Mainstay Emergency Rations vs Mayday Food Bar

[PlatonicPimp]

That's the page I wanted to see, thank you.

Just from looking at it, I'd say that with this one you also neeed to pack a multi-vitamin. The Mayday/Mainstay bars both had your full reccomended everything (except iron) per bar. These don't. But heck, the other bars need you to pack an Iron suppliment anyway, so whatever. Good find.

[jamesraykenney]

<snip>

They seem to be at par with Mayday or Mainstay. I'm just wondering if anybody has had any personal experience with this brand.

I forgot, I have some in my car that I got from countycomm... I will have to dig them up and try them tonight...

[billyism]

DATREX bars are way better tasting and easier to split up amongst a party. The mainstay and mayday bars taste like crap. They're pasty and vomitable. Datrex bars taste like a shorbread cookie with nuts.

I get them and my mountain house from http://www.nitro-pak.com/ Free shipping on >$100 and 10% coupons on follow up orders.

[Jamie]

DATREX bars are way better tasting and easier to split up amongst a party. The mainstay and mayday bars taste like crap. They're pasty and vomitable. Datrex bars taste like a shorbread cookie with nuts.

I get them and my mountain house from http://www.nitro-pak.com/ Free shipping on >$100 and 10% coupons on follow up orders.

If you like the datrex bar, check out the prices at:

http://www.eps-direct.com/food_rations_Datrex_SOS.html

If anyone has one open sometime, I would really like to try one of the pieces, just to see how it tastes before I order some...pm me...

nfa

[thelight]

If anyone has one open sometime, I would really like to try one of the pieces, just to see how it tastes before I order some...pm me...
nfa

I'll bring up a sampling of bars to the summer campout.

[Fenris]

Whichever you choose, make sure to pack ziplocks, because several of these products have several servings per pack, and aren't resealable.

I had always planned to add either Mainstay or Datrex into my E+E/GHB and my EDC baggies.

-fenris-

[zXzGrifterzXz]

Mainstay Survival Rations?


Kyle and Will Approve!

[Picture taken by me during the range trip of the First Zcon. I forgot I even had this till I saw it this afternoon while looking for something else.]

[Molon Labe]

Not ot highjack the thread, but what happened to Will? He hardly ever posts anymore. I'm almost to the point in which I'll believe that he left the rest of us behind and went and got a life.

[WolfBrother]

Short Version

On a campout I told the guys to bring what water etc they wanted to drink with lunch, that I was packing lunch.

So, after a morning of instruction and practical skills on rapelling/using prussik knots came lunch.

I brought out 2 each of 3600 calorie Datrex, Mainstay, MayDay, and one other bar I've not seen since.

Everyone got a 400 calorie chunk of each bar. I asked everyone to take 2 decent bites of each bar for flavor check.

Some folks liked the shortbread flavor, some liked the vaguely lemon cookie dough flavor, some liked the coconut flavor, most didn't like the 4th bars no flavor flavor.

Only one guy ate all of his 4 bars. Most folks started trading after the requested 2 bites.

What you need to do is get one bar of each. Put in a good mornings work/chores around the house and take 2 bites from each one. Fairly quickly you'll find the one whose flavor you'd prefer.

3 hours later hiking back - 2 (the one who did all 4 and one other youngster) asked for seconds.

5 1/2 hours later around the campfire - NO ONE was super hungry. Everyone commented on how the bars "filled them" and how the didn't start getting hungry until about 5 hours later.

This is one area where you'll need to spend the money to find the one you like by trial.

[posie]

It looks like those bars mostly provide carbohydrates and fat, and are pretty light on the protein (makes sense, since the ingredients are mostly flour and shortening...like a big shortbread cookie).

I know that most Americans get too much protein, but I think that the low protein in these bars would be problematic after more than a couple of days, and would need to be supplemented. Personally, I don't like eating protein very much except for fish...however, if I get less than about 30g of protein per day, I get cranky, get sick a lot, nails start splitting, and I'm only a 5'5", 29-year old female. I aim for 30-45 grams of protein per day. My favorite protein sources are obviously fresh fish and shellfish, but it's not so easy or cheap to get now that I don't live in AK anymore. Usually I get protein from tuna, cottage cheese, turkey, and rice & beans.

