Today I’m only going to recommend survival food kits from companies that I’ve personally reviewed, taste-tested, and purchased with my own money.
I believe every adult should own several survival food kits.
Why? Because having a survival meal on hand for when times get tough is just plain smart.
FEMA recommends at least three days’ worth of food for emergencies.
But I consider 3 days “an absolute bare minimum.” It should ONLY be a starting point…
To be resilient to life’s inevitable shocks and uncertainties shocks and uncertainties, you must arm yourself with more than just “the bare minimum.”
How? By researching.
Read articles like this to find the best survival food kits for YOU.
It sounds simple, but here’s the problem. There are thousands of emergency food kits on the market today. The market is flooded with them.
It seems like all food companies are marketing and selling emergency food kits nowadays. But not all kits are worth your hard-earned money.
Some are great, some or ok, but many are not worth a damn…
And that’s why I wrote this survival food article. To help you invest in some of the best survival food kits without all the hassle. To give you guidance and confidence to ensure you get a great deal on your next survival food kit purchase.
So today, I’ll be sharing everything I know about survival food kits.
**Note: If you want our top recommendations, feel free to SKIP AHEAD HERE.
As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our #78 Item Complete Prepper Checklist. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.
What Is A Survival Food Kit Anyway?
In the broadest terms, a survival food kit is simply a collection of non-perishable foods to help you survive an emergency.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Survival food kits come in all different sizes, preparation methods, and price points. They also come in all sorts of different container options – from bags to buckets.
Now once you start digging into the details, there are many emergency food kit options to consider. So, let’s start breaking all these options down in a helpful way.
As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our #78 Item Complete Prepper Checklist. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.
Best Survival Food Kit Features (plus things to avoid)
First off, not all survival food kits are created equal. Much of the quality of a survival food kit is in the way the food is prepared AND how it’s sealed.
Preparation Options
The best survival food kits are prepared using a technique called freeze-drying.
Freeze-drying is a process by which nearly ALL the moisture is removed from the food. It’s done by way of using low temperature and sublimation.
Freeze-dried foods are ideal for survival food kits. Why? Because less moisture equates to an extremely long shelf life. We’re talking about the shelf life of multiple decades.
Plus, the process of freeze-drying allows the food to retain its original texture better.
This allows you to store the food dry, but by adding it back into some boiling water, the food reconstitutes. The dried food will absorb the water and return to a taste and texture similar to the original food.
What About Dehydration?
Dehydration is another food preservation option. But dehydration won’t remove nearly as much water, and the food won’t reconstitute as well.
So while dehydration is OK, it’s not the best.
What About MREs?
MRE’s meals are food items packed and sealed in mylar bags to extend the shelf life of the food inside. And sure, MREs have a longer shelf life than fresh foods but not nearly as long as freeze-dried foods.
For comparison, MREs typically have a stable shelf life of anywhere from 1 – 5 years. But freeze-dried foods are shelf-stable for up to 30 years!
Sealing & Storage Options
Once you have some food prepared, there are several food storage options available.
Mylar Bags
Mylar bags are a staple in emergency food storage.
They were originally known as BoPEt film. This film was invented by Dupont in the mid-1950s and quickly used by NASA ever since – that’s why they are also sometimes called “space blankets.”
They’re basically thin bags made of special foil that is “unbreathable.” That means that once sealed; tiny air molecules cannot pass through it.
This has one major advantage – keeping moisture and oxygen OUT.
Food won’t spoil if it’s kept in an environment where organic material (mold) cannot grow. Organic materials need a few ingredients to begin growth, 2 of them being moisture and oxygen.
Without moisture and oxygen – mold cannot do its thing.
So, with a mylar bag, you’re putting in super dry freeze-dried foods and sealing them up. No moisture can pass through the mylar bag walls, keeping harmful moisture out – until you’re ready to eat it.
But here’s the deal: toss an oxygen absorber or two into the bag with the food. These little packets will absorb any oxygen within the bag. Leaving the inside of the bag without enough oxygen for mold to grow.
But mylar bags by themselves are NOT enough.
Why? Because hungry vermin can chew through these bags. And that’s where thick food-grade buckets or tubs come into play.
Thick Plastic Food Grade Buckets / Tubs
To protect your survival food from vermin, you need to put the mylar bags of food into buckets.
Bucket storage can also provide a few other benefits.
