View Full Version : Emergency food bars
datadog314
10-05-2009, 11:32
Has anyone ever tried using the emergency food bars? I've been shopping around the net and have come across food bars in the 1200 calorie, 2400 calorie, and 3600 calorie range..................good prices too.
I relize, eating food bars the whole trip doesn't sound exciting but, they do make for an excellent supplement....................and they seem to come in quite the array of flavors too.
Also, they contain 100% of the vitimins needed for the day and have a thirst-quenching nature to them.
Just a thought provoking idea regarding food on the trail.................for something that doesn't take up much pack-room, they'de be a nice thing to have when the belly starts growling.
ShelterLeopard
10-05-2009, 11:47
I saw those too- I considered getting one or two of the 24 or 36 hundred cal bars, for just in case, but I dunno. Maybe I'll get one 3,600 cal bar. But I'm not exactly hoping it'll taste good.
Check the weight/protein/calories of some of those vs plain old Snickers.
And then cost. If this is the same thing I have looked at...
Tipi Walter
10-05-2009, 12:24
When you mention emergency food bars, are you talking about Datrex 3600K? First off, it's not one bar with 3600 calories, it's 18 bars with 200 calories each. Second, the main ingredients are flour, sugar and shortening, hydrogenated shortening no doubt? I'd say there's a dozen better and more healthy bars out there, like Larabar, Pro Bars, Boomi-bars, etc etc.
BobTheBuilder
10-05-2009, 12:24
Mom used to teach Home Ec, so I learned that there is no magic "calorie" bullet. Fats have the highest calorie:weight ratio, about 9 calories per gram. If the 3600 calorie bar was 100% fat, it would still weigh 400 grams, or about 14 ounces. One pound is a pretty big bar for emergency rations.
ShelterLeopard
10-05-2009, 12:58
When you mention emergency food bars, are you talking about Datrex 3600K? First off, it's not one bar with 3600 calories, it's 18 bars with 200 calories each. Second, the main ingredients are flour, sugar and shortening, hydrogenated shortening no doubt? I'd say there's a dozen better and more healthy bars out there, like Larabar, Pro Bars, Boomi-bars, etc etc.
No- there's a site that sells backpacker food, and the bar is just one bar. (What concerns me more is the weight- the site I saw didn't specify, and it might be like a brick)
ShelterLeopard
10-05-2009, 13:01
Check the weight/protein/calories of some of those vs plain old Snickers.
And then cost. If this is the same thing I have looked at...
That's usually what I do- just load up on Snickers. Because though all the energy bar companies say their gross carb packed brick is made of "healthier" ingredients than any other, I've found that it is basically just Snickers, but will far less good flavour, and extortionate pricing. (And who doesn't love Snickers?)
I took a couple of those emergency food bars with me. They're way too heavy, they cause heartburn, they're VERY hard to bite into. The calories are empty calories. you're better off eating nuts, jerkey, and chips as you hike.
You definitely don't want to rely on them for nutrition while you're hiking. They're more for floating in a life-raft and surviving until help arrives.
Can you please provide more information about what food bars have 1200, 2400, and 3600 cals.??? I eat trail/energy/nutritional bars as my main source of snack cals. throughout my hiking day. I avidly read ingredient lists and nutritional analysis. I've never heard of bars with this many cals/bar. The OP makes it sound this way with the way they began their thread. I'm almost positive and have the sneaky suspicion that, just as TipiWalter has elaborated to, what you really are mentioning is the total cals. in multiple bars, because one bar with this many cals. is going to be big and heavy. I would also like to see the ingredient lists.
I'm not the biggest fan of WalMart or these types of bars, but they do carry Cliff, Luna , and other nutritional bars for around $1/each. They are sold individually and in limited supply multiple bar packages, that will save you even more money, in the pharmacy sections. I've seen these same bars sold there individually on occasion for the sale price of 3 bars for $2.
REI and EMS also has regularly featured sale specials on items like gels, gu, protein powders, electrolyte drink additives, Java Juice, and nutritional bars. I recently purchased many Stinger brand nutritional bars, regularly about $2/each, from both these outfitters when they put them on sale for $1 each.
Tipi Walter
10-05-2009, 13:36
No- there's a site that sells backpacker food, and the bar is just one bar. (What concerns me more is the weight- the site I saw didn't specify, and it might be like a brick)
Okay dangit, so what's the website or the brand name so I can check it??