I will definitely pick some of the Mayday/Mainstay bars for our emergency kits, along with supplementary items.

[TDW586]

I've got a mix, Mainstay, Datrex, and Mayday in my newly thrown together BOB. Any one flavor is going to suck after a few days. Three is only slightly better.

[Hatch]

I ususally keep my BOB in the trunk of my car, but I am worried that the Texas heat is going to destroy my MRE's. One of these options might be a better alternative. Does anyone have a guess what the temperature might be in a car trunk in a Texas summer?

Well in excess of 130-150

I did some quick research on this and from what I read, the inside of a vehicle trunk generally only reaches up to 25F hotter than the outside temperature in direct sunlight, depending on a number of factors (color of the vehicle, etc). This is because the heat that is being trapped in the trunk is the radiant heat from the surface of the vehicle. Sunlight heats up the body of the vehicle, the metal heats through, and that heat is then radiated to the trunk interior. The interior of the vehicle is a different story, where it can reach up to 45F hotter than the outside ambient temperature, due to the greenhouse effect of trapped sunlight.

Now, I went through a few Texas summers at Ft. Hood, and I know it can reach upwards of 115F at mid-day, and stay over 100F even hours after sunset, but the ambient temperature would have to be Death Valley hot (125F-130F) for a trunk interior to even reach 150F.

Of course, if the vehicle is shaded, the interior of the trunk won't be any hotter than the ambient air temperature.

--Hatch

EDIT TO ADD: Mainstay bars taste like shit IMHO. Lemon flavored sawdust.

[congochris]

Now, I went through a few Texas summers at Ft. Hood, and I know it can reach upwards of 115F at mid-day, and stay over 100F even hours after sunset, but the ambient temperature would have to be Death Valley hot (125F-130F) for a trunk interior to even reach 150F.

Of course, if the vehicle is shaded, the interior of the trunk won't be any hotter than the ambient air temperature.

Also a factor is whether it's a sedan type vehicle or something with an "open" trunk, like an SUV or station wagon.

[Hatch]

Now, I went through a few Texas summers at Ft. Hood, and I know it can reach upwards of 115F at mid-day, and stay over 100F even hours after sunset, but the ambient temperature would have to be Death Valley hot (125F-130F) for a trunk interior to even reach 150F.

Of course, if the vehicle is shaded, the interior of the trunk won't be any hotter than the ambient air temperature.

Also a factor is whether it's a sedan type vehicle or something with an "open" trunk, like an SUV or station wagon.

It's a given that any area of the vehicle that allows sunlight to enter is going to suffer from the same greenhouse effect.

--Hatch

[111t]

DATREX bars are way better tasting and easier to split up amongst a party. The mainstay and mayday bars taste like crap. They're pasty and vomitable. Datrex bars taste like a shorbread cookie with nuts.

I get them and my mountain house from http://www.nitro-pak.com/ Free shipping on >$100 and 10% coupons on follow up orders.

If you like the datrex bar, check out the prices at:

http://www.eps-direct.com/food_rations_Datrex_SOS.html

If anyone has one open sometime, I would really like to try one of the pieces, just to see how it tastes before I order some...pm me...

nfa

I ordered an extra 2400 Datrex bar just to taste. I was pleasantly suprised. They're like a crumbly cookie. The 200 calorie inner slices are well sealed in individual packets. The whole shebang is vacuum sealed and is suprisingly heavy.

An interesting sidenote... I believe a sure sign of the comming zompocalypse is when the price of girl scout cookies is greater than these emergency rations. By my reasoning that should be about next year.

[crystalj]

The 3600 calorie Mayday bars are $4.49. or a case of 20 for $86.80 plus shipping at forthatemergency.com

[Jamie]

I like the millennium bars and the 400kcal versions with flavors other than ass, which is what most other ration bars taste like...

I get them from longlife, which always ships everything free and quickly...this place also has good mre-esque bread and spreads and squad trays (4 for $36!)

http://www.longlifefood.com/Blueberry-E ... nfo/P3226/ - that link is for blueberry, but they come in 8 flavors...

I like the 400kcal bars, as they reduce the amount of vermin-inducing crumbs that will end up living in my pack...

