I ordered the datrex, mainstay and SOS bars from one vendor and the mayday bars from a second. Some of the bars came in with the vacuum packaging damaged and not fully sealed. The datrex and mainstay each had one unsealed bar and both SOS bars were unsealed. Both mayday bars were sealed. This may be the vendors fault or it may be quality control. I am not in a position to say as I only ordered a couple of bars from one vendor each. However I saw this as a good opportunity to test out the manufacturers’ customer service. I contacted all the vendors to find out what I should do about this using whatever e-mail address I could find for them on their website. Three of the four companies responded within the first business day and I still haven’t heard from the other 2 weeks later. Datrex responded first with an e-mail saying the shelf life would be damaged and that I should take it up with the vendor. Mayday immediately sent me an automated response and followed up with a phone call that same day. They said that the bars were no good and that I should return them to the vendor and that they would work with the vendor to fix the problem. He apologized and said that they manually inspect every single bar before it leaves the factory, A+ customer service especially considering all of their packaging was completely intact. S.O.S responded asking for the lot number and manufacturing date, but as I was out of town it took me a while to reply and I haven’t heard back, but its only been a couple of business days. I never received a reply from mainstay.
Summary (in order of my purchasing preference):
If you want flavor, go for the MRE’s or Mountain House food. The variation in flavor and texture available is priceless. However as the charts show, the ration bars are king of calorie density (by volume and weight). The Mountain House Items also have the drawback of requiring water, a heat source and time to prepare. The MRE’s don’t hold up to high storage temperatures as well and only last a year or less in a car trunk. The ration bars are designed to be stored for long time spans in lifeboats, on the ocean in the heat and cold.
The datrex bar has very simple ingredients and has probably the mildest flavor. If I was buying rations with intention of feeding them to children, sick people or picky eaters, these would be my choice. I like that the portions are individually packaged, but I think they would make a mess and you risk losing calories to dropping pieces.
The SOS bars tasted the best and had the best packaging. I expect most people would be like the flavor, but it was stronger than the datrex bar. It would be the easiest to consume tidily. However, the energy density was one of the lowest though which led me to choose the datrex first.
The mainstay bar had the strongest flavor that might not be appealing to everybody. They have the highest energy density but as a result have very low protein content and are not individually wrapped. I think they would be difficult to portion out and transport / store the unused portions.
The mayday bar has the lowest energy density, but both packages came in perfectly sealed. They had top notch customer service. They had one of the highest protein contents and great vitamin and mineral content. They had the least appealing flavor and aroma to me unfortunately and were very difficult to portion and would be difficult to store and transport the unused portions.
Details:
Datrex Emergency Ration
Calories: 3600
Specified Weight: 684g
Measured Weight: 680g, 687g (1% variance)
Dimensions: 3.6” x 2.5” x 4.5”
Ingredients: Wheat Flour, Vegetable Shortening, Cane Sugar, Coconut, Salt
1 serving (1/18th pack, 200 Cal): 3 g protein, 21 g carbs, 10 g fat, 0.75mg sodium
Note: One pack of the two came in not fully vacuum-packed. The tear notch, made it easy to open, but was directly in the middle of the package making it hard to repurpose the packaging. The bars came in 18 servings individually packaged in a shrink wrap. I imagine these would be difficult to open with cold or wet hands as they are slippery, tough to tear and conform tightly to the ration. The ration is extremely crumbly and it exploded into 10+ chunks when I opened it, mostly due to the difficulty of opening the shrink wrap. The rations have almost no smell, with a slight hint of cookie. The texture is very soft with not grittiness, exactly like a good shortbread cookie. The rations have a very mild flavor, a lot like honey bunches of oats cereal. The coconut is there as a slight aftertaste but almost undetectable. The ration leaves a little greasy feeling in your mouth that is slightly annoying, despite this I kept having the urge to eat more of this ration.
Mainstay 3600
Calories: 3600
Specified Weight: 680g
Measured Weight: 687g, 642g (7% variance)
Dimensions: 6.1” x 5.5” x 1.2”
Ingredients: Enriched Flour, Vegetable Shortening, Granulated Sugar, Corn Starch, Corn Syrup, Lemon Flavor, Vanilla Flavor, Butter Flavor, colors, vitamin C and antioxidants
1 serving (1/9th packet, 400 Cal): 3g protein, 46g carbs, 23g fat, 23 mg sodium
Note: One of the two bars was not fully vacuum packed. My first thought is that the bar has a surprisingly high amount of vitamins and minerals, although not as many as the mayday. The package was easy to open with a tear notch at the top that left the bag usable as storage. The portions are not individually wrapped but are not difficult to separate. They are hard and slightly crumbly when you break them, making a mess. I’d suggest breaking the block up before you open the package. Smell is doughy with a strong hint of lemon, slightly unappealing but not off-putting. Texture is surprisingly soft, with a little grittiness. Flavor much like a lemon flavored short bread, but not quite as sweet. I rather like the flavor and would have no problem eating these.
