# Is Emergency Essentials really the way to go?



## sofasurfer (Aug 5, 2012)

I know Emergency Essentials is considered the best place to go for emergency, long term foor supplies. But I think they are expensive. Am I correct? I understand that I am paying for the food and the freedom of not having to do the packaging myself and also I also get free buckets. Tell me what you think?
Also, is there anywhere around the Michigan Thumb area where I can buy storage food in person? Have assecc to Flint, Port Huron, Pontiac, Lapeer and surrounding areas.


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## talob (Sep 16, 2009)

sofasurfer, years ago I bought a big package of #10 cans of food stuff don't remember the company right of hand, anyway as wife and I were canning things and putting them on the shelves this summer I noticed we were putting up a lot of the same things that were in the #10 cans but a whole lot cheaper just a lot more work involved and I'd like to think better food to. I grew up in your area moved to KY a few years ago, there is a Menonite store just off of M46 about halfway between Kingston and Sandusky can't remember name of the road at the moment, but I believe they sell a lot of bulk stuff, if you want to know where it' at PM me and I'll find out for ya.


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## talob (Sep 16, 2009)

sofasurfer, just reread your thread maybe I misunderstood the question, in storage food did you mean the big packeges of #10 cans of stuff?


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## Genevieve (Sep 21, 2009)

You get what you pay for. If you can find Mountain House or Provident Pantry foods cheaper some where else, go for it and share the link with us. MH & PP taste the best IMO, thats why I refer to them.
If you know how to make and seal and store foods that are still good for 25 years, share the knowledge with the rest of us.
As for the rest of the emergency products they sell like the ready made backpacks, then I say yes, you can do it cheaper by making your own. And by making your own you can personalize it to your needs.Again, army surplus stores and gun shows carry the majority of the things you'd find in one of the packs/kits.
The same goes for the firstaid supplies. With sales and coupons you can make your own kits. I've found dental picks and hemostats at gun shows for a good price. Dollar stores have ace bandages and creams and stuff. You can find quickclot at your local pharmacy. O.B. tampons work for plugging gunshot wounds and they have no applicators to get in the way and take up space.


As for finding the food storage in your area, look to the Mennonites and Amish. Check to see if they have stores in and around you. Costco and some Walmarts and Sams clubs carry freeze dried foods in #10 cans. I think thats mostly west of the Mississippi tho. I haven't heard of any here on the east coast ( maybe it's just the north east....figures *grumbling here*). As for free buckets, you'll still need the mylar bags.
I've found the LDS's have the cheapest 1 gallon bags and that Emergency Essentials have a good price for the larger bucket bags. I also get my O2's from them.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

We buy it on sale usually. We have packed our own beans, rice, & pasta & dried some of our own fruits & veggies though. As for the food we do buy from Emergency Essentials, we would rather have the food that tastes best to us & I'm willing to work an extra shift to pay for it if need be. Everyone has different priorities & preferences which is why there are so many different preparedness companies out there. No two peppers food storage is exactly alike, you customize yours to meet the needs of your family.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

I can't make butter powder or freeze dried cheeses. The stuff I can't get from my garden is the stuff I get from EE. And I see a lot of value in having a variety of 'just add water' foods. I think the best preps include a variety of everything - home canned goods (from your own garden is even better), canned goods that will store a long, long time (EE's freeze dried products and even their dehydrated products are stored in such a way as to have a longer shelf life than what I dehydrate at home), and meals-ready-to-eat.

Just my 2 cents.


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## invision (Aug 14, 2012)

You can take cheese and coat the outside with wax, then store in cool dry location... Just FYI


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

invision said:


> You can take cheese and coat the outside with wax, then store in cool dry location... Just FYI


That's true. And on my list of things-I-need-to-learn. But the S may HTF before I get to that one.

It's a really long list.


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

We use to buy from EE exclusively for years but have found that through a Mennonite(sic?) store who will order bulk for us is the way to go. Less expensive even though we have to pack it ourselves. Now we do from time to time order small stuff from EE like the #10 can openers that they had on sale. They are great for my arthritic hands to use.


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## longtime (Nov 22, 2009)

We do EE and Waltons for most of our storage, however we are always keeping an eye on prices. So we maintain a shopping list and normally only buy from EE items that are on sale that month, 20-25% off. We also use Nitro Pac when they have a sale and some unexpected sources like Sportsmans Guide (MH only I would never buy Wise, tried it and very disapointed). 

