Thread: favorite bug out "survival food bucket" for car

so I have been thinking seriously about a "bug out" bucket of food for our vehicles and you know the usual ones...

wise foods: Gourmet Emergency Grab and Go Food Kits

costco: Costco - Grocery & Floral - Emergency Kits & Supplies

and there are others of course. well I got to reading a bit about the Costco one and it requires a lot of fuel to heat stuff up supposedly.

My simple question for those who have looked into this or have bought something like this is this...

1. out of all the companies out there who offer a product like this who are some of the best? (who offer best...Price, food, longest lasting, simple, compact, uses least amount of fuel, etc.)


if you have the time please provide links it not only will help my lazy rear but maybe others as well.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

I really hate paying for expensive "survival" food. But we do have a small amount as part of our 3-tiered system.

Tier #1 is a portable cooler filled with enough MREs for 2 people for 3 days. It is ready to go and requires NO water or fuel to prepare. Add a 5-gal bottle of water and we are good to go. Whether in the vehicle or at home digging out from an earthquake it will get us by for several days. I've considered just using canned goods but MREs take up less room and weigh less. So for Tier #1 it is MREs for us. If one is on a tight budget there is nothing wrong with canned goods that don't require water or heat. TheEpicenter.com - Emergency Preparedness Survival Food and Supplies.

Tier#2 is the frozen items that will be used at home. Fuel required. They will be used before the MREs if still at home.

Tier #3 is regular canned goods, plus dehydrated and freeze dried in #10 cans. I use dehydrated and freeze dried routinely in home cooking, so really do not consider them "survival" food. I have found the dehydrated and freeze dried to be pretty cost-effective for smaller households because there is never any waste (use only what you actually need, and lasts for a year once opened).

Powdered Dried Whole Eggs - Freeze Dried Fruit - Blanched Almond Flour - Freeze Dried Food

Long Term Food Storage Items Long Term Emergency Food Items

The companies listed are the ones we have used for years. They have great service and good products so I have not felt the need to go elsewhere.

Originally Posted by EZLivin

I really hate paying for expensive "survival" food. But we do have a small amount as part of our 3-tiered system.

Tier #1 is a portable cooler filled with enough MREs for 2 people for 3 days. It is ready to go and requires NO water or fuel to prepare. Add a 5-gal bottle of water and we are good to go. Whether in the vehicle or at home digging out from an earthquake it will get us by for several days. I've considered just using canned goods but MREs take up less room and weigh less. So for Tier #1 it is MREs for us. If one is on a tight budget there is nothing wrong with canned goods that don't require water or heat. TheEpicenter.com - Emergency Preparedness Survival Food and Supplies.

Tier#2 is the frozen items that will be used at home. Fuel required. They will be used before the MREs if still at home.

Tier #3 is regular canned goods, plus dehydrated and freeze dried in #10 cans. I use dehydrated and freeze dried routinely in home cooking, so really do not consider them "survival" food. I have found the dehydrated and freeze dried to be pretty cost-effective for smaller households because there is never any waste (use only what you actually need, and lasts for a year once opened).

Powdered Dried Whole Eggs - Freeze Dried Fruit - Blanched Almond Flour - Freeze Dried Food

Long Term Food Storage Items Long Term Emergency Food Items

The companies listed are the ones we have used for years. They have great service and good products so I have not felt the need to go elsewhere.

As always your response is very good and detailed, and much along the same lines that I was thinking. I like the idea of MRE's because the have a shelf life that is very long. They can get hot or cold in a car or anywhere for that matter and it isn't a big deal, and there is a ton of useful things in them. I wasn't too sure on the buckets, but buckets are better then nothing I guess.

I havn't checked out Honeyville before but will investigate more tomorrow, especially the price. Do you find them pretty reasonable compared to other freeze dried outfits? I am newer to that scene so am not sure.

anyway, as always thanks for the info!

If you're plan is to throw something in the car & hit the road, I'd assemble a bucket of "stuff" that didn't require fuel (or water) to eat. I'd get a bucket (or, whatever) and fill it with a mix of Datrex food bars and some MRE's of your liking. Depending on what you think your water situation might be, I'd also throw in some Mountain House freeze-dried backpacking food (for variety). Speaking of water.... don't forget to bring water with you. If it's really a grab-n-go situation, and you're not good about keeping/rotating water on hand, then you might consider some water packets that have a five-year shelf life.

Originally Posted by Barefoot343

I havn't checked out Honeyville before but will investigate more tomorrow, especially the price. Do you find them pretty reasonable compared to other freeze dried outfits?

For us it is necessary to use a combination of Honeyville and Healthy Harvest products because each has some things the other doesn't. I have not compared costs of the different suppliers/manufacturers for sometime, but the last time I did I felt these two companies were competitive. I tend to stay with companies when I find their prices, quality, and service are good (though I tend to wait for sales with suppliers I like). I suspect you will find dehydrated cheaper than freeze dried, but you might not have a choice with certain items.

Sun195 mentioned food bars. I forgot to mention we have a few of those in our kits also. The main thing is we like to keep things as simple as possible (no water and no cooking) where the grab and go food supply is concerned. I do have a couple of backpacking stoves, but consider them a convenience rather than a necessity in a survival situation.

wow, 3600 cal. food bars, take up little space and seem cheap enough. How do they taste?

Originally Posted by Barefoot343

wow, 3600 cal. food bars, take up little space and seem cheap enough. How do they taste?

They're not bad - kind of like a shortbread. They're durable, shareable and compact. Five-year shelf life; not really affected by temps (like MRE's are). Certainly not haute cuisine, but they'd keep you alive in a survival situation. I'd add a few other items to the bucket (like Mountain House or MRE's) just to break the monotony.

I think that if you want to put a bucket of food in your vehicle for bug out purposes, the MREs are actually not a good option in my worthless opinion. They ARE subject to temperature ups and downs, and their shelf life is much shorter than that of the buckets that were in your links. Those pre-put together buckets are not a bad idea, although I don't know how you could use more fuel with one verses the other. I guess it depends on what you want the food for, but you indicated for bug out reasons, so I assume it is there only to sustain you for your trip to where you are bugging out to. If that is indeed the case, then putting together a kit for yourself, as others have mentioned is easy enough considering what comes in those buckets. That way you can put what you want in the bucket, and you don't have to be so reliant on water. I would suggest putting it together yourself. just my .02 cents worth, which means it actually is worth nothing when you consider how fast they are printing money.

Honeyville has a sale going on right now that ends tomorrow at 6pm, Honeyville Discounts for October 20 - 25‏ they have sale every month or so, go to their website enter your email in top right corner, they will email at the start of a sale that usually lasts about 4 - 5 days.

But as stated above, MRE's are affected by heat, for long term get home bag, I carry bottle water, Datrex not affected by heat, with a 5 yr shelf life.

My bug out bag does have MRE's in it though, but it is in my basement on a cold cement floor next tot he garage door, I have every thing needed for two people for 4 days in one bag. a second bag with a weeks food for two people with a water filter, and two daypacks with essetials, each has essentials for 3 -4 days. We are ready to grab and go at a moments notice.

I have a friend who in NY during 911, he was preparing to go backpacking that coming weekend and had packed his backpack, he just grabbed and ran good thing he did because when came back his apartment had 2 inches of dust in it.