When building your bug out bag or preparing your home for surviving an emergency one of the most important items to consider is nutrition. Having high nutritional value foods that will sustain you for a minimum of 72 hours is essential to your survival. With our guide to the best emergency food kits on the market you can rest assured you are prepared.
Whether you are planning an extended hiking or camping trip, building an emergency go bag, or enabling yourself to shelter-in-place you will want to consider the best emergency food kits that will pack the most punch for the weight that it adds to your pack or the storage space it takes up.
Many of the emergency food options that are on the market today are really versatile as far as menu options, shelf life, and the ability to be eaten hot or cold, with or without water added, or directly out of the pouch.
When disaster strikes the best and first option is to bug-in or shelter in place. If this is not possible you will want to head out to a bug out location and having access to a reliable emergency food source is imperative.
Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF)—We will always give you our favorite option up front for those that would rather get our pick right away rather than read through the whole guide. Our pick for the best food for a bug out bag is the Mountain House 4-Day Emergency Kit. This emergency food kit is lightweight (3.4 pounds) high quality 3 year taste guarantee and only requires a small amount of water to prepare. The combination of light weight, shelf life, and taste make the Mountain House 4 day kit one of the best emergency food kits for a bug out bag.
The best emergency food option for you is going to be dependent on the scenario you are planning for. When planning for a bug out bag option you should be looking for a food supply that is good for at least 72 hours of meals. Of course since this emergency food supply will be packed in a bag that you plan to move on foot size and weight become significant factors to keep in mind.
Best Emergency Food Kits for a Bug Out Bag in 2019
Whether you are looking for a low weight food supply for your emergency bug out bag, or you are looking for an emergency food supply to have on hand at the house in case of a natural disaster or extended power outage you will want a supply for a minimum of 72 hours.
Why 72 hours? According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), “The first 72 hours after a disaster are critical”. Utilities may be shut down leaving you without water, gas, and electricity. It may also be difficult or impossible for emergency crews such as police and fire to gain access to your location.
Because of these reasons and more, 72 hours is the preferred timeline to be self-sufficient in the event of a disaster or emergency. Your bug out bag or pantry should include a minimum of 72 hours worth of food.
When making a decision on the best emergency food kits for YOUR situation you should keep on hand there are several considerations that you should keep in mind including:
- Weight and package size
- Nutritional values and caloric quantity
- Shelf life
- Preparation ease
- Variety of meals
Mountain House 3-Day Emergency Food Kit
The Mountain House 3-Day food kit is our top pick for a 72 hour emergency food supply. This food kit is the best choice for a bug out bag due to its light weight (Just under 3 pounds) and size. The food is shipped in a box but I would unpack the pouches and put in a zippered plastic bag to reduce the bulk.
Mountain House has been around the emergency food market for nearly 50 years and back their product with a 30 year taste guarantee which means you won’t need to replace any time soon. This food kit has 20 total servings designed for one adult to eat for 3 days with 1,650 calories per day.
Whether you will be going on an extended hiking trip, are building a bug out bag or get home bag, or you are just wanting to have an emergency food supply on hand in your pantry, the Mountain House 3-Day emergency food kit should be at the top of your list.
Augason Foods 72-hour 1-Person Emergency Food Supply
This 3 day emergency food supply kit from Augason Foods comes with 42 individual servings that provide 2,560 calories per day. A higher caloric value is extremely important if you will be bugging out and on the move during the 3 days.
The weight comes in at 4 pounds which is only slightly heavier than the Mountain House product above. The food has a 25 year shelf life which is a great value for the money spent. The food comes packed in a plastic tub that makes it convenient for pantry storage or packing in a bug out bag, though for the latter application I would unpack it to reduce the packaging weight.
The Augason Foods 72-hour emergency food supply is a solid choice and one of the best emergency food kits for bug out bag, get home bag, or your shelter in place strategy.
Wise Foods Company 72-hour Cook-in-Pouch Meal Kit
This 72-hour emergency food kit produced by Wise Foods Company makes the food easy to prepare by allowing you to just add water and cook the food in the pouch. Like the others on this list it provides 1 adult 72-hours of food, but the food in this kit has a bit shorter shelf life at 7 years.
This kit weighs in at 4 pounds and is another ideal option for building a bug out bag or storing in the pantry for a shelter-in-place emergency food supply. This kit comes with 2 servings each of chili mac, chicken pasta alfredo, and gluten free teriyaki chicken.
SOS Food Labs, Inc 3-Day 72-hour package
These emergency food rations are extremely versatile in any emergency situation. Approved by the U.S. Coast Guard, these are not meals, but high calorie food bars available in either a cinnamon or coconut flavor.
