ReadyWise Emergency Food

[bradsteen]

For those looking for some long-term food storage and who happen to have (or know someone who has) a Costco membership... I was wandering around there today for the first time in ages and saw that they have ReadyWise emergency food kits in stock. A 124-serving (~12 day) bucket is ~$60, and a 72-serving (~7 day) kit with 10L dry bag is ~$55.

I've been looking at emergency food options since before the pandemic struck, and these prices are really good compared to others I've seen. I stocked up on 2-day kits in dry bags that I found at Fred Meyer in the first few days of the pandemic - they were on sale at the time for $35 each, down from $50. Now for under $250 you can have a over a month of emergency food for a single person, and with a 25 year shelf life.

I'm sure I'm probably late to the game on this, but figure there might be others out there who are also looking for some good emergency food options and aren't aware this exists. If you're one of those people, here ya go.

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[Alexx1401]

Anyone tried some of this to see how it taste's? Have tried Mountain House and its actually good. Be curious to hear how this compares.

 

[Camelfilter]

Haven't tried any, and won't.

Folks should avoid Wise, or any of it's name iterations.

Common interwebs reports of poor quality, poor taste & poor packaging. Coupled with a poor nutritional value / high carb load (much potatoes based, as an example).

Just my opinion, mind. An opinion based upon others experiences.

Enough so as to simply not bother with it. Regardless of the price.

 

[Member 34319]

Readywise tastes pretty meh to horrible. In a "grocery stores have been ransacked and I need to feed my family" event, it will suffice.

Note to those who stock up on this stuff, also buy bulk seasoning and perhaps a good mild to medium-hot hot sauce to add to some of them. Trust me it helps!

 

[Member 34319]

Also for the OP, home depot sells food grade 5 gallon buckets. Buy a few, and a few of the 50 pound bags of rice from Costco. It ain't much to simply eat rice, but it's better than nothing and stores extremely easily. Rice "poor"age is pretty good. My recipe is only 2 ingredients. Rice and dried milk powder. Bonus points for protein powder and or sugar! Cook rice 3/1 until sludgy, add milk or protein powder and sugar. It isn't gourmet, but it's warm and calorie dense. If you go 4/1, you can just about drink it.

 

[camper357]

I tried about 10 different flavors of readywise this fall during hunting season. It was on sale and few bucks a packet cheaper than mountain house. About half of the flavors were mediocre and one in particular was the worst packaged food I have ever attempted to eat. Never again.

 

[ma96782]

Got rice?
How about a cooker?


BUT, But, but....what happens when the electricity is OUT?

Aloha, Mark

 

[Member 34319]

Got rice?
How about a cooker?
View attachment 1089973

BUT, But, but....what happens when the electricity is OUT?

Aloha, Mark

You cook it the old fashioned way. In a pot over fire.

 

[308]

I've said it before, but those of you in the PDX area REALLY should check out Bob's Red Mill in Milwaukie. Plenty of bulk staple foods at a reasonable price, plus they have the long term food grade storage containers. It doesn't ruin the budget hiitng that place up once a month and the next thing you know, you'll have a year's worth of food. All you need to do after that is buy spices, gravy, etc....my $0.02

 

[Alexx1401]

Thanks to those who responded then to the "taste of Wise" stuff. Obviously if going hungry for days anything would start to taste better . Since I know what does taste good, at least to me, I have zero problem paying little extra for that. When this kind of thread was going around many years ago it was someone here who mentioned the Mountain House. Local Wally's even carried it. So I tried a sample of a few things and it was close to as good as stuff I would buy now and then when "too lazy" to cook. So that is of course what I started buying.
Another thing I keep around is that stuff like Ensure. Seems every chain store has a "house brand" of it. For some reason I like the one Wally sells. So I keep several cases on hand since I use it at work. I have always had a hard time packing a lunch. When not hungry I just do not want to. Yet of course before the end of a shift I am wanting to buy crap out of the junk machines if I don't have something. So I take a couple bottles of this with me and they keep me until I get off work. Figure if the stuff will keep sick people who can't eat alive it has to be better than the junk food? Supposed to be with a lot of the vitamins I am sure I do not get with my diet too. So figure can't hurt and easy to have around if there in an emergency. Liquid so not something to pack up with but great for around the home if food was suddenly not available for a while.

 

[308]

A case of baby wipes will go a long way. A friend of mine who served in OIF said wipes and Copenhagen were gold to them.
Female items don't take up a lot of space (tampons/pads) and can be used for lot's of other things.
IMO the Mountain House stuff is pretty darn delicious, especially the biscuits and gravy packs. They do seem to take longer than I thought to hydrate though.

 

[bradsteen]

I have tried a few Wise emergency meals, and not had a problem with them. Follow the instructions and prep them right, and they're not terrible. I'd say they're about on par with boxed macaroni - not something I'd normally want to eat, but would be fine eating if my other options were limited. They way I look at it, if I have to start eating emergency foods, things have gone pretty seriously wrong. At that point I'll be ok with just having food to eat vs. being concerned about flavor (or lack thereof). Having some seasonings on hand would definitely help.

Bear in mind that good food and good flavor can be a real morale booster in times of crisis. If you're a picky eater or someone who derives a lot of pleasure or other benefit from their food choices, I would spend more $$$ and get something you know you're willing to eat instead of buying a bunch of food that you know you don't like.

 

[Tony617]

I have a few 4 day Mountain House rations. They expire in 2047. I have tried a few single pouches of Mountain House separately and they are not bad. These rations for later. I bought these at Costco back in 2017 I believe and they have a 30 year lifespan.

You need to have a lot of hot water to heat them up.

 

[tkdguy]

Go with Mountain House! Enough said.

 

[Tony617]

I suppose Ready Wise is fine if you don't have any other rations to eat. You need water more than food.

 

[tkdguy]

You cook it the old fashioned way. In a pot over fire.

Is this a joke? How to cook if the electricity is out?

 

[Tony617]

Is this a joke? How to cook if the electricity is out?

I have a backup single burner butane if natural gas is out. Backup to that is small camp stove that use leaves and small twigs.

 

[Alexx1401]

I have a backup single burner butane if natural gas is out. Backup to that is small camp stove that use leaves and small twigs.

Only way to go is have something like this. We have a LP BBQ and little stove. Never use the stove but it's nice to know its there if needed. That way we can always still cook hot food if we had a loss of power that was days instead of hours. They make a few of these that are so small they take up no room to store. I well remember before these things were so common using a damn torch to heat water for some grub and coffee. It of course works but, these little stoves are a HELL of a lot easier to use for this.

 

[Ben B.]

Hunger makes the best sauce.

If it actually comes to real hard times, save the crappy-tasting Wise stuff for last, and your empty belly inside your cinched up now-3-sizes-too-big pants will take care of flavor preferences.

"I can't believe I thought this was bad! This is the best food I've ever tasted!!"

 

[AnimalOne]

Only way to go is have something like this. We have a LP BBQ and little stove. Never use the stove but it's nice to know its there if needed. That way we can always still cook hot food if we had a loss of power that was days instead of hours. They make a few of these that are so small they take up no room to store. I well remember before these things were so common using a damn torch to heat water for some grub and coffee. It of course works but, these little stoves are a HELL of a lot easier to use for this.

Camping gear is a plus here. I have a standard 2 burner propane stove, a single burner butane stove, and a backpacker stove. There's also the propane fire pit / grill, and the charcoal grill. If it came down to it, just building a campfire outside will cook anything. There are a lot of options if the power is out.