Coast Guard survival bars

[je25ff]

Found a real gem here. $4 bucks a piece and has 6 bars within. Good for 5 years and the taste is similar to a "health bar" you will find on a shelf at GNC or something. Each packet is air tight and is a total of 2400 calories. I just bought a bunch. Four bucks for 2 days of food isn't bad at all.

2400 Calorie S.O.S. Food Bar

 

[dnepro-mike]

when the food advertisement states 'easily digestible' as a one of the 'feature points' it always gives me a little pause . i havent actually tried these but judging from ingredients there is no way they should cost 4 bucks a pack.

Corn Flour, Chili Pepper, Salt, Onion, Corn Starch, Spices and Garlic

this will make nice burpy-slurpy if prepared with water per directions. nutritional value of these are mostly carbs - OK, if you are bobbing up and down the wave in the life boat. but if you are tracking through the wilderness, 12Kcal per day is not enough.

 

[CoastieRon]

For real? Coast Guard "Approved".

Since when is the CG experts in approving sustenance? Half the shit they make in their galleys game me the shits. Buy at your own peril.

On a side note, I would eat hot dogs boiled in a hot cup with sea water before I eat the shit in that link (and I have....)

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

Four bucks a pack of four is a ripoff. You can buy MREs for slightly more and have better eating and more of it.

 

[je25ff]

Oh I have mres, but the space they take
Up is substantially more than these. In
A real got to get the hell out fast situation
I'd choose these based on the calories
alone .

 

[MrsStrangeNH]

These look similar to the Datrex brand bars I stock in my car. I might try ordering some to see how their taste compares.

Guys, the point of these is to provide non-thirst provoking calories in a compact package that can stand up to a wide range of temperatures for at least 5 years. To give you an idea, a couple of years ago I pulled the Datrex pack from my car to replace it with a new one, and decided to do a taste test - new bars vs. ones that had been in my car for 7 years (2 years past date) through all seasons. They were almost exactly the same in looks, smell, and taste. They were pleasant, if a little boring, and I suffered no ill effects from eating them.

This type of thing is truly emergency food that you can stash and forget until you're in a pinch and need calories to get to somewhere with better food.

 

[NewGunGuy]

Nice I have talked about going in on some group buys from EE on stuff like this. You should just go ahead and make a video for us of you opening one up and eating it.

Beltfed, I do believe though that these are designed to not give someone chronic diarrhea if needing to eat them for a few days. Although I have read that some of them can actually make you much more thirstier and thus needing to drink more fluids. I would still like to get the S.O.S. bars that are individually wrapped, to have along in my go bag!

Charles.

 

[rick.benjamin]

That outfit has a lot of nifty stored foods.
Thanks for the link!

 

[je25ff]

That outfit has a lot of nifty stored foods.
Thanks for the link!

They've gotten less expensive lately. This is a good buy too, although I'm not sure if you want low-fat anything in an emergency situation.

Provident Pantry® Low-Fat Cinnamon Almond Granola - 40 oz

 

[atmay]

For real? Coast Guard "Approved".

Since when is the CG experts in approving sustenance? Half the shit they make in their galleys game me the shits. Buy at your own peril.

On a side note, I would eat hot dogs boiled in a hot cup with sea water before I eat the shit in that link (and I have....)

The USCG is responsible for enforcing the provisions of SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea), which spells out requirements for lifeboats and their contents, including food.

As MrsStrangeNH points out, they're nutritionally dense, and, as packaged, shelf-stable for a long time without much concern for environmental factors.

 

[ironweld7]

I recently tried five brands of bars. they are all edible and the conditions they can be stored in for five or more years makes them an excellent value. For the nay sayers, dont eat for a couple days then eat one of these bars you will think its gourmet food. I decided to go with 2 brands Mainstay and SOS. Mainstay i feel has the best taste but packaged as one large bar that easily break into small squares. SOS tastes almost as good as the Mainstay bars and are wrapped separately.

 

[Hiltonizer]

Not sure how much merit there is to this, but an Alaskan acquaintance once told me the Mainstay bars are common faire in remote convenience stores up there... since its not a remote possibility to end up in a ditch for days on end.

I have some other brand in our BoB's, but due for a refresh. Not sure about this brand/ingredient list/pricepoint though.

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

Not sure how much merit there is to this, but an Alaskan acquaintance once told me the Mainstay bars are common faire in remote convenience stores up there... since its not a remote possibility to end up in a ditch for days on end.

I have some other brand in our BoB's, but due for a refresh. Not sure about this brand/ingredient list/pricepoint though.

Wouldn't doubt it a bit. Not impossible to be in a ditch undiscovered in many other places either and having something to eat and water to drink in your vehicle is always a good idea no matter the season or location.

If I were in Alaska, I'd have a lot more than just some Mainstay bars in my vehicle at all times. You've got to re learn many things about daily living when you get up into the higher northern latitudes, the elements are unforgiving.

 

[MrsStrangeNH]

I recently tried five brands of bars. they are all edible and the conditions they can be stored in for five or more years makes them an excellent value. For the nay sayers, dont eat for a couple days then eat one of these bars you will think its gourmet food. I decided to go with 2 brands Mainstay and SOS. Mainstay i feel has the best taste but packaged as one large bar that easily break into small squares. SOS tastes almost as good as the Mainstay bars and are wrapped separately.

Could you expand on that a little? What were the five brands? Pros and cons?

 

[Rider]

I usually read "easily digestible" as "causes explosive diarrhea.". Although, if you are alternating between these and MRE's(which contain no fiber aside from the packaging, which, in fairness, tastes almost as good as the food), you may be able to strike a predictable schedule of violent bowel evacuations.

 

[je25ff]

I usually read "easily digestible" as "causes explosive diarrhea.". Although, if you are alternating between these and MRE's(which contain no fiber aside from the packaging, which, in fairness, tastes almost as good as the food), you may be able to strike a predictable schedule of violent bowel evacuations.

I ate two bars for lunch and two for dinner just to see what would happen. No sharts at all and I felt perfectly fine that night and the next day. In fact, I had some to drink that night and felt fairly good in the morning.

 

[Lukes83]

I'm confused. I thought these were food bars, not hamburger helper.. Misprinted directions maybe?

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[FPrice]

I'm confused. I thought these were food bars, not hamburger helper.. Misprinted directions maybe?

Sometimes they are better when cooked with something else. I remember the Pemmican bars we had in the military bar in the 70's. They were god-awful to eat out of the wrapper but if you broke some up and heated them in a canteen cop with some water, spices and other stuff they weren't bad. Maybe warming up the fat content helped.

WARNING!

I did a google search on survival bars and came across some interesting information. Most were reviews of the various products but some contained info that indicated some products did not set well with some people's digestive systems. You may want to try some first before putting them in your kits. It would be a bummer to be stuck out somewhere, especially in a restricted environment such as a car in a ditch and have your survival food give you diarrhea.