Guides
Four categories, four decisions, and what the three national authorities actually say.
Every figure in these guides is attributed to the authority that published it: Germany's BBK, Austria's Zivilschutzverband and the federal portal, and Switzerland's Bundesamt für wirtschaftliche Landesversorgung. Where the three disagree, we say so and explain which we use. Where one of them publishes nothing, we say that too — it happens more often than you would expect.
Drinking water
Germany says 20 litres a person, Austria 35, Switzerland 9. None of them is wrong, and the reason they differ decides how much you should actually keep. Also: storage life, treating water, and the one date in the year worth putting in a calendar.
Food reserves
You are already carrying four to six days without having planned it. The category weights, the two ways to hold a reserve — only one of which survives contact with real life — and the Swiss instruction everyone else leaves out.
Power cuts
The heating stops, the water pressure drops, cards stop working, and the mobile network follows within hours. What to own, how long a freezer really lasts, and the rules on generators and battery stations that only Germany publishes.
Heating
Oil and gas central heating needs mains electricity to run at all. What can safely be burned indoors, what the approval wording actually means, and the carbon monoxide warning Switzerland does not print.
Each guide ends with three things to do this week, and a cost range, because a plan without a price is not a plan.