Freeze Dried Food and "Rats"

I’d like to hear some recommendations on long shelf life emergency foods, particularly freeze dried.

Also interested in hearing about powdered milk and milk substitutes.

How long are you looking to go? Parameters involved? This can help inform advice and judgement.

Personally, I’ve got enough to get me through a few days. I’m no prepper by any means, but my “second layer of the onion” is awaiting me in the preserved nature area near my neighborhood. 20 gauge and .22 are the shopping tools.

90 day supply for three people, or 30 day supply for nine if it works out that way. My family knows I prep, and surly will come aknock’n

Backup food supply is plentiful in my backyard. Suppressed .300BLK AR pistol is my shopping cart

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I’d suggest Mountain House, there are others, but some are almost unedible. I’d also suggest buying some individual pouches to try first before making a big purchase. Walmart sells them.

I tried many different versions when Scoutmaster for my son’s Boy Scout troop. When we did some backpack trips, I had the Scouts bring freeze dried foods because of weight, so we got some experience with them.

LOL… first mistake… ALWAYS maintain OPSEC. My family knows I have firearms (but nothing else), and think they can come here and I’ll defend them… my answer, “how much money you got??”

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I have bought some Mt. House, have a few pouches. Tried some and not bad (extremely salty), but their prices are the highest.

It is what it is, they know because I encourage them to do the same. Part of my WORoL plan is for the clan to meet at a central location, safety in numbers, 'n shit

In that case, one is none, and two is few.

I agree that Mountain House is salty, but salt ain’t gonna kill ya quicker that starvation.

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I knew you would say that…

But, keep in mind, you’re buying this once (to last 25 years), not weekly, so factor that in. Also, I read reports that some of the lower cost FD foods don’t last, and go bad way earlier than their project dates.

In the end, like anything else, you get what you pay for.

And three is where you want to be.

This pertains to food, cooking, water, power, heat, protection, shelter, etc. Always have a Plan B and Plan C.

Yep. keep in mind, if it comes down to this, you’ll probably be a lot more active taking care of business,

Mountain Houses and Wise Company are two suppliers of long-shelf life food products. I’ve used both and they will satisfy your appetite. The Wise Co.“Lasagna” is actually pretty good.

I also have a few cases of MREs. They are high in fat and sodium, but they were designed for soldiers in combat. You could probably get two meals out of one pouch.

What is the Rat reference about

I assume “Rats” meaning rations/quantity.

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C-rats E-rats K-rats

Overall, how does Wise compare to Mt. House. I’ve had a few of the Mt. House meals, lasagna being one of em, and it wasn’t too bad. Another one I tried was Biscuits n Gravy because a few guys on another forum kept saying how great they were. They were meh.

Couldn’t agree more. Fridgerator space is more of the issue

Great plan, If there is electricity. I wonder how many thousands of pounds of venison rotted away in freezers after Sandy. My electric was out for three and a half weeks, was living out of a cooler for a bit of time. All I could keep was milk, butter and eggs. Couldn’t even drink the tap water because it was contaminated.

That’s a best case scenario. One EMP and we can all be in the dark for months.

This notion of living off the fat o the land is quite romantic. If things ever get that bad, well, I feel bad for all you land owners cuz you won’t be the only ones with the same idea. You will have a tough time of it dealing with poachers. Try and tell some father he can’t hunt on your property while he has hungry kids at home… boy, that will get spicy right quick.

Buying some freeze dried food just seems easier, smarter.

Why not make some jerky and vacuum seal it. And do some home canning. In addition to buying some freeze dried foods?

You dont have to hunt to make jerky. Just use steak or roasts from the store. Plenty of YouTube videos to show you how to do it. You dont need to buy a fancy dehydrator. You can use your oven. If you have an air fryer already, many have a dehydrate setting.

Don’t forget canned food purchased from stores when on sale.

Lots of different ways to build up food reserves.

I have all the gear for that, and did some canning last year. Grew about four bushels of San Marzano and Roma tomatoes.

Dunno about jerky though. Married to a woman with a degree in microbiology, Just canning tomato sauce was a hard sell.

Also have a good store of dried goods that I repackaged and put in food grade buckets.

I prefer Wise over Mountain House. They offer their own version of Lasagna, Chjli-Mac, Cheesy Pasta with Chicken, etc. I’ll usually add canned chicken to the last entree to feed more people, add more protein to the meal, and cut down on the salt per person.

There’s no getting around the salt in these meals. It’s a preservative.

If I’m on business and in the area, I’ll pick up some meals at Priority One Surplus in Hamburg. There prices are reasonable and they are about a mile from Cabelas. Incidentally, Priority One does sell ammo but NOT at “surplus” prices.

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