Home/The 180-Day Standard
The Styrkholm Standard
One hundred eighty days. One full winter. On your own.
Every compound we build is designed to carry the household that lives there through six months with no deliveries, no utilities and no outside services. Here is why that number, and what it takes.
Why now
The planners
moved first.
In September 2026 the Secretary of Defense announced FORTRESS, an initiative to make every major U.S. military installation generate its own power independent of the civilian grid. In late October, reporting on internal planning documents described the goal behind it: every major base able to sustain essential operations on its own for at least 90 days.
Sources: Air & Space Forces Magazine on FORTRESS; Fortune on the 90-day planning requirement and the UK Be Ready campaign. Read our briefing: What the Pentagon's 90-day plan means for a family estate.
Why 180
A base can be
resupplied. You can't.
Ninety days is a planning floor for institutions with convoys, aircraft and a chain of command behind them. A family has none of those. Three facts set our number.
Winter is the test
A disruption that begins in October has to be carried through March. In most of the Mountain West that is five to six months of heating, short solar days and no growing season.
Recovery outlasts the event
Power can return in days while fuel, medicine and food distribution take months to normalize. The household that waits out the recovery, rather than the headline, is the one that stays safe.
The next season must be planted
Six months bridges a household from autumn to spring, when the greenhouse, garden and orchard begin producing again. At that point the estate starts feeding itself.
What 180 days means
The standard,
in quantities.
Stored water and food for 180 days, using federal minimums and the planning rates our calculators use. Power, fuel and heat depend on the residence and the climate; the Self-Sufficiency Calculator sizes those.
| Household | Water, survival minimum | Water, planning rate | Food energy | Dry staples | Person-days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family of 4 Two adults, two children | 720 gal | 2,160 gal | 1.40 million | 878 lb | 720 |
| Family of 6 Two adults, two teens, two children | 1,080 gal | 3,240 gal | 2.27 million | 1,418 lb | 1,080 |
| Extended family of 10 Four adults, two grandparents, two teens, two children | 1,800 gal | 5,400 gal | 3.85 million | 2,408 lb | 1,800 |
Water: one gallon per person per day minimum (Ready.gov); planning rate three gallons per person per day. Food: 2,400 calories a day for adults and teens, 2,000 for adults over 60, 1,500 for children, stored as dry staples at about 1,600 calories per pound.
The six pillars
Everything
has to hold.
A standard is only as strong as its weakest system. A 180-day estate meets it in all six, with a second way to do each one.
Water
A producing well with a non-electric way to draw from it, a cistern holding at least 30 days, and filtration for drinking water.
Power
Solar sized for the shortest days, battery storage for several sunless days, and backup generation with fuel stored for the season.
Heat
A primary heat source and an independent backup, with a full winter of fuel stored on site: propane, wood or both.
Food
Six months of stored staples, rotated so nothing expires, plus a greenhouse, gardens and orchard to carry the household forward.
Medicine
Prescriptions built six months ahead, a medical refrigerator on protected power, a stocked medical bay and a plan for every person.
Protection
A controlled perimeter, a hardened residence and below-grade quarters with filtered air for fallout, chemical and biological threats.
Not fear. Foresight.
Prepared people
sleep well.
We do not build for panic. We build so that when the news turns serious, your family's first conversation is about what to have for dinner, not where to go. That calm is the product.
Private Consultation
Build to
the standard.
Tell us about your family and your land. We will show you what 180 days looks like on your property.