Has anyone checked out this website?

www.mylifecaps.com

Here's a clip from their website. Any thoughts?

"With LifeCaps in your backpack or emergency kit, you have confidence in knowing you are always prepared, no matter what. These unique capsules can help sustain your life in an emergency, even when food is not readily available for whatever reason."



~Doug

Gimmick – an expensive vitamin and mineral capsule.

In a real emergency, you need an external source of calories, preferably one in which the calories will be provided over a long duration. There are plenty of emergency rations and energy bars that are much cheaper and will do a better job of providing sustenance

Pete

Probably about as useful as throwing a spare Twinkie in your pack, except more expensive.

Scene from BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. Ladies and gentlemen, friends and niegbors. I give you the future. I give you- the Bicycle! What is it about Utah and vitamens? To reiterate what Pete said, Your paying out $40 +S/H for 30 vitamens and a suger rush. But wait! these altruistic folks have warned us of competitor's inferior products with caffeine and stimulants. Oh the humanity! Imagine all the lost souls who ventured forth under the old supply lists of pilot bread and tea. File these with spaceblankets who's secondary ability to lighten your load is a thinning of the wallet.The annual migration of Fruit Cakes is just about over, but I would take your $40 and buy me one of those 3 pronged frogging spears for next year. They run @ $5 or you can fabricate your own via instructions in Robert Redford endorsed paperbacks. With the money buy some Mainstays, MREs,M&Ms some black tea and the obligatory survivalist bottle of tobasco sauce. You might even have enough for a ETS donation.I'm going to have some right now. All this energy expenditure made me hungry.

Ha!

I skimmed all the links. Long on verbiage. Heavy on marketing. Short on facts. Couldn't find the nutrient info anywhere. Pass.

<sarcasm>

Gee, I’m so glad that survival’s lowest priority, food, has been so thoroughly taken care of. Now if only they can compress a liter of water down into a pill.

</sarcasm>

I love how nearly the entire FAQ section of the site is 'dietary suppliment 101'. How can something legally called a suppliment be marketed as a dietary replacement? They may never come right out and say so but that's what they're promoting.

I'll take the Twinkie. It's got some energy with all the sugar and tastes good.

I bet the Twinkie has a better shelf life too.

Hi Doug,

The Testimonials were certainly impressive with comments such as



and



and



A new Hollywood diet craze possibly (forget the babyfood).

All thats required is to find an emergency situation somewhere in the world where there is abject hunger. Kick the celebrity out of an aeroplane with a parachute with these multivitamin tablets of course and pick them up a week later (they should be a good 10lbs lighter).

Your prayers are answered.

Dehydrated Water

</sarcasm>

I don't know. Sounds like a gimmick to me. Vitamins and minerals ... how is this different from carrying a couple of multi-vitamins that sell for about ten cents each? Except being many times more expensive.

On the other hand I used to hike with a girl who ate nothing but spirulina capsules during a pretty tough two-day hike. I was dragging rump near the end and she had loads of energy. I suspect it was an extended placebo effect. Go figure.

i see it, but i aint goin there.

I found a list of ingredients linked from the order page. At $1+ per capsule those are very expensive vitamin pills.

Dennis

hey guys, new to the forum..

I keep two packages of these survival tabs in my packs (30 days supply) read up on all of the info here: http://www.survivaltabs.com/how-tabs-work.html but buy them somewhere else, can get them for around $19 a bottle on sale here: http://www.campingsurvival.com/surtabnewcon.html

each bottle has 180 tabs, a 15 day supply for a single person read up on the specs at the website

[/quote]

Your prayers are answered.

Dehydrated Water

</sarcasm> [/quote]

wow... that's actually a very believable website. Scary. They might be making money. I'm kind of shocked!

IMHO if your body has reserves and your metabolism allows you to quickly and effectively convert those reserves, primarily fat, into usable energy, you could indeed operate for a time on just vitamins, minerals and water.

But most people could do just about as well without the vitamins and minerals for some time at decreasing levels of output and efficiency. In theory the vitamins and minerals hold off the deterioration for some amount of time.

