So what do you find is the best rations to keep in a BOB that will stay stable in adverse conditions, light to carry, neutricious enouph to keep up energy, feeds you for several days on what you can carry with other gear in a pack. I have been trying to figure out a decent way to flavor rice so I can stomace it with out to much extra stuff. A couple pounds would make a lot of rice with high carbs and can be cooked in short time. Curently I mostly carry Ramen noodels since 3 or 4 days of MREs in my kit and there would be no room for other things I need. So what do you carry or sugest?
Mountain House Freeze dried food is my choice. Light, tasty, easy to prepare, and high carb. MRE's are my second choice, but they get heavy quick. Probably a good mix of food is the best choice. David
I have MRE's for SUper Convenience situations only. Like a spur of the moment Truck camping trip that will get us to the camp site at 10:00PM... No time to really set up and cook. I try to save the MREs for this type of thing. And they would be convenient in hard times or as a moral booster and welcome break from wheat/beans. I am also a big fan of Mountain House foods. The nice thing Ive descovered is that on a weekend backcountry trip, I don't even need to bring a pot. Just drop Boiling water in the bag, let sit 5-14 minutes, take out Titanium Spork™ and enjoy
Yup... I like Mountain House..... light and easy.... need water though.... MRE's are super convenient..... also like rice.... but its heavy and bulky.... I think all have a place in a storage program.... so I've got all three.... run with the Mountain House.... stash the MRE's and Bug In with the rice.... Bear
I alwayse kind of viewed rice as a light item to carry since a couple pounds of dry rice makes up a LOT of rice once cooked. I will have to look into the Mountian House stuff.
I store four 20lb bags, sealed in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, in an airtight dog food container.... get's pretty heavy.... but rice is cheap... $6 for 20lbs....
Yeah, I suppose that would be a bit of weight. I was thinking of like a 2-5 pound bag in a BOB to last a week or so if that.
Check out this site. http://www.freewebs.com/freezerbagcooking/ Little on the tree hugger side if I remember right, but one heck of a menu that could be prepared in bulk for long term storage. Just grab and go. Helps that you only need H2O, a small pot, and some fire to make it work. Phishi
I think that MRE's are the best option for a bug-out bag due to the fact you do not need to cook/heat them up while on the move. That was the premise of the thread title so I answered the survey that way. But the survey's question was, what is the best survival ration, which I agree with most others, Rice is the way to go for bulk storage survival rations. I have a good mix of short duration foods such as MRE, Mountain House, canned goods and so on. And for long term focus more on the 5 gal buckets of rice/beans/ECT.
Surprised that although rice is a great sugar/starch source, there is little protein there. I have 2# of rice in my BoB, 30# in the pantry. But, I also have dehydrated ground beef sealed in Foodsaver bags and frozen. Check out the process Dehydrating Meat, great for making no beans chili on the trail, just pack some chili mix. Going to try dehydrating smoked salmon, like this guy did... Dehydrated smoked salmon | Backcountry Post
I voted "MRE". Keep in mind the OP's statement this is for BO use. You are on the move, possibly in hostile country (the 'bad ' part of the town/county), and you might not be able to stop and cook your rice & beans. MREs can be munched while on the march. And the BOB is generally considered as a time limited situation - three days usually. You don't want to be lugging your ten pound bag of Uncle bens and the stove, cookware, and fuel to cook it up. The smell of cooking could also alert the hostiles to your presence. If this is a post-SHTF event, they are hungry! The "Ready to Eat Rice" meals are a second choice, but don't store as long. If bugging out by vehicle and weight is not an issue, then canned goods can be used. I commonly eat Chef Boyardee stuff cold from the can. I like the Kippered Herring (especially smoked!) and Sardines too, along with crackers. That's our usual lunch on the hunting lease.
I go with Mountain House. Add water , heat & eat. Washed down with coffee - the original energy drink.
Yep, kippers, crackers, and jerkey, would keep me moving a long time. (Plus, you can cook in the tons if needed, boil water, and store fatwood or tinder.while moving.
Datrex makes a pretty good lifeboat ration ( 18 coconut bars) per food brick. I have eaten them while camping just to test them out... not bad.
Rice is good but it take long time to prepare as compared to others. But rice is not too much heavy in weight & not take too much space in bag pack & quantity increases after cooking.
