So, just to put a little twist one it; For cost considerations, let us assume you are broke.

What would you be stocking this with from the dollar store?

I keep 2 boxes of pop-tarts in my car from the dollar store, usually I find the boxes are either 6 total (3 2-packs) or 8 total (4 2-packs). I usually keep one in my desk at work.
200 calories per pop-tart

Chef Boyardee Ravioli 440 calories per can, OBSCENE amount of sodium 1500.

Green Briar Peanut Butter 10 Oz. Jar 180 calories per 2 tablespoons sodium 140 mg

Instant oatmeal 178 calories, 140 mg.

Honey 200 calories, no sodium.

If you combine the last 3 together-- oatmeal + PB + Honey, you get a basic moose goo.. I would not mix in advance, probably right when I was going to eat.
that would be ~ 558 calories, 280 sodium.

A person can live off 12 survival tabs per day _only_ (plus water of course). A member of our forum has confirmed once that he was experimenting with them for at least a month for sure (or more, don't remember). I trust him, even though I have personally tried them only for 1 weekend (ate 22 tabs) on the trail and felt perfectly well, even though psychologically it was definitely perceived like almost nothing. But we are talking survival situation, not a 3 rounds dinner.

The price is still very reasonable, considering the abundance of benefits compared to any option discussed above. I've got 3 of mine for just $25 shipped a while ago, and another 3 for $32 shipped this January, when noticed they are going up and will be replaced soon. Consider 15 days of proven healthy nutrition provided - that's just $2.66 a day - way cheaper than any of the options discussed above.

For the effect on the stomach. I'm sure it will shrink after 3-4 months of living on tabs only, but nothing fatal will happen in 15 days if there are no any unhealthy preconditions (I do have gastritis when skipping the meal time, but that's easily managed by Tums). In fact, I'm more skeptical at the attempts to invent a really balanced survival food out of grocery store offerings The professionally made tabs already solved that issue the best possible way. For the filling - just drink more water no earlier than 30 minutes after the tabs.

They're not supposed to be your entire food supply; they're supposed to supplement what you can find or forage. Supposedly they are very bio-available and digest completely. In a really bad situation the idea is that a small ration beats nothing.

Indeed they are. Probably hard to believe, but again, you can live and be active eating just 12 tabs a day for at least 15 days.

There is a food replacement powder which seems to be populair these days called 'Soylent'. Far more populair among the 'hipster' crowd than the outdoor/survival crowd. A 'open source' food replacement powder you can make your self. Mostly used as a food replacement thing when people are to buzy to cook. Depending on how you source the materials it might be a cheaper option than the tabs.

I however prefer real food...

Survival Tabs
Nutrients: "Non-fat Dry Milk Solids, Sucrose, Vegetable Oils." The rest are vitamins and minerals. Calories 240, fat 12g, carbs 30g, fiber 0g, protein 4g

Protein bar (Bare Naked - Almond Cranberry)
Ingredients: "Whole grain oats, honey, almond butter, almonds, brown rice syrup, cranberries, soybeans, whole flaxseed, peanut butter, cane syrup, crisp rice (rice flour, sugar, malt extract, salt, mixed tocopherols for freshness), isolated soy protein, coconut, vegatble glycerin, sea salt, soy lecithin, spice extractives." Calories 250, fat 11g, carbs 31g, fiber 5g, protein 8g. Cost around $1 (Target) plus a multi-vitamin (Target $11.79 for 300 or 4 cents each).

I think I'll go for the grocery store protein bar and a vitamin pill. Tastier, twice the protein, more filling, and cheaper. I could have three a day for only slightly more (40 cents) than one dose of the Survival Tabs.

I think, you are missing the point that the tabs' major advantage is their fast 100% digestion. Most of the nutrients from a regular protein bar will be removed undigested with waste. The direct comparison does not work here at all. You can not actively live on just 3 protein bars only per day for 15 days. But I certainly understand the point that for many people just the fact of eating a lot of varying in taste and texture food up to the filling sensation is a very serious source of psychological comfort, joy, morale boost, and an overall entertainment from the process. For me that's not worth an effort and time - drop in some decent fuel pellets on the go and forget it, there are more exciting/important things to do than boring foraging, cooking, chewing, and dish washing.

(Upd) Tried to find that field test report for the Tabs on the forum, but sadly the search function cannot go farther than 3 years back in time. Though, I'm sure, I bought my first tabs more than 5 years ago, after reading that story.

Fast 100% digestion... I'm not sure whether that exists in the real world (apart from eating a spoon or refined sugar). In fact, I would be interested in any solid studies behind that sort of claim.

With my admittedly limited grasp of biology I would expect that the actual efficiency of digestion depends on a multitude of other factors as well, such as the individual's current state of health, age, rate of metabolism, hydration, climate/temperature etc. etc. All those factors are likely to be working against you in a real survival situation. Not too good to begin with.

But that's a bit beside the point. I'm highly skeptical that an average human could remain active and in good health on a daily diet of a dozen "Survival tabs" for anything like 15 days.

Also, concentrated food is really hard on your liver and kidneys. Even taking meal replacement/protein shakes a little too regularly can have a serious impact on your system. Been there, done that - not good as your doctor will tell you.

In my field experience any sort of highly concentrated food only really works in a very short-term scenario. Anything longer than a couple of days and you're likely to end up with severe digestion issues. Constipation for starters, which is inavoidable if you're getting zero fiber with your diet.

Then, because the concentrated stuff just isn't very filling, you're likely to compensate by overhydrating (if enough water is available in the first place). Which is again liable to seriously mess up your bowels. So in effect, you might easily end up with a bad case of diarrhea. Not something you could afford in a rough situation.

Personally, I'd much rather eat something closer to real food, even if it means rationing the available stock to the minimum. In a 15-day scenario that shouldn't be too much of a problem, most people have enough fat reserves to survive for at least 30 days with no food at all.

BTW, the stuff about Survival tabs being developed for astronauts... Maybe, but I thought astronauts eat primarily real food, albeit freeze-dried or dehydrated rations. So I would take the ads with a huge grain of salt.

What constipation? If you don't eat junk, just tabs you have no stool forming at all, and no constipation I agree, everything depends on the overall health of your digestive system. So, perhaps if in a doubt it would be better to discuss the Survival tabs use (or any other survival food as well) with your doctor first. Regarding the water intake, it's enough to follow the 30 minutes (or more) rule to avoid any trouble.