← ARQ

How ARQ works

ARQ exists to make an affluent household genuinely ready for the emergencies its region actually faces, and to earn the trust that takes by being transparent about exactly how the score and the plan are built.

How your score is built

Your ARQ, Always Ready Quotient, is how ready your household is for what's likely where you live, on a scale of 0 to 100. It's built from six categories, each weighted by how much it protects your household. No black box: every point traces back to your answers.

  1. Step 1

    What you tell us

    Your home, region, household, and what you already own.

  2. Step 2

    Weighted six ways

    Each category counts as much as it protects your household.

  3. Step 3

    Your ARQ, 0 to 100

    One number you can read at a glance, and improve.

  • Power Resilience25% of your score
  • Water Security20% of your score
  • Structural Readiness15% of your score
  • Air Quality Preparedness15% of your score
  • Mobility & Evacuation15% of your score
  • Communications10% of your score

Weights can shift a little for a household's specific needs, so the six always add up to your score. As that score climbs, it moves through six readiness states: Getting Started, Underway, Building, Steady, Well Prepared, Always Ready.

A score you can audit, not a black box

Your ARQ is a deterministic calculation across six categories (power, water, air, structural, mobility, communications) weighted for your region's real hazards. No machine learning, no hidden inputs. Every point is traceable to an answer you gave or an item you own.

Honesty over the upsell

When your vehicle already covers days of backup power, we tell you to skip the $1,500 power station, even though it's the most profitable thing we could recommend. A plan you can trust is worth more than a sale we can't defend.

Knowledge is scored separately, on purpose

Knowing how to shut off your gas, having a meeting place, keeping cash on hand: these matter as much as any product, and you can't buy them from us. They live in a separate Readiness meter so the most important preparation never gets lost behind a shopping list.

How we choose products

  • We recommend the product we'd put in our own homes: one confident pick, plus one clearly-framed alternative for different budgets or spaces.
  • Picks are chosen against stated criteria: runtime, capacity, build quality, and real-world reliability. Never by who pays the highest commission.
  • No pay-for-placement, ever. Affiliate commissions don't change what we recommend or the order we recommend it in.
  • Quantities are sized to your actual household (people, pets, and dependents) against published per-person guidance, so you don't over-buy or come up short.

Where our guidance comes from

Every recommendation traces back to published guidance from public agencies, not opinion.

  • FEMA / Ready.gov: Baseline preparedness guidance and supply standards
  • American Red Cross: Household emergency planning and go-bag contents
  • USGS: Seismic hazard data behind regional earthquake weights
  • CDC: Health, water, and sanitation guidance
  • AirNow: Air-quality thresholds behind wildfire-smoke recommendations

Our advisory board

Recommendations are reviewed against the standard below in each field. We name a seat only once it's held by a real, credentialed advisor, never a borrowed logo or an invented title.

Emergency management

Seat forming

Hazard weighting and the structure of each regional plan

Standard: Certified Emergency Manager (CEM®)

Seismic & structural risk

Seat forming

Anchoring, shutoffs, and dwelling-specific recommendations

Standard: Licensed structural or geotechnical engineer

Clinical & medical dependency

Seat forming

Backup-power sizing for refrigerated medication and powered devices

Standard: Board-certified physician

See your ARQ