Anyone know where to get the best deal on Freeze Dried food such as Mountain House or Backpackers Pantry?

Emergency Essentials carries Mountain House. REI carries Mountain House and Backpackers Pantry - if you go to their online bargain area they have Backpacker's Pantry seconds (packaging gliches - no problem with the food) they are at a reduced price.

I have ordered Mountain House direct from their factory. You can put in your order at their website: http://www.mountainhouse.com/

If you're buying them to use soon, you might find a better deal somewhere else online that has old product, because they probably discount things getting closer to expiration. From the factory, you're always getting new product, so it'll have a longer shelf life for things like your emergency supplies.

Fyi - If you're associated with the Boy Scouts, they are very nice about discounting case lot purchases. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />They just need you to fax a copy of your unit charter to them before you can get the discount.

I have a question and a comment. First, the comment. I would have thought this thread would have generated more interest, although I have only been reading and posting for about a month, so maybe freeze dried food isn't the item I thought it would be. My question: How much water does it take to reconstitute the meals? I can't seem to find that anywhere on any of the sites, even the manufacturer's.

I would have thought it would get more interest as well. Maybe the question is wrong.

What types of food, which I think is probably the most important thing to have in a longterm emergency, so you store? How do you store it?

I rely almost entirely on canned food. I confess I have a bit of a bias against dehydrated food. 30 years ago I was the victim of a dehydrated food menu during a backpacking trip to the Uintas. The wind that it produced among the leaders and scouts was indescribable. Maybe the evil stuff has improved since then. But if weight isn't an issue and you don't mind rotating then I really don't see that it has any advantaged over canned. Maybe somebody else can chime in.

Regards, Vince

If you want dried food in bulk for longer term storage try Walton Feed. It is much less expensive than freeze dried but does requires preparation. Their site has a lot of good info as well as some interesting reading.(check out grandma's recipes in the archive section)

My 2 cent

Freeze dried foods are rather expensive. If you are backpacking where every ounce counts, it may be worth the money.

If you do not have to either carry it very far or store it for long periods, there are all kinds of canned and instant foods available at the local supermarket that are cheaper and (at least in my opinion) taste better.

Bottom line:
Freeze dried is good if BOTH light weight AND long term storage are more important than cost and taste.

I don’t think of freeze dried food for survival. They seem specialized for backpacking where weight is critical and cost is not a big issue because of limited number of meals. In my Camelback PSK I have a couple candy bars and some raisin, peanut, M&M, and Cheerios mix. I can’t keep food in my car because it is too hot in Arizona. We keep a couple weeks of food in the pantry at home. If we had to evacuate we would take food that was easy to store and prepare.

Here in Arizona, if you are stranded in the desert, water is the limiting factor. If you don’t have a lot of water then don’t eat. It takes water to digest food. The word is carbohydrates take less water than proteins.

Members of the Survival forum on AR15.com frequently have group buys of Mounain House products at greatly reduced prices. You might keep an eye out for a future buy.

Although the dehydrated foods require water and fuel to use, they are worthwhile for short-term emergencies. Especially, bug-out type scenarios where weight is a major consideration. It's just another option to have. No perfect solutions are out there.

BTW, Most of the Mountain House meals are pretty good.