First, the food becomes stackable. You’ll have to store the survival food kit bags without buckets or tubs on open shelving. But they can take up a ton of usable space.
Instead, you can stack them from floor to ceiling with hard plastic buckets or tubs. This saves a ton of space in your pantry or basement.
Another benefit of plastic buckets is that most of them have a robust carry handle.
Now, most people don’t plan to move their survival food kits often. But remember they last decades. So, who knows what may happen over the next few years – let alone decades?
You might move to a new house, or you might want to move the buckets to a different location within your home. And if you’re forced to bug out with a vehicle, a bucket with a handle makes this process much easier.
Affordability / Price
Of course, with most things in life, you get what you pay for…
But with survival kits, careful shopping can pay off big time. For example, there are often bulk discounts to be had. And sometimes, you can get a “free” sample kit to try a certain brand out.
But you must be careful. It’s easy to focus on only the price, but there’s a lot of misinformation within the survival meals space.
Everyone is jockeying to be the “best deal” or the “best food,” or they add extra incentives to get you to buy.
And sometimes, these deals and incentives are perfectly fine. But make sure you’re confident you’re not getting duped. Price is a very important variable but not the ONLY one.
The bottom line is IF you understand what you’re getting, you can choose the RIGHT survival food kit for YOU. And it may just become one of the best investments you’ll ever make…
As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our Family First Food Planning Guide. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.
A Survival Food Kit Is The Best Investment You’ll Ever Make
Here’s the deal, the future is uncertain, and history is full of horrific disasters…
Whether a disaster is due to severe weather or countries deciding it’s a good idea to destroy each other…
Regardless of the event – it’s a fact; the future is uncertain.
That’s why survival kits are so important to basic prepping. They’re something resilient people embrace and take seriously. They’re something the fragile masses tend to ignore, or worst, assume bad things will never happen to them.
And the more survival food kits you own, the more resilient you become. Why? Because while 72 hours is better than nothing – disasters don’t follow such protocols.
72 hours will work for MOST emergencies BUT not all…
Recent history is full of massive famines that lasted much longer than “72 hours”:
- Great Famine – Ireland (1845 – 1853) – 1.5 million dead
- Vietnamese Famine of 1945 – 2 million dead
- North Korean Famine (1994 – 1998) – 3 million dead
- Russian Famine of 1921 – 5 million dead
- Bengal Famine of 1943 – 7 million dead
- Bengal Famine of 1770 – 10 million dead
- Soviet Famine (1932 – 1933) – 10 million dead
- Chalisa Famine of 1783 – 11 million dead
- Chinese Famine of 1907 – 25 million dead
- Great Chinese Famine (1932 – 1933) – 43 million dead
I don’t know about you, but I’m unwilling to roll the dice on starvation. It’s a horrific way to die!
And sure, the odds are unlikely any of us will experience a starvation-level disaster in our lifetimes. But even at low odds, it’s not impossible.
How much are you willing to bet that you are right? Your life?
It’s crazy that people are willing to spend thousands of dollars on home and car insurance. But avoid buying something more important, “food insurance.”
When you buy car insurance, you’re taking the side of the bet that says, “I’m betting I’ll have an accident in the next 6 months”. Your insurance company is taking the other side of the bet “that you WON’T have an accident in the next 6 months.”
And the insurance company is usually right – that’s how they make money. But even tho they are usually right, you’re still unwilling to take that gamble.
Because if you lose, it could mean some serious financial hardship…
But with starvation – it’s not a financial hardship we’re talking about – it’s a slow, horrible, painful DEATH!
That fact changes EVERYTHING.
It makes it so you must do everything possible to protect yourself from even tiny odds. Because while the odds are small, they are not impossible, and the downside is much too great.
People “think” they’re good at calculating the odds of things (we’re not). But we’re even worse at seeing the real downside of black swan events.
There are smallish bad events (like a car wreck, hail damage, etc.). But then there are life-shattering bad events (like mass starvation).
When the downside is starvation, it trumps the “odds” every time.
And here’s the deal. Putting money down on “food insurance,” a.k.a. survival meals, are a one-time investment. One that will last most of an adult’s entire lifetime (30 years).
As opposed to car insurance, an investment you must regularly pay (monthly or yearly).
So, in contrast, you can spend a one-time investment on survival food and get a lifetime of starvation protection! Sign me up!
And if it pays out? It’ll be the BEST investment I’ll ever make, and it won’t even be close.
