I had posted my SHTF bag's contents a while back and someone stated that for my purposes (7 days of survival out of a single bag, bug in, bug out, whatever) I was light on food. I was originally carrying 3 MRE (entrees only), a 3600 Mainstay food ration, and 8 Quaker chocolate chunk granola bars (the skinny ones).

So, I ordered 2 of the 2400 Mainstay food rations to throw in there. My question is, would the Mainstay rations fit the bill? With 1 of the 3600 and 2 of the 2400 bars in there, plus the granola bars, would the MRE entrees even be necessary?

I know the human body can SURVIVE without food for even longer than a week, but at a cost. So, I'd rather have food in there to last me.

Surviving is a calorie draining strain on the system, requiring additional intake to sustain yourself. At best, it's bad enough. There's no need to make it worse by starving if it's not necessary. If you have to, that's another thing, but why do it if you don't have to?

What are you planning on doing for water?

I carry a 160 ounces of water in the bag and have 200 water purification tablets, a 32 ounce Nalgene, filters, and a large coffee can to boil water in.

I think the best way to answer your question is to actually try and live on the food in your kit. I think it's really hard to look a limited list of food and tell a stranger whether it's "enough" for a week. I think you'll probably come to some sort of conclusion rather quickly, long before you hit seven days. And this experiment is without the added stress of some sort of crisis (though, just normal daily life for many of us seems like one long crisis!).

If you're healthy and usually eat sensibly, your metabolism may do fine. Your stomach may be grumbling for at least the first few days, but besides that, you may be able to function all right if you're not exerting yourself too much (although personally, I think it would be a rough seven days with those food items). But considering the way that many/most people eat and our dependence on high-sugar/highly processed foods, many of us can't even go for 8 hours without a meal without feeling all jittery and fatigued from a crash in blood sugar. Or coffee.

I gave up coffee a couple months back even though I only drank one cup in the morning. I had a splitting headache, my body ached, and I even felt nauseous for two or three days after I quit. I initially thought I had caught the flu because of the body aches. I started drinking a couple cups of tea a day sometime after quitting the coffee and even with tea, I discovered that I'd get withdrawal symptoms if I stopped. A rather sobering discovery for me. I'm not saying give up coffee/tea, but it's important to know how your body responds.

And how your body responds is the only answer that really counts for you.

Personally... at the very least keep the MRE entrees. I have case of MRE's in my supplies, but on my BOB is the dehydrated camp food. Anyway, my point is that you'll probably want a little variety if you're living out of a bag.

And speaking of variety, have you ever lived off water for 7 days only? If not, it can get dull. I'd toss in a couple packets of Gatorade or Kool-aid or Propel or coffee or.... you get the point. More a comfort item than survival, but light enough.

Finally, I'd personally suggest either the 2400 bars or lower, if they have them. Last thing you want is the 3600 to get a tear in the corner, and find out at an inopportune time that 3 days worth of food has rotted.

If the S ever did HTF, I don't know that I'd have much of an appetite.

Great suggestion on the Gatorade. Also look at NUUN tablets or some of the energy gels.

I have lived on water and MRE's alone for longer than 7 days. That is why there are drink mixes in the MRE's. Water can get old quick. Bad tasting water even faster.

We have Propel, Crystal Lite, coffee and tea packs. I also stash hard candies and the little breath strips in for morale boosters.

I still remember my first mail during Desert Storm. One pack of tic-tacs. Best package I ever received in the mail my entire life.


E[color:#3333FF]DIT: You may also want to consider fiber tablets and Loperamide. If you aren't adjusted to MRE's, I promise you one of the two will come in VERY handy by day two.[/color]

Just a quick note, if you are experiencing diarrhea, and replenishing your fluids is not a problem, you might want to avoid the imodium (loperamide) until you can rule out a bacterial infection. The body's response to certain GI bugs and ingested toxins is to evacuate the bowel as quickly as possible (diarrhea). Now, if you have a limited water supply (a serious survival situation), imodium might very well be indicated, because you will die from dehydration faster than from an infection.

Just my two cents

This logic tends to be a generally accepted urban legend (at least in my opinion). Most references/discussions of treatment with an anti-diarrhea medication almost always carries the suggestion to delay the use of such medication to allow the body to flush out the agent. While I cannot say that 100% of diarrhea is not a body’s defense mechanism, I think I can safely say it is not a major defense mechanism. The mechanism of diarrhea is more likely caused by the direct pathological (disease causing) effect the organism is having on the body, either though the production of toxins (exo- and endo-) and/or the physical invasion of intestinal mucosa.

Many of these organisms invade (viruses essential invade and take over a cell’s mechanics to produce more virus) or closely associate with the intestinal mucosa. Flushing (diarrhea) will likely have little effect on their populations. Two significant factors in the non-medicated treatment of diarrhea, is the body’s ability to mount an immune response and being out-competed (in the case of bacterial diarrhea) by the other intestinal flora. A relatively healthily individual is capable of mounting an immune response quicker and with greater vigor than a run-down individual. Maintaining hydration and vigor is critical, in combating diarrhea. Likewise, with respect to bacterial diarrhea is maintaining a healthy population of beneficial bacteria. Personally, I encourage the use of pro-biotics (taking a bacterial supplement or eating active culture yogurt / keefer) to maintain a healthy and pathogenic resistant intestinal tract. The best example for supporting this view is in comparing the relative resistance of axenic (germ-free) mice vs. mice with a normal population of intestinal flora. It takes a single Salmonella organism in the axenic mouse to establish an infection whereas in the intestinally normalized mice it takes in excess of 10^5 Salmonella organisms to establish an infection.

Here is a link to one article examining the mechanism of bacterial diarrhea:

Surface Structures of Escherichia coli That Produce Diarrhea by a Variety of Enteropathic Mechanisms


Pete