The US army has shown new MRE and new “first strike rations” today, the associated press and ArmyTimes reports.

The demonstration featured new menu items for “Meal, Ready-to-Eat” and “First Strike Rations”.

The new items won’t be available anytime soon, with buffalo wings slated for release in 2009, and southwest beef and blackbeans coming out in 2010.

The first strike ration for more mobile forces are less bulky and lighter. They are scheduled to be released this summer. The meals are packed with high-protein, high-carbohydrate foods upto 3000 calories to provide energy for fast moving forces.

I have done some research and have some further comments of my own and clarifications on water storage. Thanks for the excellent article on water storage by Terry Fitzroy of Survival Solutions published in a previous post here on Bulk Survival Food.

There was a suggestion in that article that you should drink 8 glasses or 64 ounces of water a day. This is a myth so pervasive medical professionals sometimes say it. Medical journals found no research supports this anywhere and have traced the myth back to a mis-interpretation of a 1945 medical report.

The fact is most of the 64 ounces of water is contained in the food we eat. That is if what you are eating is a healthy well balanced diet. Read this British Medical Journal article that quotes the 1945 report “One origin may be a 1945 recommendation that stated: A suitable allowance of water for adults is 2.5 litres daily in most instances. An ordinary standard for diverse persons is 1 millilitre for each calorie of food. Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods“.

Over time it appears most people, even doctors, have forgotten the key second sentence in bold above.

If you are eating MRE food reserve in a disaster, most of the 64 ounces (~2.5 liters) of the water is already in the food. If you use a Freeze Dried Food food reserve , you need store more water to hydrate the food when you eat, but the water you use to hydrate the food all ends up in your body when you eat it.

That said, then what is the real amount water storage needed for emergency preparedness?

The Red Cross and FEMA say one gallon of water per day in their “Preparing for Disaster” pdf (on page 8), but this for a “3 day supply kit”. So perhaps this does not include water requirements for hygiene? Does it assume you have also included in your 3 day kit mostly canned food that has water in the food as opposed dry grains and cereals which will need a lot more clean drinkable water to cook?

www.72hours.org offered this advice on water “Store one gallon of water, per person, per day. This amount will be adequate for general drinking purposes. Three gallons per person per day will give you enough to cook and for limited personal hygiene.”

They also advised to replace unopened stored bottled water once a year.

Perhaps you can plan to replace the water each year the day before or the day after your birthday so you will remember to do it. Or Perhaps we should have a “Preparedness Day” holiday so that we can do once a year whatever needs to be done that year like throwing out the canned food and bottled water and replace it with a new supply for another year. I am sure the food industry will be all for this holiday, they should take the cue from the chocolate and flower people for what they did to create Valentine’s day. Let’s move on.

So the answer, in terms of clean water storage for consumption, appears to be 1 to 3 gallons per person per day depending on whether you are using water for cooking.

If your survival food store is MRE then your requirement will be closer to 1 gallon per day, and 1.5 gallons if you use Freeze Dried Food.

You may think there is an advantage to MRE here but you will need the same if not more storage space for the same period of food support for MRE due to package density of MRE. As well you will always have more options in terms of water resource allocation as the additional water you store for Freeze Dried Food can be used for other purposes if it makes sense, while with MRE the water that is already in the food can’t be practically extracted out.

The best way to safely store water is in food grade containers like the ones below. With stabilizer applied and containers properly sealed water will be good to drink for 5 years. Click on the pictures of the containers to get more information on them;

30 gallon container, 4 per package at Nitro-Pak

55 gallon container, 4 per package at Nitro-Pak

What if you did not prepare water before an emergency?

Here is some excellent information from Public Heath of Seattle and King county on “How to prepare safe water after a disaster”.

Freeze Dried Food Reserve Information

You have probably tried freeze dried food as a “Nasa Astronaut” ice-cream novelty, or more recently, as a fruit dessert injected with chocolate.

However freeze dried food has characteristics that make it great for a survival food reserve.

• Freeze dried food can last up to 30 years if stored properly
• It can be stored in a much smaller space than other food reserves
• Can be eaten just by adding water to hydrate
• Retains the taste of fresh food, not canned food
• In bulk can cost can be less than $3.00 per meal

A Large quantity, up to one year of freeze dried food can be stored in a pallet sized space. I would try a smaller freeze dried meal pak first with my family to decide if it is right for you.