As far as Waltons goes you have to pick it up since shipping is so high, so everytime we go out west we make a detour on the way home. If you can do that, Waltons is the best source for packaged bulk items.


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## slowimplosion (Sep 9, 2012)

Unless you are buying food to bug out with, i.e. you will be carrying them on your back, freeze dried is an expensive and not very palatable alternative.

Sorry, I just don't understand why anyone would think freeze dried food makes sense.


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

slowimplosion said:


> Unless you are buying food to bug out with, i.e. you will be carrying them on your back, freeze dried is an expensive and not very palatable alternative.
> 
> Sorry, I just don't understand why anyone would think freeze dried food makes sense.


We test various suppliers and so far Emergency Essentials and their freeze dried products are actually very good. Their freeze dried peas and roast beef are outstanding, the peas taste as good as frozen. Their dehydrated potatoes are surprisingly good, far better than the old government commodities. Thing is for us long term storage is a great deal as wet canned foods often have a very short shelf life and even though we try to rotate food stocks more frequently than we desire some cans get eaten through. Even some of our own jar cannings have had the lids eaten through.


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## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

I find you have to shop around for food and supplies and a big thing for me is shipping!

This company has a big selection in large and small cans and shipping is simular to EE:
http://www.augasonfarms.com/

http://www.mredepot.com/ Don't let the name fool you...

http://www.campingsurvival.com/ Has great prices on Keystone canned meats...

http://www.disasternecessities.com/ Carrys many brands and shipping not too high...

Costco and Sam's club also offer emergency foods online

You can also get good buys on Ebay... Just compare prices and shipping charges and order from several different companys based on what is best for you! I try and keep meals in mind when I order... like stuff to make soups with or breakfasts with peppers, sausage, onions, etc for flavoring up those powdered eggs... I also stock alot of canned goods from stores on sales, like small canned hams that can be used for several meals... I have found I really don't like those meals like from Mountain House and tend to stock stuff to make up things we prefer to eat already... Hope this helped!


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## slowimplosion (Sep 9, 2012)

> Thing is for us long term storage is a great deal as wet canned foods often have a very short shelf life and even though we try to rotate food stocks more frequently than we desire some cans get eaten through. Even some of our own jar cannings have had the lids eaten through.


Wet canned food will go at least 7 years (and I suspect much longer, I'm eating stuff I put away in 2005 right now) so I don't know where the idea that it won't last long comes from. Unless you need to carry the food freeze dried is not the way to go IMHO.

I designed my food storage after consulting many texts on the subject. The best way to proceed is to store foods you eat regularly and eat, label, rotate and replenish them.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

slowimplosion said:


> Wet canned food will go at least 7 years (and I suspect much longer, I'm eating stuff I put away in 2005 right now) so I don't know where the idea that it won't last long comes from. Unless you need to carry the food freeze dried is not the way to go IMHO.
> 
> I designed my food storage after consulting many texts on the subject. The best way to proceed is to store foods you eat regularly and eat, label, rotate and replenish them.


If you store a year or more worth of food, keeping all those cans rotated can be quite a challenge, which would be how you've ended up eating 7 year old canned goods.  It can also get quiete expensive eating canned meat, for example, instead of fresh. It's nice to have some of your stored food tucked away in a closet where you don't have to bother with unpacking, rotating, or repacking but have it there just in case. As tasty as 7 year old canned goods sound, my family would rather eat fresh fruits, veggies, & meat. We have a large stash of canned goods & eat them every once in awhile but they aren't part of our daily diet. We also eat freeze dried fruit regularly as an on the go snack.

I also am well read on the subject of food storage as well as nutrition. Just because someone's food storage doesn't look exactly like yours doesn't make them wrong, just different. Judging from the number of places that sell commercially packaged FD & dehydrated food, there are certainly a lot of us doing it "wrong". We're a two income, homeschooling, business-owning family with three kids, the youngest of whom is 4 months old. We are busy so convience ranks high on our list. We also live in a 100 year old house with VERY little storage space so we have to store our extra food in hard to access places like under the stairs. Setting our system up to where we have to access that storage regularly would be stupid, it frankly wouldn't happen. Financially, we can afford to pay extra for the convience. In 20 years, our situation will be different & so our food storage may well be different. Everyone here is perfectly capable of evaluating their individual family's situation & determining what is best for them.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

slowimplosion said:


> I designed my food storage after consulting many texts on the subject.


