long storage energy bars
NShore.Allen, Tue Nov 05 2013, 03:46PM

Part of the CERT training was to have 72 hrs of supplies on hand. The trainers mentioned energy bars but the regular stuff sold at the markets had a 6 mo shelf life. I did a search and found these 5 yr shelf life bars, 400 calories, very low sodium. I ate one driving yesterday so didn't get a pic of the bar itself. Tasted good and did not make me thirsty which would be important. They are called Millennium bars, 12 for $18 Amazon and there are larger quantities. There were 2400 calorie bars and will try those later. 12 bars is 1600 calories per day for three days...

Any other recommendations?









Re: long storage energy bars
©ammy, Tue Nov 05 2013, 07:28PM

How'd they taste?

Re: long storage energy bars
NShore.Allen, Tue Nov 05 2013, 11:43PM

The cherry one was pretty good. Sweet, not salty, ok consistency and moisture. Obviously I am wondering what they will taste like 4 yrs from now but the reviews were favorable.

Re: long storage energy bars
Mtngoat John⭐, Wed Nov 06 2013, 06:06AM

©ammy wrote ...

How'd they taste?

Like a hockey puck, what do you think? If you need to eat it would it matter what it tastes like?

Re: long storage energy bars
JohnnyT (K7JNT), Wed Nov 06 2013, 10:38AM

I'll have to try these, thanks Allen. I put a couple Mountain House Chicken Salad pouches in my CERT go bag. It tastes really good, better than it looks, and has lots of calories and protein for energy. Just add cold water, no need to heat.

[Click Here]

I just finished outfitting my CERT go bag, including making a new compact trauma kit. As soon as I get a chance, I'll make a youtube video of the contents.


Re: long storage energy bars
Lumber Jill, Wed Nov 06 2013, 12:15PM

Not energy bars, but gluten free food with 25 yr shelf life. I haven't tried them so don't know how they taste.
$19/day/person: [Click Here] or
$14/day/person: [Click Here]

When buying these sorts of products, ignore how many servings they claim and look at total calories. Under best of circumstances, you will probably need around 2000 cal per day. Double that if it's cold, or you are doing hard labor (digging out your house...)


Re: long storage energy bars
Benny ⭐, Wed Nov 06 2013, 05:34PM

These are all great recommendations! Thanks guys & gal!

Re: long storage energy bars
Craig ⭐, Wed Nov 06 2013, 06:04PM

Awesome stuff! I guess if we are at the point of using these that taste is probably a low priority and survival and calories are a high priority

I will have to pull out the list I obtained when I first loaded my CERT bag. We had a CERT bag filling party shortly after graduation. Got all kinds of stuff in there.

Re: long storage energy bars
©ammy, Thu Nov 07 2013, 06:33PM

Mtn.goat John wrote ...

©ammy wrote ...

How'd they taste?

Like a hockey puck, what do you think? If you need to eat it would it matter what it tastes like?

I was just curious!

Re: long storage energy bars
©ammy, Thu Nov 07 2013, 06:34PM

NShore.Allen wrote ...

The cherry one was pretty good. Sweet, not salty, ok consistency and moisture. Obviously I am wondering what they will taste like 4 yrs from now but the reviews were favorable.

Good info!

Re: long storage energy bars
NShore.Allen, Thu Nov 07 2013, 07:25PM

I will report on other things I find. My biggest worry is water and food for an extended period of time.

Re: long storage energy bars
©ammy, Thu Nov 07 2013, 08:14PM

You mean acquiring it? Storing it?

Re: long storage energy bars
NShore.Allen, Thu Nov 07 2013, 08:51PM

An extended period when it's needed.. Do I have enough?

Re: long storage energy bars
©ammy, Sun Nov 10 2013, 06:58PM

Ahh... I think that's a question we'll all be wondering. But in reality, I'd think the whole "you might need food for months" is pretty unlikely.

Re: long storage energy bars
NShore.Allen, Sun Nov 10 2013, 07:24PM

Watch the chaos from the Philippines. Yikes!

Re: long storage energy bars
RubiCrawlerLJ, Tue Nov 12 2013, 03:59AM

When we prepared our earthquake and off-road survival kits I made sure to pack away items that not only had long shelf life but that the kids would eat without a fuss. The situation is going to be stressful enough, why aggravate it. The nice thing about packing away stuff we normally eat is that I can rotate our stores to ensure freshness.
Packing away food stores in the Jeep presented more of a challenge, I decided to go with the freeze dried foods that we normally eat while camping along with granola and canned meats. I just make sure that we eat the emergency supplies first when we go camping to ensure their freshness.
As for water, we have 100 gallons in Arrowhead 5 gallon jugs stored in a shed away from the home, one 80 gallon tub bladder in the Master Bath and a case of emergency water rations in the Jeep on hand. I also picked one Katadyn Vario water filtration kit for each one of our "bug out" packs, one for the Jeep and Katadyn Drip Ceradyn for the house.
Having an adequate supply of prescription medications (Crohn's disease) is what I'm really worried about. We have been researching holistic alternatives but so far we have found nothing that seems to work.
If things do not get to "normal" within 30-45 days, I'm afraid that prescription meds are going to become an issue for most of our families.

