Freeze Dried & MRE - Survival Food

Only 7% of Americans are prepared.

This American Red Cross estimate only refers to those who have emergency kits with a 72 hour food supply. If there was an epidemic or event causing a temporary food shortage of 6 weeks to 6 months, then almost no one is prepared.

If your first thought is “bulk food” at a big box store then think again.

If you buy bulk grain or flour then you better also have a plan on how to cook and eat it. You will need to store a lot of water, cooking oil, and a lot of other items for the grain to be a useful food supply.

Oh and be used to eating what you cook with the grain and flour, as your new full time diet. It is very stressful to dramatically change diet especially in a crisis. Severe diet changes can make people ill. The end result is adding complication to an already stressful situation.

There is a easier, cheaper, safer way to be prepared;

Bulk Freeze dried food.

No cooking required. No preparation other than adding water required. You can eat food you normally eat without the canned food taste. It can last up to 30 years so if you don’t need it this year or next year, you don’t have to throw it away.

Freeze dried food can be ordered bulk. Packages for a family supply of food for a month to a year or more are available and can be shipped to your door in a few weeks.

If you are concerned about preparedness, food rationing, or food shortages then you can get insurance against this risk. It is bulk freeze dried food.

This statement, in an American Red Cross press press release from August 2007 (below), tells you that there is a need to make things easier.

Otherwise, if it is not made easy as another statistic in the same press release indicates, 93% will continue to not be prepared.

You can order online an 72 hour emergency kit, with all the supplies the Red Cross recommends, in minutes.

You can order kits and long shelf life survival food from trusted online stores that existed for decades as real brick and mortar stores, not some fly-by-night “eBay store”.

The two main survival foods (after food bars in 72 hour kits) are MRE (meals ready to eat) and Freeze dried food. You can order various food reserves that will be enough food for one week, one month, or even one year. It can be delivered to your house and then stored in less than an hour.

How easy is that?

MRE can last up to 5-7 years if stored in a cool place. Freeze dried food will last up to 30 years. You won’t need to replace these items every 6 months or every year. This is a key point if you want your food reserve to be ready when you need it, without having to replace parts of it often.

The challenge with completing the 72-hour kits will be the things that are custom to you and your family; maps, medications, etc that can’t be included in a general 72 hour kit. Other than these custom items, everything else is only few mouse clicks to your door.

Where can I buy kits and survival food?

American Family Safety - Great Selection of 72 hour kits

Nitro-Pak - 72-hour kits MRE Freeze Dried Food

Below is the August 30, 2007 press release from the American Red Cross

*****************************************

Media Advisory:

September is National Preparedness Month: Only 7% of Americans Have Taken the Necessary Steps to Prepare for Disasters

Red Cross Survey Indicates 82% of Americans Would Get Prepared if it Was Easier to Do

WASHINGTON, Thursday, August 30, 2007

VIDEO FEEDS: Thursday, August 30, from 2:30 – 2:45 PM ET

September is National Preparedness Month yet only 7% of Americans have taken the steps necessary to get prepared, according to the American Red Cross ¹ . Why? Many people just don’t have the time. In fact, an American Red Cross survey indicates that 82% of Americans say they would get prepared if it were easier to do ². Additionally, among Americans who had not put together a disaster kit, 65% agreed that they would be more likely to have a kit if one were available for sale and contained basic items to get them started ³.

The Red Cross is using National Preparedness Month to urge every family to “Be Red Cross Ready”: to get a kit, make a plan and be informed. One way the American Red Cross has made it easier for families to get prepared is by offering a variety of first aid, health, safety, and emergency preparedness items.

“We’ve tried to make it as simple as possible for everyone to get prepared,” said Laura Howe, spokes-person for the Red Cross. “In purchasing these items, the public can feel good about not only preparing their families but also supporting the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross.”

Red Cross items available to the public include first aid kits, disposable and heavy-duty work gloves, hand sanitizer, emergency preparedness kits, hand-crank radios, auto safety kits, and a variety of essential education guides. Additionally, the Red Cross has a line of infant health and wellness products that help par-ents get prepared, encouraging them to take Red Cross courses in infant first aid and CPR. These items are available online, at many Red Cross chapters, and at a variety of retail locations nationwide.

Proceeds from the sale of these items go directly back into supporting the mission of the organization. Over the last few months, the Red Cross has responded to meet the needs of thousands of disaster victims affected by severe summer floods in nine different states; every dollar helps.

The public is also invited to take a free online education module available at www.redcross.org/BeRedCrossReady, which walks visitors through the three simple preparedness actions: to get a kit, make a plan and be informed.

