Customer Reviews

STAY ALERT Military Caffeine Energy Gum - SPEARMINT - TRAY (24 packs, 5 pcs/pack) 100mg Caffeine/piece

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm the type of person who uses caffeine as a drug to stay focused. My friend, who was former military, gave me a pack of these to try. Let me just say that the military money gets results! This was fact acting, small, and cheap. It works out to about $0.25 a cup of coffee- each gum has 100mg caffeine (5 pieces per packet, 24 packs per box). This destroys any other caffeinated products I've ever tried- it beats coffee for price and ease of use. It beats jolt gum cause it has 6x the amount of caffeine jolt does. It beats energy drinks because they are so expensive and loaded with TONS of sugar. These things are extremely portable- just carry in your pocket (they were meant for military!). Great for law enforcement to have in the war bag to stay awake in the field when you are stuck on a call or stakeout. A friend who is in vet school loves these cause they have to stay alert and study so much. To be honest, you don't buy stuff like this for taste. The first minute of these things you just taste the sugar and flavoring, but after that the bitter taste of the caffeine starts to be come apparent. The taste comes out slowly at first, and never completely overpowering, but anyone chewing this just to enjoy gum, and not as a tool to stay awake, would never chose this gum over any other gum in the world for flavor. That being said, the taste isn't terrible. I've had all 5 flavors. The Cinnamon is the worst, and unless you are a fan of big red or gum like that I would avoid it (I don't like Cinnamon flavor). IMO, the Spearmint flavor tastes the best at first (only slightly better than Arctic Mint), but then the caffeine is more noticeable with Spearmint in the end than with Arctic Mint flavor. Overall, if you are going for the best overall flavor experience I chose Arctic Mint. I cannot recommend these enough.

I'm a 61 y.o. graduate student at Georgia Tech. These kids run circles around ol' man Charlie. Only way I keep up is to hit the books longer and harder. No way without STAY ALERT!

Works within minutes when you need it, like when you start to nod off in a class or ameeting, or when you have to pull an all-nighter -- STAY ALERT to the rescue !!

Gotta have caffiene to wake up in the morning, but now I drink a lot less coffee which eliminates all those calories from cream & sugar. Nice.

While the caffeine in these works well, the gum itself is not very good. It is so hard I could not cut a piece in half with a sharpened filet knife and a lot of pressure. It does soften when you put it in your mouth, but doesn't turn into anything like a gum until it is time to spit it out---instructions say 5 minutes. Also, the taste is quite weird, tastes more like a chemical than anything else. It also contains wood alcohols which are known to cause stomach griping, and montezuma's revenge. There are better ways to get caffeine, but this could work in an absolute emergency, like driving at night.

Great stuff when you're starting to nod off. On the downside, it's much more expensive than an equivalent caffeine pill (or half a pill) like No-Doz.

This Stay Alert gum has sugar but it also has some artificial sweetener so it doesn't have to contain as much sugar as it would.

Jolt gum (spearmint) tastes *much* better than this Stay Alert gum (spearmint), but the Jolt has more sugar and you have to take more pieces (which make a big wad of gum that you have to chew through like a cow) to get the same dose of caffeine. Stay Alert is more convenient because I can take a single piece and get the caffeine more quickly without having to chew and dissolve all of that extra sugar the Jolt has.

I once tried the cinnamon Stay Alert and hated the flavor. I generally don't like peppermint or other mint flavors that are stronger than spearmint, so I haven't tried the other flavor.

BTW I separately ordered Gorilla Gum (spearmint) only to find that it's *exactly* the same product as the Stay Alert gum (spearmint) but in a (very) differently-branded wrapper.

I am not going to lie to you, when you read the back side of a product you are consuming and it reads something in the lines of: "Yeah, you should reeeeally not chew more than 3 pieces in an hour. Oh and by no means eat like 8 pieces in a day, that would be totally messed up, lol", you know you are in for something special. And honestly, that was the impression that I got from the warnings in the Stay Alert gum packages.

Look, I am an addict to Coca Cola, I drink about a liter of that stuff daily. Wikipedia says that Coca Cola classic carries about 36gr of caffeine. Each Stay Alert gum has 100gr. So really, one gum piece does nothing for me, it doesn't even touch me. Most of my friends who have tried this agree. So I have to put at least two to get me going, or three maybe if I am in dire condition. I must add that I only use this little things in emergencies, like when studying takes whole evening, depriving of one's sleep.

