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Best Food or Supplement to Add to Kit? Greatest Value?

Marion David Poff

Marion David Poff

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
Messages
5,403
OK,

I am not a 'small' kit kind of outdoor person.

But, I have been considering smaller kits, and I have come up with some questions....

If you were to add a 'food' item to your kit, what would give you the greatest value?

I don't take vitamins, so, I don't feel like I need to them in my kit, to stay level.

But, if they are the 'best' thing to take, I will.

Marion
 
a wildernes skills instructor I had about a year a ago... Informed me that snickers bars provide more sustainable energy the designer energy bars.. Peanut m&m;s are also a cost effective solution.. you want Carbohydrates, Fat and protien in the out of doors.. in that order hope that helps.
 
RescueRiley said:
a wildernes skills instructor I had about a year a ago... Informed me that snickers bars provide more sustainable energy the designer energy bars.. Peanut m&m;s are also a cost effective solution.. you want Carbohydrates, Fat and protien in the out of doors.. in that order hope that helps.
Click to expand...

Cover your eyes Pitdog.....Cover your eyes :D :D :D
 
If you're preparing this as a SHTF kit, I guess you're going to use this food suplement as a last desperation resource. In that case, your digestive system will likely be out of wack and those bodybuilding supplements (in my opinion) are some of the least digestive substances on the planet. right up there with oak bark. It's probably a toss up between the Snickers or the trail mix on what's going to have more "stuff" for you by volume. Maybe throw some marzipan in there for good measure.
 
For me it's a Snickers bar and a foil envelope of salmon. There's also an envelope of hot chocolate, cup of soup, two tea bags and a few sugar packets. In the winter I might add a freeze dried meal.
 
What is the time frame that this food should sustain you for? I think that will determine what you need. Carbs provide needed energy. My favorite carb food is brown & wild rice.
 
My first question is: What kind of time frame are we talking? Ran outta good stuff yesterday? Outta food three days ago and butthole is sniffing at the grass? 5 days ago and I'm about to keel over? What?


You have to be careful with Snickers and other sugary things, though.

Lots and lots and lots of sugar. Nothing in your gut + massive amount of sugar and caffeine from chocolate, et al. can mean a massive energy boost...but what goes up must come down. And in that certain situation it can be twice as hard as normal.

That's if the sugar doesn't send you into some kind of half ass'd diabetic shock.

Your best bet would be something easy to digest (so that your system doesn't have to expend a shitload of water to get it done), that has good nutritional value (protein for muscles, starches, carbohydrates, etc...) but low in sodium (which keeps sucking out water, both in your stomach and in your mouth).

To that end I say those vaccuum sealed packages of Star Kist tuna or canned chicken in water would be good. The only downside is that you have to eat the whole thing once you crack it, or else it's wasted.

Chicken Ramen noodles are always a good stand-by. You can use half or a quarter, then just wrap them back up and use more as you need.

I'd say Vienna sausages and potted meat, but they're so full of sodium that it negates anything else you might get from them.

Nothing too fibrous. I like trail mix, but as a prepanned last-ditch food it's kind of hard on the guts.

Those nutrition bar type deals are about the best, SMALLEST, thing I can think of to stuff in a pack. They're preformulated and guaranteed to have all the shit your body needs to keep it going. They'd keep you alive until you might get lucky enough to catch a fish or trap a tree rat or some such.

If I had to bet on anything as a solid, it'd be them.
 
I would imagine that I am looking for the worst case answer. Because if that 'food' won't give me any issues when I am half-dead then it won't give me any problems when I am just kinda stressed.

I am thinking in terms of a food or supplement that would primarily keep my mental acuity and general cognitive health going.

If my body is starting to lag a bit, I think that is an acceptable consequence of an unfortunate situation. And given the calorific value I am storing just under my skin, I won't go without.

But, I think this is an interesting question.

In a survival situation, what are your sustenance needs while you await rescue and/or begin to address those needs other ways.

