Customer Reviews

Datrex Emergency Water Pouches Case of 64 for Survival Kits, Disaster Supplies, 5 Year Shelf Life

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Red Cross and numerous disaster preparedness organizations in California, such as the Office of Emergency Services and Department of Emergency Management, recommend one gallon of water per person per day. Since 64 packets contain just over 2 gallons of water, this case will last you for 2 days, or will last a family of two for one day.

The Red Cross recommends that you have at least 3 days of water on hand. The California Office of Emergency Services and Department of Emergency Management recommend that you have 5 days of water on hand. As we have seen during Katrina and in the Japan earthquake, you may need over 15 days of water on hand.

Therefore, a family of two will need up to fifteen cases, and a family of four will need thirty cases.

Safeway sells a gallon sized jug for less than $1.

Therefore, you may want to buy a few of these packets for carrying around, but buy your main emergency water supply from a less expensive source. Even if the packets last for 5 years, it would be more economical to buy regular bottled water from the store every two years. Then you can spend the savings on survival/emergency preparedness gear that is truly helpful, such as a good go pack (one for home and one for car), sleeping bag, cold and wet weather gear, boots, gloves, eye protection, duct tape, two way communications, etc.

Always remember that your water heater will provide between 20 - 40 gallons of fresh, drinkable water in an emergency. That equates to a 20 - 40 day supply for one person, or a 10 - 20 day supply for two people (again, one gallon per person per day).

Stable water for stationary survival or Cache. On the move don't carry too many it will slow you down. Carry Filter(Katadyne) and Sterilization(iodine tablets) instead

These water packs are a great addition to our car and home emergency kits. No worries about plastic getting hot and letting off bad stuff in the water, there is no plastic! They give us peace of mind knowing they are there when we need them and have a 5 year shelf life!

The product itself is pretty common. I was disappointed in what showed up though. A once soggy, broke down box that had several broken bags in it. The card board was adhered to a lot of the outer most ones. Poorly packed for shipping. better suited if it were on a pallet with protection. But hey, it's water, what was I gonna do, send it back? The taste test is a slightly chlorinated city water taste but they are fresh dated, nor old or anything, I find they have an easy tendency to leak. Best advise I can give, I tested them in the freezer and no problems after thawing. So if you stack em' with space in mind, freeze em' and then get the food vacuum sealer and you can seal 6-10 per bag and vacuum seal them into more tough containment that doubles for lots of uses. And this way a couple of these packs in your go bag is safer and will store in less room. Plus, I'm only theorizing He
here and want to be clear on that point, but if they are kept frozen till they are needed, isn't that going to extend shelf life? I mean if you have the extra room in the ice box, it's always better to keep the freezer full. They make great ice packs too. I wish for the price that they'd use better judgement with dhippinf though.

They may not claaim it, but as a member of the United States Coast Guard and a survivalist I looked into the emegency water stores that we keep in the event we have to abandon ship in the middle of the ocean. I found out that they store Datrex water pouches, enough for each person to consume 2 liters per day for seven days. I know a lot of the emergency agencies in many states are saying that you need 1 gallon of water per day, but honestly whens the last time you drank a gallon of water per day. If it is hot and you are doing manual labor or running then you may need a gallon of water, but in the event that something happens and you are just sitting around or mild walking then a liter a day will keep you sufficently hydrated to stay alive, if it is hot like here in Texas most of the time then 2 liters is suggested. Keep as much water as possible, but be you should always have ways to purify water on the go as it is much lighter then carrying gallons at a time. To sum it all up: This is an excellent product make sure you check the product to make sure everything is closed up and each packet contains water.

It's hard to decide how to rate these pouches. On the one hand they're very, very expensive for what you get. Depending on the price of the day, the 64 x 4.227 oz packets give you just over 2 gallons of water for somewhere around $25-$30. That's pretty steep. You could buy a lot of bottled water for that price or some other very good containers and fill them yourself.

But on the other hand, these are lifeboat rations. You can leave them in your car in a four season climate year around and not have to worry about them. For some reason they'll stay liquid to temps somewhat under freezing (perhaps because they're somewhat pressurized?), and if they do freeze they remain undamaged. In fact, you can freeze them and use them as ice packs/compresses. They remain drinkable for many years, too.

For emergency preparedness at home you're better off with bottled water, and better off still with dedicated water storage drums with chemical treatment. Water is very heavy, so for backpacking you're better off carrying some water and the means to treat the water you find. And for warmer climes (or summer in the northern latitudes) containers of water are a more practical, economical alternative. Just be sure to rotate them.

These water rations really are for lifeboat-style emergency caching. They're great to store in a vehicle where you know they're going to be subjected to extreme temps and frequent rotation isn't gonna happen. For that application they merit five stars. Since they're suboptimal for all other uses, and expensive to boot, I have to dock them one *.

They are what they are, but a word of caution: do NOT order this item in conjunction with any other items unless you want to run the risk of your other items getting wet. Amazon just loves to package all items from one order together, which is understandable. However, it's asinine to pack water in the same box as electronics or books. If one of these pouches bursts, as they did in my package, it has the potential to ruin the other items in the package.

I ordered these pouches along with several other items, including a solar charger and a few books. Everything arrived in the same large box. These pouches were inside their own box inside the larger box. When I opened the larger box, I noticed that one corner of the box containing the pouches was soaked through, and their was water on the inside of the larger box. Luckily, the box had been oriented to where the water was essentially channeled away from the other items in the box. But, the potential certainly existed for damage to my other items.

So, purchase these for preparedness sake, but be mindful of the potential for other items in the same order to be damaged or ruined.

Good item, hard to find in stores. One of the 60 pouches was punctured, but overall good purchase. Very heavy item, so the shipping was a value.

about 4 packs equal a normal sized bottle of water. The water taste like plastic. Just imagine storing a bottle of water in your car for about a month in 100degree weather then taking a swig of it, Ewww, YEAH thats pretty much the taste. YES only emergency use because I wouldnt drink these waters unless it was all that was left on earth and I needed water. I did a few light tests and strip tests and the water has a little bit of a haze compared to regular bottled water. It also seems to be treated or something due to its levels. Id buy it only for emergency use. the bags are nice and strong, The water tastes like your drinking pure BPA tho but its drinkable because im still here and its been a few days since I tried it out. So go for it if you need emergency water. Worth about half of what I paid, Honestly just keep a case of water in you car or a bottle of water with you. Otherwise unless 2012 hits us hard and you end up in a situation that you have no drinking water these arent worth the money. I say drop the price by half and its well worth it. Also the average bottle of water may have an expiration date on it but only so you will buy more water because you'll think you cant drink an expired water. in reality you can go about 5 years before ANY bottle of water starts breaking down enough to give you harmful chemicals. food for thought. Oh and last but not least Yes if you are hiking on foot these fit great in backpacks but since the amount of water is so little id just carry a bottle of water.

They are tough, flat and will survive a lot of pain before the pop. I put them everywhere. My wife has 12 in her car. I have 20 in my truck. I have them in my classroom. They are awesome to use when you need a quick drink and are in the middle of nowhere like the desert and your child suddenly becomes thirsty.