Re: long storage energy bars
©ammy, Tue Nov 12 2013, 04:59PM

RubiCrawlerLJ wrote ...

The nice thing about packing away stuff we normally eat is that I can rotate our stores to ensure freshness.

This is important - you don't want to store away your food, forget about it for 5 years, then need it and it's all rotten.

Re: long storage energy bars
©ammy, Tue Nov 12 2013, 05:03PM

RubiCrawlerLJ wrote ...

As for water, we have 100 gallons in Arrowhead 5 gallon jugs stored in a shed away from the home, one 80 gallon tub bladder in the Master Bath and a case of emergency water rations in the Jeep on hand.

I think it's important to not keep all your eggs in one basket, er... keep all your drinking water in one location. If there was a severe earthquake and it flattened the building where you keep all your drinking water, or a tree fell on that building, you might not have any water left to drink.
Of course, with the water filters and the lake (relatively) close by, it's not such a big deal.

Re: long storage energy bars
RubiCrawlerLJ, Tue Nov 12 2013, 10:13PM

©ammy wrote ...

I think it's important to not keep all your eggs in one basket, er... keep all your drinking water in one location. If there was a severe earthquake and it flattened the building where you keep all your drinking water, or a tree fell on that building, you might not have any water left to drink.
Of course, with the water filters and the lake (relatively) close by, it's not such a big deal.

I hear you, the shed is far enough away from the house that if it is collapses the shed will not be affected. We live between two lakes, Lake Elsinore and Canyon Lake, so the water purification kits could come in handy. Not crazy about venturing out for water but...
Anyhow, depending on the severity of the event and whether our home survives or not will determine whether we try to shelter-in-place or bug out to our alternate bivouac site.

Re: long storage energy bars
Lumber Jill, Wed Nov 13 2013, 07:50AM

We keep a CERT bag, extra clothes and food and a case of water bottles in each of our vehicles (car, truck and RV) because we may not be at home when an emergency occurs, but if we aren't at home, a vehicle should be with us.

Re: long storage energy bars
RubiCrawlerLJ, Wed Nov 13 2013, 09:35PM

My Jeep is our "bug out" vehicle so it is stocked and ready to go. Our "daily driver" cars only have the bare minimum; energy bars, jerky, granola and water for 72 hours, IFAK, LED flashlight, headlamp and extra batteries, glow sticks, survival blankets, fire starter kit and fixed blade knife.
I need to pickup two new handheld radios since I made the mistake of vacuum sealing my Midland 75-822 CB Radios with batteries in them, a $250 mistake.

Re: long storage energy bars
Craig ⭐, Thu Nov 14 2013, 06:00PM

That's pretty impressive for a "bare minimum" inventory!! I would love to see the list in the bug out vehicle, however, the server might crash if you post that big of a message

As for radios, a lot of folks have been investing in the Baofeng UV-5R Plus models. I love mine and am buying a couple more to replace my FRS radios. They transmit on pretty much any frequency (except CB) and also monitor a lot of the public service frequencies such as fire, forest service, etc. I use mine as a scanner, HAM radio, work radio, FRS radio and MURS radio. For less than $40 bucks, you cannot beat it! Link here: [Click Here]

It comes with a long lasting NIMH battery and drop in charger which works very well. If you will be using them for emergency purposes, then you should invest in the AA battery pack for that radio. Link here: [Click Here]

Can't say enough about the bang for the buck on these radios. Nothing comes close for the price.

RubiCrawlerLJ wrote ...

My Jeep is our "bug out" vehicle so it is stocked and ready to go. Our "daily driver" cars only have the bare minimum; energy bars, jerky, granola and water for 72 hours, IFAK, LED flashlight, headlamp and extra batteries, glow sticks, survival blankets, fire starter kit and fixed blade knife.
I need to pickup two new handheld radios since I made the mistake of vacuum sealing my Midland 75-822 CB Radios with batteries in them, a $250 mistake.



Re: long storage energy bars
RubiCrawlerLJ, Thu Nov 14 2013, 07:58PM

Craig (KJ6BCM) wrote ...

As for radios, a lot of folks have been investing in the Baofeng UV-5R Plus models. I love mine and am buying a couple more to replace my FRS radios. They transmit on pretty much any frequency (except CB) and also monitor a lot of the public service frequencies such as fire, forest service, etc. I use mine as a scanner, HAM radio, work radio, FRS radio and MURS radio. For less than $40 bucks, you cannot beat it! Link here: [Click Here]

It comes with a long lasting NIMH battery and drop in charger which works very well. If you will be using them for emergency purposes, then you should invest in the AA battery pack for that radio. Link here: [Click Here]

Can't say enough about the bang for the buck on these radios. Nothing comes close for the price.