What if it takes you a week to get a result trapping or fishing or snaring. Is there a small 'sustenance' item that you can keep with you, that will act to keep the parts of you going that you need to continue to survive?

Marion
 
Easiest is the energy bars sold for cyclists - power bars and others.
They are not for sustained nutrition but are enegy dense and designed to keep people going in a high output situation. They have the carbs and also often use different sugars - matlrose (?) rather than sucrose to avoid the downsides of normal sugar. the bars give sustained energy the gels are typically burst energy. Some also have caffine

They are also shelf stable, robust, conveniently wrapped and come in a range of flavours - some of which are semi appealing.

In cycling even big name cyclists "bonk" - run out of energy and collapse if they dont't keep eating. One of the Tour de France Contenders did it spectacularly this year, or was it last year.
 
Marion David Poff said:
In a survival situation, what are your sustenance needs while you await rescue and/or begin to address those needs other ways.

What if it takes you a week to get a result trapping or fishing or snaring. Is there a small 'sustenance' item that you can keep with you, that will act to keep the parts of you going that you need to continue to survive?

Marion
Click to expand...

You could make it a week without eating anything. You'd be weak, probably suffering from a bad headache and fatigued (depending on the amount of fat on your body). But you'd live.

You'd die of dehydration and exposure long before you'd die of starvation.

Rule of 3's, dood:

3 minutes without air
3 hours without shelter
3 days without water
3 weeks without food
3 months without hope

Once your body goes into ketosis (I think that's the proper term for starvation mode) it begins feeding on fat stores, and some muscle. To keep muscle from being used you need protein.
Carbohydrates give you energy. Sugars go back into your blood and are stored by your pancreas to use when the level in the blood is low. Fats are burned for energy. Sodium is salt. A lot of processed foods is loaded with sodium to presevere it (think of it as a form of salt curing).

Water is used to aid in digestion of anything you eat. Anything high in fiber is harder for your body to digest and needs more water. Sodium/salt draws moisture out of anything, so anything high in sodium/salt will require more water and draw more out of your body-thus dehydrating you at a faster rate.

What are your sustenance needs if you're lost and have to rely on a food to save you?

Easy to digest.
Not killed in Sodium.
Protein for muscle.
Carbs for energy.
Fats for fuel.
Some sugar for the blood and such.


I always carry some Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter.

No water wasted to prepare it.
Dip your finger in it if you don't have anything else.
Makes a good trap bait.
Doesn't take up a lot of room.

The only down side is that you have to swish a little water around your mouth to get the peanut butter stickiness out of it.
 
One of the staples around our fish camp is a mixture of peanut butter and tupelo honey. A large amount can be carried in a small package. I'll carry some of it with a couple of buttermilk biscuits while hunting or fishing. It will keep you going all day, no prep or cooking and is real tasty by itself or with those biscuits. Like KEmSAT, peanut butter attracts all sorts of animals, as does honey.
 
There are also the prepared emergency rations like Datrex...search under "lifeboat supplies".
 
For survival a balance of fat, protein and carbs is needed. Depending on environment one may be more important than others.

High calorie in multiple forms is key.

Foods like peanut butter, nuts, fatty meats with a few carbs will keep you going for a long while especially in cold weather.

Packaged tuna is protein but has no calories so fat is needed. Old time trappers survived decades on fatty preserved meats with some flour and beans. Oil based foods with proteins should be your base with some carbs thrown in.

Canned meats are ideal as well as sausage, cheeze, nuts etc... The salt comments are overblown as long as its not looong term. Lean protein will kill you over time. During arctic training in the military we ate 6000 calories a day chased with corn oil straight up and barely kept up with weight loss.

On cold weather sar ops we survive on dried fatty sausage, nuts and chocolate and the odd sport bar thrown in for carbs, you just burn through too many calories, you need lots of fat and protein. Mre's are good but too heavy for the calories they give, not dense enough.

Skam
 
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