This story is provided by the American Red Cross.

72 Hour Survival Kits

Having a good 72 hour survival kit ready at all times can be make a huge difference in the event of an emergency or disaster. One backpack can carry all you need if you pack the right items in it.

Rather than having one 2-person kit or one large four-person kit, I recommend getting 2-3 one person kits that you keep in each car and at home. You never know where you will be when you need them so I believe this is the best strategy.

The best one person kit I could find is the Executive 72 hour survival kit with solar radio upgrade.

This kit contains;

• Premium Quality Water Resistant Nylon Backpack
  with padded Shoulder Straps
• Heavy-Duty Tube Tent Shelter
• Deluxe Knucklemender™ 60 item First-Aid Kit
• 5 Year Shelf-Life Cookie Flavored Food Rations
• 5 Year U.S. Coast Guard Water Rations
• Emergency Space® Blankets
• 36 Hour Light/Heat Candle
• Protective Leather Gloves & Dust Masks
• Quality AM/FM Radio

CONTENTS INCLUDES:

Warmth & Shelter
• 2 - Compact Emergency USA Made Space® Blankets
• 1 - Deluxe Heavy-Duty Tube Tent
• 2 - Emergency Rain/Wind Ponchos

Cooking, Heating, & Light
• 1 - 36 hr. Emergency Candle
• 1 - Industrial “AA” Size Flashlight with Batteries
• 2 - Pair of Hand/Pocket Warmer Heat-Paks
• 1 - 12 hr. Instant Lightstick
• 1 - Box of Waterproof Matches (45 matches)

Water & Hygiene Items
• 24 - Purified Drinking Water Pouches (4.2 ounces each)
• 18 - Wet-Wipe Packets
• 2 - Compact Sanitation/Toilet Toilet Rolls
• 2 - Disposable Sanitation Bags

First-Aid
• 1 - 60 Item Knuckle Mender II™ First Aid Kit w/ Instruction Book

Food Items
• 2 - 3600 Calorie Cookie Tasting Ration Bars
• 1 - Bag of Survival Candy
• 6 - E-mer’gen-C® Energy Drink Packets

Miscellaneous
• 1 - Premium Heavy Duty Nylon Backpack
• 1 - 15-Function Swiss Army Style Pocket Knife
• 1 - Deluxe AM/FM Radio Flashlight w/ Batteries
• 1 - Emergency Survival Whistle
• 1 - 50′ Nylon Cord
• 1 - Pair of Leather Gloves (for digging through or clearing debris)
  or hand warming in cold weather
• 1 - Writing Pad, Pencil, and Ink Pen
• 1 - Deck of Playing Cards (time occupier for kids & adult at shelter or
  if stuck at work or school. Helps time pass much faster).
• 2 - N95 Hospital Grade Dust Masks

This is kit is available at Nitro-pak for $154.99 at the time of this post.

* Emergency Indentification Cards

Here is a good idea that is recommended by the American Safety and Health Institute;
EMERGENCY Preparedness Notification Cards - EMERGENCY Notification Cards for emergency preparedness and peace of mind.

Camping Survival.com Now Offers Over 20K Products Including MRE and Emergency Survival Kits

From wildfires to hurricanes or any number of other natural phenomena, disaster can strike no matter where you live. In some cases, you’ll be required to leave your home with only moments to spare. In other situations, you might have to take refuge inside your home and survive for days or weeks without essential services, such as water, gas and electricity. Because of this, emergency supplies are becoming mainstream commodities for disaster preparedness. In fact, the American Red Cross recommends assembling an emergency supplies kit containing water, MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) (http://www.campingsurvival.com/mreskits.html) , a first aid kit, clothing and bedding. They also suggest storing a tent, sleeping bags, mess kits, fire extinguisher, can opener, rain gear, and a map of the area for locating shelters.

“Nobody can forget the images of the people in New Orleans walking across the bridges to get away from the flooding,” said Tom Sciacca, President of Camping Survival.com. “More recently, we’ve seen the catastrophic effect of tornadoes. In a situation where you have to get out of your home quickly, an emergency supplies kit will be your best friend.”

The American Red Cross recommendations include a minimum three-day supply of food that requires no refrigeration or cooking. This can be ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits, and vegetables. MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) - a staple of US military and rescue operations - is another popular way to provide food supplies. MRE is convenient for also, as it’s pre-cooked and ready to eat from the pouch.

