best of the three i have tried.
these bars are individually wrapped inside the vacuum sealed pouch. they are about the size of a regular candy bar which makes them easier to eat than the mainstay or grizzly loaf style. They were only a month old when they arrived which is a big deal to me, as the mainstay rations sent were already a year old. good stuff, the three other people at my office that tried them all say they are good too....

Much smaller than I expected! Surprisingly good. Not delicious, but good. Like an off-brand shortbread cookie. It's very sweet; nibbling on the cookie bar is about all I can handle per bite and I'm a voracious eater. I doesn't provoke much thirst, but a drink of water does help cut the sweet taste. Packaging is tough and requires something with a point or sharpened edge to pierce. I would certainly be happy to eat this in a emergency situation and it is small enough (about 4" x 4" x 1.5" block) to fit everywhere (boat, house, car, backpack, etc.). Going to get some more for a preparedness kit, now that I have verified that I could actually live with eating them. Purchasing this is a wise choice and you won't regret getting it when they time comes and you are trapped in your car during a white out, without supplies after a Hurricane, or stranded on a dead boat at sea.

I noticed all of these types of bars have the same sandy textures regardless of brand. They are extremely sugary but don't taste too bad. Just need to get a flavor you like personally. I did get samples and flavors from all the companies. They have way too much sugar for me and made me sick to my stomach. All of them did. Kids might like them. I didn't notice they curbed my hunger at all. I still needed to eat a meal afterwards. I suppose it would be better than nothing in an emergency????

How to write a review for a product you haven't used, and hopefully will not have to? Here goes. I purchased two of these for bug out bags. The packages are small and will fit nice and compact in the bags. They are a bit heavy, but that is to be expected since you are putting three days worth of calories into a relatively small package. The weight may make them a bit heavy for a backpacker who is trying to make an ultralight bag, but I am not a backpacker, so I couldn't say for sure. The price for sure cannot be beat. Less then $9 for three days worth of food is a steal. They probably will not be the only foodstuffs I put in the BoB's, but I already consider them a critical item. The packaging seems very durable, strong material vacuum sealed around the food bars. I will likely vacuum seal the whole package again for another layer of protection from getting accidentally opened, but that is probably overkill on my part. In the future, I may order another package and take some on a camping trip. If so, I will add another star as long as they don't taste like gym socks. But I'm not expecting them to be bacon flavored, lets be real here :)

These bars aren't bad I suppose, but I doubt that they are the best option available. After buying a few packs I was happy with my purchase because they seemed to offer a lot of calories per package. However, one day as I browsed the shelves in Walmart, I noticed they stocked an emergency ration with a lower calorie count (2,400) but far better nutrition. These bars are pretty much empty calories. There are bars such as those I now buy at Walmart which may offer fewer calories, but the nutrition label looks almost like that of a multivitamin. You be the judge of which is the better option for you, but I personally will be going with the option that may have fewer calories but offers more substance than compressed fat and sugar.