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We moved to Southern Lauisiana about 1 year ago and the wife and i decided we should put together a couple bags incase we need to leave in a hurry.
Interested in food.
Ive been looking at Mountain House freeze dried meals. Figured 3- 4 days worth of meals should get us by..
What do you guys reccomend as far as flavor. The reviews are pretty great on all of their products so that doesnt help . Reccomendations?
I've tried several Mountain House meals over the years. They are definitely more satisfying when backpacking than trying out at home. They tend to be heavy on sodium content, if that's an issue, but hearty, tasty and satisfying. Enhance with tobasco or sauce of choice. The pro paks are more compact and have smaller servings than the regular pouches, which is a nice option depending on your needs. I have about three dozen of their meal pouches, in addition to a couple of the emergency buckets and #10 cans.
A couple years ago I wanted to expand my options of camping/emergency freeze dried food options. After reading and watching reviews I invested in two other brands that offer more "gourmet" menu options. Check out Stowaway Gourmet and Pinnacle Foods. I have about six-eight pouches from each company. Both have good reviews but so far I've only tried the Pinnacle Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuits and Herbed Sausage Gravy. Very rich, high in fat and calories, good "fuel food."
Also consider Uncle Ben's rice pouches combined with something like Tasty Bite Bombay Potatoes (among other offerings.) While intended to be heated in a microwave, they can be heated in hot water or eaten cold out of the pouch in a pinch. The shelf life won't be a good as the freeze dried options, but I enjoy them for a quick weeknight meal at home on occasion.
I use Mountain House when Hunting or camping. Most of them are pretty decent.
I prefer these for ordinary living and think they are a better choice for your purpose.
https://us.mealkitsupply.com/collections/all
They kind of ruined the menus during the plague. The chili is absolutely fantastic.
I wish I could buy cases of my favorite meals but they only offer their pre-bundled menus which is ok but doesn’t afford a lot of choice.
Mountain House is okay, as are several other brands. Get a few and try them in your normal meal rotation. Tastes vary. Almost everything can be made better with a condiment and some seasoning packets, don't forget those. We can give you pointers, but you should really try them out.Quote:
Originally Posted by hotbiggun42
Stick with the meals, the extra stuff like the packaged fruit, ice cream sandwiches, etc is gimmicky and expensive.
There are lots of other options in your grocery store that provide an easy to carry meal at low cost. They can also be rotated into your normal food supplies easily. The rice or noodle pouches sold as sides are $1-2 and work. Someone else mentioned the Uncle Bens pouches.
Identify a goal for your food preps, i.e. eat not to die, eat not to be hungry, eat to feel like home. Also what you'll have to prep it.
I chose Mountain house for their 30 year shelf life. Something about not having to worry about use by dates is kind of nice. Buy once and never worry about rotating your food supply. I have tried a couple and they were ok. Just trying to find the best ones without having to sample each one.Quote:
Originally Posted by ST911
Another issue is rodents, we have them down here. Boxes might be difficult to protect but yeah i like the extras the include.Quote:
Originally Posted by HKGuns
Where do you plan to bug out to? You do have a plan for that that is more detailed that "hop in the car and drive somewhere", right?
Unless you're bugging out to "the woods", a 3-4 days supply of food seems like a bit much. Especially since food is low priority and the most likely scenario is driving a few hundred miles inland to stay at a hotel for a few nights...
I'd pack a couple meals and use the rest of the space for water, warm clothes, important documents, etc.
But what do I know...I live in the high desert where the biggest threats are drought and cold exposure.
Born and raised in SE Texas, so I've have a few hurricane evacuations under my belt. Emergency food is about #20 on my list of what's needed in a hurricane bugout situation.
Having important documents handy and readily accessible, computers, irreplaceable pictures, external hard drives with scanned backups of EVERYTHING, photos of house/vehicles/possessions left behind, medications, minimum 1 truck tank worth of gas, lots of CASH, water & road trip snacks, spare clothes, wife/kid/pet's shit, chainsaw (with gas/oil) & misc tools to get back onto property and into potentially damaged house, travel guns & ammo (duh), and probably some more I'm forgetting.
Save your freeze dried stuff for when you get back to your house after bugging out and don't have power for two weeks.
And I like most all of their items, FYI.
+1 After living in Florida for 14 years, I would say hurricanes are not bug out events. They are slow moving and one has at least 4-7 days notice. The issue becomes do you heed that notice and take action.Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasAggie2005
We began every hurricane season picking up a week of stuff for smaller storms we'd ride out (Concrete Block home elevated with shutters newer code) consisting of water, food, batteries, propane, charcoal and shock for neighbors pool. Having made these preparations we were driving within a day to where power was on to eat and get AC. At the end of the season we ate, drank and used up supplies.
For larger storms we'd just leave few days before going inland and north or to the opposite coast of the landing area after shuttering the home.
Wilma was a 7 day power loss event with every stoplight in south Florida down making every intersection a 4 way stop. I rode my BMW GS to work on the side of the roads using about 5 of the 20 gallons of fuel bought before the event. We went out to dinner 10 miles west of us in Weston that had power. dozens of hurricanes with only minor inconvenience for any of them as we were prepared.
Agree, cat 1s and 2s we'll sit tight and run generators 3s and 4s hitting within 70-80 miles we'll probably leave. The eye of Irma(cat 4) hit 12 miles away in the keys and all it did was blow a few trees down and rip off about 30 shingles but we were west of the eye. If we had been on the east side even further away I'm sure we would have had a lot more damage.Quote:
Originally Posted by ndmiller
We have thought about this but havent mapped out a escape route just yet. You bring up good things to think about.Quote:
Originally Posted by kerplode
What got us really thinkjng about acting was tarnado warnings the other night. Now not sure how we can prepare for these storms other than making sure we have food and water on hand.
Im working on an older diesel truck with an inbox spare tank and ways to turn the truck into a generator, 7.3 IDI can run on old motor oil and fryer oils, keep a few filters on hand because they can get filled up. I just build normal shelter type stuff if im trapped in the woods(thanks boy scouts!), otherwise yes cash and coins for hotels or something.Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasAggie2005
I like to have a lot of quarters because vending machines or airpumps and the sort, and dont forget the cosby sauce to remount a wheel if needed in a pinch.
I've got to agree with the others, emergency food is pretty low on my list of Hurricane preps. Being prepared to "camp out" at home w/o electricity is the name of the game. Lots of good food and drink that can be stored and consumed easily w/o a lot of clean up is key. Also a generator, chain saws w/ safety gear(!!!), some cash, and plenty of BIG tarps will see you through.
That being said I like and eat Mountain House on a semi frequent basis. I would suggest that you buy a MH "Emergency Kit" from CostCo or another big box store, gather the family and have yourselves a taste test weekend!
I no longer live in hurricane country but I do live in the sticks! I keep 3+ days of food for two In each of our vehicles. I use a .50 cal ammo can to keep the critters (mice, rats, etc.) at bay. Breakfast, dinners, a couple of lifeboat ration blocks, tea, coffee, and some sweets. I pack that sucker full! I'm basically ready to do a 3 day backpacking trip, on zero notice, 24/7 365(Or maybe 270... winter in the high-country would SUCK!)! It pays to be prepared!