Most Americans have ten to twenty pounds of fat reserves. The problem crops up that not everyone is gifted with a metabolism that can operate on fat reserves as the primary energy source. Many people need some amount of external caloric input over and above vitamins and minerals. Some percentage, serious hypoglycemics and diabetics as a start, could easily die trying to operate from internal fat alone as a calorie source.

My estimation is that Life caps are mostly vitamins and minerals. If your metabolism is forgiving and you have reserves you might be able to go a week or so on them. But you might do about as well with regular high-dose vitamins and eating worms. I doubt you would feel fed. Get used to that stomach on backbone feeling. And after a few weeks they may have to use a apple corer on you to open you back up.

Survival Tabs look to be the descendant of the concentrated survival foods that were being researched in WW2. They have vitamins and minerals but also have a considerable amount of actual food. The daily ration of twelve rather large horse tablets has more bulk and weigh but in return you get something a bit closer to a starvation ration that has been heavily fortified. You might go a few weeks or a month on these without too much trouble. I suspect your going to feel empty and hungry much of the time but the feet would keep moving and your bowels too after some time.

Moving up to almost real food consider something like Mainstay survival bars. They are compact but bulkier and heavier than either of the two previous products. But in return you get a fuller allocation of calories, a better chance people with less than perfect metabolisms can run off it, and the ability to run on this one source longer without discomfort or hazard.

Of course the long-term solution is real food. But real food can be a pain. It is heavy, bulky, doesn't always store well, and it often needs processing and/or cooking.

Everything is a trade-off.

Obviously real food is the goal. But we are talking short-term survival solutions with products that will provide the necessary, not comfortable, levels of nutrition. The idea behind the survival tabs that I previously noted began with NASA and the space program, if you would explore the links that I included you would find that much of the survival tabs advantage lies in the fact that you actually absorb nearly 99% of the nutrients included.

There have been several independent reviewers who have gone 30, 60, and even 90 days living just off of survival tabs, if you would like links to these examples I will provide them. Now, there was some weight loss, and discomfort, but the point is survival.

I am not saying that these tabs will allow you to live comfortably, think about cutting your current caloric intake to 240 calories per day. doesn't sound like fun for me, but the method of taking them (letting them dissolve in your mouth) applied with the method of production allows the greatest amount of absorption into your system. And from the reviews yes it does seem that your bowel movements cease or at least diminish within a few days, which in a survival situation may not be so bad.

It would not be comfortable, or enjoyable, to take these tabs for a significant amount of time, but it would make you survive. If you have the time, money, and ability to make or buy bars or other items then that may be your best option. But for $1.20 a day, I see these tabs as being a useful resource in helping survive if there was an extended need. However, I have a high tolerance for lowered comfort, and would eat anything if it had nutritional value, partially due to my upbringing, partially due to my indifference to comfort, mostly due to my low income.

I have tried these survival tabs, but only once and not for an extended period of time. However I would like to do a 30 day test of my own when I have the resources to do so. Please check out the links that I have provided so that I don't have to list all of the information here.

In interest of full disclosure I am not in any way related to or involved in the production or sales of survival tabs.. my brother and I just found them on the internet after our discussion about a small and simple nutritional source that could be used for an extended period of time.. and we bought some, and tried them..

Hey, air guitars have been sold on e-bay for real money, and boxes of rocks...

I wonder if eating these when there is no food would interrupt the bodies natural ability to go into a 'fasting mode' to consume itself conservatively.

I recently tried some. I tried to go 24 hrs on them alone. At 12 tabs a day per instructions. It was a lesson in starvation. I found it increasingly difficult to concentrate and thinking about food and distracted me tab. I gave in after 6 hours. I felt unsafe to drive the company truck. Man, that burger tasted great!. I felt Datex, Mainstay bars or Millennium Bars served me better when I tested them for 24 hrs. I think I would have to eat enough tabs to get at least 1000 cal a day. The serving size of 12 tabs is 240 cal, verses the Millennium bars 400. Common energy bars (Cliff, Balance, Lara, etc) often average 200-300 cal and I think provide more useful nutrition, variety, and take up less space. Meal Pack Bars http://www.mealpack.com/ are a little expensive but very good and gave me good energy.