As mentioned, no matter what you take for backup with you - you better be able to eat it and more importantly - want to be able to eat it.
Bars get harder in cold, some become so hard you risk breaking teeth to even try a piece.
Better is to carry backup food that you know is good and is very shelf stable. I carry often a pouch of chicken or tuna, a packet of olive oil and a well sealed meal. I tuck in a couple candy bars and energy bars that I can eat as well.
skinewmexico
10-05-2009, 16:35
The only bars I've seen like that were SOLAS approved for life raft use. They people I know who have tasted them say you REALLY have to want to live to eat them. Assuming you're looking at the ones I've seen.
Tipi Walter
10-05-2009, 19:15
As mentioned, no matter what you take for backup with you - you better be able to eat it and more importantly - want to be able to eat it.
Bars get harder in cold, some become so hard you risk breaking teeth to even try a piece.
Better is to carry backup food that you know is good and is very shelf stable. I carry often a pouch of chicken or tuna, a packet of olive oil and a well sealed meal. I tuck in a couple candy bars and energy bars that I can eat as well.
"Want to be able to eat it" is the pertinent phrase and most important bit of information when it comes to long trips and backpacking food. It's part of the dilemma of planning a food cache: Is it the food I really want to eat after 2 weeks on the trail? Ain't so easy to anticipate changing taste buds.
DaveJohns
10-05-2009, 19:22
I have a couple of the Mainstay bars tucked around in my emergency kits. They taste ok, but I wouldn't want to carry them on the trail. They are essentially flour and vitamins mixed together, with enough preservative to make McDonalds jealous.
The Mainstays are VERY temperature stable, will last for decades, and taste terrible. If I am trapped in a snowbank in my truck, they will be great! If I can choose between a Clif bar/snickers and one of these, the Mainstay stays in the kit.
Heres a link for ya (http://www.redflarekits.com/pc/SI-Mainstay3600/w/Case+of+10+Mainstay+3600+Calorie++Emergency+and+Di saster+Food+Bars)
ShelterLeopard
10-06-2009, 00:08
Okay dangit, so what's the website or the brand name so I can check it??
Here's a link:
http://www.wildernessdining.com/sp366.html
Thanks for the link ShelterLeopard. It's not Datrex 3600k or 18 bars, but you were right about everything else Tipi. It is basically 3 bars from what I can see in the pic provided from SL's link. I know I'm going to get some arguments here, but there are so many other bars out there that are better and healthier. IF YOU RESPECT YOUR BODY and MIND - DON'T CONSUME HYDROGENATED OILS!
ShelterLeopard
10-06-2009, 11:36
I have definitely come to the conclusion that there is nothing worthwhile in these bars. I'll just stock up on snickers :D
ShelterLeopard
10-06-2009, 11:40
Of course, snickers aren't exactly healthy. (hydrogenated palm oil, etc...)
Of course, snickers aren't exactly healthy. (hydrogenated palm oil, etc...)Don't diss my Snickers, sucka! And don't give me no jibba-jabba!
http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/1/15259/30_2008/snickers_0.jpg
ShelterLeopard
10-06-2009, 14:45
Nice Hooch! You totally re-affirmed my faith in Snickers.
Snickers can be greatly improved in calorie content and flavor when smeared with peanutbutter and washed down with warm beer.
garlic08
10-06-2009, 19:11
I really stay away from bars, including Snickers, even when they're offered to me. Someone above mentioned heartburn--I'm glad I'm not the only one. I read the ingredients label on a bar once and the first ingredient was high fructose corn syrup--basically candy--with a sprinkling of whey powder and all sorts of chemicals.
But it has 100% of vitamins as determined by nutritional scientists, so it must be good. Look at how well we Americans have been eating and how healthy we've gotten since the advent of nutritional science in the last century :rolleyes:.
Why not eat real food with a decent shelf life, like cashews and raisins? Cereal grains with powdered milk?
I ,
Why not eat real food with a decent shelf life, like cashews and raisins? Cereal grains with powdered milk?
Because we are re-inventing the wheel, again. Even though hiking food has stayed basicly the same since the beginning of hiking (?), each year somebody trys to come up with something new. A pound of peanutbutter has about 3,000 calories and cost about $1.99. So why would you buy a pound of rock hard whatchamacallit made from who knows what for way more $$$ ?
