Hi All,

I saw a emergency kit for cars while I was at Costco. I think it costs about $30 (I could be wrong) and includes things like First Aid Kit, jumper cables, multi-tool, tire sealant...etc. Does anyone own this kit? Is it cost effective?

I think it was similar to this
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.asp...av=&s=1


Also, I noticed that they were selling a big bucket of food for around $110. It's suppose to be 90 days worth of food with a shelf life of 20 years. Here's a link to the product:

http://www.foodforhealthint.com/proddetail.php?prod=275servingkit

What do you guys think of this? After doing some web search, i saw that some people weren't happy with the calorie content of the food if consumed daily as directed.

RE: The Big Bucket
I'm looking at the nutrition information, and yeah, to get a daily requirement of calories for an average person you'd have to suppliment these meals with something more or eat more than the recommended servings.

However, nutritionally speaking, the meals included kick the stuffing out of what I have stocked right now. I could probably skip the daily vitamins in pill form if I had these. I'd have to look them over in more detail to be sure though.

Also, it wouldn't bother me, but it looks like a vegan diet if that means anything. Or is it a vegetarian diet, I get them confused?

Remember that you'll need the appropriate amount of water to cook these.

IIRC, vegan seems to be more extreme form of a vegetarian. They have to eat off special plates, and have lots of special rules that they follow. (this off the top of my head)

Vegetarians just don't eat meat or animals.

However, as an interesting sidenote, I do have an friend that is a vegetarian, but about twice a year he gets a hankerin' for one of 2 things. One is prime rib (medium rare) and the other is a big plate of bacon and eggs. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

"...it looks like a vegan diet if that means anything. Or is it a vegetarian diet, I get them confused"

By that, I am assuming that the 'meaty' ingredients are made of soy? That's fairly typical for 'survival food'. It seems to keep longer. Some people say that, properly seasoned, it's hard to tell between soy and meat. OTOH, carnivores like me have no problem telling the real thing.

Vegans are the folks who eat purely things that grow directly from the ground. No meat, eggs, dairy, fish, or derivatives (like lard), and they don't wear leather, feathers, etc.

Vegetarians frequently eat fish, dairy and eggs.

It can be difficult to get 2,000 calories a day on a vegan diet, esp if there's not much fat involved, either.

Sue

Thanks for the replies. Anyone have any input on the taste of the food in the bucket? I came across a web site that said it tasted like "barf"...

Any input on the automotive kit?

I think Costco was sued over this bucket??? How the rations/calories per-day were less than what were given to people in concentration camps during the war.... basically the bucket is NOT enough food and it's a scam.

Thanks for the clarification. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

It actually wasn't so much the fact that soy led me to make the comment, but rather two of the last three meal items were listed as "Potato Bakon" and "Milk Substitue". Then I went back and took a closer look at the other meals and noticed the abscence of meaty words such as "Chicken" in "A La King". I got a good chuckle out of it.

I agree though, I've never had a soy product that tasted like the real deal, or even came close to making me not hanker the real thing.

I usually only eat meat for one meal a day, and it's either fish, chicken, or eggs, but more for medical reasons than anything else... They'll still get me with the Mercury poisoning though... And I'd love a Fudruckers half-pound burger right about now... LOL

Any thoughts on the vehicle kit?

Without seeing the components up close and personal, I wouldn't comment. Why don't you buy one and tell us how it rates?

If we weren't meant to eat Animals, they would not be meat!! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

so no one has tasted the food in the bucket? I guess no one has one of the auto kits either.

Maybe they'll have food samples one of these weekends at Costco...

As for the auto kit, i take it that it's cheaper than to buy the components separately. I will look at it more closely next time i'm at costco and maybe pick one up.

Nope, I've never tried it.

Although this little discussion has gotten me motivated to go get a new Costco card.

However, If you check the site where you linked us to the info on "The Bucket", they say that they'll send you a sample of all of the meals for $19.95. I think you have to go Products/Emergencies & Disasters, and it's mentioned right after the first contents list.

The trial pack only gives you 5 of the items:

http://www.foodforhealthint.com/disasters.php

"We will send you a variety of five (5) of our food items in their five-serving mylar packages to try for yourself before you make the investment in our product."

It seems like they get to choose which 5...

OK, half of the meals then. My Bad.

Still, it's better than jumping in with both feet and buying the "Big Bucket" only to find that you don't like the meals.

I think most of the time it's better to build your own kit together yourself, picking the best items to suit your particular needs and skills. It's true for survival kits, for first aid kits, etc. For emergency food storage they recommend "eat what you store and store what you eat" and rotate the food. Kind of like planning to eat a little of some "emergency food" every week. In a pinch you can always prepare barbecue seagull thighs, they are easy enough to catch.

BTW here's a good primer on the "eat what you store and store what you eat" concept:

web page

BTW, in a nuclear scenario, just forget about the seagulls, they will be heavily contaminated. You can eat the eggs however.

And tender, too, if you don't overcook them.