“The modern MRE is light years beyond the old military rations,” Sciacca explained. “The MRE we carry at CampingSurvival.com are available in a variety of flavors, including Beef Ranchero Meat Loaf, Jamaican Pork Chop, Chicken with Cavatelli and Black Bean and Rice Burrito. The MRE are not just entrees, but full meals, including side dishes, dessert, crackers, spread and coffee. MRE will ensure you and your family are fed while others are stampeding supermarket shelves in the aftermath of a disaster.”

The Red Cross guidelines also call for a minimum of a three-day supply of water available for each person. The recommend you compile a first aid kit (http://www.campingsurvival.com/firstaidkits.html) with bandages, antiseptic wipes, small scissors and latex gloves. Keep the most crucial items you are likely to need during an evacuation in an easy-to carry container like a large, covered trash container, camping backpack, or duffle bag.

“In an emergency, you can never count on being able to find safe, drinkable water,” said Sciacca. “Bottled water is fine until you run out - will you be able to find more A water filter system (http://www.campingsurvival.com/watpur.html) is a long-term way to ensure safe water for your family.

With all the emergency supplies you could conceivably put into your emergency kit, you could spend an eternity shopping for the necessary items. Sciacca says that the easiest way is to purchase a high quality ”

Camping Survival.com Now Offers Over 20K Products Including MRE and Emergency Survival Kits

Worth Repeating 

Survival and the Next Big Disaster: Rely on Yourself, Not the Government

Emergency kits and first aid supplies can keep your family alive when food, water, gas, electricity, or medical services are disrupted by disaster

(PRWEB) November 29, 2005 — Think you can rely on the government for your family’s survival after a disaster? Consider the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, and the Kashmir earthquake in the last year alone. While governments strive to help, downed gas, water, electric, phone, and medical services, not to mention roads, may delay help for days or weeks. And government services may be overwhelmed. Meanwhile, you and your family must fend for yourselves. Will you be ready?

“The country is really just not prepared for a major catastrophic event,” said Dr. Irwin E. Redlener, the director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, in a recent BusinessWeek cover story. “Whatever it is — the Big One in San Francisco, a terrorist attack — it doesn’t matter. The unfortunate truth is our ability to imagine and plan for catastrophic disasters is woefully inadequate.”

It’s 2:00 a.m. and a flash flood forces you to evacuate your home — fast. There’s no time to gather food from the kitchen, fill bottles with water, grab a first-aid kit from the closet and snatch a flashlight and a portable radio from the bedroom. You need to have these items packed and ready in one place before disaster hits.

A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) brochure puts the burden of preparedness on individuals. “It’s 2:00 a.m. and a flash flood forces you to evacuate your home — fast. There’s no time to gather food from the kitchen, fill bottles with water, grab a first-aid kit from the closet and snatch a flashlight and a portable radio from the bedroom. You need to have these items packed and ready in one place before disaster hits.”

While most disasters can’t be avoided, you can prepare for them. According to FEMA, there are six essentials you should stock in your home: food, water, first aid supplies, emergency supplies, tools, special items, clothing and bedding.” FEMA suggests at least a three-day supply of food and water, adding that food requiring no refrigeration, preparation, or cooking is best.

MRE, or “Meals Ready to Eat” — a staple of US military and rescue operations for decades — are a popular way to provide survival food supplies. “Because the MRE are pre-cooked, they’re ready to eat right from the pouch,” says Thomas Sciacca, a former marine, outdoorsman, and President of CampingSurvival.com. “Unlike freeze dried alternatives, the MRE are designed to retain moisture, gravy, and sauces with maximum nutrition, variety, and a five to ten year shelf life.”

Since evacuation or travel may be necessary, it’s also wise to include emergency kits or survival supplies in each car, as well as the office, school, or wherever significant time is spent, suggests Sciacca. The best kits are lightweight, avoid duplication, and suited to the users and environment used in.

While emergency kits and survival supplies can be assembled one item at a time, Sciacca understands that few people set aside the time to do an adequate job of it. “Important items get left out, items get scattered or get old and need to be replaced,” he explains.

Sciacca designed CampingSurvival.com as a one stop shop for survival supplies and emergency supplies — from pocket sized kits to The SuperArk, from family first aid supplies to organization-sized trauma kits, from rain ponchos to solar powered wind up radio. For free Disaster Analysis and promotional pricing, visit the CampingSurvival website at www.campingsurvival.com.

For More Information Contact:
Tom Sciacca
Phone: (800) 537-1339 ext. 222
Fax: 315-592-4796
28 W First St South
Fulton, NY 13069
sales@campingsurvival.com
www.campingsurvival.com