Freeze Dried Food comes in paks oftern used by hikers and #10 cans from Mountain House. It is important to note that paks only last 6-7 years where the #10 cans can last upto 30 years if stored in a cool dry place. The cans last longer because they are better sealed and nitrogen packed. Nitrogen displaces the air and so there is no oxygen in the cans which gives them long life. This is better than vacuum packing.

You will need to have water available to re-hydrate the freeze dried food. Total water reserve for should be 1 to 1.5 gallons per person per day.

The one advantage MRE has over Freeze dried food is that MRE is better suited to “on the go” situations since it does not require water and usually comes with “flameless ration heaters”. But MRE only store 6-7 years.

Freeze Dried Food Reserve Packages

Mountain House 4 person 3 month “dinner Entree-pak”

True food preparedness means;

1. A food reserve with variety that tastes good so people can eat and be satisfied
2. Food that is simple and easy to prepare even in a disaster
3. Food that is easy to store and transport

The new Mountain House 4 person 3 month “dinner Entree-pak” meets all of these conditions and at low price per meal.

Priced at $1053 this package offers an affordable peace of mind for preparedness for your family that easy to use.

So you don’t need to be a dedicated trained survival enthusiast to be prepared. You just need to make the right prepardedness choice.

Platinum Food Reserve
Food supports 4 People for 3 Months or one person for a year.

This bulk freeze dried food reserve is (at the time of this post) for $3375 , with free shipping and a 120-day ‘no-risk’ guarantee.

“…will provide over 2000 calories per day for one person for one complete year, or a family of 4 for 3 months! It comes with a total of 168 #10 cans (large restaurant size cans) that comes packed in 28 cases for easy storage.”

where you can get;

• Mountain House Freeze-Dried Food

• 72-hour Survival Kits

• Free Shipping on orders over $100

• 120-Day ‘No-Risk’ Guarantee

KT

Mountain House #10 Cans Versus Pouches

The image on the left shows boxes of Mountain House #10 cans. The image on the right shows Mountain House pouches.

Pouches are popular with hikers, rock climbers and back-packers. Mountain house also sells them in cases as a food reserve.

They are a meal in pouch, just add water.

A Mountain House pouch can be used as a survival food reserve and are specifically packaged as such in the “just in case unit” 7 day food supply box pictured above.

This is comparable to MRE with the distinction they taste better, are easier to digest but require more preparation since you need to add water.

When you compare a pouch to a #10 can the main difference is that pouches are an individual meal. Nitro-pak" rel="tag" href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/gc66ox52x4KNUMQTTMKMLORQTPS?sid=10cansFR_PouchVS10cans_intext&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nitro-pak.com%2Findex.php%3FcPath%3D147_148">Mountain house #10 cans are a bulk, 8-10 serving food reserve unit.

More important however, pouches will store for up to 7 years at 75° F (24° C), while #10 cans will last 25 years under the same conditions.

While it is more convenient to have the pouches and they are a good alternative to MRE if you can’t stand the taste or digest MREs, #10 cans are a much longer lasting and better investment for disaster preparedness.

The exception are those people who find the contents of the pouches comparable enough to fresh food, and will consume pouches periodically for regular meals and continuously re-stock them as a food reserve for disasters. Then the 7 year shelf life is not an issue.

Finally a food reserve of the same duration in #10 cans will store in a smaller space than the pouches due to the cans being a bulk (less packaging) food supply.

In summary;

Mountain House Pouch

• More convenient package as a meal
• taste better than MRE
• Store for up to 7 years

Mountain House #10 Can

• bulk, 8-10 one cup servings of one item
• store for up top 25 years
• store more efficiently than pouches

Mountain House Just In Case Unit

Mountain House #10 can Food Reserves

.

Hide Sites

MRE Information

MRE or “Meals Ready to eat” are military style food rations.

There are two categories of MRE, military MRE and commecial MRE.

