Hi everyone, I've lurked these pages on and off for a year or two. Great information!!

I do have a question that has been bothering me for quite some time. On a 72 hour kit that I plan to leave in the trunk. What type of food can I store that can take daily temperatures in the 100s? I think the only thing I can think of are MREs or the Mountain House stuff.

Thanks!

You can always store Coast guard type food bars , they are compact and relatively heat resistant.

It regularly gets over 100 F. in the back of my cap-covered truck. I keep MRE's and canned food and water back there and rotate them once a year in the fall. I have noticed a slight change in taste but nothing that prevents me from eating it.

Thanks! I was under the impression that canned foods are a no no in real hot temps. If thats not the case, then I'm all set! :-D

You could do an experiment too with things you think might work for you. Have your kit packed but then put some other items in your trunk and see how well they hold up. I noticed that Hooah bars have done okay for me so far as an extra food source. They get a little slimy after some time, and I haven't had them in 100 degree temps (not yet) but they are still quite edible.

Why? Everything in them until you open them is sterilized. It might reduce the nutritional value a little or effect the taste, but it won't spoil. And while cans do explode if they get too hot, if that's happening in your car, it probably means that something is on fire and it is time to leave the vehicle. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Ironraven, good point.. I guess I was afraid of the can "deforming" but come to think of it, if it deforms, other things would've deformed first.

Maybe Mainstay bars? I think they are heat rated.

You also might consider storing your food inside a cooler -- to protect it from the extreme heat.

TRO

I use a cooler. I've got MRE's, canned food and water in a cooler as part of my truck's two person 96 hour kit. Also, the truck and FG tonneau cover are white, it helps.

Deformed isn't a worry. I practically grew up on the dents and bents bin.

I might be deranged, but that's probably not related. :P

"Why? Everything in them until you open them is sterilized. It might reduce the nutritional value a little or effect the taste, but it won't spoil."

O.K. Some of you physicians or biologists out there correct my impression that botulism, even in canned foods thought to be properly canned and sterilized, is a risk often forwarned by swollen cans. If so, how do you tell if the swollen can is from heat alone, or Clostridium botulinum growth?

"O.K. Some of you physicians or biologists out there correct my impression that botulism, even in canned foods thought to be properly canned and sterilized, is a risk often forwarned by swollen cans. If so, how do you tell if the swollen can is from heat alone, or Clostridium botulinum growth?"

I'm neither a physicist nor a biologist, but I doubt that the trunk of a car gets hot enough to perceptibly swell a can, at least where I live. (But in Death Valley or the Sahara--who knows?) So I'm going to treat any swollen can as suspect. The good news is that I have been eating canned food for a good many years, and I've never even seen one that was swollen, let alone opened one that was spoiled. Rotate, rotate, rotate.... <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

If it's bulged, throw it out... period. If your car's getting hot enough to bulge a can, it must be on fire, and it's about to explode (the car OR the can, take your pick).

Troy

All good points.. This is actually for my wifes car.. Where she works, and parks, the temp probably goes into the 90s most of the year and 100s in the summer. I think as a test, I will put an analog cooking thermometer in her trunk and ask her to check the temp during various times of the day... Try to get an idea of how hot it gets.. My guess is during 100* weather, I suspect the trunk is 130-140. But hey, I might be surprised.. Alas, its a long weekend, so the test will be done next week.. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

For everyone in the United States, have a safe and enjoyable 4th, and for the sake of it, remember why we celebrate... It's just not fireworks!!!

OK, I should have mentioned swollen cans. It's an instinct for me, and I kinda forget other people don't always know.

Don't eat them. Don't open them. Bury them or trade them to people who you know suck and you are comfortable being judge, jury and executioner for.

Just an FYI,

If you choose to store any of the survival bars that are sealed in foil or mylar wrappers, be sure to first put them individually inside ziploc bags.

A few years back I was doing an inspection of my vehicle kits and found the vibrations of the items were wearing holes in the bars. This even happened from bar rubbing against bar. All of them had worn through the foil (very small holes)and were tossed. After bagging the bars individually in Ziplocs, no more problems.

Good luck, TR

It's over 100 degrees here during much of the summer. I can only imagine the temp in my vehicle at 4pm on a sunny day. The only food that seems to withstand those extremes and lasts forever are my beloved Mainstay rations