Great video you should put happy yak up against peak fuel I love peak fuel but I think you would find a close comparison between happy yak and peak fuel!
@@james0000 No worries, James. It was tough because the Stowaway Gourmet definitely seemed to be a quality product (good quality ingredients). We just weren't overly impressed with the options we tried. Definitely better than most of the other options... but Peak Refuel is 👌 - Rusty
From my experience ìf your having issues with re hydration, its usualy user error. After removing the oxygen obsorber add the water and mix like the dickens, seal the bag, let sit a couple minutes and mix againand re seal the bag. Then let sit the recomended amount of time. Trying to mix at the end when most of the water is gone and cold, isnt going to help.
Agreed.... They shouldnt even need to stir at the end if its been hydrated properly. Although... Backpackers pantry does suck ass. Never had a good one in my life.
A McDonald's Double cheeseburger and french fries will last twenty-plus years stored in their original wrapper at -60 degrees Fahrenheit - 180 Fahrenheit
This was fun--thanks for taking the hits. I just finished my personal taste test of ReadyWise Noodles and Beef. It looked like overcooked noodles in snot. Even though I left it for twice the length of recommended time, the "meat" were like little crunchy pieces of rock. I totally agree with your "dead last" placement.
You should do a blind taste test of these. Cause you did state you weren't sponsored but then in the video you did talk about selling products on your website and you have an affiliate link for another. I think a blind taste test is needed. 😊 ❤
Blind taste not needed lol even by trying a few of these stacked up against peak refuel do not even come close to comparing to the quality. They know it’s good and you can tell they are honest at their feedback, it’s not just shameless promo for the products they carry, they want quality not crap
Forgot to add that I'm using emergency food for emergencies like earthquake/wildfire, not backpacking. It is important to note that the Peak Refuel states they have a 5 year shelf life vs. the 30 year shelf life of Mountain House.
The owner of PF said they have the same 30 year shelf life as the other brands, but they are trying to market themselves to backpackers instead of prepping.
@@indysilver_02 not really. think about energy drinks which one comes to mind? I bet 5 hour energy didn't. by making themselves different as a boost they managed to have their product appeal differently. up until the new bang mini bottles they had complete monopoly of their sector.
Great tip. I'd probably Peak with the local finite planned trips and have a few cases of the Mountain House for GP. But honestly I figure the Peak are good for at least 10-15 years if stored in an airtight container in a cool dry place.
If I can make a suggestion? Most of these meals require boiling water to reconstitute. If your water cooled before adding, you won’t get very good results. Second to retain the heat while reconstituting, many back packers will use a “cozy”. Cozy covers are made of reflectex (Same thing as your summer car windshield sun protection). Your food will taste much better and remain hotter!
Thanks for watching and chiming in, Dianne! Fortunately we had a controlled environment and didn't have to worry about the cooling issue. But yes... cozies are fantastic! -Rusty
Peak refuel is more expensive but more calories. Math on Beef stroganoff is PR is $1/54cal. MH is $1/56cal. Calories is the main factor with protein being very important. Cost per cal is a metric id like to see on the website. Thanks for doing the research for us!
Great video, I really enjoyed your method of test and evaluate. My family & I are new to Prepping but I feel I can make a good decision on what long term food to get.
Only remark I can say that would make it better. Need to blind taste test. We all have our favorites and if we know we’re eating it, we will automatically make it #1.
I always seem to have issues with scrambled eggs, not reconstitution in the very middle, so I solved by extra water to fully constitute then quickly finish in fry pan winds up perfect
A really helpful video. I ate a Backpacker Pantry Mushroom Stroganoff tonight for supper. I really liked it. Very rich, bold flavor. Just a bit too salty. It mixed up great, zero powder lumps, etc.
I think its important to note that Ready Hour and 4patriots are not meant for backpacking technically, so its obvious you would rag on having to cook it in a pan. Setting taste aside, they are the foods you would put up in your house with the intention of long term food storage and preparedness. Emergency food rations. Not for camping, although if you happen to carry a pot while backpacking i guess you could make it work.
Lifeboat rations come in different flavors! The Datrex coconut shortbread cookie type you tried is the worst tasting (and dry) compared to others. I found a lemon bar shortbread that was night and day better. Years later, Wal-Mart started selling an Apple flavored one in their camping section (at the time it was $5 for 2400 calories if I am remembering correctly) that also tasted good. The advantage of lifeboat rations is that they require no water, cook time, or utensils. They are also very compact in size compared to other options (lots of calories per square inch). Having said that, there is no way a person would want to eat ONLY lifeboat rations. A potential use for the product is to add calories to your day as a side dish or snack around other foods. Many survival/emergency food kits are LOW in calories, so it would be nice to have some add-on options to fill you up.
Great and informative my one tick is when you add the water is your suppose to stir it up and then close it 😂 it’s like cooking a knorr’s pasta side and not stirring it until it’s done cooking.
