Image from Survivor Ind. Webpage


Nutritional Information

Image from Survivor Ind. Webpage


Background
First and formost I should explain why I decided to eat only rations while at work one day. I suppose I wanted to know for sure what I was packing into my BOB, which could in theory save my life. Testing your gear is always a great idea. I wanted to know how these rations tasted, if they filled me up, and if they really were a viable option. At $7.50 (from NitroPak + shipping) a pack I wasn't really wasting much money.

Now a blurb about me. In order to relate this "test" to yourself you need to realize who I am. I'm 21, male, and white (not manbath white though ) I am a "flooring care technician" while I'm not in school. I'm a somewhat picky eater, but I like to try new things. I stand about 5'10" and 140lbs. I'm very lean, thin, skinny, whatever. I have a pretty high metabolism and can't gain a pound no matter what I eat. A normal workday meal (i.e. what I eat between breakfast and dinner) usually consists of 2 sandwiches, a 500 calorie protein bar, half a gallon of water, 2 gatorades, beef jerky, peanuts, and carrots. I don't know what the calories are in that, but its a lot of food.


The Test
The idea for this test came when I learned I was cleaning a local churchs carpet and would be there all day long. Normally for this type of day I'll pack a lunch like I described above. But for this day I packed two 1L Nalgene bottles full of ice water, a Hooah energy bar and one 3600 calorie ration pack into a cooler lunchbox and went to work. Around 10am I got hungry. I shut off my machine and sat down to eat. I pulled out the survival rations which are wrapped in a heavy duty foil/platic packaging. My first reaction was that these things weigh a ton! It really does feel like there could be 2-3 days of food in one of these. After tearing open the packaging (which has a easy open perferation) I was greated by 3600 calories of lemony goodness There are nine bars in each package. I pulled one out and it has the consistency of a really dense cookie. They are very crumbly. The first bite was interesting. The Mainstay ration is very dry and moistens quickly in the mouth. The initial taste is actually reminisent of a lemon cookie. Each bite is very dense and takes a bit to process. One bar is no problem. It was when I sank my teeth into the second bar that I realized eating these things is no easy task. It's not that they fill you up like $8 worth of Taco Bell, its just that the "dry lemon cookie dough powder" flavor wears on you a bit. I recommend having plenty of drink on hand for two reasons. The first is to make eating these a little more pleasant. The second is because dense foods like protein bars require a lot of water to properly process. I imagine that these too would require enough water in your system to be properly processed.

After eating two bars (800 calories) and drinking almost a liter of water I went back to work. I began to feel better and was working at a quicker pace. Before the "meal" I was feeling a little sluggish despite having breakfast with the king (aka Burger King). I was surprised to find that even though I wasn't full, I didn't feel hungry anymore. Later in the workday around noon I ate another bar. This one was the hardest of the three to choke down. Lots of water helped. So far I had eaten a total of 3 bars or 1200 calories. Around 4-5pm I began to feel a bit hungry again. This time, however, I could not bring myself to eat another ration. I went with my apple Hooah bar and the rest of my water. For whatever reason, just smelling the lemon scent of the rations was enough to make me not want any. Later that night I ate a big plate of spagetti.


Manufacturer's Claims VS My Opinions
*Note: Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one, and they all stink*
Mainstay™ 3600k Key Benefits

5 year Shelf Life
This is a great benefit. It's nice to know that the $30 worth of rations I bought won't need to be replaced any time soon. This saves me money and I like that. How long does the food in your BOB last?

Non-Thirst Provoking
Bullshit. These rations are very dry and thick. I can't imagine trying to eat a days worth without something to wash them down.

Withstands Wide Temperature Extremes… -40° F to 300°F (-40°C to 149°C)
This is one of the main reasons I bought these. My BOB is being built to go with me anywhere. Which means that it will often be sitting in a VERY hot vehicle under the Florida sun. These rations are the only ones I've found so far that have this quality. Even MRE's will loose nutritional value (but not necessarily go bad) in the conditions my BOB has to endure.

Ready to Eat: Each package contains 9 pre-measured 400 calorie meals.
The bars were well cut and easy to break off. Don't know what else to say here..

No water, preparation or cooking necessary
Well duh.