Military meals ready to eat are made for the US military and the armed forces of other countries. They are sometimes sold on eBay but there is risk there as the military considers this illegal as they want to discourage theft of their property. There is also risk as the age and storage conditions the MRE experienced before you bought it will be unknown  perhaps even to the seller.  Military MRE cased of 12 sell for as little as $40 on eBay ($3.33 per meal) which is less than $72 ($6 per meal) average case price of commercial MRE. Besides risk you should also consider shipping costs which online retailers may charge less than $15 where eBay  sellers sometimes charge a lot more for shipping and “handling”.

The main difference between military and commercial MRE (that is good commercial MRE from main brands such as Sopakco, MRE Star, aPack) is calories and sodium levels. Military MRE has high sodium content as they are intended for short term on the go use. Military MRE has 1250 to 1300 calories whereas until recently commercial MREs had less. Some commercial MREs have only 700 calories.  MRE Star’s commercial MREs now have average of 1,100-1,300 calories. They are avaialable at Nitro-pak.

Some reasons why they are a popular choice for survival food;

• MRE’s paks are a complete meal with main course, side dish, crackers with spread, dessert, and a powdered drink mix.
• MRE packs last 4-10 years depending on storage temperature, longer than most canned food.
• They are pre-cooked and in a pouch “ready to eat”, nothing needs to be added
• Usually you buy MRE with flameless heaters so you can eat your meal hot (cold is ok too)

USAGE

You can best use MRE for emergency situations where you “are on the go” . Also if you do not want to waste time cooking or do not want the hassle of bring cooking equipment with you. MRE’s are the most convenient survival food choice.

MRE cost is about $6 per meal plus shipping for a case of 12. You can get discounts if you buy larger quantities.

For a food reserve for periods longer than a week however, a “freeze dried food” reserve is better in terms of space and cost per meal. You will need water for freeze dried food which, although hydrates quickly, is nevertheless is not as “ready to eat”

.

Hide Sites

Will You Have Edible Survival Food When You Need It?

Can you rely on adequate government support, especially food, within 72 hours or even a week of a major disaster?

I think everyone agrees now the answer is definitely not.

Yet only 7% of us have taken action ourselves to be prepared for disasters, according to the American Red Cross. Why?

Most people want to be prepared, but what we need is a food reserve that easily obtained only once and requires little or no maintenance until it is needed. In terms of food preparedness, that means food that doesn’t need to be thrown out and replaced every year or two.

An emergency food reserve should not be food that is radically different from the types of food we regularly eat, nor should preparing it require a huge effort.  It should not be rotten, rancid, or otherwise barely edible when you may need it, next week, or years from now.

What food reserves best avoid these problems?

Finally you also want an affordable food reserve that has a reasonable cost per meal, not much more than what you pay per meal everyday for you and your family. A food supply large enough that it will last weeks or months if you need it.

I have sorted through the pros and cons of various survival food options below with these needs in mind.

Two options that you may not be as familiar with are MRE (meals ready to eat) and Freeze Dried Food. MRE is what the military uses for mobile activities, but it is available from the same manufactures as civilian MRE.

Freeze dried food is a more longer storing type of food reserve that is also used by the military and government agencies.

Both freeze dried and MRE are often overlooked. When we first start thinking about food preparedness, we think bulk food storage such as bulk rice, bulk wheat, bulk flour, bulk sugar, and canned food reserves. These bulk foods have some real drawbacks. So you would be severely limiting your choices if you did not consider MRE and freeze dried food.

Freeze dried food and MRE have long to very long storage life for emergency food reserves and most importantly require little or no preparation, water, and no cooking equipment.

Here are some commercial examples of MRE & freeze dried food;

Bulk Freeze Dried Food Examples
Various Freeze Dried Food Reserves at Nitro-Pak

Various Freeze Dried Food Reserves at The ReadyStore

MRE Case & Pallet Examples
Various Bulk MRE (meals ready to eat)

If you take just a few minutes to read below about the advantages and disadvantages of survival food options to make a wiser more well informed choice.

Survival Food Options

What are the options for food emergency preparedness?

The conventional wisdom offered by our governments and dedicated survivalists is to go to your local supermarket or big box store and buy canned food and dry grains and carefully store them. There are limitations to this survival food strategy that are highlighted below.

Survival Food Option 1 - Buy Canned Food and Dry Grains

Buy the canned foods, grains, and bottled water as many government agencies recommend. Store in your house or apartment.