1st a big shoutout to you guys for making this video. I know it’s fun but this took a lot of preparation and $$ to pull off. It will definitely help 95% of the viewers make an informed decision. I’m pretty sure Peak’s marketing to backpackers/weekenders vs. long term prepping. Their shelf live will be longer than advertised. Mountain House is good. Mil MRE are what I’m used too. Sometimes you just grab, tear, squeeze and chew. 😂😂. No time to heat up. Love the skittles and chocolate 😂
I have both MH and Peak, and I can say this was an honest review. I was a MH fan boy until I got my hands on a bag of the Peak. Never looked back LOL but I still do carry both because they both taste great and the MH is a bit cheaper for a really good quality/shelf life/backpacking food. Peak is a tier above any other I’ve tried though, go get a bag and try it for dinner at home, you will not be disappointed.
Thank you! I am impressed with the way you did this. As a foodie and as a professional chef, I appreciate your candor and brutal opinions. This is what I need and how I would do it. Great job guys!
I like the scrambled eggs and bacon. Also Oatmeal, with blue berries and powdered milk. Also the freeze dried napoleon ice cream bar taste like chocolate strawberry and vanilla although it's not ice creme as it doesn't melt so much like ice creme, but it's really good tasting. Mountain House!
I'm late to the party here, but for what its worth, the ReadyHour stuff is more long term food storage, not targeted toward hiking/backpacking. They do make a product called Beyond Outdoor Meals that is more like Peak/MH for backpacking.
I think the best prep food is US Humanitarian MREs. Very high calorie, designed to be non thirst inducing, and require no water. Too many people take water for granted in the event of an emergency. It’s far more important than food and in bad circumstances you might just want to use what you have to drink it, not food prep. Canned tuna, spam, and beef stew are good to have as well
Thanks for watching and glad it was useful for you, zero11010! Yes, it was more work than people realize to put this together. Should save you some money and frustration. -Rusty
@@eaglestrekker677 We actually had to buy several of these options with our own funds. If you don't believe the results, go try them yourself and let us know what your take on them is.
Your right it costs too much lol these freeze dry companies are supposed to be going green lol where's the cheaper prices come on y'all they receive help from democrats on solar panels but prices still high. Draining the common wealth using fear 🤣 give in to the great reset and make yourself poor 😂
Appreciate the video guys !! Great content !! I couldn’t find the video on the video that shows what good to buy for long term storage. Prepare style. For our off grid home incase cyber attack or grid goes down for a year ? Do you have a link to that video. I thought you mentioned it in your video above. Again super appreciate yalls video !!!!!! Thanks for your time and hard work ! ✌️✌️
Glad you loved it, jtdexter! We are planning some other videos having to do with food storage. We've stepped away from the camera for a bit but will be back in 2024. - Rusty
I watched this video to save time in comparing brands. I plan to try all the brands over time. Variety is the spice of life. I'd just like to get to the best first, which is why the video helps.
Peak Refuel is the best in my opinion (you also selected arguably the best one to taste test), the only problem is that they are only good inside 5 years and they are comparatively more expensive than Mountain House or Readywise. While I wouldn't break the bank to stock up on those, I would undoubtedly store a couple away in a bug-out bag or a camping trip. Less Sodium too compared to the competition.
The peak, adventure, mountain house, readywise is usually the best survival food ive had to date. Expensive at 10$ a packet usually at the store give or take. I always go with those when i do my backpacking trips. The bulk supply from my patriot is my stash for home bug in scenarios, the mre and dried fruit is my go to for bug out bags or my grt home bag. It depends on the situation where all these foods can serve a purpose. But if you go for taste those ones mentioned in the top of my comment are always my go to favorites. Like i said, survival vs camping...
Good video thanks - I even buy the "lesser" brands for barter purposes....now bought aa HR freeze dryer to prepare and store keto meals...FD is an additive habit..lots of fun
That was epic! You guys deserve medals for that. Geeze. I’m not desperate for freeze dried meal stores, so I can spend more over time, a little at a time, consistently, to get good things. If I spent $50 a payday, and split it 2:1, ready to eat things like complete’s, canned chili, knot sides, Bearcreek soups, canned meats, etc, and the 1 part really good freeze dried meals, my pantry would be pretty well stocked for any scenario after a year. My picks for retail would be: Happy Yak, Peak Refuel & Nutrient Survival. Great review!
