Hey! Are you calling us a loonies? LOL!

lol!Negative,I found it on sale & Bought it/liked it,though reading the wrapper,it was Indicative to the needs for Women,by the way,I'm not frisket,:)

Meh, I've had a few different Cliff bars and they're all to sweet for me. But the packaging is pretty robust. I'm not sure if it's as robust as lifeboat rations, though- maybe. The Cliffs definitely make me more thirsty than the Datrex bars, though.

Any of the ration bars will be a pretty minimal, survival-level ration...that's the whole point. They'll be better than nothing but obviously no 3,600 calorie diet will keep you feeling sated for three days. Certainly if you can supplement it with foraged food you'll be better off.

Jerky is a good survival food, maybe the original survival food. I'm a big advocate of nuts in that role, too. Take sunflower seeds for example. A 3.5 oz bag of sunflower kernels has 595 calories, and 525 calories is from fat! I think that's outstanding. Carbs might be easier to access but the energy from fat will last longer. Plus it satisfies your hunger better IMOHO. Nuts pack a lot of nutrients and calories for a small amount of bulk, plus they generally keep pretty well. You will need a bit more water to process them though.

I like to keep three days' of food in our BOBs. For this purpose the lifeboat rations work well.

For a while I kept ER Bars, and I think they're very good for the purpose. After a taste test, I moved to Mainstay bars. Neither are exactly fabulous, but I can't beat these kind of rations for bulk, weight, and long-term storage.

I also have civilian MREs and FSRs for various contingencies, but they're too bulky for BOB use.

I love Protein and Cliff bars of the such and I do infact often load a few up in my bags and kits But they often dont offer the same values as the ration bar for the same size. I LOVE Jerky specially the steak style which reminds me now I gotta throw a few in my kit. As for brands I was looking at Mainstay as they seem to be abit better.

Has anyone tried cooking one as a hot cereal, how did it work out?

I actually have one more laying around somewheres hidden under all ma camping junk. If I find it I just may try that! Im guessing Just crumbling it up and adding hot water since in the field that may be the only additive available. I may make half a bar by itself and the other half try it with added plain oatmeal for more substance.

Sorry Richlacal! Credit where credit is due!

Fred, that's a great idea. If I've heard it before I'd forgotten. I'll have to try cooking one. Hot cereal is one of my favourite ways to start the day and it would be especially good in a stressful situation.

I like the Millennium Bars available for several vendors:

Emergency Essentials

Amazon

SOS

Your Safety Place

I find them tasty (several different flavors), cost effective and packaged in air/water tight packaging.

Pete

The Mainstay type rations certainly have their place, but I prefer something a little more varied. The storage longevity is mainly due to the mylar vacuum sealed packaging, but this can be replicated at home with a vacuum sealer.

Typically I would vacuum seal the contents shown below (but these items have been pulled from my day pack food baggy)



Although some water is required for the above contents (around 160ml for the Cous Cous and another 300-600ml for a couple of cups of tea) in terms of water usage would compare favorably with a US MRE in terms of water use. I doubt there is such a thing as non thirst provoking food unless it was possibly canned fruit etc.

In terms of weight v Calorie performance the above meal provides around 1600 Kcal for a 420 gram weight. Typical cost for this meal using the supermarket goodies is around $4-4.50, so would be around 100gms heavier than the 4 Mayday 400 Kcal bars.

Edit - Actually the simmer soup requires 600 ml of water according to the instructions so if water was limited then the 212 Kcal contribution would have to left until enough water was available. (but that is not really a problem here in Scotland)