EMERGENCY RATIONS - Review of Three Brands

[rhino]

Originally Posted by Electronrider

This is something I am looking at for provisioning a get home bag. Hard to find foods that will survive for any length of time in the trunk of a car in Indiana summer. This looks good. Thanks for the review!

Yeah, that's a huge advantage of these things. You can put them in the trunk and forget about them (at least for a few years) and not worry about them melting. Most of the 'energy' bars aren't pretty after a few hours in a hot vehicle.

They're also a lot cheaper. For 3600 calories, they cost $6.95.

The energy bars are for immediate (or close to it) use when you just need a snack to keep you going. The emergency ration bars serve a different role. In addition, a lot of the energy bars have a lot more protein. That's great for daily nutrition, but in an emergency, the more protein you ingest, the more water you need both to digest as well as to excrete the waste.

[karlsgunbunker]

Best price I've found is at Emergency Food Rations
These are what I have in my BOB.

[Warwagon]

I'm glad you posted the review, Thank you! I've been looking at them in the emergency essentials catalog for quite some time now.

They'd be great to add to the get home bags I keep in the cars.

[flagtag]

I have to get it in gear and get some of this stuff too. I am so far behind!

[rhino]

Originally Posted by karlsgunbunker

Best price I've found is at Emergency Food Rations
These are what I have in my BOB.

Have you tried them? How do they compare to the three I sampled?

[karlsgunbunker]

Originally Posted by rhino

Have you tried them? How do they compare to the three I sampled?

I've tried these but not the other brands.

[dblagent]

Good info, thanks for the review. I have been looking at these type of provisions myself as I start on my first ever bob.

I'm also planning a single day type bag to go with the bob, what are some good options for bars that may get eaten on a hike and the like. Not as worried about long term storage on them, thinking that they might get eaten more often by me or my little girl hiking trails and such. Anything that holds up well, and still tastes ok? I suppose I could just use any bar, but I want something that will not be a mess and will store for a little while at least.

[rhino]

Originally Posted by dblagent

I'm also planning a single day type bag to go with the bob, what are some good options for bars that may get eaten on a hike and the like. Not as worried about long term storage on them, thinking that they might get eaten more often by me or my little girl hiking trails and such. Anything that holds up well, and still tastes ok? I suppose I could just use any bar, but I want something that will not be a mess and will store for a little while at least.

I'd go with any kind of granola or "energy" bar that you and your girl like. If you're concerned about mess, get something that is not coated with chocolate or some other kind of icing. The quaker oatmeal breakfast bars would be a good choice too.

[dblagent]

I was thinking about granola as my best bet, and I like the Quaker oatmeal bars and never even thought about them! Not overly worried about mess, but I do not like chocolate very much at all so I try to avoid bars with that, plus a goo bar is no fun in the summer.

Thanks Rhino

[rhino]

You're welcome!

You can also do other kind of trail snacks in small zip-top freezer bags. The classic is "GORP" ... Good ol' Raisins and Peanuts. Any kind of nuts are good trails food, and adding raisins makes them better. I've used cashews and raisins in a bag at shooting matches when I knew I wouldn't get a chance to eat lunch with excellent results.

If your kid like chocolate, you can add some M&Ms to hers, and it would help minimize melting concerns.

Nuts are also excellent cold weather snacks when you're outside, especially if you are skinny with little body fat. You need some fat in your diet to maintain body temperature, which is why military rations for cold weather environments always have a pack of nuts in them.