Ready for a blackout, a bank or internet outage, war, a chemical incident, or having to leave home: a home kit for two weeks, a go-bag each, and a warmer house. Most items do several jobs. Tick them off as you buy them; your ticks are saved in this browser.
Only the essentials. If you already have something, tap Have it and it leaves the shopping list and the total. Tap Later for things you want but can buy another time. Both lists are at the bottom, with a Move back button. The down sleeping bags, Petzl headlamps and MSR stove are good enough for Boom and backpacking too, so you won't need to buy them again.
These cost nothing and help in every situation. Ticks are saved in this browser.
Based on the Dutch government's advice (Denk vooruit, NL-Alert) and De Nederlandsche Bank. In a real emergency, follow NL-Alert, NPO Radio 1 and Omroep Brabant first.
If staying in Helmond stops being safe, you drive to the family home in Portugal. Decide now what would make you go: leaving early is much easier than leaving late.
About 20–24 hours at the wheel: two days with two drivers, or sleep in the car in your sleeping bags. Main route: Antwerp, Paris, Bordeaux, Irun, Burgos, Salamanca. Backup: Luxembourg, Lyon, Barcelona, Madrid. Mark both in the road atlas.
The Passat has a 45 L tank: about 650–700 km per tank on the motorway, plus about 100 km electric. Leave with a full tank and a full battery, and fill the 20 L jerrycan just before you go for about 300 km extra. Keep the can in the boot.
For example: the government advises leaving the region, fighting or attacks come close, or a long blackout leaves no fuel or food nearby. Borders can be checked again and motorways fill up, so go before the crowd. Message the family when you leave and at every stop.
Go-bags, sleeping bags, the stove and gas, the power station and panel, water and food for 3 days, medicines, cash, documents, phone cables and the paper maps. It all fits in the Passat.
Ten 6-packs of bottles cover 3 L each per day for two weeks. When the power goes, fill the 20 L jerrycan, the bath and a few pans from the tap straight away. If the tap water is ever declared unsafe, or it lasts longer, one Aquatab makes a litre of tap or rain water safe.
You cook on the MSR PocketRocket 2. Stand the canister on a flat, steady surface and use a small pot. Each 450 g canister gives about 2–3 hours of flame. Cooking, hot drinks and filling the hot water bottles take about an hour a day, so eight cans cover two weeks with a buffer. Always cook by an open window, with the CO detector in the same room.
The Anker power station holds about 12–14 full iPhone Pro Max charges (charge from its USB-C port, not the wall socket) and also recharges the headlamps and the radio. The 60 W panel tops it up, even on grey Dutch days, from a window or the balcony. Keep one phone on in flight mode with Bluetooth on for bitchat, and keep the other one switched off.
Without electricity the central heating stops. Live in one small room with the curtains shut. Sleep in your down sleeping bags with a fleece blanket on top. Fill the hot water bottles with hot water that has cooled a little after boiling, not fresh boiling water.
One backpack each, by the door. In each: ID copies and cash in the dry bag, medicines for a few days, a headlamp, a rescue blanket, a poncho, a few FFP2 masks, a water bottle with some Aquatabs, muesli bars and nuts, a warm layer, socks and a phone cable. Shared: the power bank, the small first aid kit, the paper map and the knife.
Keep the tank at least half full and the battery charged: it's your way out, and petrol pumps may only take cards. It charges phones, and probably the power station through its USB-C input if your car has a strong (45 W) USB-C port, so check yours. I found no sign it can power the house. Never leave it on in a closed garage: the petrol engine can start by itself.
| Day 1 | Eat what's in the fridge first, and keep the fridge and freezer shut. The freezer stays cold for about 1–2 days. |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | Oats soaked overnight in long-life milk, with honey and raisins. Coffee or tea from the thermos. |
| Lunch | Knäckebröd or beschuit with peanut butter or jam, and a mug of soup. |
| Dinner | Rice cooked with a stock cube, with beans and tuna or sardines and green beans. Pasta with sauce or noodles on the other nights. |
| Evening | Tea or coffee with some chocolate, and a game you already have. Fill the hot water bottles before bed. |
Prices, links and Eindhoven store stock were checked on 31 Oct 2026. The website stock checkers don't show how many are left, so for anything you need two of, ask staff. A few AH prices couldn't be rechecked and are marked. The Duracell offer ends Sunday 1 Nov. Rice: AH is cheaper per kg than the Indian and Asian shops nearby. If you'd like jasmine rice, Amazing Oriental (Langdonkenstraat 7, open today 09:00–18:00) has Dynasty 4.5 kg online for €6.88. Bever's MSR canister stand is sold out everywhere. Keep two weeks of any prescription medicines, and some cash in small notes. Rotate the water and food once a year: eat it, then buy it again.