I, too, developed my food storage after much research. I revised it - and continue to revise it - each year as I get more real life experience with it and learn more about what works for me and my family. 

I love learning what other folks do, because it may be something I want to adopt. And learning what the 'experts' say can be a good starting place when starting something new. But in the end, we are none of us carbon copies of each other. Our goals and life situations are different. What I think is the right way to go may not work for you. That's cool. We all have to find our own stride.


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## slowimplosion (Sep 9, 2012)

I stand by my claim. Freeze dried foods are a marketing gimmick, not an actual strategy for eating in bad times.


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

Slowimplosion, what does it matter? If some of us buy freeze dried for the convenience of having butter and cheese we don't care if it is a marketing gimmick to you. Everyone's strategy is different. Our plans may be different from yours. 

I happen to use my preps on a daily basis because I rotate my food supply. I live in the middle of nowhere Texas where many things are not available or convenient. The nearest Walmart is roughly 50 miles away. Having freeze dried mozzarella is awesome when I run out.


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

slowimplosion said:


> I designed my food storage after consulting many texts on the subject.


Book knowledge is way different from practical knowledge. I know lots of people who are book smart that will not survive TEOTWAWKI.


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## invision (Aug 14, 2012)

kejmack said:


> Book knowledge is way different from practical knowledge. I know lots of people who are book smart that will not survive TEOTWAWKI.


I think that is depends... I am learning stuff everyday - some I have tried out to see if I could... All have worked... So my OP is that if someone has the knowledge whether from book or practical it will be very similar. I may take a little longer to build a solar cooker by an hour or so, but mine will work too.


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

Freeze dried foods have been around for a long time, back in the 1960's when I was doing a lot of hiking and fishing in the Cascade Mountains East of Seattle freeze dried foods were great for lightening the back pack for extended hikes. I will say this, the freeze dried foods that Emergency Essentials puts out are so much better than those days and so I would have to say the quality of foods being processed are better than in the past. My wife's cousin is going to rent a freeze drying machine to do a large quantity of different foods so in that aspect is that also just a marketing gimmick?


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## longtime (Nov 22, 2009)

Wife and I eat FD/DH almost daily. PP Applesauce(DH), green beans, corn etc. We also eat the MH FD meals on vacation. 

I would suggest that anyone considering either as storage try some first. The FD/DH staples we use are better than canned and almost as good as fresh.

As far as costs go, take applesauce. We get 6 48oz. jars of applesauce out of a # 10 can. Our current use cans cost us $13.00. Musselmans is over $3.00 a jar. Savings of $5.00 a can. However, the current replacement cost is over $21.00 a # 10 can, we will wait until it's on sale for $18.00 and restock.

If we need to use our storage, all that means is we can't restock.


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## stanb999 (Nov 14, 2011)

longtime said:


> Wife and I eat FD/DH almost daily. PP Applesauce(DH), green beans, corn etc. We also eat the MH FD meals on vacation.
> 
> I would suggest that anyone considering either as storage try some first. The FD/DH staples we use are better than canned and almost as good as fresh.
> 
> ...


This is the reason I suggest people get to producing your own foods...

My applesauce costs the same as it did 5 years ago. They are free from the trees!

What is your plan if they never come down in price. But in fact double due to the current conditions in the financial markets?


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## stanb999 (Nov 14, 2011)

tsrwivey said:


> If you store a year or more worth of food, keeping all those cans rotated can be quite a challenge, which would be how you've ended up eating 7 year old canned goods.  It can also get quiete expensive eating canned meat, for example, instead of fresh. It's nice to have some of your stored food tucked away in a closet where you don't have to bother with unpacking, rotating, or repacking but have it there just in case. As tasty as 7 year old canned goods sound, my family would rather eat fresh fruits, veggies, & meat. We have a large stash of canned goods & eat them every once in awhile but they aren't part of our daily diet. We also eat freeze dried fruit regularly as an on the go snack.
> 
> I also am well read on the subject of food storage as well as nutrition. Just because someone's food storage doesn't look exactly like yours doesn't make them wrong, just different. Judging from the number of places that sell commercially packaged FD & dehydrated food, there are certainly a lot of us doing it "wrong". We're a two income, homeschooling, business-owning family with three kids, the youngest of whom is 4 months old. We are busy so convience ranks high on our list. We also live in a 100 year old house with VERY little storage space so we have to store our extra food in hard to access places like under the stairs. Setting our system up to where we have to access that storage regularly would be stupid, it frankly wouldn't happen. Financially, we can afford to pay extra for the convience. In 20 years, our situation will be different & so our food storage may well be different. Everyone here is perfectly capable of evaluating their individual family's situation & determining what is best for them.


We have stored in a very different fashion...

We have long term storage, this is much less variety with simple staples. Like the Mormon's suggest. But it is quite abundant and will keep you alive.

Then we have canned goods.. These are what we eat on a daily basis. It is a nice variety and is easy to rotate. I built a pantry in my 170 year old house... Designed with abundance and rotation in mind.

Then we have farm production. With meat on the hoof and vegetables in seed or fresh.

Well rounded is the KEY. IMHO

P.S. My real worry for fellow preppers is a gradual slide... Where you slowly eat into your preps and can't replace them. Then when it finally goes down hill your a member of the starving masses at the fema camp. It would be most unfortunate.


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

invision said:


> You can take cheese and coat the outside with wax, then store in cool dry location... Just FYI


Raise goats and you will never run out of cheese.


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

slowimplosion said:


> I stand by my claim. Freeze dried foods are a marketing gimmick, not an actual strategy for eating in bad times.


Really? Do you live off grid? While we eat what we grow, raise, hunt, fish, harvest and gather fresh as that is always the very best. We use a variety of food storage. We also can, dry, dehydrate, smoke, cure, freeze much of what we produce ourselves, along with store bought canned, frozen, prepared foods including freeze dried and dehydrated foods along. We eat our stores/preps so as to rotate our stores and give us an accurate account of what we use a year. As an example next year we need to grow more tomatoes. Rotating canned goods and stores is not that hard BTW. We have shelves that auto rotate our canned goods. Stock on top eat whats at the bottom. (I'll locate the plans if anyone needs). Our long term storage is up in the attic of the shop/studio so every few months or year I do need to go out and get a box of whatever but I don't find that to be an insurmountable difficulty. Each year we are snowed in up to four months, often off the power grid. Freeze dried food is a tasty nutritious way to add some variety to our diet, conserve energy and time on those days we do not want to spend a lot of time cooking. Another nice thing is because its life span is theoretically infinite we can buy massive quantities of what we like when it is on sale and eat it a decade or more later. Boxes of freeze dried food take up much less space than the equivalent canned goods and are easier to store as they are not as heat and cold sensitive. Last it is a good strategy to help avoid food depression, due to the expanded variety if provides. Which of course can lead to general depression and likely to be one of the biggest obstacles to long term survival.


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## longtime (Nov 22, 2009)

stanb999 said:


> This is the reason I suggest people get to producing your own foods...
> 
> My applesauce costs the same as it did 5 years ago. They are free from the trees!
> 
> What is your plan if they never come down in price. But in fact double due to the current conditions in the financial markets?


Stan, I guess you told me!!

I don't have a problem if people make their life preping and you will never catch me making fun of them. My only words have been don't forget to live.

I live on 40 acres 1 hour outside Kansas City, I have apple, pear and peach trees, grape vines and have grown my own wheat just to say I could (more work than I want @ $16.00 for 50#). I collect and treat rain water, have a gas well that supplies my heating needs and can supply my electricity if needed (100% and 25% capacity generators that run off the gas well). I have a shop with all the machine tools you would want and the ablity to use them. As I see it I have everything but TIME. At 60 I like to enjoy life and I have the means to do so (do you read Backwood Home mag., I can relate to Dorothy since my wife and I built our house and shop and we are ready to move on other activities).

So I no longer garden, I just collect some of the fruit and with over 1000 # of wheat I likely willl never grow wheat again. However, I can do all that if needed. Now I travel since retiring, love Alaska, Hawaii and all the montain states. And while I would not like to eat the MH FD meals every day, they taste real good after a couple weeks on the trail.

