lentil stew, pea stew, and bread and more than enough diesel to keep logistics, kitchens and crucial infrastructure such as water pumps running. Heating, push come to shove, would be supplied at the gymnasium of your local school or suchlike. Recommendation is to have 7-10 days worth of stock.
But yes I'd recommend against (completely) relying on stocks that need preparation because electricity and water might fail. Canned soups and stews are good and don't forget canned peaches or such so you can have dessert. Woodgas burners are cheap camping supplies and you're bound to be able to find some sticks somewhere so with some water reserve you even can have your morning coffee.
Wonder if that's still true with the budget cuts to FEMA here in the US.
I was in Houston for hurricane Ike. We had trees down all around making the roads impassible for a few days, so having a few days of food was enough for us to get them cut and moved enough to go anywhere. 3 days is also enough to get food/water distributions or drops set up. It's basically enough to get out of needed or to get by until distribution logistics are in place. If bombings start, your stash could go up in smoke so 3 days or 30 wouldn't really matter as much as a go-bag with more compressed calorie bars or something.
Ah, and yes to not relying on the grid. Now, I have a battery backup that can run my well pump or keep the fridges going and recharges with solar. We have a cannister gas stove and a charcoal grill. I have a kerosene stove and several litres of fuel around for the colder months as well, but I think some of that is hard for those in small apartments and the like.
I've been on solar since 2023. My heater is Diesel powered, and I have a store of that, but below freezing, despite my insulation, I flee to other situations. Thankfully, a friend was willing to let me crash on the air mattress in his garage for this year's Arctic blast. Never thought I'd see that as an upgrade, but I was able to place the space heater so that it was blowing at the bed.
Even with 600Ah of LFP, running an 1800W resistive heater is not a solution. It was nice not to have to worry about freezing to death.
The problem is water. It takes up a lot of space and potentially goes bad within a week.