Advantages

• Can be done in a few hours or less for a 72-hour or one week reserve.

Disadvantages

• Most will forget and some will not store it properly so it will be useless when it is needed. Did you do this years ago? Go look at this food now and check the expiry dates on canned goods and check grains for mold infestations, rodent invasions, etc.
• Canned foods are bulky and heavy, space is often limited people will not be able to store much
• Grains need a lot of water to cook to eat and water may be unavailable or scarce in a disaster.
• You will need to spend a lot of time preparing food
• Canned foods destroy appetites and morale quickly. Even unexpected allergic type reactions can occur if the types of food in a diet are drastically changed.

Survival Food Option 2 - Buy Canned Food and Dry Grains and use them regularly on an “inventory cycle” plan

Same strategy as the first option, except you actively manage storing and ‘cycle’ inventory of goods. As you buy new food you use up the old canned food so that the food store is less than the expiry date of the canned food.

Advantages

• Food will not be bad when you need it

Disadvantages

• Most people do not have the time, space, or inclination to do this
• Grains need a lot of water to cook to eat and water may be unavailable or scarce.
• You will need to spend a lot of time preparing food
• Canned foods will destroy appetites and morale quickly

Survival Food Option 3 - Buy MRE’s

See Various MRE (meals ready to eat) Reserves

Advantages

• Easy to store and lasts upto 5-7 years in a cool dry place.
• Easiest and fastest preparation time possible and can be heated fast with “MRE heaters”
• Can be ordered online in minutes, delivered to your house. You will only have to spend less than 30 minutes storing it.

Disadvantages

• Relatively expensive per meal ($6-$7) and for extended reserve of 6 weeks, 3 months, or a year a lot space required to store.
• Lasts only 5-7 years so you will need to buy a replacement reserve relatively soon. Hopefully you do not live in a place where there is a disaster that often.
• Tastes like canned food which will destroy appetites and morale quickly

Survival Food Option 4 - Buy Freeze Dried Food

Various Freeze Dried Food Reserves at Nitro-Pak

Various Freeze Dried Food Reserves at The ReadyStore

Advantages

• Easy to store and can last up to 30 years.
• Fast simple preparation just add water. But only water that is needed to hydrate the food, much less than cooking.
• Once hydrated, freeze dried food taste is very close to original food taste.
• Light weight easy to store large qty (Mountain house #10 cans) of food for reserves of 6 weeks, 3 months, or a year. A 6 week food reserve can fit under a bed!
• Can be ordered online in minutes, delivered to your house. You will only have to spend less than 30 minutes storing it.
• Good economical choice - cost can be less than $3.00 per meal.

As you can see there are a lot of benefits to Freeze Dried Food over the other options making it the superior choice as a bulk survival food.

KT

Bulk Emergency Food - Freeze Dried Food and MRE Options

Freeze Dried Food
Family One year Food Reserves

Group Food Reserve 50 people X 7 days or 10 people X 35 days

45 day - 6 weeks Freeze Dried Food

MRE
Bulk MRE (meals ready to eat)

.

For additional information on survival food planning see Planning Survival Food - Short and Long Term

.

Freeze Dried Food Reserve Packages

Mountain House 4 person 3 month “dinner Entree-pak”

True food preparedness means;

1. A food reserve with variety that tastes good so people can eat and be satisfied
2. Food that is simple and easy to prepare even in a disaster
3. Food that is easy to store and transport

The new Mountain House 4 person 3 month “dinner Entree-pak” meets all of these conditions and at low price per meal.

Priced at $1053 this package offers an affordable peace of mind for preparedness for your family that easy to use.

So you don’t need to be a dedicated trained survival enthusiast to be prepared. You just need to make the right prepardedness choice.

Platinum Food Reserve
Food supports 4 People for 3 Months or one person for a year.

This bulk freeze dried food reserve is (at the time of this post) for $3375 , with free shipping and a 120-day ‘no-risk’ guarantee.

“…will provide over 2000 calories per day for one person for one complete year, or a family of 4 for 3 months! It comes with a total of 168 #10 cans (large restaurant size cans) that comes packed in 28 cases for easy storage.”