Thanks for the support! Let us know what you think of the food and whether we were just blowing smoke at ya 😉. Just kidding... you should be very impressed. -Rusty
@@Equip2Endure ok so I’ve tried the Biscuits n Gravy, Pasta Marinara and the Alfredo I’m beyond disappointed I let the meal sit for the recommended time and added the proper amount of boiling water - the biscuits and sausage were crunchy beyond belief. It was like eating a bag of chips The Marinara had like 10 noodles and 100 meatball chunks throughout the bag. Again I let it sit for the appropriate time and I added the right amount of water. The sauce was way runny and again way more meat than pasta, the pasta was nonexistent The Alfredo - the flavor wasn’t there for me. Rusty tried his and said that’s as good as he’s had in restaurants but man I question the restaurants you eat at. Like if I was starving that meal would’ve passed by no question. But if I was camping or having a replacement meal for home I’d have to go with an MRE. I will say I’m from the Army and I’m an off breed - I’m one of the people that enjoys eating MREs. Are they good - not necessarily but so help me I’d eat them over this PR any day of the week I love this channel and do not mean to offend you guys. We like what we like right? I just wanted to give my honest opinion - you guys love this product and I will never attempt to take that away from you. It just wasn’t for me. I still have the Beef Stroganoff to try but other than that again I personally was unimpressed
@@michaelscaccia1454 No offense at all, Michael! I hope you can tell through the video that we were giving our honest opinions. We take that seriously and are not going to promote a product we don't like/trust. I am curious though... did you try comparing your Peak meals to something like Mountain House or other brands? There are a few options from Mountain House that I like better than similar options from Peak (I love the yellow curry from MH for example), but overall we liked Peak the best. The only thing I might suggest for the rest of the Peak meals you have is once you add the water, make sure to zip them up then mix them well with your hands, even shaking them around a little bit. I believe the biscuits are supposed to be broken up when opened as well. Also let them sit a little longer. I have found after many of these types of meals that sitting longer is better. As for us, we're going to keep eating Peak. If your experience isn't better with your last meals on hand, I hope you find something you like better. And be sure to tell us about it! -Rusty
@@Equip2Endure I did try the Mountain House Chili and Stroganoff and I enjoyed them both…might give those a go with Peak and see how they compare. I’ll take your advice and let them sit a bit longer next time and see what happens. I absolutely can tell you guys genuinely love this product so that’s what matters…I know you’re not doing like a false advertisement! Thanks for the feedback I’ll let you know my experience…I’m only recently getting into emergency preparedness/ backpacking meals so I’m trying to find out what it is I like! The one thing across both brands I don’t really like is the meat - there’s like a weird gritty texture to them and I don’t know why…the veggies pasta and sauces all taste normal but for some reason the meats are weird
Yeah mountain house is the only one I buy and I sometimes add some stuff to it when I'm camping like lake venison or ground beef whichever I have on hand and and some vegetables and extra spices and seasonings .I always carry extra spices and seasonings it just makes it even better,I even have survival foods that I keep the spices and seasonings again it's just a way to go.
51:50 What is with him and the knives? The MRE food pouch has a notch pre-cut, you just pull slightly and it tears open, you can see it on camera if you know where to look 😅
I use the lifeboat rations in 3 day kits to bump up the calorie count. 3 freeze dried pouches per day, and a brick of lifeboat rations. Enough water for the meals, a stainless steel cook cup, a spoon, and a mini stove all fit in a kitty litter bucket. Add a water brick per person, and a backpack of other personal gear, and you can load the car fast. In 25 years at my current home I have been evacuated 3 times. Twice for fires with toxic smoke, once for power outage due to ice. The lifeboat rations are also good for slide off kits in cars.
Interesting comparisons. Have to admit MRE's came out long after I retired. We were using the canned C Rations (heavy but palatable) and later the LRRP's. Generally we found out how good they tasted was dependent on several things. a) How hungry are you, b) How long until your next resupply (if any), and c) what additives you were able to bring with you. I never,NEVER, went without my bottle of Tabasco. Was able to try MRE's some years later when my son joined the Army. Not bad and weight was not an issue. Have been wanting to try some of the the newer emergency rations but at 78 the ground does not sleep as well as it used to. Just remember, sometimes you gotta get creative to make things taste acceptable.
I was a lurp in Vietnam. We carried mre on patrols and found them to be far superior to c rations. You would open them, pour in water and tuck them in your shirt to heat them . My palate at 19 probably wasn’t very discerning but I thought they were good.
Glad you guys do these tests! They sell peak on the midwayusa website. I'm about to start prepping and was doing research and my main focus has been peak and mountain house and I can see I don't feel I'm doing wrong sticking with those
Great work guys. Appreciate your effort and costs in time and money. Question on the backpacking food. Many use small camp stoves as I use a bio-lite and wouldn’t knock a product meal for needing the pot. How about you guys? Maybe wouldn’t in small overnight packing trip. Thanks again.
Thanks for watching and sounding off, cmbowtie! For your question, it just depends on you and your style. If you want max convenience, nutrition, and flavor, it's hard to beat the freeze-dried (not dehydrated) bag meals like Peak and Mountain House. My opinion is this... cooking at camp is messy. Then there's clean up. then there is the weight of carrying an extra pan. people romanticize the old woods trampers that carried around a cast iron pan and 5 pounds of "fixins." I would be shocked if you showed George Washington Sears a Jetboil and Peak meal and he didn't switch to them immediately. Those pioneers were constantly looking for ways to lighten/improve their load out. -Rusty
Did you find you were running to the outhouse more often after you guys were done? Just curious how your GI tract did. Thanks for doing this, very educational. Also, I agree - I have never had a Backpacker's Pantry entree that was good. OK, I am weird, I actually don't mind many of the MREs - I was in the Navy so never had to eat them on a regular basis.
My daughter refused to eat Backpacker Pantry. I would, with enough garlic, but then, I ate things that were still moving when the USAF sent me overseas so ....
