UK & EU edition · Ebook, paperback & printable pack
The EODSurvival 72-Hour Household Plan
The UK household plan for getting through three days without power, water or shops, without overbuying, guesswork or prepper clutter.
You know you should probably have some kind of emergency setup at home.
Maybe you already do. A few bottles of water in a cupboard. Some tins. A torch somewhere. A power bank you last used on holiday. A first-aid kit you haven't opened in years.
But if somebody asked you right now:
"Is your household actually covered for 72 hours?"
Could you answer with confidence?
And perhaps most importantly: do you know when you've got enough?
That's where most emergency-kit advice falls short. It gives you more things to buy. It rarely gives you a clear way to decide what your household actually needs.
The UK Government's Prepare campaign asks every household to think about what it would need to get through an emergency "lasting a few days, such as a power cut or water outage". In 2025 the European Commission went further and recommended that people across the EU be able to cope on their own for at least 72 hours.
Power cuts, storms, floods, water-supply failures and winter blackouts aren't rare events in Britain and Europe. They're the disruptions ordinary households are most likely to face.
The question isn't whether to prepare. It's how to do it sensibly, without spending a fortune or filling the house with gear.
The 72-hour figure isn't a prepper invention. It is now mainstream government advice on both sides of the Channel.
Sources: UK Government Prepare · European Commission preparedness guidance. Independent guidance, not a government-endorsed publication.
A torch is an object. Lighting is a capability.
Bottled water is an object. Reliable drinking water is a capability.
A power bank is an object. Keeping essential devices working is a capability.
Once you start thinking in capabilities instead of products, your decisions get much easier. You stop asking "Should I buy this?" and start asking "What problem does this solve, and is that problem already covered?"
That one shift exposes the gaps generic checklists hide:
Preparedness becomes far more useful when the priority is the function, not the product.
This plan is general household preparedness information, not medical, legal or professional advice. Follow official guidance from GOV.UK, your local authority and the emergency services, and the manufacturer's instructions for any equipment you use. It is not a substitute for emergency services — in an emergency, call 999.
A plan, not a shopping list
Most people start by shopping. This plan starts by deciding. Four simple tests (consequence, substitution, dependency and usability) sort the true essentials from nice-to-have gear, and show you what you already own that can do the job. A family with a baby, a pet or someone on regular medication doesn't need the same kit as one adult in a flat, and the plan works from your real household.
“We’ve got some water” isn’t a plan. You’ll calculate your household’s drinking water, usable meals, lighting, backup power, warmth, hygiene and personal needs for 72 hours, then subtract what you already have.
For two adults at 3 litres each per day, three days means 18 litres of drinking water. If you already have 12, your problem isn't “buy emergency water”. Your problem is six litres.
That is drinking water only. Calculate extra water separately for cooking, basic hygiene, pets, baby feeding and specific medical needs.
The torch is flat. The batteries are in another drawer. The power bank is in someone's work bag. The emergency numbers are only on a phone. The supplies exist, but the system doesn't. You'll organise by function, label for darkness and stress, separate your home supplies from a grab bag, and set a simple twice-yearly review so the kit stays ready.
From the first decision to the first hour
From deciding what matters, to calculating exact quantities, to a kit anyone in the house can find in the dark.
Planning for flats and family houses, renters and homeowners, using guidance from GOV.UK, the Food Standards Agency and UK utility services.
Why most gas central heating stops in a power cut, the one-warm-room method for winter blackouts, and how to keep a home cool in a heatwave.
How long your fridge and freezer really stay safe, what to eat first, and how to cook safely (or not at all).
Clear, numbered steps for a power cut, a water outage, a flood, being told to leave home, a heatwave and a winter blackout. Stick them inside a cupboard door.
The numbers and services worth knowing before you need them: 105 for power cuts in Great Britain, the Priority Services Register, Emergency Alerts, Floodline and gas emergencies, with notes for readers elsewhere in Europe.
Completion plan, household quantity sheet, power budget, emergency contacts, grab bag checklist and a readiness review log.
Every worksheet and action card as a separate, branded A4 PDF. Print copies for your own household as often as you like, and reprint whenever your household changes.
Real pages from the plan.
It isn't for you if you're looking for bunkers, bug-out vehicles or wilderness survival. This is a calm, practical plan for real homes.
One household plan. Two ways to keep it.
Both formats are available now. The ebook downloads instantly; the paperback is printed to order and posted from the UK.
£12.99
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The worksheets, checklists and action cards are digital downloads, not printed in the paperback. Both formats include the printable pack.
BookVault UK estimates supplied on 12 October 2026. Available services and the final charge depend on your destination and are confirmed at checkout. Postage is additional to the £14.99 paperback price; these estimates do not apply to delivery outside the UK.
Paperbacks are printed to order and fulfilled by BookVault. Standard production is estimated at 5–7 working days before dispatch. UK delivery then depends on the shipping service chosen, typically another 1–5 working days. These are estimates, not guaranteed arrival dates; the exact postage cost is calculated at checkout by destination.
EODSurvival (trading name), 61 Bridge Street, Kington, HR5 3DJ, United Kingdom. Questions, cancellations and refunds: admin@eodsurvival.com. Full cancellation details are on our Cancellations & Refunds page.
EODSurvival is a UK & EU preparedness site publishing practical, no-hype guides for real households: power cut and blackout planning, emergency communications, food and water storage, and honest gear buying guides.
Our approach is simple: prepared, not paranoid. No fear-mongering, no bunkers, just sensible preparation that fits real homes and real budgets.
You have a 14-day right to cancel. For the ebook and printable pack, you are asked at checkout to agree to immediate delivery and to acknowledge that you then lose that right, because the files are supplied straight away. If you download after agreeing, the cancellation right no longer applies, but your rights in respect of faulty content still do. For the paperback, the 14-day period runs from the day you receive it. Full details and the form are on our Cancellations & Refunds page.
Know what your household needs.
Know how much you need.
Know where it is.
Know that it still works.
That's the difference between a cupboard full of emergency items and a 72-hour household plan.
You don't need another endless checklist. You need a way to decide what matters, calculate what's enough, and build a system your household can actually use.
Start with the first genuine gap in your household today.