Practical self-reliance · Independent guides
Tested equipment guides, practical calculators and clear advice for building a more resilient home.
TOOLS & CALCULATORS
Work out what you need before spending money.
ENERGY & SOLAR
Estimate real backup hours from usable capacity, average load and inverter losses.
Example
1,000 Wh − 15% ÷ 65 W ≈ 13 h
WATER INDEPENDENCE
How many litres your household actually needs for a given number of days.
Example
4 people × 7 days × 4 L → 112 L
ENERGY & SOLAR
How long a panel really takes to refill a battery, after weather and angle losses.
Example
800 Wh ÷ (200 W × 75%) ≈ 5.3 h of strong sun
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Turn household size and days of cover into an exact supplies list with quantities.
Example
4 people · 3 days → 48 L water, 36 meals
BROWSE BY SYSTEM
Six practical domains — each one a set of guides, tools and tests organised around what your household actually runs on.
Backup batteries, portable power stations, solar panels and off-grid energy.
Water storage, rainwater harvesting, pumps and filtration.
Practical preparation for blackouts, disruptions, travel and household emergencies.
Growing food, composting, preservation and household resourcefulness.
Energy, water, equipment and systems for cabins, caravans and remote properties.
Practical product ownership, troubleshooting, compatibility and maintenance.
HANDS-ON RESULTS
Specifications tell you what a product claims. Testing helps you understand what it delivers.
≈ 84% usable
We drained a nominal 1,000 Wh station three times and logged what actually reached the outlet.
≈ 23 hours
We ran a modern inverter fridge on a 1,000 Wh station until it cut out — and logged every watt of the cycling compressor.
≈ 74% of rated peak
We logged a 200 W folding panel's real output all day and it never once reached the number on the label.
≈ 70% of theoretical
We metered every millimetre that fell on a 45 m² roof for eight weeks and measured how much actually reached the tank.
BUYING GUIDES
Choose equipment based on what you need it to do.
How to match capacity, output and recharge options to the circuits you actually need to keep running during a blackout.
Lightweight solar-plus-battery kits ranked by pack size, runtime for camp lights and phones, and how quietly they run.
Rotatable, food-grade water storage ranked by footprint, port weight, tap design and how easily you can actually drain and refill it twice a year.
Filters and purifiers ranked by what they actually remove, how fast they flow, and whether they still work when the power is out and the taps are unsafe.
Self-powered emergency radios ranked by band coverage, NOAA weather alert, power options and how long they actually run on a crank or a solar panel.
Home food dehydrators ranked by tray capacity, airflow, temperature control and how much counter space they truly need for a weekend batch.
Fridge compressors cycle, surge and idle. Here is how to size a battery that actually keeps food cold through an outage.
DECISION GUIDES
Practical trade-offs, not marketing slogans — each comparison ends with who should choose which.
EcoFlow DELTA 2
Westinghouse iGen4500DF
Silent, solar-friendly battery power versus long-runtime fuel — the right answer depends on where you need to run it and how long.
Read comparison →
EcoFlow DELTA 2
Goal Zero Yeti 200X
Two battery chemistries, two jobs. Cycle life and thermal stability against weight and volume — pick by how the unit earns its keep.
Read comparison →
LifeStraw Peak Series Gravity Filter 20L
Grayl GeoPress 24 oz
Similar names, different capabilities. Know which contaminants each one actually addresses — and which situations demand the purifier.
Read comparison →
WaterBOB 100 Gallon Bladder
Scepter CWCC75 (Military-Grade, Collapsible-handle)
Permanent volume versus movable rotation. Choose based on how your household actually uses water during an outage.
Read comparison →
IN-DEPTH REVIEWS
A buying guide compares many. A review asks a narrower question: is this specific product right for you?
Best all-round home-backup station
A 1 kWh LFP all-rounder with very fast wall recharging and room to expand. Our honest read on where it fits a home blackout plan.
SIGNATURE TOOL
Answer five short questions about your situation, your goal, what you already own and what you want to spend. Get a personal readiness plan — the numbers to hit, the areas to cover, and the next step for each.
Your situation
Your goal
PLAN PREVIEW — EXAMPLE
Home or apartment
Power & light
Water
Food & supplies
Warmth & shelter
Signal & comms
Preview of a dedicated tool. Output is planning guidance — it is not an engineering design or safety certification.
PRINT & USE
Grouped tasks, visible progress and print-friendly layouts — checklists meant to be used, not just read.
Home Emergency Preparedness Checklist
FROM THE DESK
NEWSLETTER
Occasional practical guides, new tools and equipment research to help you make better decisions.