Great video lots of good info, next time, just "dump" it on a plate so you can have a better mix and show a better reprensentaion of the produts? Great jobs guys, cheers
Glad you liked it, Christian! We were trying to keep things tidy. Hopefully the overhead shots gave you a much better view of the real product than the company's ever will. -Rusty
With noodle heavy meals you have the option of adding meat if you wanted to, canned meat has a shelf life of several years and freeze dried much longer. I have not sampled as many as you have and thank you for doing some of the heavy lifting. Some outdoor outfitters offer a 10% discount on 8 or more pouches and at the end of the year you get a rebate check sou the end cost is around 20% off, this brings the Peak Refuel meals down close to the $10-$11 mark.
I have Mountain House and 4 Patriots, both of which you need to add water.... and I also have the Datrex Lifeboat rations, which you can just open up and eat.
Our plan for the emergency rations is as a supplement to the calorie count. Even with mountian house, hitting 2000 plus calories a day with just the recommended servings is tough. And planning for 3000 in times of a lot of movement, or work is better. Adding emergency rations, which are designed to not need a not of water to digest, as snacks, is a calorie booster.
It’s glamping food Somehow people are confusing you’d eat anything short of eating bark and animal poo and somehow you are so far gone from civilization that you somehow underpacked and haven’t eaten in a week 😂 For people wanting convenience. Uniformity. Weight savings. And feeling cool either weekend camping or a month long hiking trail… It’s first class food. If you were actually poor you’d be taking those brick bars and moving on with the day. We live in a first world society where somehow good isn’t good enough anymore 😂
A website called theepicenter said, "In a side-by-side comparison of similar meals, Peak Refuel meals have a higher calorie count and typically more protein and less sodium per serving than do the Mountain House meals. And, Peak Refuel Meals contain more content (net weight, larger portion size) than do Mountain House meals." My experience is the Peak Refuel meals have many chunks of chicken while Mountain House has some small pieces.
Have a way to get readwise meals for really cheap (under $6 per pouch). I just tried their lasagna and thought it was actually pretty ok, but after watching this I'll definitely steer clear of their Alfredo and beef stroganoff flavors. Good to know about Peak, a local gas station has them at $9 a meal, cheaper than I can get most Mountain House Meals.
@@joelstanhope7231 you add cold water to the heating element, you then place the MRE into the packaging containing the heating element and it heats the meal while in the package. You could take the MRE entree and put it in boiling water. But you almost will never have boiling water to do this, that's why they come with the heating element. As a civilian you could boil them to heat them. I've used a generator to heat mine laying them on the block. They are designed to be heated with the included heating element so you don't have to have boiling water, a fire or anything else.
Right after you add boiling water. Shake the bag itself. Insulate. Wait 10 minutes. Shake again. Wait double whatever recomendations say. Peak is the best by far. But sometimes the meat can be a little under hydrated if you let the package cool down to fast.
The pouches are nice, but a #10 can can hold around ten servings, and if the food is freeze dried, it barely weighs more than the can itself. Backpacking is different, of course, but for bugging out, a case of six cans, chosen carefully, can be managed easily by anyone without a full blown disability and would provide around 60 servings for the space it takes. For a car bugout, I would go with that in a heartbeat.
A great video and the reason for the price difference, in my opinion, is the quality that goes into making the product. Mnt. House uses real meat whereas Ready Wise doesn't. The top 3 are pricier because of that. I would choose any of the top three without question and not even consider the bottom ones, except perhaps the emergency bars. As to the MRE, I am not sure, I would have to do a taste test myself. An excellent video and comparison, I have seen other videos that compared Mt. House and Ready Wise and they ranked them the same as you do, the reason being is Mt. House uses meat, and Ready Wise has meat, but also meat substitutes. Again, take care and stay well.
I have been thinking about getting a few months of food storage just in case there is another pandemic, or some other unforeseeable emergency that would make getting food for a while either very hard, or extremely expensive. I have been looking at the Ready Hour 3 month supply, but after seeing this video I decided that I might be happier with Mountain House. I looked at the results on your website (Thank you for creating such an easy and understandable review and chart) and noticed that Mountain House was not very much more expensive than the Ready Hour. That is until I priced both of their 3 month emergency meal kits on their websites. The Ready Hour 3 month supply was $897and the Mountain House 3 month supply was $2,359 which is a little over 2 and a half times more (as of July 2022). So at this point, I think I am back to considering the Ready Hour. I am prepared for cooking without electricity, or gas at the house and I am not looking so much for a mobile situation since there are not many natural disasters near me. But I am looking for long term storage that will be able to last a long time. At this point I am thinking the balance between cost and taste is Ready Hour for my situation. It seems to be middle of the road in taste, but comes in at a low budget price. I am very fortunate to never in my life having needed a 3 month emergency food supply, but I think of it as insurance and I am willing to sacrifice a taste quality for the price difference since I the odds are against me ever actually ever really needing a 3 month supply of emergency food. Thank you very much for making this video and also writing the article with the chart on your website. It was a very informative review. Thanks again and cheers.
Happy to help, Opensage... and thanks for watching! Whatever you decide to do, at least you are making an informed decision. Hope to see you around on the channel. Have a great one! -Rusty
Some are making rubbery foods that people unknowingly eat and the food bends instead of snap free. But when you guys were saying the cheese was rubbery like. I was like oh no.
