Survival Food Scams

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  • Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    Maybe not an actual scam, but VERY misleading.

    I got an email from a company called 4 Patriots.

    They have a 3 month food supply for about $600. The good news is, they supply about 1500 calories per day, unlike some (Wise for one) who seem to think you can live on 600 calories per day.

    But what caught my eye about this one was the titles of the meals. Creamy Stroganoff. Chili Mac. Cowboy Rice and Beans.

    Notice? No mention of meat.

    I searched and found some nutritional and ingredients listings, and yeah, NO MEAT in any dish. Even the Chicken ala King only has chicken bouillon. And get this, it is VEGETARIAN chicken bouillon. Which means they only have chicken flavor.

    The point is, research carefully if you are looking at any of these long term "survival" food offers.

    Look at how many calories per day. A serving is not a meal. Even a typical camping meal pouch is multiple servings, but intended as one meal for one person. Normally you need about 2000 calories a day. More if you are very active. Which you might be in a survival situation.

    Look at menus. Are they balanced? Do they contain the proper number of each meal (not more breakfasts than dinners)? Do they count drinks? Do you LIKE what you are getting? Yes, when you are REALLY hungry, you will eat anything, but it is nicer to have most of the meals be things you LIKE to eat.

    Look at the packaging. Is it convenient for one person? If a meal is 3 servings, and they give you packages that are 8 servings, is that convenient? Or worse, 3 servings for a meal, but 4 servings in a package, so you will tend to eat all 4 servings, and your supply does not last for 30 days.

    Look at actual ingredients? A vegan menu may be acceptable to you, but know what you are getting. Look at the amount of carbs versus protein. The 4 Patriots seems to run carb heavy.

    Look at how much space it will take. Nothing like getting a stash of food that takes up your living room. Also, compare sizes. Interesting that the 4 Patriot comes in 2 each 14 gallon totes (about 28 x 19 x 10) The Mountain House 30 day food supply comes in 3 each boxes that are 27 x 10 x 44. Or each Mountain House box is over twice as large at the 4 Patriots totes. So more than 3 times the volume. Makes you wonder. But if you don't have much room, you may need a more compact

    And finally TAANSTAFL. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

    How can they sell you 30 days of food for less than $600, when Mountain House is just over $2000. Hmmmmm. Not saying that Mountain House is a good value. But it is a known quantity.
     

    MaxVO2

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    ****I have Mountain House as well as several other brands for my emergency food supply, but also have more palatable and generally healthier staples like rice, beans, soups, lentils, frozen or dried meats, nuts, etc... I use oxygen absorbers in specially vacuum sealed containers or baggies I purchased from a Mormon food supply store in my area some time back. I'm not Mormon, though I have been called close to it (a Moron..) many times, and the Mormons have a tremendous amount of knowledge with respect to long term emergency food storage options. If you live near one, I would strongly suggest you go and perhaps consider purchasing or at least making note of what they use.

    That being said, IME the Mountain House and other emergency type foods will keep you alive, but tend to not exactly be the healthiest options out there in terms of food. If possible, supplementing emergency type food like those survival buckets have in them with fresher options is always a better choice I think. Deer meat, squirrel, rabbit, home grown veggies and fruits if possible, long pig, Kung Pao Kitty, etc.. will go a long way towards keeping you healthy as well as alive versus I guess just trying to subsist on MRE's or survival type foods.

    Good quality food with longer term storage doesn't have to be that expensive if you are willing to do the work in properly sourcing and packaging. Those buckets provide convenience of course...

    I have both long and short term type foods that I hope to never have to use. Probably a waste of money quite frankly as I don't expect the apocalypse any time soon, but mebbe prudent just in case to have some of this stuff.
     

    pbharvey

    Habitual Testifier
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    30,158
    I don't understand people buying 'survival food' vs. just stocking your pantry deep with stuff you normally eat.
     

    Michigander08

    ridiculous and psychotic
    MDS Supporter
    May 29, 2017
    7,685
    I don't get "Survival" food. You have to stock Amazon size warehouse if you want to survive that long.

    When it comes to Armageddon, surviving isn't about stocking anything. It is about getting into a group that knows where/how to get ammo (NG armories) and food (business warehouses).
     

    bibitor

    Kulak
    MDS Supporter
    Oct 10, 2017
    1,894
    FEMA Region III
    Freeze dried food stuffs are great because of shelf-life, but I am also of the opinion that with a little bit of planning you can store many months of weekly staples with basic pantry/freezer rotation.
     

    Docster

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 19, 2010
    9,768
    They've been noted by several prepper forums over the last few years about misleading ads and quality/calorie content. Haven't seen any comments about their equipment.

    Any serious prepper loks and researches everything you've mentioned. I just don't bother with them. You can too.
     

    Jim12

    Let Freedom Ring
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 30, 2013
    33,875
    I don't understand people buying 'survival food' vs. just stocking your pantry deep with stuff you normally eat.

    This times ten. Especially with the multitude of packaging, preservation, and serving options, what's the benefit? Food packaging has come a long way since Sir John Franklin's last arctic expedition.
     

    Jim12

    Let Freedom Ring
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 30, 2013
    33,875
    Freeze dried food stuffs are great because of shelf-life, but I am also of the opinion that with a little bit of planning you can store many months or years of weekly staples with basic pantry/freezer rotation.

    fify
     

    welder516

    Deplorable Welder
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 8, 2013
    27,307
    Underground Bunker
    I have maybe a dozen survival foods , maybe more as being on the move . I bought them for camping and a special trip and they are left over from that trip . I can eat them while the wife can have the other food stuff , i will tolerate it a bit more .
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,881
    A Scam ? Presuming they deliver what's paid for , nah .