If you are building a bug out bag you know that anywhere you can save both space and weight is vitally important. These food bar packs that are designed to feed an adult for 3 days in an emergency situation are the best option for keeping that pack light.
Packing 3,600 calories in each pack they only weigh in at just over one pound. The SOS Food Labs are vacuum sealed and are only 4”X2”X5” in size which makes them ideal for a bug out bag or to keep in your vehicle as an emergency food if you get stranded. The only downside to the SOS bars is that they only have a 5 year shelf life.
Best Long-Term Emergency Food Supply
If you are planning your shelter-in-place, or bugging-in strategy, you may want to look at an emergency food supply that is designed for families or a larger food supply for a more extended period of time. You may also want to take a look at these options as part of a bigger bug out plan like bugging out by car or as a stockpile at your bug out location.
Remember that you will want to make sure that you have at least 72 hours of food for every person in the household. If your plan is to shelter in place or hunker down during a long winter storm or hurricane a larger food supply should be considered.
When purchasing this amount of emergency food the shelf life becomes a lot more important because you are talking about spending a bit more money. Another consideration when building a longer term emergency food supply is that most of these meals require water to be prepared. For this reason you will want to also stock up on an emergency water supply for both drinking and cooking. The items below are the best emergency food kits for a long term emergency supply.
Augason Farms 30-day Emergency Food Storage Supply
This emergency food kit supplies you with 307 servings that pack 1,822 calories per day. With up to a 20 year shelf life this emergency food supply will be ready for you if you ever need it.
The Augason Farms 3-day supply comes in a durable plastic bucket that doesn’t take up a ton of space and is stackable for adding more 30 day units as needed. The small size of this kit makes it ideal for small homes, apartments, RVs, or as a grab and go option to throw in the trunk as part of your vehicle bug out plan.
This 30 day emergency food kit has a few different meal options including macaroni and cheese, and creamy potato soup. This food will have to cook so it is necessary to be able to heat water in order to eat this food. The combination of storage size and shelf life make the Augason Farms 30-day supply one of the best emergency food kits for your home.
Chef’s Banquet 30-Day Emergency Food Supply
This emergency food kit delivers 330 total servings that pack in 2,100 calories per day. Remember that this is for one adult. If you are splitting between two adults it will provide food for 14 days and if you have 4 adults it will last for 7 days.
Each meal takes only 20 minutes to prepare by just adding hot water and simmering for a little bit. All of the meals are developed with the best quality food ingredients possible. This emergency supply is good for a shelf life of up to 20 years if stored in a cool, dry place.
One thing to keep in mind with this kit is that the servings are not actually packaged individually. The servings are in large bags with 30 servings a piece so you actually have to measure each portion out and store the bag when not in use. This is also the case with most large emergency food kits, but we feel it is important to note.
MRE with 2020 Inspection Date
Being that our team is comprised of military veterans we would be remiss not to include the military Meals Ready to Eat option in our guide. We have had to live off of these in the past and once you have had to live on MREs you become partial to them.
The best thing about MREs is that they do not require any stove to heat water as they come with a warming pouch which cooks the meal contents through radiant heat. Most of the MREs are not only filling but actually taste good and they also include spice packets and hot sauce to improve the actual flavor to your liking.
Packing approximately 1,250 calories in each meal MREs have a shelf life of about 5 years if stored correctly. The short shelf life is really the main downside to MREs, otherwise they are a fantastic option for emergency preparations of any kind.
Legacy Premium Emergency Survival Food Storage
With up to a 25 year shelf life the Legacy Premium emergency food kit is ideal for home survival preparations or establishing a bug out location. This kit boasts 60 large servings which pack an impressive 2,000 calories per day. The company boasts that this factors out to the lowest cost per pound of food and lowest cost per day over their competitors.
The Legacy Premium kit offers 15 different entrée options that are packed in 4 serving mylar bags. Whether you are using this kit as part of your emergency preparations or you are looking to buy food for camping in bulk this kit provides a great assortment of lunch and dinner entrees from enchiladas to classic chili and potato soup that are actually delicious.
Conclusion
Whether you are making emergency preparations for a shelter-in-place strategy to ride out a storm or you are planning to bug out by vehicle or on foot you will want to have some kind of emergency food supply ready when you need it.
Regardless of what your emergency plan is you will want to ensure you have a minimum of 72 hours of food available for each person in your party. When considering your options for emergency food you will want to evaluate the shelf life, preparation procedures, weight, and bulk of the food items.
Whatever you plan to do you should rest assured that each of the previous options will have you better prepared for a potential emergency than you are right now. Take action and ensure you have your emergency food supply in place before you actually need it.