Mayday 3600
Calories: 3600
Specified Weight: 756g
Measured Weight: 856g. 774g (13% variance)
Dimensions: 6.0” x 6.0” x 1.25”
Ingredients: Enriched Flour, Vegetable Shortening, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Soy Flour, Corn Starch, Preservatives, vitamins and apple cinnamon flavor.
1 serving (1/9th, 400 Cal): 7g protein, 55g carbs, 17g fat, 35mg sodium
Note: Both bars came fully vacuum-packed, the only one of the four that I can say that for. My first thought when looking at the packaging is that these bars have loads of vitamins and minerals. The package was easy to open with a tear notch at the top that left the bag usable as storage. The portions are not individually wrapped and are very difficult to separate; I had to saw them apart with a serrated knife. They are very hard, but crumble when you break them, making quite a mess. I’d suggest breaking the block up before you open the package. Smell is very strong and doughy, not particularly appetizing, perhaps even slightly nauseating. Texture is slightly crunchy light a shortbread cookie with a slight grittiness. Flavor very mild and bread like, not very sweet with just a hint of apple cinnamon, not bad tasting, but certainly not good.
S.O.S. Emergency Food Ration
Calories: 3681
Specified Weight: 756g
Measured Weight: 655g, 761g (14% variance)
Dimensions: 2.1” x 5.1” x 4.7”
Ingredients: Wheat Flour, Vegetable Shortening, Sugar, Coconut, Corn Starch, Corn Syrup, Binders and Preservatives, Vitamins
1 serving (1/9th, 409 Cal): 8g protein, 53g carbs, 19g fat, 0.50mg sodium
Note: Neither pack came fully vacuum packed. The package contains no information about vitamin / mineral content. The package comes with two tear notches, but they are in the center of the bag, rendering it useless as a water collection device. The bars are shaped like standard protein / cereal bars and are individually wrapped with a clear cellophane wrapper. The aroma is very mild and slightly sweet and grainy. The bars are hard and crumbly and make a mess when you eat them. They are crunchy with a slight grittiness and chunky texture. They taste like a granola bar with a slight sweetness and a lemony aftertaste. I really like these bars and could imagine eating them in a non-survival situation.
MRE Components
I won’t give a detailed description of each of these as I didn’t try them at this time. I have eaten plenty of MRE components before though and I think the newest lines of USGI MREs taste pretty good and I have no problems eating any of them. This being said, I have always had the choice to eat them and have never eaten them for more than a couple meals in a row. They are edible cold, but better hot.
MRE Fudge Brownie
Calories: 320
Advertised Weight: 85g (95g)
Dimensions: 0.8” x 2.8” x 4.7”
4g protein, 43g carbs, 17g fat, 115mg sodium
MRE Crackers
Calories: 180
Weight: 38g (47g)
Dimensions: 0.4” x 4.1” x 4.1”
4g protein, 28g carbs, 5g fat, 130mg sodium
MRE Mexican Corn
Calories: 150
Weight 142g (154g)
Dimensions: 4.2” x 5.6” x 0.6”
MRE Cheese Spread
Calories: 180
Weight: 43g (44g)
Dimensions: 0.5” x 1.5” x 4.9”
5g protein, 1g carbs, 17g fat, 310mg sodium
MRE Chili and Beans
Calories: 320
Weight: 227g (241g)
Dimensions: 0.5” x 4.1” x 7.1”
MRE Beef Snack
Calories: 60
Weight: 23g (29g)
Dimensions: 0.3” x 1.5” x 4.8”
8g protein, 4g carbs, 1g fat, 480mg sodium
MRE Chocolate Dairy Shake
Calories: 460
Weight: 100g (108g)
Dimensions: 1.1” x 3.5” x 3.5”
17g protein, 56g carbs, 19g fat, 290mg sodium
Mountain House Pro-Pak
These are pretty good and I’d hazard to say more or less similar to MRE’s in flavor, maybe a bit better. The texture is not spectacular though. The main problem is that they require hot or boiling water to prepare as well as time.
MH Pro-Pak Beef Stroganoff
Calories: 520
Weight:133g (115g)
Dimensions: 4.3” x 5.1” x 2.5”
22g protein, 60g carbs, 20g fat, 1710mg sodium
In the end I'm putting 1/2 of my calories in Datrex or SOS rations with the other half in field stripped MREs.