    And if you have readily access to the nutritional data , they're not hiding anything .

    Doesn't mean it's your best option , tastes good . etc . And any anything that claims to provide an X day supply of whatever will use the most favorable interpretations in their advertising .


    Is there a substantial market demand for one stop purchasing a long-ish term storage , reasonably transportable cache of food like product ? Absolutely .
    .
    Would you be better off having this than having no food if the grocery store supply chain turned to a trickle at scalper prices ? Well yeah !

    Would you be better prepared with this than are 90% plus of the population ? Absolutely .

    Will a bunch more people actually spend $600 just in case instead of just thinking about spending $2K for Mountain House or whatever , until it's too late . Absolutely .

    After 3- 5 days of binary choice between eating marginal vegetarian freeze dried vs not eating , will you care about how it tastes ? Not hardly .



    Farmers , LDS members , survivalists , preppers , etc pass this up , and continue what you're already doing. For the great masses , substandard preparation is exponentially better than no preparation .
     

    THier

    R.I.P.
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 3, 2010
    4,998
    Muscleville
    Ok, can we the public get REAL MREs?

    Never tried them, when I was a kid, maybe 45 years ago tried some "C rats" a neighbor had, it wasn't gourmet, but if I HAD to eat them to survive I could.

    If MREs are good enough for our warriors, (THANK YOU TO ALL THAT HAVE SERVED)
    then, they are good enough for me.
     

    Homesick Texan

    Active Member
    Dec 15, 2012
    112
    Middle TN
    You can get the public equivalent of an MRE, which is basically the same food just a little different packaging and maybe not all of the extra stuff in them. If you know anyone that has access to a military commissary, they can get some. If you're near me, I'll give you a couple that I have. The newest MREs are a LOT better than the initial ones, which I thought were worse than C rations (but that's just me).
     

    USArmyJoe

    Pretty good shot
    Oct 5, 2021
    163
    AA County
    Ok, can we the public get REAL MREs?

    Never tried them, when I was a kid, maybe 45 years ago tried some "C rats" a neighbor had, it wasn't gourmet, but if I HAD to eat them to survive I could.

    If MREs are good enough for our warriors, (THANK YOU TO ALL THAT HAVE SERVED)
    then, they are good enough for me.

    I know they sell them at the Commissary on Ft Meade. Not sure on price/value.

    Anyway, you aren't missing much. Some meals are actually not bad (Chili Mac, Beef Stew, Ravioli are my favorites), but they are like 3k Calories per MRE or something crazy, and I am pretty sure they are made to back you up a little on purpose.
     

    Blaster229

    God loves you, I don't.
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2010
    46,410
    Glen Burnie
    I don't understand people buying 'survival food' vs. just stocking your pantry deep with stuff you normally eat.
    For me it's for when the pantry is empty. You're assuming you'll always be able to replenish the pantry.
    For those who believe in SHTF, this could be all that's left in the end of their world, and also much easier to take with you if you are going to "bug out".

    So that's what's up with survival food.
    If I had the money, I'd easily have 6 months to a year amount of Mountain House on hand.
     

    Blaster229

    God loves you, I don't.
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2010
    46,410
    Glen Burnie
    Ok, can we the public get REAL MREs?



    Never tried them, when I was a kid, maybe 45 years ago tried some "C rats" a neighbor had, it wasn't gourmet, but if I HAD to eat them to survive I could.



    If MREs are good enough for our warriors, (THANK YOU TO ALL THAT HAVE SERVED)

    then, they are good enough for me.
    You can get real MREs. There's not just 1 "MRE company" that makes them.
    You mean you prefer the light brown packaging over the other?
    For me, I'll take freeze dried meals and my jet boil stove over any MRE any day.
     

    Ammo Jon

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 3, 2008
    20,787
    I like a combination of a full stocked pantry and SHTF food. I’ve found shelf stable milk at the dollar store recently. Hopefully I won’t need it but worst care I waste $20.
     

    pbharvey

    Habitual Testifier
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    30,158
    For me it's for when the pantry is empty. You're assuming you'll always be able to replenish the pantry.
    For those who believe in SHTF, this could be all that's left in the end of their world, and also much easier to take with you if you are going to "bug out".

    So that's what's up with survival food.
    If I had the money, I'd easily have 6 months to a year amount of Mountain House on hand.

    The pantry being empty is the same as using your last bag of mountainhouse. No matter what type of food reserves you have, when its gone its gone. Transport is the only thing that makes sense to me to have freeze dried foods.
    My bug out plan is weak. I'm going down with the ship. A bright light and mushroom cloud inside the DC beltway would change that though. Between ammo, water, fuel, and pantry food I'd need new shocks on the truck.
     

    Blaster229

    God loves you, I don't.
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2010
    46,410
    Glen Burnie
    The pantry being empty is the same as using your last bag of mountainhouse. No matter what type of food reserves you have, when its gone its gone. Transport is the only thing that makes sense to me to have freeze dried foods.
    My bug out plan is weak. I'm going down with the ship. A bright light and mushroom cloud inside the DC beltway would change that though. Between ammo, water, fuel, and pantry food I'd need new shocks on the truck.
    So, the wind out of your sails is when you can't go to Wegman's and restock up for the month. You're punching your ticket if you can't get to the bread line for a month?
     

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