With the current unpredictable state the world is in at the moment, it is always better to be prepared to face the challenges ahead. Out of the plethora of things that you should get sorted out, one of the most important matters is food.
Being a basic necessity to mankind, it is crucial that the supply of food does not get cut off no matter what crises hits us and that it is sustainable for a substantial period of time.
Therefore, you should get a survival food kit and have it stored in your homes when disaster strikes. Not only that this would fancy survival enthusiasts, it should be important to all, considering the current times.
With that said, I am going to share with you my top tips in choosing the best survival food kits for emergency situations. I believe that this criteria list could help you in stocking up and preparing for whatever challenges that may arise. For a holistic list of food kit options, check out my review about the Top Survival Food Kits you can buy.
Tip #1: It Should Be Palatable
Even during times of emergency, crises or disaster, you should be eating something that you like and tastes good or at least palatable to a certain extent.
Therefore, the food kits that your purchase should taste good and somewhat similar to the actual food that it is supposed to mimic, in cases where the food is instant, dehydrated, freeze-dried, ready-to-eat or processed for extensive shelf life.
Furthermore, if you eat a meal that tastes good, you would be far more satisfied and ready to take on the next challenge Otherwise, you could end up finding yourself craving for unhealthy snacks and junk food.
If you opt to buy survival food kits online, always browse through, check and read customer reviews of the product before purchasing them. In some cases, you could even request samples of the product of interest before buying the full serving size of the food kit. Take some time trying several options and question yourself on whether you could live off that for a certain period of time.
In this context, if you are living with a child or infant, it is important to also get food that they like. This is because as food supply may be scarce depending on the situation, there are not many options, and young toddlers do not get it. You could always get your kid to try whatever you have on-hand. Perhaps they would like it too.
Although taste is highly subjective, it is still dependent on the quality of ingredients used. Therefore, I do feel that you should not be too thrifty in spending when you are prepping on emergency food kits.
Tip #2: Find Products with Sufficient Nutritional Values
In addition to being tasty, the food that you consume during these trying times should be nutritious. The health of you and your family should not be compromised even if you are living off your survival kit.
So, it is good to have a variety of food in your survival kit. There are many emergency or survival food kit suppliers and companies that do not take caloric and nutrition into account. You will want to ensure that every meal that your household consumes has enough calories and is balanced in terms of nutritional values for a healthy body.
Most survival packs are carb-centred, have high sodium content and lack other nutrients that are essential for the body. Therefore, it is your responsibility to check this information before purchasing them. I always get a variety of foods ranging from snacks, to full meals and even desserts.
Tip #3: Find Products with Long Storage Life and Consider Intended Storage Period
Another important criterion to consider when picking survival food kits is the shelf life without refrigeration. It is likely that you would have to interchange food kits after a prolonged period of time (over the course of several years in storage), but I am sure you would want to do that swap as little as possible.
This is mainly due to the high cost of survival food kits, which are meant to last for decades. However, if you are budgeting just a small pool of money for this, then you might want to opt for cheaper options with a shorter shelf life.
Most product manufacturers do provide an estimate of how long its food products, or food kits in that matter, could stay fresh and edible. It is up to you to decide on weighing and balancing the shelf life, quality as well as cost. Therefore, while listing down options for survival food kits, keep the intended storage period in mind. Would you like your storage to last for 5 years? 10 years? Or even longer? This is an important question.
Tip #4: Find Products which are Reasonably Priced
As previously mentioned, the price of survival food kits is generally high and thus you should be making the best decision before purchasing them. Similar to most things in life, you get what you pay for, so being picky about this is not exactly a bad thing.
I always feel that purchasing a survival food kit is like an investment. A really spot-on decision could pay off big time and could potentially save you from any other unforeseen circumstances.
However, just because it is cheap doesn’t mean that it is the best option. Recently, there are many cases of misinformation within the space of survival meal kits, where everyone is trying to be the ‘best’, but sacrificing on product quality, taste and even serving portions.
For me, I always look out for bundle or bulk deals online before actually deciding to purchase them physically at the store or through the internet. Sometimes, you could save up quite a huge portion of the price just by buying a slightly larger quantity (since you are going to store it for emergency situations, right?).
So, take a look around, scout for the best prices and deals before deciding. This could be one of the best investments you make which could potentially save your own life.
Tip #5: How Much Food Should I Keep?
Another important thing to note is that it is better to prepare more as compared to less, as this is food for survival.
Make a note on how many people are living in your household (adults and kids) and take them into account when calculating the number of food servings before buying the food in bulk.
In considering this, the number of calories and nutritional values are worthy too. In general, calories are the amount of energy a person’s body could gain from food. In cases of emergency or disasters, this value could increase by about 500 calories on top of the normal recommended intake as there may be more stress and energy exertion. Normally, the recommended daily calorie intake is 2,000 calories a day for women and 2,500 for men.
What I normally do when calculating the optimal amount of food for emergency situations or for survival food kits is to add a 10% to 15% extra number of serves just as backup so you could be sure that there is enough for everybody.
If you have budgeted enough money, even a 20% add on is a good move. It is better to be safe than sorry.
Conclusion
With that said, these are my top 5 tips on picking the best survival food kits for emergency or disastrous situations. Hopefully, this list could be a helpful checklist for you the next time you purchase or replace your existing survival food kit.
Let me know of your staples for your own personalised survival food kits. I am sure it would be interesting as every household has different necessities.
Stay safe out there!