Nitro-Pak is where you can get;

• Mountain House Freeze-Dried Food

• 72-hour Survival Kits

• MRE (meals ready to eat)

• Free Shipping on orders over $100

• 120-Day ‘No-Risk’ Guarantee

KT

Mountain House #10 Cans Versus Pouches

The image on the left shows boxes of Mountain House #10 cans. The image on the right shows Mountain House pouches.

Pouches are popular with hikers, rock climbers and back-packers. Mountain house also sells them in cases as a food reserve.

They are a meal in pouch, just add water.

A Mountain House pouch can be used as a survival food reserve and are specifically packaged as such in the “just in case unit” 7 day food supply box pictured above.

This is comparable to MRE with the distinction they taste better, are easier to digest but require more preparation since you need to add water.

When you compare a pouch to a #10 can the main difference is that pouches are an individual meal. Mountain house #10 cans are a bulk, 8-10 serving food reserve unit.

More important however, pouches will store for up to 7 years at 75° F (24° C), while #10 cans will last 25 years under the same conditions.

While it is more convenient to have the pouches and they are a good alternative to MRE if you can’t stand the taste or digest MREs, #10 cans are a much longer lasting and better investment for disaster preparedness.

The exception are those people who find the contents of the pouches comparable enough to fresh food, and will consume pouches periodically for regular meals and continuously re-stock them as a food reserve for disasters. Then the 7 year shelf life is not an issue.

Finally a food reserve of the same duration in #10 cans will store in a smaller space than the pouches due to the cans being a bulk (less packaging) food supply.

In summary;

Mountain House Pouch

• More convenient package as a meal
• taste better than MRE
• Store for up to 7 years

Mountain House #10 Can

• bulk, 8-10 one cup servings of one item
• store for up top 25 years
• store more efficiently than pouches

Buy Mountain House Just In Case Unit

Buy Mountain House #10 can Food Reserve

.

MRE Information

MRE or “Meals Ready to eat” are military style food rations.

Some reasons why they are a popular choice for survival food;

• MRE’s paks are a complete meal with main course, side dish, crackers with spread, dessert, and a powdered drink mix.
• MRE packs last 4-10 years depending on storage temperature, longer than most canned food.
• They are pre-cooked and in a pouch “ready to eat”, nothing needs to be added
• Usually you buy MRE with flameless heaters so you can eat your meal hot (cold is ok too)

USAGE

You can best use MRE for emergency situations where you “are on the go” . Also if you do not want to waste time cooking or do not want the hassle of bring cooking equipment with you. MRE’s are the most convenient survival food choice.

MRE cost is about $6 per meal plus shipping for a case of 12. You can get discounts if you buy larger quantities.

For a food reserve for periods longer than a week however, a “freeze dried food” reserve is better in terms of space and cost per meal. You will need water for freeze dried food which, although hydrates quickly, is nevertheless is not as “ready to eat”

.

Hide Sites

Amazon: Pantry 6 - Six Month Food Supply
Price: $699.95 & Free Shipping

Product Features

* Be prepared! Stores for 7 to 15 years.
* Convenient dehydrated food is easy to prepare — makes healthy, wholesome, low-fat meals.
* Nitro-packed in large #10 cans four-times stronger than grocery store cans.
* A #10 can of applesauce granules makes 60 half-cup servings. Potato granules makes 152 servings of mashed potatoes.
* Keep your family fed during emergencies, times of trouble, terrorism or unrest.

Emergency Food - What are the options?

Emergency Food Option 1) Buy the can goods, grains, and bottled water as many government agencies recommend. Store in your house or apartment.

- Good, can be done in 2 hours or less

- Bad, most will forget or not store it properly so it will be useless when it is needed

- Bad, Goods are heavy, space is often limited people will not be able to store much

- Bad, grains need a lot of water to cook to eat and water may be unavailable or scarce.

- Bad, you will need to spend a lot of time preparing food

- Bad, can goods can destroy appetites after awhile

Emergency Food Option 2) Same as 1 except be more careful in storing and ‘cycle’ inventory of goods buying new food so that food store is always edible.

- Good, food will not be bad when you need it
- Bad, most people do not have the time, space, or inclination to do this

- Bad, grains need a lot of water to cook to eat and water may be unavailable or scarce.