What can I am a Boy Scout (Webelo actually) at heart! Riding out tropical storms and hurricanes in South Florida and my love of off-roading and unimproved camping only reinforced it.

Thanks for the radio link, I paid twice that for a crappy handheld CB a few years ago. Do you need a Amateur Radio license (technician?) to operate the radio in an emergency?

Re: long storage energy bars
Craig ⭐, Sat Nov 16 2013, 11:30AM

I think the general rule is that if you have a life threatening emergency then you can use any radio on any frequency in order to summon help. Your best bet would be to get your HAM license so you know the way of the land and also get to know a lot of great folks! Getting your license is inexpensive and the local Big Bear Amateur Radio Club (BBARC) is a GREAT bunch of peeps. There are several of them here on SCM. They schedule training and testing sessions often. Im sure someone here can provide details on the next sessions. With good radio equipment available for under $40.00 it really makes good sense to get your ticket.

RubiCrawlerLJ wrote ...

Craig (KJ6BCM) wrote ...

As for radios, a lot of folks have been investing in the Baofeng UV-5R Plus models. I love mine and am buying a couple more to replace my FRS radios. They transmit on pretty much any frequency (except CB) and also monitor a lot of the public service frequencies such as fire, forest service, etc. I use mine as a scanner, HAM radio, work radio, FRS radio and MURS radio. For less than $40 bucks, you cannot beat it! Link here: [Click Here]

It comes with a long lasting NIMH battery and drop in charger which works very well. If you will be using them for emergency purposes, then you should invest in the AA battery pack for that radio. Link here: [Click Here]

Can't say enough about the bang for the buck on these radios. Nothing comes close for the price.


What can I am a Boy Scout (Webelo actually) at heart! Riding out tropical storms and hurricanes in South Florida and my love of off-roading and unimproved camping only reinforced it.

Thanks for the radio link, I paid twice that for a crappy handheld CB a few years ago. Do you need a Amateur Radio license (technician?) to operate the radio in an emergency?



Re: long storage energy bars
©ammy, Sat Nov 16 2013, 01:39PM

Also, the test is not very difficult at all. If I remember correctly, you can study the actual test questions and answers online - there's something like a pool of 300 questions and they use 36? of them on the actual test. You can take practice tests online as well. There were even a couple members on here that got a perfect score on their ham tests.

Re: long storage energy bars
RubiCrawlerLJ, Sat Nov 16 2013, 05:59PM

Some years ago I looked into getting my license but I got sidetracked with coaching my daughters' AYSO soccer teams. My daughters are aging out of AYSO so maybe I'll have some time to find a local group and study up for the test.

Re: long storage energy bars
JohnnyT (K7JNT), Sun Nov 17 2013, 08:41AM

Craig (KJ6BCM) wrote ...

I think the general rule is that if you have a life threatening emergency then you can use any radio on any frequency in order to summon help. Your best bet would be to get your HAM license so you know the way of the land and also get to know a lot of great folks! Getting your license is inexpensive and the local Big Bear Amateur Radio Club (BBARC) is a GREAT bunch of peeps. There are several of them here on SCM. They schedule training and testing sessions often. Im sure someone here can provide details on the next sessions. With good radio equipment available for under $40.00 it really makes good sense to get your ticket.

RubiCrawlerLJ wrote ...

Craig (KJ6BCM) wrote ...

As for radios, a lot of folks have been investing in the Baofeng UV-5R Plus models. I love mine and am buying a couple more to replace my FRS radios. They transmit on pretty much any frequency (except CB) and also monitor a lot of the public service frequencies such as fire, forest service, etc. I use mine as a scanner, HAM radio, work radio, FRS radio and MURS radio. For less than $40 bucks, you cannot beat it! Link here: [Click Here]

It comes with a long lasting NIMH battery and drop in charger which works very well. If you will be using them for emergency purposes, then you should invest in the AA battery pack for that radio. Link here: [Click Here]

Can't say enough about the bang for the buck on these radios. Nothing comes close for the price.


What can I am a Boy Scout (Webelo actually) at heart! Riding out tropical storms and hurricanes in South Florida and my love of off-roading and unimproved camping only reinforced it.

Thanks for the radio link, I paid twice that for a crappy handheld CB a few years ago. Do you need a Amateur Radio license (technician?) to operate the radio in an emergency?



I've been studying for the last 2 weeks, about 30 minutes a day, using the interactive hamtestonline.com and am totally ready for the next tech exam day. It's not that hard, just some basic memorization. As to unlicensed people transmitting on ham frequencies, it is allowed only if a person or property is in grave jeopardy AND no other regular form of communication is available. It was one of the questions in the exam question pool.


Re: long storage energy bars
RubiCrawlerLJ, Sun Nov 17 2013, 09:06AM

Thanks for the link JohnnyT!