72 Hour Emergency Bag Food Supply Guide
One of the most important items in your 72-Hour Emergency Bug Out Bag is food!
A full belly is a happy belly. But it goes further than that - if you are hungry your energy level drops, headaches are common, and your decision making ability suffers.
All bad things during stressful times.
So how can you avoid that situation and make sure you have a good 72-Hour Bug Out Food Supply?
Something that can stay fresh in your bags for months or years?
Meals without a kitchen
In recent times we have been blessed with an amazing technological advance in food storage: freeze drying. This process removes all the moisture from foods while keeping all the nutrients and good stuff like flavor.
It also has the added benefit of reducing the weight of the food as well.
Preparing freeze dried foods is easy, heat up some water and mix, wait a few minutes and you're good to go.
I've heard of buying frozen foods, sticking them in the dehydrator at home and viola, DIY freeze drying. Havent tried it though so cant speak to its effectiveness.
Canned foods or foods with heavy packaging should be avoided due to the added weight, although they should be incorporated into a long-term food supply at your home or emergency bug out location.
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Military MRE's
The military uses MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) which you can get from Surplus stores or from Amazon.
Provides an average 1250 calories (13 % protein, 36 % fat, and 51 % carbohydrates) for maximum endurance.
Genuine Military MRE Meal
Typical Price: $33
These are inspected, and verified fresh by Manufacturer and Ammo Can Man. Made to sustain US Military troops in combat, these are hands-down the best MREs available anywhere.
Meals include a variety of tasty Asian, Mexican, Italian, traditional, and vegetarian cuisine. Includes a large assortment of snacks, deserts, coffee, cappuccino, milk shakes, and hot chocolate. Only Military MREs include an accessory pack with flavor enhancing seasonings, matches, toilet paper, and other survival essentials.
Here is a great list of recipes you can make with different parts of different MRE's.
Since MRE's are not freeze dried, they are truly ready-to-eat (no boiling water and rehydrating.) This comes as a trade-off to the long shelf-life of freeze dried.
Freeze Dried 72-Hour Meals
These companies make meals that only require hot water to reconstitute and eat.
Stock up on these supplies in your home and you can test them from time to time to see what to include in your Go Bags and Get Home Bags.
As an aside, we think you should have 2-3 months supply at home as a minimum, given what we've seen with COVID in 2020.
Thankfully that isn't a huge expense or will take up a huge amount of space when you are talking about freeze dried foods.
If you are just looking for an easy to grab 3-Day kit:
Readywise Company 72 Hour Emergency Food Supply
Typical Price: $40 1-person
Formally Wise foods, one of the most trusted names in preparedness meals.
1,813 calories per day - 5,440 total. Food is sealed in Metallyte pouches which are easy to pack and use.
- 1 pouch of Cheesy Macaroni (4 total servings)
- 1 pouch of Teriyaki Rice (4 total servings)
- 1 pouch of Hearty Tortilla Soup (4 total servings)
- 2 pouches of Brown Sugar and Maple Multi-Grain Cereal (8 Servings)
- 1 pouch of Whey Milk (12 servings)
Additional Product Details:
- Includes 1 Box
- Food is safely sealed in Metallyte pouches
- 25 Year Shelf Life
- Total Weight: 3 lbs
72-Hour 1-Person BE READY Emergency Meals
Typical Price: $25
This kit weighs only 2.5 pounds and is small enough to store in cars, trucks, office drawers, coat closets, backpacks, motorcycle saddlebags, and more.
Are you prepared with enough food to get through a crisis? For most Americans, the answer is no. But when downed power lines, road damage, flooding, or winter whiteouts happen (to name a few), it can be difficult for emergency crews to reach you, especially in the first three or four days of an emergency.
Augason Farms BE READY Emergency Meal kits take the gamble out of you and your family’s safety and will help you BE READY for anything that comes your way.
To prepare your meals, simply add water and simmer, and you’ll have hot meals to satisfy your appetite and warm your soul.
| Calories per Day: | 1,627 |
| Protein per Day: | 35g |
| Total Calories: | 4,880 |
| Total Protein: | 145g |
| Total Servings: | 26 |
| Meal Varieties: | 3 |
| Net Weight: | 2 lb. 7.58 oz. (1.12kg) |
| Water to Hydrate Food: | 1.25 gallons of water |
| Shelf Life: | Up to 25 years* |
S.O.S. Rations
Theres also the classic US Coast Guard S.O.S. Rations. Some say its as tasty as lemon flavored cardboard!
Better than nothing however a package of these are not really a great 72-Hour plan because though each package has 3600 calories, its mostly from sugar.
These are meant for people floating around on life rafts expending little energy though, so these aren't our first choice for BOB's.
S.O.S. Rations Emergency 3600 Calorie Cinnamon Food Bar
Typical Price: $15
SOS Rations - Cinnamon flavor - Emergency 3600 calorie food bar - 3 day/72 hour package with 5 year shelf life net wt. 1.60lbs (756G) 15, 075 kj. 3600 kcal per package.
High energy value. Ready to eat.
The SOS emergency food rations are us Coast guard approved and has a shelf life of 5 years from the date of manufacture.