I decided to pack Mainstay & Millennium bars in my vehicle BOB because they can withstand the heat. The tabs would work too, but I would have to have enough for at least 1000-1200 cal a day.

Oh yeah as far as taste the tabs tasted like sweet dry milk. They don't dissolve easily in coffee. Looking at the ingredients I think thats all they are is dried milk, sugar & vitamins.

I actually take life caps everyday just as a supplement.
I find that I have no hunger pains, and can eat or not on it.

the new site is http:/www.lifecaps.net/

I just think that this sort of thing would be perfect for a survival kit, or in the glovebox or backpack or something. Hey if it can save my life, I am more than happy to purchase it.

And if it can't?

Maybe Im just a cynic though!

Welcome to the forum!!

Welcome Newguy!!!

Why thank you.

Certainly it wouldn't be worth purchasing if it didn't. If a car didn't run, I certainly wouldn't purchase it.

We all are cynics in one way or another, I was a definite cynic of the tax refunds that were said to go out until I received my $600 dollars.

Be advised that sirroyalbrown is a manufacturer/retailer of this product (Life Caps) and failed to identify himself as such per our rules and has been permanently banned.

"... permanently banned..."

That pretty much says it all...

Well, the OP has been banned, and the pills look like simple multivitamins with no real nutritional value (fats, proteins, and carbs). But it does bring up something I've been considering: Calories.

My understanding -- please correct me if I'm wrong -- is that you need calories to fuel you. There are other "survival pills" on the market (I forget the brand name*), and those are very low in calories, as are a lot of other products jammed full of vitamins but low in calories, and being advertised as survival food.

My understanding is that you want as many calories as you can cram into a small amount of food for a survival situation. This is also the reason that people don't suggest you expend too much effort seeking food for short term survival situations: You can easily burn more energy than the food you can gather provides.

I also wonder if those pills increase your need for water. They say they don't on the site, and the site seems fairly credible, but has anyone who's tried these observed that to be true?

The point made above about vitamins helping you convert body fat stores is an interesting one. Of course, a good multivitamin can accomplish this.

*I just re-read the thread before posting this. The 240 calories/day pills linked above are the ones.

Hard working folks burn upward of 3000 calories per day. minimal weight loss diets bottom out at about 1000 calories per day,If intake is below the burn rate, we metabolize liver glycogen stores, then stored fat, then muscle tissue. After that runs out, we die. (I figure I'm good for about 6 months between the glycogen and muscle stages). As we metabolize fat and protein, we produce ketones as a waste product, and need to drink lots of fluid to flush ketones out of the system.
Vitamin tablets are pretty important in the long run to supplement a limited diet, but scurvy, pellagra and night-blindness will take a long time to kill you.

The ultralight philosophy has given marketers a heavy opportunity to respond in kind. I am going to start marketing NOTHING. I will even promote my product's ethical reduction of packaging by not using any. Interested parties in my ultralight product can donate 29.99 to ETS.

Is this organic? If so, I might be interested in getting some. (Also, can you let me know if it was tested on animals?)

Hey, if they can sell air guitars, boxes of rocks, and dehydrated water on e-bay, no reason you can't do it too...

I've thought about this as well. Since I generally loose 20 pounds on a hike I know that I have the stores there if needed. But is that optimal? I think there's a certain amount of morale building in being able to actually chew on something, at least for me.

My solution was simple and classic: Pemmican. Very calorie dense from all the fat. Provides a nice morale boost, something I think about more as my son gets older. and reasonably easy to store and carry. I just rotate it out when I make a new batch and haven't noticed any ill effects from 3 months in my pack.

Another nice advantage is that you can make it into whatever sized pieces you want. I've never messed with it since I always have a day pack with me but I think you could reasonably make small bars for a pocket kit.

MRPrice,

Do you have a good recipe for it?

