[MountainMan]

Trying to give the BOB's a revamp. Lookin' at food. Thoughts???

 

[Fuzzee]

I like MRE componets broken down to there last wrapping and mostly the main entrees at that with a few pound cakes thrown in for happy food. Dehydrated is lighter, but than you're using your water to hydrate it to eat so you've got extra water you'll need and use of the water filter. I also like the extra munch food like beef jerky, granola bars, trail mix and peanut butter which is an extra coating for supplement food that may not be as tasty without a little peanut butter on top.

 

[WoadWarrior]

Raisins, hard candy (for when you need a sugar boost), red bull or caffeine pills (in case you have to bug out after a full day... Or have to keep going and stay focused for 36+ hours), spreadables (pull top) and crackers (for a cold meal while walking), dry dog food (sounds gross but it's lightweight, edible, and has a variety of flavors)

 

[MountainMan]

Yeah the choice between dehydrated or not is where I'm at now.
I'm cool with the dog food; it doesn't taste that bad. We've done it before just to say we did it. We'll be bugging out with 2 dogs so I'll be able to pack extra food. Our big dog has a very high prey drive and should be a good source of small game.
I like the caffeine pills idea. I never thought about that but it'd be an excellent addition.

 

[RaigenB]

Good thread, I also have a question. Is the MRE foods usually pretty expensive? It seems like any time I look for those kinds of meals, they are so high priced! Is that normal or is there another place I can look for better prices? Like the Wise brand, I thought it seemed pretty crazy that it was that pricy. Is it normal?

 

[WoadWarrior]

If you are near a military base... find a military buddy and have him buy them on base. They are $7.71 at the base commissary. It's a bit more than buying at bulk prices... but you can buy individual packs... and get the ones you want... not just some random selection in a bulk pack.

 

[RaigenB]

If you are near a military base... find a military buddy and have him buy them on base. They are $7.71 at the base commissary. It's a bit more than buying at bulk prices... but you can buy individual packs... and get the ones you want... not just some random selection in a bulk pack.

I unfortunately don't have any military buddies that could hook me up :/ darn! Thanks for the advice though!

 

[Desert Marine]

I pack Flower Pollen. It is food with over 183 micro nutrients and Hypoallergenic.

 

[Fuzzee]

Good thread, I also have a question. Is the MRE foods usually pretty expensive? It seems like any time I look for those kinds of meals, they are so high priced! Is that normal or is there another place I can look for better prices? Like the Wise brand, I thought it seemed pretty crazy that it was that pricy. Is it normal?

The price of MRE's has gone up considerably over time. I still find them selling cases at pretty much every gunshow I've been to for longer than I can remember. They've normally been around $65 per 12 pack case of complete meals with heaters, but different states and places have different standards of what people will pay and how they can rob them. Ask yourself whether you need the complete meals though in there full packets with heaters. (water/chemical reactive heating packet). You don't want to pack full meals for a backpack or BOB. There's a lot of extra packing and junk not beneficial to carry for weight and space. Full meals are good to pass out to different people who have nothing, either because their children or live like them. Which if their not actually children in age, you're wasting good food on in my opinion and feeding the moronic scavengers who will follow you because of it. There are places you can buy online and I suggest you search who's got the best prices these days for what you want. Prices have certianly gone up and I'm sure are only going to continue to.

MRE's - MRE Meals Ready to Eat - Military Meals - Individual MREs - Emergency Rations

MRE Full Meals

MRE Full Meals at Long Life Food Depot

Amazon.com: mre case

 

[AquaHull]

I have tuna in foil, apple-cinnamon bars, cheese and crackers, and bottled water. It's the winter stuff that mostly stays in the daily driver.I have it in an insulated 6 pack soft side cooler

 

[Fuzzee]

Trying to give the BOB's a revamp. Lookin' at food. Thoughts???

What do you pack now and for what time frame? 72 hours, a week, long term?

Long term you can only carry so much of course so the supplementals have to come in play and the kit to get and consume them.

 

[Apocalypse]

Canned tuna.

Light, small, and packed with protein. Lasts for years too.

 

[MountainMan]

Cheese crackers, jerky, treat meat (none of that spam crap lol), oatmeal, and some Idaho mashed potato pouches right now. Trying to figure out a few better options. I could do about 5 days now but I'd like to be more long term if possible. I'm lookin' for some creative ideas.

 

[Fuzzee]

Cheese crackers, jerky, treat meat (none of that spam crap lol), oatmeal, and some Idaho mashed potato pouches right now. Trying to figure out a few better options. I could do about 5 days now but I'd like to be more long term if possible. I'm lookin' for some creative ideas.

