Best Survival Food Companies???

I apologize if this is too far off the original thread.

A few years ago we had a bad ice storm. The power at my place in the country was out for 4 days. The roads were impassable for 2 days. Around here that is not that unusual and everybody that lives in the country is ready for just such a occurrence. We just use our regular food and keep a large supply of it on hand.

I'm good to go for a couple of weeks myself. Except maybe for water. I know that's bad but, it it hard to keep weeks worth of water on hand and fresh for a long time. So, at the first sign of trouble I fill everything up with water.

I should lay in a way to find, filter, and sanitize water. There are so many different methods I've never really figured out which one is the best for me?? Does any one have a idea on that?

Someone mentioned looters. That is not a problem in my area.

I have been buying from Emergency Essentials since 1999. www.beprepared.com I can affirm that the Mountain House freeze dried food is very good and has a great shelf life if you get it in the #10 cans. The pouch freeze dried food from Mountain House only has a 5 year shelf life. As others have said, order small samples and try it out. If you like it then you can buy in bulk. Be very diligent in your research of the companies and their products.

I also went to a Mormon Cannery back in 1999 and worked with my friend to seal up lots of food for long term storage. Of that food we loved the apple and banana slices, onion flakes, potato pearls, rice, grain and the Maple Island Milk. Wow, that milk was really good...it tasted just like skim milk.

Good luck to you in your quest for long term food storage.

I'll give it another try......:R

The thread title is: "Best Survival Food Companies???"

Specifically - The food.

Have *YOU* tried it? - (If not, why not?)..:h

Brand/s you have sampled?

At the risk of "dissing" a congregation member's business....
(Certainly there are several/many)

Which brands did you like or dislike?

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Kittykath wrote:

RandACampin wrote:

Kittykath wrote:
My son was anxious to move to his first apartment at age 18. At grandma's, he grabbed a box of MRE's from 1978 that my brother left behind when he was in the military. He didn't die. :)

They did not have MREs in 1978.

Well I don't know what they're called, but they were dated 1978.

*If* they were in a can (and "military") - they were probably "MCI field rations".

MCI = "Meal, Combat, Individual Ration" - which was a later version of the WWII and Korea - "C" Rations.

If not - they were some kind of "civilian" version to.... enjoy..:@

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RandACampin wrote:

Kittykath wrote:
My son was anxious to move to his first apartment at age 18. At grandma's, he grabbed a box of MRE's from 1978 that my brother left behind when he was in the military. He didn't die. :)

They did not have MREs in 1978.

Well I don't know what they're called, but they were dated 1978.

While I have enough stuff in my pantry to make meals for a year I think, I do like to take MREs when I go out hiking and put them into the botton of my backpack just in case I get lost or injured. Never had to use them thank goodness but its a comfort to know they are there.

kohai wrote:


Many people have guns as part of their emergency preparedness items. I think an RV also can provide a mobile shelter if roads are passable or even a stationary shelter if homes are not able to be occupied (gas line breaks, etc).

This is something often discussed. People have to sleep sometime, and during the Katrina disaster, there were people who had guns to guard their place... but couldn't keep watch 24/7, and as soon as they went to bed, someone set their house on fire with them in it.

This doesn't mean not to keep supplies on hand... but from what I was told by relief workers who worked in Iraq, in a disaster where food trucks stop coming for more than 24 hours, people will lose their heads and we will see a re-enactment of the Donner Party in that area. Especially in urban areas where people spend their entire lives in a city and have little to no survival abilities.

As for the OP's topic about companies, I am digressing a bit...

One thing of note: You cannot buy new military MREs as a civilian. You can buy similar products, but not true US Army MREs from a reliable source (and eBay is iffish at best.)

As for having food, this is a wise idea, nonetheless, and it is also wise to rotate the stuff out, perhaps 1-2 meals a week are the old stock. This way, nothing expires, and you are also used to how the stuff tastes.

One place I have bought freeze dried food (not MREs) from, My Patriot Supply, is decent. Their food is good, has a 25 year shelf life, and reasonably priced. I keep a 72 hour supply of stuff in my vehicle, as well as a case of bottled water. It paid off this year -- I got stuck with my TT due to an ice storm. No worries, as I had a spare propane cylinder, plenty of food and water on hand, and the cell towers were up, so I spent the day reading.

These are not self heating meals though. I had a stove and propane, so I was able to cook in the RV. I do need to find a good source of civilian MREs with self heating packets.

Mountain house was also recommended.

I am going to keep my eye out for a source for self-heating MREs, because that is an important thing to keep a rig stocked with, just in case one doesn't have propane or electric.

The wife and I started looking at food storage a couple of years ago, I got samples from most of major players, in the end we found that all products are not the same. We now have a room full of freeze dried food some dehydrated, as shelf life is 25 years in the right climate. We use our stock of food in our meals when ever we can. To me you are starting out the right way, samples and research the companies that sell it. We do most of our business with Emergency Essentials and Honeyville, the best brand we found for us was Mountain House. Hope this helps.

I believe over 90% of families are unprepared for a loss of services that would last more than a day or two.

Every time a snow storm is on the way the stores get mobbed and the nightly news shows the long lines and empty shelves. I always shake my head and wonder what is wrong with people. Services being down and stores being closed for a few days would hardly affect us at all.

I think RVers are far more prepared than the general public even without purposely trying. Much of the equipment and the systems we use when camping can be utilized in an emergency.

:) I'm not an expert on the food storage. I've heard several different approaches.

- One is the approach like Daily Bread or MREs where you have it for an emergency but you don't eat it regularly.

- The other approach is to have food you regularly eat like some of the other posters have mentioned. People that propose this approach feel it is easier to keep it fresh and easier to use in an emergency because you're used to cooking with it. Also, it is easier to add to this food storage over time by just buying extra when you're shopping. You don't have to lay out hundreds or thousands of dollars all at once.

Many people that have food storage have been happy they have it during non-emergencies like job loss. They are able to eat from their food storage rather than have to come up with money to shop. Again, method #2 above lends itself better to this.

Our last congregation did a fun thing where they surprised two families in the ward (congregation) and asked if they would participate in an experiment and then share their experience with the congregation. They were asked to go 72 hours living on what they had in the house at that time. Power wasn't to be used and the furnace heat was to be turned down to 50 (avoid freezing pipes). They had to use whatever flash lights, candles, food, water, and emergency heating methods they had.

For the first family, heating and light were the two things I remember being a challenge. The second family had an advantage because the father was the one over promoting preparedness for the congregation. They had a pot-belly stove in their basement just for such cases and they were able to heat their house and stay comfortable. They had water stored but also emptied their hot water heater to use that water.

I wonder how my little family would do if we tried this experiment today. Where I have the RV stored is not convenient for emergencies -- too far away and locked up by a 3rd party.

This thread has sparked a thought process that is helpful to me. I've got work to do in this area.