Skout Organic
You might not always have time to boil water or make a meal, but you might need to have a quick snack to keep your energy up.
For that reason we suggest having high quality protein bars like those from Skout.
Skout Organic Variety Pack
Typical Price: $30
We love Skout Organic bars. They are super tasty and have very high quality ingredients.
Their plant-based protein bars deliver 10g of plant-based protein with 7 organic ingredients or less.
Bound together with certified organic dates, their bars are the perfect combination of soft texture and natural sweetness.
You can get them in individual packs or in a variety pack, and they have samplers you can order with free shipping.
Another snack we love are the Chocolate Chip Cookie-Meals from Nutrient Survival.
Nutrient Survival Chocolate Chip Cookie-Meals
Typical Price: $25
We love these as snacks, and we've eaten many of them!
These cookies come in a #10 can and are individually wrapped inside the can. Each can contains 15 servings (2 cookies/serving).
- 40 Essentials in Every Serving
- 14 Vitamins
- 14 Minerals
- 9 Amino Acids (Protein)
- Omega-3
- Omega-6
- Fiber
- Gluten Free
- No Artificial Colors, Flavors or Preservatives
Because they are not fully dehydrated, their shelf life is 18 months.
See the full list of ingredients here.
Long Term Food Supplies
If you want to stock up food around your home (a smart idea) for stay-at-home types of events (i.e. COVID) the easiest way to do so is with freeze dried foods in #10 cans.
We like the #10 cans, because they fit underneath most bed frames, so you can stock several boxes of them out of the way.
What we suggest at a minimum having a 6 month supply of the following Freeze dried items, because they are dense and single cans of each can go a long way.
For a family of 4 I would suggest getting 2-3 of these Dairy & Egg kits from Augason
Augason Dairy & Egg Combo Pack
Typical Price: $86
This Dairy and Egg Combo Pack includes dry powdered milk, dehydrated butter, and powdered dried eggs.
Once the cans are opened, the contents last up to a full year, about 50 weeks longer than store-purchased butter, milk, and eggs. This economical emergency food kit has a shelf life of up to 20 years, making it ideal for emergency food storage.
| Includes | Qty | Servings |
| Dried Whole Egg Powder | 1 | 72 |
| Dehydrated Butter Powder | 1 | 204 |
| Country Fresh 100% Real Instant Nonfat Milk | 1 | 39 |
Augason Booster Pack with 100% Real Beef & Chicken
Typical Price: $179
Add a big boost of flavor and important nutrients to your meals with this Freeze-Dried Chicken and Beef Booster Pack. These pre-cooked meats provide all the flavor and texture of traditional cooked beef and chicken, but without the hassle of refrigeration, cooking, slicing, and dicing. When you need a boost of protein or have a taste for real beef or chicken, this Booster Pack is just what you need.
- 100% real, precooked meats
- Certified gluten-free
- Easy to use, just rehydrate and enjoy in any of your favorite recipes
- Adds rich, savory flavor and chunky texture to any meal
- Perfect for long-term food storage and emergency preparedness
- Great for camping and everyday use
- Recipes printed on can labels
- Large, institutional size cans with lid
- Shelf life up to 30 years
Nutrient Survival 30 Day Kit
Typical Price: $610
This kit contains 163 servings giving you a robust 5-6 daily servings of the world’s most nutrient dense food for 30 days! Every meal is loaded with everything your body needs to perform, heal and defend (with amazing, awesome, delicious taste too). Easy to prepare. Ready to eat or just add water/milk. Emergency food that takes you from surviving to thriving in no time flat, no matter what comes your way.
- Southwestern Medley x 3 (30 servings)
- Triple Cheese Mac x 3 (30 servings)
- Homestyle Scramble x 1 (10 servings)
- Creamy Chocolate Shake x 1 (15 servings)
- Chocolate Grain Crunch x 3 (36 servings)
- Maple Almond Grain Crunch x 2 (24 servings)
- Hearty Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal x 1 (18 servings)
Their #10 cans ensure a 25 year shelf life.
Augason 1-Year 1-Person Emergency Shelter-in-Place Food Supply Kit with Water Storage
Typical Price: $2,058
Be sure you have the food and water you need in an emergency with a comprehensive supply of delicious, nutritious, and versatile emergency food and an easily-accessible way to store safe, potable water for drinking, cleaning, cooking, and sanitation. If you love to bake or enjoy fresh ground oats in your hot cereal, this kit includes an adjustable, Root & Branches Hand Wheat Grinder. Here are the highlights of this emergency supply:
- Averages 1,216 calories and 57 grams of protein per day
- Includes a balanced variety of 36 easy-to-prepare emergency foods (98 total cans)
- Meals such as entrées, breads, desserts are prepared simply by adding water and simmering or baking
- Other foods can be used in your favorite recipes or enjoyed as snacks
- Recipes are included on can labels
- Adjustable, hand-operated wheat grinder included
- 55-gallon BPA-free water barrel with a siphon hose and hand pump
- Water filtration kit filters up to 120 gallons
- Food shelf life up to 30 years*