Long term comes down to either living off the land without a solid BOL (if you can) or getting to a solid BOL, which can be depending on where yours is at, be a longer road than you've got food in the BOB for if you're living off it. Solid BOL to me anyways meaning location able to sustain for as long as you live which will be hopefully a long time. That means setup for it of course. To feed yourself past what you've got in the BOB, everything in it needs to go as far as possible that's where what food you take has to give good calories for what it takes in weight and space or trade out to better choices. Than the means to put food in your mouth by others means. Fishing (kit), hunting with weapons, trapping (wire,550), finding and eating safe bugs, and knowing and eating the right plants that can sustain you. Using those to fill your belly are a mix of the right packing choices and the skill and knowledge to use them. The choices you're packing in food listed above sound like they can be improved on for what they offer in calories compared to the weight and space they take. I prefer to carry food that though may be heavier, I can fit more of in the pack. Afterall, the pack will lighten as I eat it and I'm not carry anything I can't haul to begin with. Lots of good recommendations so far for you, it's whether you want to go with those options. One item passed onto me that can go much farther for the weight and space not mentioned yet is bouillon cubes. They, with a canteen cup or small pot to mix them in can be the base, (even cut in half or quarters) for a good soup out in the bush with various plants or other edibles and give a person a good soup/stew to fill them with little weight and space carried.

 

[Alpha-17]

I currently have stripped down MREs in my BOB, but I'm planning on replacing them with Mountain House Pro Pak meals. They're smaller, lighter, and taste pretty good too. The shelf life on the Pro Pak meals is impressive as well. Combined with a New Millennium power/survival bar, I feel that they make a more size/weight efficient meal choice than MREs. The downside, of course, is that they're dehydrated, so I'll need to mix them with water to get anything I can eat out of them.

 

[MountainMan]

The reason I started the thread was that our BOL is quite a hike from us and we may be on the move for months in a worst case scenario. I'm pretty adept and surviving off the land but I was trying to get the most use of out the food in my BOB's.

 

[Fuzzee]

I currently have stripped down MREs in my BOB, but I'm planning on replacing them with Mountain House Pro Pak meals. They're smaller, lighter, and taste pretty good too. The shelf life on the Pro Pak meals is impressive as well. Combined with a New Millennium power/survival bar, I feel that they make a more size/weight efficient meal choice than MREs. The downside, of course, is that they're dehydrated, so I'll need to mix them with water to get anything I can eat out of them.

And that's a solid choice as long as you're in a place with lots of fresh water sources and have a long sustainable way to clean it. Otherwise, water can be more important than food in some cases.

 

[DoubleA]

Lifeboat rations. Vacuumed sealed, 5 year life span, nutritionally balanced, various sizes. Available through Amazon- check "Mainstay" and "Mayday" rations. I keep some in my BOB and vehicle, plus a case secured in my safe - just in case.

 

[Mainzer]

I like the MREs. I'm in Arizona and I don't want to earmark any of my water to rehydrate the FD or DH meals. With the MREs I can buy just the entrees that I like and throw in some high calorie items like Brownies (400+), Strawberry and Choclate shakes also at 400+ calories and even though they take water, you consume them in the liquid form and don't boil the water away as with rehydration of the dry meals. There are also MRE sides that are high in calories and inexpensive such as peanut butter, jelly, cheese spread all of which are 180 calories or more. The small tobasco bottles and toliet tissue MRE accessories are, of course, handy too.

 

[Fuzzee]

The reason I started the thread was that our BOL is quite a hike from us and we may be on the move for months in a worst case scenario. I'm pretty adept and surviving off the land but I was trying to get the most use of out the food in my BOB's.

It's why so many people go with MRE or dehydrated entree's are their main staple and add the extra goodies from there. As they offer more substance for weight and space than pretty much anything else out there. I don't know how what you're packing is in substance for you, but I know it wouldn't be for me. I'm a meat and potatos, meat and rice and meat and pasta kind of guy. Give me two bowls, one with oatmeal and one with ground beef annd rice. Same size and after eating the oatmeal I'll still be hungry, but after the ground beef and rice I'm not. Which is why I pack what I pack. I've got pound cakes, granola bars, Cliff bars, jerky and trail mix, but no wear near the size and amount to stripped down MRE entree packets. One per day with some Kudzu, or pine needle tea, a couple bugs, wild grass, mustard, dandelions, etc and I'm living. A squirrel or fish, or two, or something bigger and I'm eating with no need for the MRE entree packets. Depending on how much meat I can get off of something and dry it for later, the longer I'm not touching the reserves. That's what the MRE entree packets are if I can keep them as, are reserves to last as long as possible for when there isn't anything else. That's long term sustaining to me for getting to the BOL that will take me more than 72 hours.