SOS Emergency Food Ration review

[SoFloAuthor]

I think part of what SoFloAuthor was trying to say is that those survival bars are intended to be enough food to survive on as your sole source of nutrition. But he was just warning that even though they may serve that purpose, you won't enjoy the experience.

EMan, my apologies if you felt put off by my response...no harm intended. KMAN has me right...I just wanted to put out there the importance of a balanced preparedness pantry....and in my case, it includes canned breads, canned seafood, lots of canned veggies and I'm backed up (no pun intended) by cases of MREs.

Part of being prepared is maintaining ourselves...and that includes keeping your body "cycling"....if you don't the machine won't run right at the time you need it to run it's best possible.

And as an FYI: I'm like KMAN, I got box of stuff I just can't toss out...and it's full of these bars/bricks! When I did my guide I taste tested everything I could get my hands on so I could be objective in my writing....I did 48 hours of these bars and gave up! I'll probably use them to hold the blue tarp on my roof after the winds blow by.

[MR.EMAN]

EMan, my apologies if you felt put off by my response...no harm intended. KMAN has me right...I just wanted to put out there the importance of a balanced preparedness pantry....and in my case, it includes canned breads, canned seafood, lots of canned veggies and I'm backed up (no pun intended) by cases of MREs.

Part of being prepared is maintaining ourselves...and that includes keeping your body "cycling"....if you don't the machine won't run right at the time you need it to run it's best possible.

And as an FYI: I'm like KMAN, I got box of stuff I just can't toss out...and it's full of these bars/bricks! When I did my guide I taste tested everything I could get my hands on so I could be objective in my writing....I did 48 hours of these bars and gave up! I'll probably use them to hold the blue tarp on my roof after the winds blow by.

Thanks for your reply, and no harm or offence taken. I will be honest, that when I first read your post last night, I initially perceived it as a bit harsh from what I anticipated to get for a reply, and started to post a reply different than the finished product.

I had just gotten home from a 900 mile roadtrip I started the morning before, and was already late for bed, thus a bit tired and worn out. However, I had a breather, then came back in to finish my post.

Again, I do appreciate your taking the time to make your points known, and would further welcome any knowledge you wish to share. I too, hope that my reply was not taken as being condescending, or rash. Tis the net, and it is easy to misread ones intentions with ones words.

[Riverghost]

Hello everybody, I am new here but not new to bushcraft/survival forums. One thing I have noticed over the last few weeks as I have done Internet research on Survival/Emergency Rations is how most...75%+....of the individuals complaining about whichever ration that is being discussed is only looking at it from the LONG term ration side of things. The U.S.A.F. pilot survival vests were at one time packed with tins opened by either a key or a P38 that held something similar to the Datrex or SOS bars, packets of tea, sugar, salt, pepper and beef bouillon. Each tin was 1 day of rations and the vest carried 4 tins....so they planned on being rescued in 4 days or having to go into serious SERE mode. I currently carry a Datrex 2400 k/cal package in my fishing pack in case I get injured while fishing. I always tell a family member where I'm going to be along with a map of the area, they know that I will be within 5 miles up or downstream of my parking spot and no more than a couple hundred feet of the river bank. I don't plan on being out for more than one night but shit happens.....so the 2400 k/cal package can last me 2 days. It is meant for short term survival/emergency use....up to maybe a week, anything after that and you picked the wrong stuff. So maybe when we discuss/review an item we should look at its intended use and not bash it because it doesn't fit into our scheme of things. I picked the Datrex because of its small size to calorie supply ratio. I will not be getting scurvy or any other nutritional deficient sicknesses in a couple days of eating them. Multiple weeks/months/years???....might not make it into the years part. But I lugged around 2 MRE's one season and it sucked; took up too much room and weighed too much. I'm 54 and with 10 years in the Air Force my knees and back are not working the best for me so I decided to do the minimal gear thing but still be able to make it after a couple nasty cold nights out if I blow out a knee or something....the Datrex rations fit perfect into my plan as would the SOS but the Datrex were more available to me. Thank you for reading and have a good day

[Simon2002mre]

Hey man awesome thoughts

MREs although bulky provide some of the best sources of just general energy. Especially for the cost. Some other rations from other countries are better but I’ll stick to US MREs here at this point.

If you want to, either field strip it. You loose some calories but you keep the heartiest stuff. Or try MCWs or LRPS. Both will sustain you for a while and because of the freeze dried aspects are lighter and size effective.

Puncture the outer bag a tiny bit and squeeze, allowing the vacuum seal to even further size compression. Roll them over and make a wrap of sort, again saving space.

See that is just one way to save space using MREs.

Datrex bars are okay for survival, but oh good lord they are NASTY! And I can’t imagine they provide enough vital nuitrients to keep you rolling.

Also they are incredibly dry, so you would need to cart water on you. Which is the same with an MRE, but most of the components are ready to eat, as the name suggests. And the entrees and what not have water in them providing some source of nutrients.

Anyways I’m just rambling, sorry guys :/

[carlosflar]

i think the best use for these is not storing them for future use... for that is better MREs, canned food etc... I think these rations are best used if you go hicking, climbing, where you might get stuck somewhere or lost, for these scenarios this kind of rations are better than MREs, they are much smaller, just the basic for a emergency scenario and wont weight you... If you see them with this purpose, they look quite handy... On the taste, look at them like a medicine XD doesnt taste good, but works