- Bad, you will need to spend a lot of time preparing food
-Bad, can goods can destroy appetites after awhile

Emergency Food Option 3) Buy MRE’s (military style - Meals Ready to Eat)

- Good, easy to store and lasts upto 5-7 years in a cool dry place.

- Good, fastest preparation time possible and can be heated fast with “MRE heaters”

- Good, can be ordered online in minutes, delivered to your house. You will only have to spend less than 30 minutes storing it.

- Bad, relatively expensive per meal and for extended reserve of 6 weeks, 3 months, or a year a lot space required to store.

- Bad, lasts only 5-7 years so you will need to buy a replacement reserve

- Bad, tastes like can food which can destroy appetites after awhile

Emergency Food Option 4) Buy Freeze Dried Food

- Good, easy to store and lasts up to 30 years.

- Good, fast simple preparation - just add water. But only water that is needed to hydrate the food, much less than cooking.

- Good, once hydrated, freeze dried food taste is very close to original food taste.

- Good, light weight easy to store large qty (Mountain house #10 cans) of food for reserves of 6 weeks, 3 months, or a year. A 6 week food reserve can fit under a bed!

- Good, can be ordered online in minutes, delivered to your house. You will only have to spend less than 30 minutes storing it.

MRE’s, freeze-dried / dehydrated foods, storage containers and more!
MRE, Military meals ready to eat, Freeze-dried / Dehydrated foods, Food · freeze dried food, freeze dried meat, freeze dried vegetables, freeze dried …

This blog provides news and information on food preparedness for survival in the event of a natural disaster where food is not easily available for more than 72 hours.

Some emergency situations such as epidemics may require 6 weeks to 3 months of reserve food supply for an individual or family.

The lesson of Hurricane Katrina is that you can not put your hope in the government to provide adequate support in a timely fashion. In extreme cases it is even unrealistic to expect any relief organization to be able to provide needed support to everyone within 24 hours.

Preparedness is an investment and the advice of storing a supply of dry grains and can goods and replenishing them every 2-3 years is a recipe for disaster as most do not have the time or diligence to manage this kind of an inventory process carefully.

Basically most people will forget. They will have rancid food when they need it or even nothing because they did not remember to buy the replacement survival food when they threw the old food out.

Stored under right conditions MRE (meals ready to eat) like what the military uses can last 6-7 years or more.

Freeze dried food, which needs water to re-hydrate, can last up to 30 years. A 3 month supply can easily be stored in homes in a relatively small space.

Although the up-front cost of a 6 week or 3 month survival food supply for you or your family may seem more, it definitely will be a much better value.

Freeze Dried & MRE - Survival Food provides news and information on food preparedness for survival in the event of a disaster where food is not readily available for more than 72 hours.

Some emergency situations such as epidemics may require 6 weeks to 3 months of reserve food supply for an individual or family.

The lesson of Hurricane Katrina is that you can not put your hope in the government to provide adequate support in a timely fashion. In extreme cases it is even unrealistic to expect any relief organization to be able to provide needed support to everyone within 24 hours.

Survival planning is an investment and the advice of storing a supply of dry grains and can goods and replenishing them every 2-3 years is a recipe for disaster for most us who do not have the time or diligence to manage the kind of inventory cycle process required properly.

Basically most people will forget to replace expired food. They will have rancid food with little or no nutritional value when they need it or even worse, nothing, because they did not remember to buy the replacement survival food when they threw the old food out.

Stored under right conditions MRE (meals ready to eat) like what the military uses can last 6-7 years or more.

Freeze dried food, which needs water to re-hydrate, can last up to 30 years. A six week or 3 month supply can easily be stored in homes in a relatively small space. A six week supply should be more than enough to cover all the likely scenarios you will need survival food. You may want 3 months for extra peace of mind or to help others who may be in dire need.

Although the up-front cost of a 6 week or 3 month survival food supply for you or your family may seem alot, it definitely will be a much better value in long term since you will not need to replace it every 2 years, or worse, you forget and have nothing when an emergency situation arises.

Freeze Dried & MRE - Survival Food is not a store or seller of survival products.

We do have affiliate relationships with the following suppliers of survival food and products;

• Amazon.com
• Bass Pro Shops
• The ReadyStore
  
• American Family Safety
• Nitro-pak
• U.S. Cavalry
  

.

Hide Sites