Guides
Guides for power cuts, water and offline information
Practical guides for power cuts, water, food and offline information, written from official sources and our own tests. Every number links to where it came from.
- 72 hour kit checklist: what the US, EU and five countries actually ask forThe US, EU, Dutch, German, French, Swedish and UK kit lists in two tables: days, water, cash, radio, medicines and documents, each figure from the official page.Facts checked on 25 October 2026
- The best laptop for offline AI: what 8, 16 and 32 GB of memory allowMemory decides which AI model a laptop can run offline. Our 8 GB Mac measurements, the makers' memory specs, and what 8, 16 and 32 GB allow.Facts checked on 25 October 2026
- Can ChatGPT work offline? An honest answer for a blackoutChatGPT needs a connection. We read OpenAI's help pages, checked the AI models that do run offline, and report what a small one got right and wrong in our test.Facts checked on 25 October 2026
- How to keep a laptop running in a power cutPower bank, power station, car or solar panel: what each can do for a laptop in a power cut, with watts, watt-hours and hours worked out.Facts checked on 25 October 2026
- Free printable emergency binder for your householdA free emergency binder to print and fill in by hand: medical details, contacts, meeting places, shutoffs, documents, supplies, water and power cuts, with sources.Facts checked on 25 October 2026
- How to purify water with bleach: the EPA table, the ratio and the waitThe EPA and CDC bleach tables for drinking water: drops per quart, gallon and 8 gallons, the ratio worked out, wait times, and what bleach cannot fix.Facts checked on 25 October 2026
- We asked an offline AI 33 survival questions. Here is what it got wrong.We ran two small AI models on an 8 GB Mac with the internet off and asked 33 emergency questions in three languages. The mistakes were instructive.Facts checked on 25 October 2026
- Offline Wikipedia: which file to download and how big it isCurrent Kiwix file sizes for English Wikipedia (maxi, nopic, mini, medicine), real download times, and setup on a laptop, phone or Raspberry Pi. Checked 25 Oct 2026.Facts checked on 25 October 2026
- Power cut in the UK: what to do in the first hour, tonight and if it lastsWhat to do in a UK power cut, in order: check the cause, report it on 105, keep the fridge shut, avoid carbon monoxide, then plan for a long one.Facts checked on 25 October 2026
- Survival AI benchmark: two offline models, 77 questions, 7 languagesWe asked two small offline AI models 77 emergency questions in 7 languages and checked every answer by hand. Results, the worst mistakes, and the data to rerun it.Facts checked on 25 October 2026
- Where to download the Army survival manual PDFGet the current Army survival manual, ATP 3-50.21, from the Army Publishing Directorate. See how it differs from FM 21-76 and which advice has aged.Facts checked on 23 October 2026
- The offline survival computer: six ways to get one, with real pricesRaspberry Pi, Project N.O.M.A.D., PrepperDisk, USB sticks, phone apps or your laptop: what each offline survival computer costs and needs. Checked 23 Oct 2026.Facts checked on 23 October 2026
- How to build an offline survival libraryWhich official survival documents you may keep and share offline, which need permission, and how big the files are. Licence wording quoted from each source.Facts checked on 23 October 2026
- How to run an AI model offline on a MacSet up Ollama on a Mac, pick a model size for 8 GB or 16 GB of memory, and check it works with Wi-Fi off. Based on our own offline test, with its limits.Facts checked on 23 October 2026