By Brian Dolge<\/p>\n
As I work my way through the process of making up a 72 hour kit\/ bug-out bag I thought I would post parts of my work here for others to use as they see fit. As there has been a bit of talk here lately about what to do for long-term compact food I thought I’d start with this part.<\/p>\n
Brian’s High-Density High-Calorie Easy-to-Prepare Exceptionally Yummy Infinite(almost)Shelf-Life Readily-Available Food Packets<\/p>\n
What more could you ask for? The ingredients are:<\/p>\n
| Item<\/th>\n | Number Used<\/th>\n | Calories\/Item<\/th>\n | Cost\/Unit<\/th>\n | Notes<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n <\/p>\n | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hard Candy<\/td>\n | 160<\/td>\n | 20\/piece<\/td>\n | $1.30\/bag<\/td>\n | 33\/bag, indiv wrapped, assorted<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n <\/p>\n | |||||||||||
| Power Bars<\/td>\n | 9<\/td>\n | 230\/each<\/td>\n | $1.35\/each<\/td>\n | Available at sports stores<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n <\/p>\n | |||||||||||
| Granola Bars<\/td>\n | 20<\/td>\n | 110 each<\/td>\n | $2.20\/box<\/td>\n | 2\/foil pouch, hard, el cheapo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n <\/p>\n | |||||||||||
| Slim Jims<\/td>\n | 20<\/td>\n | 50\/each<\/td>\n | $3.40\/box<\/td>\n | 12\/box<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n <\/p>\n | |||||||||||
| Drink Mix Pouch<\/td>\n | 4<\/td>\n | 65\/each<\/td>\n | $5.25\/4<\/td>\n | Do It Yourself Mix<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Further Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n Hard candy is one of the most compact forms of calories available, is stable under most conditions, but provides no vitamins or other nutrients and no feeling of fullness;<\/p>\n Power bars also provide lots of calories in a compact form as well as a decent supply of vitamins, etc. however, they are expensive and taste like condensed peanut butter, I like them, but they get old fast;<\/p>\n Granola bars are bulky but light and provide plenty of roughage for fullness and to keep your lower GI tract in working order;<\/p>\n Slim Jims are my least favorite item, they provide protein, but way too much fat, while fat also adds to the feeling of fullness I worry about it going rancid despite all the preservatives;<\/p>\n The drink mix is half orange Koolaid (with sugar) and half orange Gatorade, enough for 2 quarts of each, mixed well, about 3 fl.oz of powder in each of 4 1 qt. zip-lock bags, this provides calories, electrolytes, and reminds you to drink your fluids. I did not use a protein drink\/instant breakfast mix because I have had trouble getting them to mix up properly from powder and I really don’t like the taste\/texture or the bowel problems they give me. I used all dry stuff to save weight\/volume and to reduce the chance of messy accidents. Obviously you will need H2O to go with this, but that’s another letter.<\/p>\n Everything except the drink mix is ready to unwrap and eat (please don’t litter!). My own kit also contains 1 multi-vitamin per day and 3 fiber laxative\/diet pills because I like to keep my vitamins up and I get hungry a lot. All these items were bought in a suburban supermarket (except the Power Bars, which came from a 7-11(or an outdoor store)) at the normal prices. You can probably get them cheaper by the usual methods. I am assuming you have qt. and gal. zip-lock bags and a cup of sugar. If not add the price of those to the following calculations.<\/p>\n Total cost<\/strong><\/p>\n Calories<\/strong><\/p>\n Packing and Transportation<\/strong><\/p>\n The ingredients are spread out among four 1-gal. zip-lock bags:<\/p>\n 1 bag gets an extra power bar, 2 get extra granola.<\/p>\n With the air squeezed out each bag weighs about 1.5 lbs. and is about 9 in. long and 3.5 in across. Total: 6 lbs. in a 9×7 squishy rectangle. Very portable.<\/p>\n I would like to hear any comments anyone has on this set-up. I have put in a lot of work\/experiment\/testing on this, but I’m always eager to learn more.<\/p>\n |