Amazon doesn't allow sellers to offer their products through someone else for a lower price through their agreement to sell through them and that's for any product sold through Amazon. That may be why
I buy mountain house and ready hour. The thing that’s good about ready hour is they don’t just sell this. They have # 10cans of veggies, beans, meat and you can combine these into better meals. They’re not geared towards camping or backpacking. They’re geared towards survival like hurricane outages.
Maybe Should've just poured the entire contents onto a new plate for each one. Thx for the video guys... also what about nutristore brand I noticed them on Amazon and am curious
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Surprised by the results? Try them yourselves! [Please read description before complaining about something in the video.]
Great video you should put happy yak up against peak fuel I love peak fuel but I think you would find a close comparison between happy yak and peak fuel!
H̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶t̶r̶i̶e̶d̶ ̶S̶t̶o̶w̶a̶w̶a̶y̶ ̶G̶o̶u̶r̶m̶e̶t̶ ̶?̶ Nevermind, I see you try it in this video, lol, I didn't see it in the title.
@@james0000 No worries, James. It was tough because the Stowaway Gourmet definitely seemed to be a quality product (good quality ingredients). We just weren't overly impressed with the options we tried. Definitely better than most of the other options... but Peak Refuel is 👌 - Rusty
Yummy yak is best by a long shot! Sodium the lowest.
Yak most expensive also
From my experience ìf your having issues with re hydration, its usualy user error. After removing the oxygen obsorber add the water and mix like the dickens, seal the bag, let sit a couple minutes and mix againand re seal the bag. Then let sit the recomended amount of time. Trying to mix at the end when most of the water is gone and cold, isnt going to help.
Agreed.... They shouldnt even need to stir at the end if its been hydrated properly. Although... Backpackers pantry does suck ass. Never had a good one in my life.
The Mountain House might have tasted better if you would have followed the directions and removed the oxygen absorber before you put boiling water in.
A McDonald's Double cheeseburger and french fries will last twenty-plus years stored in their original wrapper at -60 degrees Fahrenheit - 180 Fahrenheit
You got us there, jakman! 😆 Thanks for watching. -Rusty
Truth!
@HardNFastNews. 🤫
Lol
😂
I love the before you complain disclaimers. All are awesomely valid.
This was fun--thanks for taking the hits. I just finished my personal taste test of ReadyWise Noodles and Beef. It looked like overcooked noodles in snot. Even though I left it for twice the length of recommended time, the "meat" were like little crunchy pieces of rock. I totally agree with your "dead last" placement.
We weren’t fans either 😆. Thanks for watching, Chris! -Rusty
I've tried a couple Readywise and liked them both.
I can’t help thinking how your choices would change if you also consider the sodium content in each of those meals.
You should do a blind taste test of these. Cause you did state you weren't sponsored but then in the video you did talk about selling products on your website and you have an affiliate link for another. I think a blind taste test is needed. 😊 ❤
They say they did that because they were so impressed
You could pretty much see that some of them would not taste good
I disagree. I don't think a blind taste test is worth the the time and effort.
Blind taste not needed lol even by trying a few of these stacked up against peak refuel do not even come close to comparing to the quality. They know it’s good and you can tell they are honest at their feedback, it’s not just shameless promo for the products they carry, they want quality not crap
Touché. I smelled a tiny dash of bias. Tried most and I prefer the stowaway.
Forgot to add that I'm using emergency food for emergencies like earthquake/wildfire, not backpacking. It is important to note that the Peak Refuel states they have a 5 year shelf life vs. the 30 year shelf life of Mountain House.
The owner of PF said they have the same 30 year shelf life as the other brands, but they are trying to market themselves to backpackers instead of prepping.
I eat these dinners at home mostly, due to convenience.
@@inshanity84 that's weird to strictly market that direction if you could appeal to more people.
@@indysilver_02 not really. think about energy drinks which one comes to mind? I bet 5 hour energy didn't. by making themselves different as a boost they managed to have their product appeal differently. up until the new bang mini bottles they had complete monopoly of their sector.
Great tip. I'd probably Peak with the local finite planned trips and have a few cases of the Mountain House for GP. But honestly I figure the Peak are good for at least 10-15 years if stored in an airtight container in a cool dry place.
If I can make a suggestion? Most of these meals require boiling water to reconstitute. If your water cooled before adding, you won’t get very good results. Second to retain the heat while reconstituting, many back packers will use a “cozy”. Cozy covers are made of reflectex (Same thing as your summer car windshield sun protection). Your food will taste much better and remain hotter!
Thanks for watching and chiming in, Dianne! Fortunately we had a controlled environment and didn't have to worry about the cooling issue. But yes... cozies are fantastic! -Rusty
Wow, thanks for doing the work for me. I've been wanting to buy survival food. Very helpful! Y'all are actually entertaining. 😁
I'm glad someone is testing these products
Peak refuel is more expensive but more calories. Math on Beef stroganoff is PR is $1/54cal. MH is $1/56cal. Calories is the main factor with protein being very important. Cost per cal is a metric id like to see on the website. Thanks for doing the research for us!