Mike

I'll have to look when I'm home for the right ratios but pemmican is really straightforward

Pound, food process or otherwise pulverize jerky of choice into somewhere between granular and powder

Add some berries if you like 'em

Melt some tallow and then pour it over the powdered jerky. I use muffin tins since it makes it easier to be consistent.

I've noticed some people take some time to get used to it. I'll look up a more proper recipe with better instructions when I get home tonight

I have a good recipe for "Hudson Bay Bread," a tasty treat that has...

Calories: 400 Carbohydrates: 54.36 Cholesterol: 33 Dietary Fiber : 2.8 Fiber: 3.4
Protein: 9.1 Saturated Fat: 8.3 Sodium: 129 Total Fat: 17.4


...if anyone is intersted...

I'm interested in any and all types of recipes like this... Once again, why we should have a food / recipe section.

Hudson Bay Bread
Recipe Ingredients
• 1 Cup butter, softened
• 1 Cup of sugar
• 3 Tablespoons light corn syrup (or a little more)
• 3 Tablespoons of honey (or a little more)
• 1/2 Teaspoon vanilla
• 9 1/2 Cups finely ground rolled oats (I can only get 6-7 cups in, it gets too hard to mix)
• 1/2 Cup sliced almonds (I never use ‘em)
Serves: 6
This was a European staple before workers of the Hudson Bay Company packed it along on beaver-trapping excursions into what is now the American West. No light snack, this early energy bar reportedly stoked the metabolic fires of Sir Edmund Hillary as he ascended Everest.
At Home: Cream together the butter, sugar, syrup, honey, and vanilla. Grind the oats using a food processor or coffee grinder, then slowly stir in the almonds and oats. Press it all into a 13 x 9-inch pan. Bake at 325:F for 15 to 20 minutes. Don’t overcook; it crumbles. As soon as you remove it from the oven, press the mix firmly with a spatula (VERY important). Cut into squares and let cool in the pan.
Calories: 400 Carbohydrates: 54.36 Cholesterol: 33 Dietary Fiber : 2.8 Fiber: 3.4
Protein: 9.1 Saturated Fat: 8.3 Sodium: 129 Total Fat: 17.4

Be advised that this mix becomes VERY difficult to stir as it gets thicker. I don't know if a power mixer with something like a dough hook would help or not...

Sounds tastey. I have said mixer with dough hook. I bet it would do the job.

Give it a try. I love them (altho my wasteline doesn't), but my wife doesn't...

I do think this is a great idea. (I was going to respond in the "dog and bear sautéing" thread, but it's increasingly difficult to take anything in there seriously... wait, which idiot wrote the post in there about chain mail? Oh, that was me... )

My reasoning is thus: my wife "tolerates" my interests in the outdoors (she sometimes even comes along) and preparedness, but she's mostly humoring me. However, she loves cooking and talking about food, so this might just peak her interest. She's also into "unusual" ways of cooking strange things. Some guy on a television cooking program prepared something with liquid nitrogen (!) and she immediately wanted to try it.

On the other hand (I always think with both hands), in most survival situations, food preparation is low down on the list of things to do. One could argue from that perspective, it would make more sense to have fire starting and water gathering forums. (Although, how many ways are there to soak up morning dew from a leaf with a t-shirt?)

I think the point is bringing food already prepared / sourcing wild edibles ala Blast.

So, some recipes for pack food (freezer bag cooking / pemmican / etc...) and then Blast's gourmet corner.

"Blast's Gourmet Corner", ummm, sounds like a great name for a food section.

How about "Blast's Oven"?

Sounds more like a blacksmith now that I think about it.

"Fitzoid][q One could argue from that perspective, it would make more sense to have fire starting and water gathering forums."

This is the value of Blast doing the moderating. He has recipes and food prep techniques that, in addition to turning garden pests into haute cuisine, also ignite small fires and cause the rains to fall. Excitement! Adventure! Kevlar aprons!

Kavanaugh's instant dehydrated water?

Pemmican

1 pound suet
1 pound jerky

Pound jerky to powder. Render the fat*. Combine.

That's it.

I finally figured out I couldn't remember it because the ratio is just one to one. Silly brain.

*this is easiest in a low oven ~250