Hardtack:

http://youtu.be/a_gYhGNbTW8

qjs

I must respectfully disagree joey. Traditional hardtack has virtually no nutritional value, it water, flour and salt, and it's hard. What if you have a jaw injury or a bad tooth/teeth? I would suggest something like enhanced crackers or the Belvita breakfast biscuits over hardtack. JMHO.

Good catch Yee. I hadn't considered the sodium factor. However consider this: In a stressful situation, ie bugout or flat out running for your life, you will need more sodium to replace what your body uses and what it loses through sweat and possibly tears. It would be up to the individual to consider and balance the sodium issue according to their own preferences and body chemistry. But it has raised some questions in my mind now. Thanks Yee.

The issue is hardly how difficult it is to calculate for a single item but rather what items are worthwhile investigating for purchase in a big box store without lifting each item and using a calculator.

I just checked the bag of pecans I bought from Costco the other day. It contains 0 mg of sodium, so I did the calculations in my head...I'll bet that as a general rule, the less processed a food item it, the less sodium (and less sugar) it will contain.

I have had, over time, more issues with sodium depletion due to exertion, excessive sweating and high temperatures, than sodium excess. For a three day period, with exercise and exertion on the agenda, like DW, I would not worry too much about excessive salt consumption. The Hormel stuff is indeed way too much, however.

I hadn't checked the Hormel levels either Hikermor. But lets face it, in a three day pack sodium in your food is not going to kill you, or even make you sick. Just don't add more even if it tastes bland. But thanks for pointing that out. We have a guy on the jog who eats one at lunch daily, and most times one for dinner.

These Hormel Compleats are using way to much Salt (Sodium Chloride), probably three times as much as required for taste. Hormel is probably using the excess sodium to extend the shelf life of these microwave meal products. Way too many ingredients as well.

Sometimes the extra weight of a can is worthwhile.

http://www.grantsfoods.com/category/products/gourmet-range/

Best I can find, the cheapest way to buy freeze dried foods in in 3-7 or 30 day packs ( from big box stores) Lots of meal repetition, unknown taste, but excellent pricing.

My crash bag is full of cliff bars. Reasonably light and easy to carry, inexpensive and found in most stores. Not bad tasting either. I used to have mainstay bars. Those are really high in calories but are a bit on the expensive side. They don't pack as well as they come in vaccum sealed stacks. They also taste like a mixture of sawdust, lemons and used cat litter.....I will stick with the cliff bars for now.

i took Cliff bars as part of canoe tripping lunch menu and found you get tired of them in a few days.i would take a mix of those type of meal bars.
there is a big one we call "choke bars".a full meal in a thick fruit and nut bar but really dry and needs something to wash it down,which is something to think about when your picking out meal bars.