What are you preparing for?

Pick the situation on your mind, or the part of your household you want sorted. Each pathway covers what usually happens, what matters most, and what to have ready, in plain language, for an ordinary home.

Not sure where to start? Start with your household on a normal weekday, not with a disaster: who's where, what has to keep working, and the one thing to fix first. About twenty minutes

Situations

Something happens, and the house has to get through it.
Usually hours to a few days
Power outage Light, warmth, food, and phones when the lights go out and stay out.
The days before and after
Severe weather Storms, heat, and cold, with a warning or without one.
Minutes to leave, days away
Leaving home quickly What goes in the car, what's already by the door, and where everyone meets.
Three days to a week
Several days without services Water, power, internet, stores, or roads, interrupted at the same time.

Your household

Things to sort out once, on a calm evening, that help in every situation.
A few grocery runs
Food and water What to keep, how much for the people and pets you have, and how to rotate it without waste.
An afternoon
Apartment living A smaller space, with stairs, neighbors, and a landlord in the picture.
An evening
Pets Food, records, carriers, and a plan that includes them from the start.
Twenty minutes at the table
Household communication Reaching each other when phones, power, or routines fail.
One evening
Important information and documents What you'd need to prove, access, or replace, kept in one place you can grab.

Every pathway covers the same household basics

Eight basics run through the whole site: pathways, checklists, the self-assessment, and the workbook all use them, so once you learn them you can find your way anywhere.

Water Food Light and power Warmth and cooling Information and communication Health and first aid Documents and cash People, pets, and the plan

How a pathway works

Every pathway follows the same four parts, so once you've read one you know how to read the rest. Each ends with one small thing to do tonight, free resources, a related story, and, only where one exists, the printed version in the shop.

  1. 1What usually happensThe realistic shape of the situation, not the worst case.
  2. 2What matters mostThe few things that make the biggest difference for a household.
  3. 3What to have on handA short list, most of it probably already in your house.
  4. 4Before, during, and afterWhat to do in each phase, in plain steps.

Rather see where you stand first?

Tick what's already in the house and the shortest bar tells you where to start. Five minutes, nothing saved.

See where you stand Get the 72-hour starter checklist