Contains no cholesterol or tropical oils.
Healthy bonus? I get enough cholesterol and tropical oils when I sunbath nude on the beach while beautiful women slather me in Banana Boat while I eat bacon.

Meets the US Coast Guard standards (160.046/23/0). It's new modern packaging
I don't know exactly what the standards are but if the rations can survive on a lifeboat then they can survive in my BOB. This is actually a great certification.

Meets the stringent Department of Defense (SOLAS 74/83) guidelines.
I also have no idea what these are. Again, good enough for the military, good enough for me.

Enriched with vitamins and minerals exceeding the RDA requirements.
Check out the nutritional guide at the top of the page. These things are loaded. Just 2-3 bars a day and you've fulfilled your daily requirements. I may actually skip on the vitamins in my BOB because of this.

Voted #1 Best Tasting! Vanilla/lemon flavor cookie dough taste that apeals to both children and adults.
Okay, here the skinny. These bars aren't bad when you first get into them. After a day of eating these though, I bet that you would never even want to think about lemon cookies ever again. I don't even want to know what other flavors they beat out (Liver and Cod?) but #1 best tasting? I'm not so sure about that. Good luck getting your kids to eat these. I couldn't get anyone in my family or my girlfriend to take a bite.

Mainstay™ is KOSHER APPROVED and it meets the dictates for Halal.
I'm not Hebrew, but its cool that they can use these too.


What's Hot (Pro's) and What's Not (Con's)
Hot
- Long lasting even in extreme enviroments
- Enough calories for 2 days (easily stretched to 3)
- Durable packaging
- Not outrageously expensive
- Good taste at first

Not
- Packaging cannot be resealed
- You don't need water, but you'll want it
- Heavy. Ultralight backpackers can look elsewhere
- Lemon cookie taste gets old really fast
- If you eat protein powder out of the jug then you will love these.


Conclusion
If you're looking for something to keep in your car or in other extreme enviroments then I highly suggest these. Always keep plenty of water around. 2L was just enough to keep me from thirst while working a physical job from 9am to 5pm. Pack other food stuffs if you can. Having a energy bar (like my Hooah!) or maybe some jerky would really break up the monotony of these rations. If you are really worried about the taste then just remember that these things will keep you alive. If they can keep my metabolism going during work, they can keep your ass alive in the PAW.


Links
Survivor Industries
Mainstay 3600 Rations
Mainstay 3600 Rations @ NitroPak

Edit: That was a hell of a 400th post...

Good review, I might grab accouple of those.

Grimble and I tried one of the 1200 cal bars a couple of weeks ago.
I was actually quite impressed .. it looks a little like pound cake and tastes of lemon. Its a bit powdery, and you do need a little water with it, but I was very impressed. I am also very impressed with the lifespan and storage temperature range.

I keep a 3600Cal bar in my truck and it can get pretty hot in there on a sunny summer's day, so Hi Temp storage performance like this is important.

Overall very impressive.

This is a shining example of a perfect post. Thanks JROD.

Sounds like I should give my mainstay bars a go.

Great post. How'd I miss this the first time? Thanks for sharing, Jrod.

I had the oportunity to try these out Z-con 2005 when Slings brought out enough for everyone at the range. We kinda forgot to pack a lunch. He saved the day, which isn't unusual for for him.

At the time I thought they tasted great. I can see how the lemon would wear on you though. Although, it's not bad to have when you're staving in an emergency situation (like being at the range and forgeting your lunch).

That's what those were? Sweet. I'm going to go get some right now. Okay later.

The non resealable aspect. It bothers me. What if you're at sea, your boat sank and you're in a raft in the middle of the ocean. Once you tear in, you might get salt water splashed all over it.

Perhaps I'm reading too far into it. I have tried these before and I thought they tasted like crap. Lemon crap.

To be fair, if cast adrift at sea I would think this is the greatest thing ever.

All relative, I reckon.

+1 to the Good post comments.

I had been hesitant to pick some of these up because 1) I hadn't known anyone who had one and could comment on their tastiness (or lack of) and 2) ....well ok so its really just #1, but I might have to buy a pack for Just in case.

Also One question I had that I didn't see the answers for was, how big was the package, and how much did it actually weigh?

They had a group buy for these on another forum. The guy who tested them, likened them to lemon sawdust. But then again, in a PAW situation it's better than starving.