About the effects. Honestly, this thing will not give you wings or anything, it will just prevent you to fall asleep. When I take them, my concentration and ability to do stuff is the same as without them, the only difference is that sleepiness is nonexistent. Advice: It feels like doing some exercise is the better way to pump the caffeine around your system. It was around 6:00 PM, I was in my circuit analysis class and I had not slept at all the night before. So I took three pieces, waiting the required time to do so (like 15 minutes). I took them while I was sitting on the class. Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing, not even a spark, nothing. By the time the class ended my head was rocking, it was a friend on mine's who woke me up. Later, when I was walking home, I felt like this very strong sense of excitement, and I started walking fast (I am naturally a very fast walker, but this was freaky, I was getting looks all over). One would suppose that, because I had not slept the night before, I would've dropped dead in my bed as soon as I got home. Wrong, I had energy for like five more hours. I must admit I was feeling shaky at the time.

About the taste. All my friends who happen to be girls love this. Most of my manfriends hate it, some say its ok. This has been my personal experience. For me its just fine. Both spearmint and artic ice are ok.

Stay Alert has helped me to:
-Complete all-nighters
-Stay awake during classes that are given right after lunch
-Make interesting conversations with women (in Ecuador, you don't get to see many gums like this)

My counsel to you:

-Do not overuse it, because you will become dependent on it. As I said, I seldom used this things. They lasted months. But there was one time where I had overused them, and I had decided that I was going to stop for a while. The next day was completed in 12 hours (instead of my usual 18). The day after that was over in 13 hours. It took me a full week to get back to my old schedule without them.

-This is no save heaven, sometimes it just doesn't work.

I occasionally feel very sleepy while driving so I was looking for a product that could quickly wake me up before I wrapped myself around a tree and/or into oncoming traffic. This Stay Alert caffeine gum works great! It doesn't taste fabulous but you do get used to the taste and it's WELL worth the less than terrific flavor to be fully alert while driving. To completely wake up, I chew one piece of gum for 5 minutes (as is recommended) and then about 10 minutes later, chew a second piece for another 5 minutes and then I'm fully alert. I would highly recommend this product for sleepy drivers!

"Stay Alert Caffeince Supplement Gum" was developed by the U.S. Army for use in situations where soldiers were fatigued but having a cup of coffee was out of the question. This reviewer uses it to restore alertness during long drives, long meetings, and sometimes, early morning hikes.

The gun is coated with a mild spearmint-flavored shell. The gum itself is easily chewed for a few minutes for increased alertness. A second piece can be chewed if the first one doesn't do the trick. A package with five pieces easily fits into a pocket.

The package warns against having more than one or two pieces at a time; its use is not a substitute for real rest. Prolonged chewing can leave your mouth dried out. Exceeding the recommended dose can cause your heart to race from caffeince overload.

"Stay Alert Gum" is highly recommended as a substitute for a cup of coffee or soda in overcoming minor fatigue.

I used to be an avid coffee drinker, nothing crazy, but definitely needed a couple cups in the morning to enable me to function. But, over the past few months I have lost my taste for it and stopped drinking it entirely. During those few months, I never felt invigorated and was chronically fatigued... but I just couldn't get the coffee down. So, I searched for alternatives and came across Stay Alert gum. I do not think I am being too dramatic when I say that I have become a completely different person! No need for coffee... I wake up and chew 2 pieces in the morning, 2 pieces as an afternoon pick-me-up, and 1 piece before I workout for an extra boost. I feel completely alert and energized all day, without any jitters or negative side effects. I am now going to purchase my second (much larger) batch of gum. I use Spearmint flavor, which I think tastes great. I definitely recommend this gum to anyone who is looking for an extra boost (and an added perk of cutting coffee creamer and/or energy drink calories!) Definitely give this one a shot!

It doesn't get better than this product, and it tastes good! Shipping was fast too

I love this stuff. It is great when you are making a long drive and need that extra boost to stay awake. It can be very helpful when you have to get up early for work or school and need that little boost to get you going. It is a great product for someone who has to go out and give a presentation or to play with kids and needs that little boost to keep you going. It doesn't taste great, but it works well and you dont have to fill your stomach up with coffee.