Great video, I really enjoyed your method of test and evaluate. My family & I are new to Prepping but I feel I can make a good decision on what long term food to get.
Only remark I can say that would make it better. Need to blind taste test. We all have our favorites and if we know we’re eating it, we will automatically make it #1.
I always seem to have issues with scrambled eggs, not reconstitution in the very middle, so I solved by extra water to fully constitute then quickly finish in fry pan winds up perfect
Good Tip, Anthony! Thanks for watching and welcome to the channel. -Rusty
Thank you! Folks may wish to check the sodium content. Appreciate you taking the time to test and show packet contents. ❤
For a few years now, Peak has been my personal favourite. A close second is Happy Yak from Quebec, but it’s bit less user friendly, in my opinion.
A really helpful video. I ate a Backpacker Pantry Mushroom Stroganoff tonight for supper. I really liked it. Very rich, bold flavor. Just a bit too salty. It mixed up great, zero powder lumps, etc.
This video made me hungry! Great job guys. Thanks for taking the hit on the gross ones so we don’t have to experience it and can buy the tasty ones.
Thanks for watching, Denise! Peak is where it's at. Mountain House is a viable second. -Rusty
I think its important to note that Ready Hour and 4patriots are not meant for backpacking technically, so its obvious you would rag on having to cook it in a pan. Setting taste aside, they are the foods you would put up in your house with the intention of long term food storage and preparedness. Emergency food rations. Not for camping, although if you happen to carry a pot while backpacking i guess you could make it work.
Lifeboat rations come in different flavors! The Datrex coconut shortbread cookie type you tried is the worst tasting (and dry) compared to others. I found a lemon bar shortbread that was night and day better. Years later, Wal-Mart started selling an Apple flavored one in their camping section (at the time it was $5 for 2400 calories if I am remembering correctly) that also tasted good.
The advantage of lifeboat rations is that they require no water, cook time, or utensils. They are also very compact in size compared to other options (lots of calories per square inch).
Having said that, there is no way a person would want to eat ONLY lifeboat rations. A potential use for the product is to add calories to your day as a side dish or snack around other foods. Many survival/emergency food kits are LOW in calories, so it would be nice to have some add-on options to fill you up.
Great and informative my one tick is when you add the water is your suppose to stir it up and then close it 😂 it’s like cooking a knorr’s pasta side and not stirring it until it’s done cooking.
first time seeing your channel today. Gotta say I love your logo!!
Thanks for joining us, 2an! And thank you for the compliment. We're fans of it too. -Rusty
My big question is, does the package find print mention bio engineered or GMO?
Bet it does
1st a big shoutout to you guys for making this video. I know it’s fun but this took a lot of preparation and $$ to pull off. It will definitely help 95% of the viewers make an informed decision. I’m pretty sure Peak’s marketing to backpackers/weekenders vs. long term prepping. Their shelf live will be longer than advertised. Mountain House is good.
Mil MRE are what I’m used too. Sometimes you just grab, tear, squeeze and chew. 😂😂. No time to heat up. Love the skittles and chocolate 😂
I have both MH and Peak, and I can say this was an honest review. I was a MH fan boy until I got my hands on a bag of the Peak. Never looked back LOL but I still do carry both because they both taste great and the MH is a bit cheaper for a really good quality/shelf life/backpacking food. Peak is a tier above any other I’ve tried though, go get a bag and try it for dinner at home, you will not be disappointed.
Thank you! I am impressed with the way you did this. As a foodie and as a professional chef, I appreciate your candor and brutal opinions. This is what I need and how I would do it. Great job guys!
Great video - I've shared this with many people who ask me about emergency food. Thanks guys.
Peak refuel is the best option out there, I agreed on the places that you guys actually put everything else, good video guys !!!
I like the scrambled eggs and bacon. Also Oatmeal, with blue berries and powdered milk. Also the freeze dried napoleon ice cream bar taste like chocolate strawberry and vanilla although it's not ice creme as it doesn't melt so much like ice creme, but it's really good tasting. Mountain House!
I'm late to the party here, but for what its worth, the ReadyHour stuff is more long term food storage, not targeted toward hiking/backpacking. They do make a product called Beyond Outdoor Meals that is more like Peak/MH for backpacking.
I think the best prep food is US Humanitarian MREs. Very high calorie, designed to be non thirst inducing, and require no water. Too many people take water for granted in the event of an emergency. It’s far more important than food and in bad circumstances you might just want to use what you have to drink it, not food prep. Canned tuna, spam, and beef stew are good to have as well
A Peak Refuel overview similar to your Mountain House overview of meals would be great if doable. Good vids! Thanks!
Yep. We already have the packs. Just need to shoot the vid. Thanks for watching, Wyntyr!
I appreciate the work that went into this and the cost of getting so many of these options!
Thanks for watching and glad it was useful for you, zero11010! Yes, it was more work than people realize to put this together. Should save you some money and frustration. -Rusty
they are corp whores and eat for free
@@eaglestrekker677 We actually had to buy several of these options with our own funds. If you don't believe the results, go try them yourself and let us know what your take on them is.