What I would have liked as a response to my words about DH and FD foods is "really, I can't believe it's that good".

I would have shared my prep. Applesause, 2 cups of DH PP applesausce in a 48 oz. musslemans bottle, 3 TB sugar, 1 heaping ts of cinnamon shake to mix, fill the bottle to about 1" of the top with very warm water, shake again. Then leave out on the counter for a few hours turning over when you pass by. Refrigerate overnight then use a food proceesor to get the consistncy you like or Tomato powder, you need to simmer for 30 min. then refrig overnight before it's any good.

I'll bet not everone has the means to supply all their needs from the land and storage is their only option. To that DH and FD have a place, in my pantry it's a large place.

To the community, I applogize. I would normally just place Stan in my ignore list (which is very small on this forum), but I have been running into "him" to often of late and could not control myself. I'll put myself on the ignore list for a while, sorry

Good By

Longtime.


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

longtime said:


> My only words have been don't forget to live.


Excellent point fortunately for us much of what we do to be self sustaining in enjoyable for us. But like you my favorite thing is travel, for us its road tripping on the bike. Sometimes it can be a daunting task to find someone to house sit water the gardens weed feed the animals can clean up after them. That said for us it is still a very new way of life and one of the greatest rewards is how much more enjoyable and satisfying our life is.


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## JerryMac (Jul 30, 2012)

We buy a lot of stuff from a Mormon Chruch cannery, if you know a mormon, ask them about it, you can buy in bulk, or make an appointment and go there and can it yourself. For the bulk, as we are pretty stocked on #10 cans, we buy the oxygen absorbers there, food grade buckest, and make our own bulk food storage. 
Also, we bought a foodsaver, that has the hose attachment, this will seal canning jars with dry goods in them, and have started putting comfort foods up in half gallon and quart jars....cereal, cookies, crackers, pasta...if you would like to know more on this just PM me, i am not going into a lot of detail here, but i do know, if all you have is rice n beans, you will suffer from food boredom, which could be dangerous....this is all just my opinion...not researched or tested...although i did test a jar of of cereal that had been on a shelf for a few years n it tasted like i just opened the box n poured it out.....


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## 101airborne (Jan 29, 2010)

wise foods has fairly decent prices as well. Sam's club has emergency foods from 3 day kits to one year for four packages. Looked at them a couple days ago, prices are good and free shipping.


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## stanb999 (Nov 14, 2011)

longtime said:


> Stan, I guess you told me!!
> 
> I don't have a problem if people make their life preping and you will never catch me making fun of them. My only words have been don't forget to live.
> 
> ...


I can respect your desire to live as you wish. Right now I have young children so I have other responsibilities. In the future I hope to do the same. I like travel as well. 

I'm sorry you took my post as pointed at you. That wasn't my intent. Lurkers, on lookers, and newbies read posts for information. I try to post as if "they" are listening in and planning their prepping accordingly. I would have preferred you counter my point with the fact that you have trees to get your fruit sauce. You are prepped well and not relying on just canned goods if SHTF. Some of those newbies might get the impression that all they need is a bit of canned goods or storage food is ideal for long term survival. Most Americans have 3 days of food in the cupboard. The newbie goes just plumb crazy and gets twice the average. 6 days. Is that enough or should the bar be a bit higher, some might say unattainable?

Once again sorry for any misunderstanding.


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## stanb999 (Nov 14, 2011)

oldsoldier said:


> wise foods has fairly decent prices as well. Sam's club has emergency foods from 3 day kits to one year for four packages. Looked at them a couple days ago, prices are good and free shipping.


Did you try any of those yet? They are low cost. But seemed low calorie to me. Amazon has them too.

Has anyone else tried them? It would be nice to have a review.


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## 101airborne (Jan 29, 2010)

stanb999 said:


> Did you try any of those yet? They are low cost. But seemed low calorie to me. Amazon has them too.
> 
> Has anyone else tried them? It would be nice to have a review.


Stan... I've tried wise foods they're not bad for a dehyd. The sams club ones I have not tried yet. Hope to soon. I'll post a review when I do,


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## stanb999 (Nov 14, 2011)

oldsoldier said:


> Stan... I've tried wise foods they're not bad for a dehyd. The sams club ones I have not tried yet. Hope to soon. I'll post a review when I do,


Thanks! I look forward to it.


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