I to had thought of getting these, but was hesitant... Save a lot of room in my BOB over MRE's. Good Job JROD! As far as none resealable - I keep a few Ziplocks in the BOB for things like that.

I have the 3600 Cal brick.
Weight is 1lb 5oz
Dimensions are: 5.5" x 6" x 1.25" roughly

Great stuff! I liked the comentary responses to the advertisement.

Like others here, I have hesitated in getting any of these because I didn't know about the flavor or the consistancy, but you described them nicely.

Thanks.

Doc

ok I am new ..what is a bob...i mean i can asume its a survival kit but what does it stand for? anyways im going to live off of freeze dried icecream mmmmm

Heh. A BOB stands for a Bug Out Bag (often refered to as 'Go Bags, Get Home Bags or the similar).

Check out our BOB section for photos and kit. Basically its (typically) a back borne pack that carries all the gear necessary to survive should the situation warrant.

BUG
OUT
BAG

Precisely the sort of disasters Zombie Squad seeks to avert.

I think I may just stay with my overpriced Snickers Marathon bars, personally, although after having probably a total of 10 of them last winter, the taste is beginning to wear on me.

thanx gunny i will have to start on one of those...lotsa freeze dried icecream....

Seems to me, these aren't intended for casual snacking. They're intended for, "If you didn't have these, you'd be dead." In which case I think I could deal with lemon sawdust. In fact, it's sort of an asset, because it would encourage you to ration them wisely, rather than scarfing them all down when you get a wee bit peckish. It would also discourage me from eating them when drunk and lazy like I do with MRE's.

Point, Jeriah.

At the same time, I'm not really going to try for that mindset, as I don't want to rely on nasty food, when it is pretty easy to do otherwise.

I found a box of these my uncle gave me in basement. After reading this thread, they went right in the BOB. JRod, your a lifesaver! (Literally!)

Nice post.


This belongs on a t-shirt!

On one of the Guys Only campouts we occasionally do, we were going to teach those who didn't know - how to rappel.

That morning during breakfast, I told everyone that I was packing lunch for everyone and that they only needed to bring stuff to drink.

At lunch (12 to 12:30), I opened up a 3600 calorie Mainstay and a 3600 calorie Datrex bar. Everyone was given 400 calories of each.

Some folks liked the Mainstay Lemon flavor.
Some folks liked the Datrex sorta cruchy Coconut flavor.
Some folks liked both.

A couple of the guys came back for 2nds.

One thing that was mentioned and discussed was that they didn't require much in the form of water to wash down.

From 0700 end of breakfast to 1830 Supper, all we had were the rations.

I checked around an everyone said that the 800 calories had kept them full feeling all afternoon.

They work. I kept two of the 3600 calorie ones taped together as my emergency and eat on orders rations.

MrClarkBKK brought some Mainstay bars to the PA Wintershoot so that we could try them. I was rather impressed and likened the flavor and consistency to a lemon shortbread.

I did not find them to be thurst inducing at all. My normal salivation, even with the dryer mouth of a smoker, was enough to get it down.

I also had no problems with my digestive track the next day, even though I tend to be sensitive to dietary shifts.

Overall, quite impressed.

I usually jump into these threads about the Mainstay/SOS rations to remind folks that these bars are meant to sustain life in a zero activity environment, like floating in a raft while awaiting rescue. They are not meal replacements, nor do they have the caloric value to sustain you if you are on the move carrying 30 pounds of gear. The 3600 calories in one of these 3-day packs is what you could be burning in one day of Bugging Out, or walking to your Bug In Location. I have tried a few of these bars and they are composed of about all of the same ingredients, so the brand choice just changes the flavor, slightly.

Meal replacement drinks, like Ensure, or off-brands like it, have a better balance of nutrients and vitamins, include water, and store almost indefinitely (like most canned goods). I will admit that the Ensure doesn't have as much caloric intake, but using these two products together may be a better and healthier option.

The price of combining these two items, however, would be more expensive than stocking up on MRE's, Mountain House meals, and a variety of canned foods that would supply more calories, better nutrition, and take up about the same space as a big stack of Mainstay bars. I completed a similar project to this a couple of years ago with the SOS rations and by the third day, the monotony of eating the same bland food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was worse than the lack of energy.