@@Equip2Endure You’re going to find these types [i.e., Echo Tango] around every corner!! Pitiful.
Your right it costs too much lol these freeze dry companies are supposed to be going green lol where's the cheaper prices come on y'all they receive help from democrats on solar panels but prices still high. Draining the common wealth using fear 🤣 give in to the great reset and make yourself poor 😂
Appreciate the video guys !! Great content !! I couldn’t find the video on the video that shows what good to buy for long term storage. Prepare style. For our off grid home incase cyber attack or grid goes down for a year ? Do you have a link to that video. I thought you mentioned it in your video above.
Again super appreciate yalls video !!!!!! Thanks for your time and hard work ! ✌️✌️
Glad you loved it, jtdexter! We are planning some other videos having to do with food storage. We've stepped away from the camera for a bit but will be back in 2024. - Rusty
@@Equip2Endure thanks for the reply sir. Greatly appreciate it. Much love and respect. ✌️❤️
I watched this video to save time in comparing brands. I plan to try all the brands over time. Variety is the spice of life. I'd just like to get to the best first, which is why the video helps.
Peak Refuel is the best in my opinion (you also selected arguably the best one to taste test), the only problem is that they are only good inside 5 years and they are comparatively more expensive than Mountain House or Readywise. While I wouldn't break the bank to stock up on those, I would undoubtedly store a couple away in a bug-out bag or a camping trip. Less Sodium too compared to the competition.
@Bryce That's actually good to know. Appreciate it.
The peak, adventure, mountain house, readywise is usually the best survival food ive had to date. Expensive at 10$ a packet usually at the store give or take. I always go with those when i do my backpacking trips. The bulk supply from my patriot is my stash for home bug in scenarios, the mre and dried fruit is my go to for bug out bags or my grt home bag. It depends on the situation where all these foods can serve a purpose. But if you go for taste those ones mentioned in the top of my comment are always my go to favorites. Like i said, survival vs camping...
Good video thanks - I even buy the "lesser" brands for barter purposes....now bought aa HR freeze dryer to prepare and store keto meals...FD is an additive habit..lots of fun
That was epic! You guys deserve medals for that. Geeze. I’m not desperate for freeze dried meal stores, so I can spend more over time, a little at a time, consistently, to get good things. If I spent $50 a payday, and split it 2:1, ready to eat things like complete’s, canned chili, knot sides, Bearcreek soups, canned meats, etc, and the 1 part really good freeze dried meals, my pantry would be pretty well stocked for any scenario after a year. My picks for retail would be: Happy Yak, Peak Refuel & Nutrient Survival. Great review!
Hi, can you please compare individual ingredients to the meals you just tried.....? GOD BLESS
I just had one called Heater Meals Ex Plus - Tex Mex Four Bean Chili and it was actually very decent and filling. Comes with its own water packet too.
I am liking this video. It really shows the difference in these products.
Just grabbed some Peak from the link, looking forward to trying them!
Thanks for the support! Let us know what you think of the food and whether we were just blowing smoke at ya 😉. Just kidding... you should be very impressed. -Rusty
@@Equip2Endure ok so I’ve tried the Biscuits n Gravy, Pasta Marinara and the Alfredo
I’m beyond disappointed
I let the meal sit for the recommended time and added the proper amount of boiling water - the biscuits and sausage were crunchy beyond belief. It was like eating a bag of chips
The Marinara had like 10 noodles and 100 meatball chunks throughout the bag. Again I let it sit for the appropriate time and I added the right amount of water. The sauce was way runny and again way more meat than pasta, the pasta was nonexistent
The Alfredo - the flavor wasn’t there for me. Rusty tried his and said that’s as good as he’s had in restaurants but man I question the restaurants you eat at. Like if I was starving that meal would’ve passed by no question. But if I was camping or having a replacement meal for home I’d have to go with an MRE. I will say I’m from the Army and I’m an off breed - I’m one of the people that enjoys eating MREs. Are they good - not necessarily but so help me I’d eat them over this PR any day of the week
I love this channel and do not mean to offend you guys. We like what we like right? I just wanted to give my honest opinion - you guys love this product and I will never attempt to take that away from you. It just wasn’t for me. I still have the Beef Stroganoff to try but other than that again I personally was unimpressed
@@michaelscaccia1454 No offense at all, Michael! I hope you can tell through the video that we were giving our honest opinions. We take that seriously and are not going to promote a product we don't like/trust. I am curious though... did you try comparing your Peak meals to something like Mountain House or other brands? There are a few options from Mountain House that I like better than similar options from Peak (I love the yellow curry from MH for example), but overall we liked Peak the best.
The only thing I might suggest for the rest of the Peak meals you have is once you add the water, make sure to zip them up then mix them well with your hands, even shaking them around a little bit. I believe the biscuits are supposed to be broken up when opened as well. Also let them sit a little longer. I have found after many of these types of meals that sitting longer is better.
As for us, we're going to keep eating Peak. If your experience isn't better with your last meals on hand, I hope you find something you like better. And be sure to tell us about it! -Rusty
@@Equip2Endure I did try the Mountain House Chili and Stroganoff and I enjoyed them both…might give those a go with Peak and see how they compare. I’ll take your advice and let them sit a bit longer next time and see what happens.