So why would you buy a pound of rock hard whatchamacallit made from who knows what for way more $$$ ?
Because it tastes better (http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/watchamacallit.asp) and actually is made near the trail, too! (Just outside of Waynesboro, VA.) :D
Because it tastes better (http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/watchamacallit.asp) and actually is made near the trail, too! (Just outside of Waynesboro, VA.) :D
I forgot all about that whatchamacallit. Guess I got my whatchamacallits mixed up.
Wise Old Owl
10-06-2009, 22:58
As mentioned, no matter what you take for backup with you - you better be able to eat it and more importantly - want to be able to eat it.
Bars get harder in cold, some become so hard you risk breaking teeth to even try a piece.
Better is to carry backup food that you know is good and is very shelf stable. I carry often a pouch of chicken or tuna, a packet of olive oil and a well sealed meal. I tuck in a couple candy bars and energy bars that I can eat as well.
Hey! Stop telling "all" the secrets, those "ultralighters" who use a micro knife & nail file won't be able to cut off a chunk....:D
take-a-knee
10-06-2009, 23:44
I really stay away from bars, including Snickers, even when they're offered to me. Someone above mentioned heartburn--I'm glad I'm not the only one. I read the ingredients label on a bar once and the first ingredient was high fructose corn syrup--basically candy--with a sprinkling of whey powder and all sorts of chemicals.
But it has 100% of vitamins as determined by nutritional scientists, so it must be good. Look at how well we Americans have been eating and how healthy we've gotten since the advent of nutritional science in the last century :rolleyes:.
Why not eat real food with a decent shelf life, like cashews and raisins? Cereal grains with powdered milk?
Zone bars, Met/RX bars, and Cliff Builder bars all work for me. They all have a lot more nutrition (protein) than a snickers and they all cost over twice as much.
As for candy bars, that isn't hard kids! You just buy the natural ones at the natural foods emporium. The ingredient list will be short and it tastes just dandy. :p (I went this way years ago due to having to avoid artificial coloring. There is only a handful of brands I can eat due to that).
PS: Those "nutrition" bars are not always such a great deal when it comes to vitamins. Your body can only use so much at one time, you chow a lot of them, you end up peeing away what you paid extra for!
As well, with any of the bars, stay hydrated! They can do a real number on your digestion if you are dehydrated, leaving you feeling pretty bad inside.
I really stay away from bars, including Snickers, even when they're offered to me. Someone above mentioned heartburn--I'm glad I'm not the only one. I read the ingredients label on a bar once and the first ingredient was high fructose corn syrup--basically candy--with a sprinkling of whey powder and all sorts of chemicals.
But it has 100% of vitamins as determined by nutritional scientists, so it must be good. Look at how well we Americans have been eating and how healthy we've gotten since the advent of nutritional science in the last century :rolleyes:.
Why not eat real food with a decent shelf life, like cashews and raisins? Cereal grains with powdered milk?
Many Americans just don't want to hear it Garlic08. For so long they have been so brainwashed by the marketing agents of the food industry who spend 10's, maybe 100's of millions, of dollars every yr. to push our spending buttons and accustom our taste buds to unhealthy highly processed highly refined addictive unnatural genetically altered chemical experiments so the food science industry as a whole can reap higher and higher profits. And, this industry is supposed to be supervised under the watchful eyes of the FDA so that the public is protected from poison, but who all too often have been bought out in behind-closed-door sweetheart economic deals by those who represent the food industry. If someone trusts the multi-million dollar for-profit food industry and the politics of the government run let's-make-a-deal for sale to the highest bidder FDA to tell them what is healthy for them to consume I wish them all the best.
Everyone has the right to defend their cavalier eating habits so they can ignorantly eat themselves into an early grave or simply not have the vitality, health, and energy that was meant for them. Everyone in America has the right, and to defend that right, to join the ranks of 3 in 5 Americans who die from cardiovascular disease and cancer or the skyrocketing rates of obesity and diabetes in this country. I expect I will be one of those who is healthy enough to work and have an ever enlarging percentage of the fruits of my labor tapped to help pay for medical services for those who are eating themselves into an early grave when they start to complain about their diminished physical and mental capacities down the road.
Garlic08, so many Americans wouldn't be able to distinguish what is "real food" if they were asked to choose between a banana and Big Mac.