If a stock you buy goes up 10% per year for 30 years, it’s a fantastic investment. You have more money to spend on more “stuff” you don’t really need. Woo-hoo!
But, IF your “one-time survival food kit investment” pays off, YOU get to avoid STARVATION!!
So which investment has a better payoff?
This is why I don’t understand why EVERYONE doesn’t invest in survival food kits.
As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our Family First Food Planning Guide. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.
Best Survival Food Kits On The Market Today
Now you know what to look for in a quality survival food kit. And I sure hope you’re now properly motivated as well.
So let’s shift our focus to the best ones to buy.
Because the number of choices is overwhelming, making it a difficult selection process to narrow down. But that’s what I’m here for. I will share with you what I believe are the BEST survival food kits on the market today.
Note: I’m going to share only survival food kit brands that I’ve personally reviewed, taste-tested, and invested with.
Valley Food Storage
Valley Food Storage is the first survival food company I bought food from several years ago. And I’ve been very pleased with their products.
Go here if you want to check out my taste test, or watch my review video below.
They have a wide range of kit sizes. Everything from a small starter kit to a 1-year survival food kit.
All their kits come in hard plastic stackable buckets. So, they exceed all quality marks and are a great company I highly recommend.
You can’t go wrong with Valley Food Storage as your survival food kit company of choice. Here are a few of their most popular kits by the length of supply:
*Note: All time estimates (1 month, 6 months, etc.) are based on 1 adult’s average daily calorie needs.
72-Hour Survival Food Kit
If you’re starting out, you’ll want to check out Valley Food Storage’s 72-Hour Survival Food Kit.
It’s an ideal starter survival food kit at an affordable price and will provide nourishment for most short-term emergencies.
They use thick mylar bags with wide seals at the top. This helps to ensure the bag remains closed to moisture and oxygen until you’re ready to consume.
Starter Kits
These starter kits are the perfect place to start building your food stockpile. They are especially good if you’re on a budget, and the larger kits are a little bit out of reach right now.
The food pouches are sealed inside hard plastic, stackable buckets.
These buckets help to ensure the food remains dry, provide excellent protection from vermin, and allow you to stack the buckets.
There are breakfast buckets, hurricane kits, blizzard kits, on-the-go kits, plus more to choose from.
1 Month Freeze-Dried Food Kit
This one-month food kit includes the same quality mylar pouches that are in the 72-hour kit. But there’s one major difference: buckets.
The food pouches are sealed inside two hard plastic, stackable buckets.
These buckets help to ensure the food remains dry, provide excellent protection from vermin, and allow you to stack the buckets.
3 Month Freeze-Dried Food Kit
Now we’re starting to develop serious resiliency to a food crisis.
This 3 Month’s Kit will provide enough calories to keep someone well-fed for about 3 months. Again, this kit uses excellent mylar pouches and buckets.
And these use the same high-quality ingredients as all Valley Food Storage freeze-dried survival meals.
6 Month Freeze Dried Food Kit
Six months’ worth of food sure seems like a lot, And for most emergencies, it is.
But if you take resiliency seriously, then it may be worth it to you to store this much.
Again, the same quality pouches, food, and buckets – just a whole lot more of them.
1 Year Freeze-Dried Food Kit
Of course, if you’re extremely motivated, you increase your level of resiliency by stocking a year’s worth of freeze-dried food.
A year’s worth of food is my own personal target, and yes, it’s overkill 99% of the time.
But if you get unlucky, you’ll be sure glad you made this investment!
FREE 3-Pack of Survival Food
If you’re looking to test our Valley Food Storage before investing in a large food stockpile, click here to get a FREE 3-pack of survival food from Valley Food Storage. All you need to do is cover the very reasonable S&H.
Supplies are limited, and once they’re gone, they’re gone.
This 3-pack sell on Valley Food Storage’s website every day for $60.00 shipped, so getting it today for only S&H is a steal of a deal.
Click here to claim your FREE 3-pack of survival food (+S&H).
Legacy Food Storage
Legacy Food Storage is another quality survival food company. One I’ve personally reviewed and tested.
They also use a combination of freeze-dried food, mylar bags, and food buckets. This helps ensure their food kits stay shelf-stable for decades to come.
Their survival food kits start out at 60 servings all the way up to 4320 servings.
You can’t go wrong with Legacy Food Storage regarding quality food and price. They also offer the “lowest cost per lb” of food and free shipping.