Jamie

[Mrearp]

Jamie, maybe I missed it. But what is the shelf life of these? Also any flavors you like the best?

[Jamie]

Jamie, maybe I missed it. But what is the shelf life of these? Also any flavors you like the best?

The wrapping says a shelf-life of 5 years...I like the cherry, lemon, orange and blueberry...not as crazy about the vanilla, coconut, raspberry or tropical fruit...

My son has eaten them before, as have some students in my class, both under the guise of being "a cereal bar" when the kids were hungry, but nobody complained, although they are a little drier than other "cereal bars"...that places them in the "way more edible than other ration bars" category...

Jamie

[WES]

I did some quick research on this and from what I read, the inside of a vehicle trunk generally only reaches up to 25F hotter than the outside temperature in direct sunlight, depending on a number of factors (color of the vehicle, etc). This is because the heat that is being trapped in the trunk is the radiant heat from the surface of the vehicle. Sunlight heats up the body of the vehicle, the metal heats through, and that heat is then radiated to the trunk interior. The interior of the vehicle is a different story, where it can reach up to 45F hotter than the outside ambient temperature, due to the greenhouse effect of trapped sunlight.

I've been measuring trunk temp's here in Oklahoma, trying to find a way to keep BOB contents from being cooked to death.

You also have to factor in how long it takes to heat up the BOB, and everything inside it too. A week ago, I forgot to bring lunch, and couldn't leave the store unattended, so I pulled some stuff out of my BOB for lunch.

there were packs of tuna in foil that were freezing cold. It had dropped down into the 40's that night, but later on that day it warmed up to low 90's. Got to love Oklahoman weather. Even though the car was parked in the sun for hours, it hadn't even heated up the BOB's contents yet.


On a side note... anyone know what happens to these emergency bars if you put them in a freezer?
I live in an old house from the 50's with crap for insulation, and there aren't many climate controlled areas for storing stuff. I'm going on the assumption that foods constantly stored at higher temps will drastically shorten their shelf life, even if they claim they handle 300 degree temps.

[Mrearp]

Not to hi-jack..

Its funny I just posted a question about heat resistant foods in the food / drink portion. I guess I should have re-read this thread again. I've got a few of the ration bar's already but I'm looking for something more mainstream to munch on during SAR operations.

I'm going to order some of the bars jamie suggested to see how they taste / how my stomach likes them.

[S.V.T]

Does tatse really matter versus quality/nutrient? No. I've gotten to the point where a damn ham sandwich tasted better than any steak I ever had. When it comes down to it taste will not be a factor in a SHTF situation. IMHO. My two brothers and I are buying the 30 pack of 1200 Mainstays and splitting them.

[Hatch]

Does tatse really matter versus quality/nutrient? No. I've gotten to the point where a damn ham sandwich tasted better than any steak I ever had. When it comes down to it taste will not be a factor in a SHTF situation. IMHO. My two brothers and I are buying the 30 pack of 1200 Mainstays and splitting them.

Depends on how long you're planning on subsisting on Mainstays. A few days, taste probably isn't that big of a factor, unless the taste is so bad that you can't force yourself to eat. Then you lose energy, and your odds of survival diminish.

But over a longer haul, the quality of food is known to have a major effect on morale. A month or so into the PAW, you're fighting everyday just to stay alive. Maybe one day all your friends are dead, all around you is death and destruction, you're choking down another sawdust Mainstay bar, and you say to yourself "if this is all there is left to life, then fuck it." You put a gun to your temple and pull the trigger. There's a reason why MRE's have desserts in them.

Personally, I pack MRE peanut butter and MRE pound cake in my GHB. Why? Because they're light and portable, they keep a long time (I rotate the stuff once a year), PB&PC is full of calories and fat, and boy-howdy is it tasty. If I'm squatting under an overpass in the rain, huddled around a makeshift fire to stay warm in the 30F weather, thinking about getting home to my wife and the miles I've got left to hump - I know some peanut butter and pound cake is going to lift my spirits.

YMMV, of course.

--Hatch

[Jamie]

I just got my box from LongLife, 25 each of the blueberry and raspberry millennium bars...

I also got 50 of the MRE wheat snack bread along with 25 chocolate peanut butter and 25 cheese with bacon spreads...

Jamie