Customer Reviews

Datrex 3600 Emergency Food Bar - Case of 20

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Received promptly. Excellent packaging (box within a box with ample polystyrene 'peanuts'). The inner, main, box was in perfect condition, so none of the product was damaged, as I have read in other reviews. The Mfg. date was 11/2010 (last month). Pleased that we will get the whole 5 years shelf life. The food bars taste great, coconut flavor is not too strong, crumbly like a cookie, and each of the 18 bars per package are individually wrapped in a weaker clear plastic. Each bar is 2 1/2"x1 3/4"x1/2". I had to pick an emergency food bar with no first-hand knowledge or experience. Happy with these.

Box of food bars arrived quickly and safely. They are rather tasty and highly nutritious. Long storage life and a quick means of moderate caloric consumption.
Priced right; I will be purchasing additional boxes soon.

After eating a good amount of these Datrex rations over the last decade, it's time to write up my review on them. In a word: Awesome. These rations are about as good as it gets for what they are, and that's a very basic survival food that's compact, lightweight and long lasting. The Datrex rations are comprised of many small, individually sealed/wrapped bars bundled together and vacuum sealed in a metalized retort-type pouch. The tough outer wrapper does a good job protecting the bars for many years. Once the outer wrap is opened the individual bars will remain edible for a few months.

How do they taste? I might be in the minority but I absolutely love them! I'd easily choose them over most commercial cookies or energy bars. They're flaky, somewhat crumbly, and taste like a coconut cookie. They're a bit dry but not especially thirst provoking. I could definitely eat them any time if they weren't so calorie dense...but of course, that's why they're a good survival food. Obviously if you look at the calories you're not gonna be livin' large but that's not what survival rations are about.

These things really do last as long as they say. About a year ago I came upon two packages that I left in my folks garage after a fishing trip we took to Canada. Since we were going in pretty remote I had a "boat bucket", a watertight 5 gallon pail, packed with emergency supplies including these rations. I forget to take them out of the boat and they sat in the garage for over 5 years. In the summer the temps were over 100 F while they were repeatedly subjected to winter temps of -40 F (yeah, North Dakota). When I found them they were just past the 5 year expiration date. I figured the worst they could do was kill me, so I tried them. ;-)

And you know, they weren't bad. A couple of them had the inner wrap melted/stuck to the bar a bit and they were a bit more crumbly than new ones. But they tasted virtually the same and fresh ones and were completely palatable. I'd have no reservation eating them within the "use by" date.

I'd suggest you try one package before buying in bulk; some people love 'em and others can't stand 'em. But I really like them and consider them the best product of their type available today.

Fast shipping, the bars are neatly vacuum packed and brand new. Each bar is labeled with nutrition facts and weighs probably a good half pound; pretty light for the calories it packs. Will be packing these in bug out bags for sure.

These don't taste like a Ribeye steak, but they are a lot better tasting than some of the other types of Clif and Power bars, and at a fraction of the price. One package of these has 18, 200 calorie bars in it, or 3600 calories. Eating one bar every 4 hours and supplementing with water will (and I have tried it) keep you alive for three days. However, you are definitely ready for that ribeye after that!
They will give the average sized man or woman the energy needed to hike at a moderate pace. I give it 5 stars because even at the $30 extra shipping, they are worth it.

Nothing wrong with the product itself, just very crumbly and doesn't taste all that great. However, be very wary of shipping costs when you process the order. I wasn't and got royally screwed, paying twice the price of the product for freight.