Here are a few of their most popular kits by “the total number of servings”:
60 Servings / 120 Servings / 240 Servings / 360 Servings / 720 Servings / 1440 Servings / 2880 Servings / 4320 Servings
They also have a few gluten-free survival food kits as well:
120 Servings / 240 Servings / 360 Servings
MOUNTAIN HOUSE
Mountain House freeze-dried food pouches are popular in the backpacking scene. Why? Because freeze-dried food weighs a whole lot less than fresh foods – and they keep better!
This is another survival food brand I’ve bought from in the past and have reviewed.
Most survival food kits have a 25-year guarantee, but Mountain House has upped their “taste guarantee” to 30 years! That’s the longest guarantee I’ve ever come across in the survival food kit space.
Mountain House offers survival food kits in pouches and buckets. But my one gripe is they don’t sell large quantities in buckets – so if you want to stock up, you’ll need to buy more single buckets.
The bottom line is: Mountain House is not the cheapest, but they are one of the best. You can buy survival food from them confidently; they’re a fine choice.
How To Build A DIY Survival Food Kit
Now, you may be thinking…. hey, maybe I can do this myself.
And you’d be right; you ABSOLUTELY can.
But if you want to make your own freeze-dried foods, you’ll have to invest in a home freeze-dryer machine. But freeze dryers are pretty expensive. They cost way more than your typical countertop appliance (like a food dehydrator).
A small freeze dryer will cost you at least $1600 or more. For some people, that’s no big deal, but for many, that’s a huge hurdle.
Now, you could use the freeze dryer to start your own small survival food kit shop. Or you could get a few friends to “share” the cost. Both of those options can help you make your own survival food kits.
But you’d still need to buy mylar bags, silica gel desiccants or oxygen absorbers, and food-grade buckets.
So, at the end of the day, most people find it a better deal to buy their freeze-dried food from a reputable company.
Your other DIY option is NOT to freeze-dry your survival food kits. Instead, focus on storing dehydrated foods. And this can work OK IF you plan to rotate the “survival food” over time.
If you consume what you make and replace it often, you can create a rotating stockpile of survival food. But again, this adds another layer of hassle, complexity, and organizational skills.
So, if you’re up for it, you should absolutely DIY your survival food stockpile. But either way, it’s going to be an investment in TIME or MONEY – you get to choose.
As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our Family First Food Planning Guide. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.
Final Thoughts
Every year, you buy life insurance and PRAY you never have to use it. And generally, we’re OK with this setup.
Well, the same goes for food insurance. You buy it and HOPE and PRAY you never need to use it!
And at the end of 30 years, if the food is still sitting there on the shelf, you get to eat it and enjoy it. Because nowadays, freeze-dried survival meals taste great.
So, no matter what, an investment in survival food kits will never be a waste!
And one final thing to remember – there are no do-overs in survival. Woulda, coulda, shoulda won’t fill you or your family’s bellies in times of crisis.
Remember: Prepare, Adapt, and Overcome,
“Just In Case” Jack
P.s. Are you ready for the tough times ahead?
Find out now by taking my short Readiness Score Quiz – it’s absolutely free.
Once complete, you’ll know exactly where you stand on the “fragile” vs.” resilient” spectrum.
So click here to start the Quiz….And don’t worry; the questions are so easy a 3rd grader could answer them.
Click on the image to begin the Quiz and find out once and for all if you’re part of “The Fragile Masses” or “The Resilient Few.”
The post 10 Best Survival Food Kits That Last A Lifetime appeared first on Skilled Survival.
If you want a perfect example of how corrupt our system of government has become, just look at the massive cover up that is going on in East Palestine, Ohio right now. Federal, state and local officials are telling the public that everything is just fine when everything is obviously not just fine. On February 3rd, a 50 car Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine. 5 of the cars were carrying vinyl chloride which is an extremely hazardous substance that has been proven to cause several types of cancer. Unfortunately, with the approval of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a decision was made on February 6th to conduct a “controlled burn” of the wreckage. They knew that burning the vinyl chloride would create vast amounts of phosgene gas. By now, most of you already know that phosgene gas was actually used as a chemical weapon in World War I. The cloud of toxic chemicals that was created by the “controlled burn” was so large that it could literally be seen from space, and the long-term health problems that are being caused all over the east coast could stretch on for decades.
May you receive a greater touch of the Spirit through this historic move of God. 