I absolutely can tell you guys genuinely love this product so that’s what matters…I know you’re not doing like a false advertisement! Thanks for the feedback I’ll let you know my experience…I’m only recently getting into emergency preparedness/ backpacking meals so I’m trying to find out what it is I like! The one thing across both brands I don’t really like is the meat - there’s like a weird gritty texture to them and I don’t know why…the veggies pasta and sauces
all taste normal but for some reason the meats are weird
Yeah mountain house is the only one I buy and I sometimes add some stuff to it when I'm camping like lake venison or ground beef whichever I have on hand and and some vegetables and extra spices and seasonings .I always carry extra spices and seasonings it just makes it even better,I even have survival foods that I keep the spices and seasonings again it's just a way to go.
lol. Trade sides so your left hand and right hand don’t run into each other. Fun to watch.
51:50 What is with him and the knives? The MRE food pouch has a notch pre-cut, you just pull slightly and it tears open, you can see it on camera if you know where to look 😅
I use the lifeboat rations in 3 day kits to bump up the calorie count. 3 freeze dried pouches per day, and a brick of lifeboat rations. Enough water for the meals, a stainless steel cook cup, a spoon, and a mini stove all fit in a kitty litter bucket. Add a water brick per person, and a backpack of other personal gear, and you can load the car fast. In 25 years at my current home I have been evacuated 3 times. Twice for fires with toxic smoke, once for power outage due to ice.
The lifeboat rations are also good for slide off kits in cars.
Has anyone reviewed the emergency food from the LDS emergency food store?
Interesting comparisons. Have to admit MRE's came out long after I retired. We were using the canned C Rations (heavy but palatable) and later the LRRP's. Generally we found out how good they tasted was dependent on several things. a) How hungry are you, b) How long until your next resupply (if any), and c) what additives you were able to bring with you. I never,NEVER, went without my bottle of Tabasco. Was able to try MRE's some years later when my son joined the Army. Not bad and weight was not an issue. Have been wanting to try some of the the newer emergency rations but at 78 the ground does not sleep as well as it used to. Just remember, sometimes you gotta get creative to make things taste acceptable.
I was a lurp in Vietnam. We carried mre on patrols and found them to be far superior to c rations. You would open them, pour in water and tuck them in your shirt to heat them . My palate at 19 probably wasn’t very discerning but I thought they were good.
Excellent detailed video. You guys answered many questions I’ve had. Thank you
Thanks for watching and glad we were able to help, Vinnie! Hope to see you around here. -Rusty
Appreciate the ASMR warning immediately. Saved me who knows how long and the irritation of hearing it. True saints
Really enjoyed your video. Thanks for the review.
Glad you guys do these tests! They sell peak on the midwayusa website. I'm about to start prepping and was doing research and my main focus has been peak and mountain house and I can see I don't feel I'm doing wrong sticking with those
Keep in mind that midwayusa can be a little odd with shipping,
@@youdontseeanoldmanhavinatw4904 I haven't had any real issues with them yet
Very in depth. Taste test on various brands with a write up with pricing. Subbed
Welcome aboard, SmokinAce! Glad you liked the video. -Rusty
Great work guys. Appreciate your effort and costs in time and money. Question on the backpacking food. Many use small camp stoves as I use a bio-lite and wouldn’t knock a product meal for needing the pot. How about you guys? Maybe wouldn’t in small overnight packing trip. Thanks again.
Thanks for watching and sounding off, cmbowtie! For your question, it just depends on you and your style. If you want max convenience, nutrition, and flavor, it's hard to beat the freeze-dried (not dehydrated) bag meals like Peak and Mountain House. My opinion is this... cooking at camp is messy. Then there's clean up. then there is the weight of carrying an extra pan. people romanticize the old woods trampers that carried around a cast iron pan and 5 pounds of "fixins." I would be shocked if you showed George Washington Sears a Jetboil and Peak meal and he didn't switch to them immediately. Those pioneers were constantly looking for ways to lighten/improve their load out. -Rusty
Did you find you were running to the outhouse more often after you guys were done? Just curious how your GI tract did. Thanks for doing this, very educational. Also, I agree - I have never had a Backpacker's Pantry entree that was good. OK, I am weird, I actually don't mind many of the MREs - I was in the Navy so never had to eat them on a regular basis.
I also want to know how fast these run through you
I’m actually really surprised they have not answered this question.
Good episode. One of my favourites, that you don’t have up there is Happy Yak.
I really appreciate this videos guys!👍🏾💯
My daughter refused to eat Backpacker Pantry. I would, with enough garlic, but then, I ate things that were still moving when the USAF sent me overseas so ....
Great video lots of good info, next time, just "dump" it on a plate so you can have a better mix and show a better reprensentaion of the produts? Great jobs guys, cheers
Glad you liked it, Christian! We were trying to keep things tidy. Hopefully the overhead shots gave you a much better view of the real product than the company's ever will. -Rusty
@@Equip2Endure you definetively did that for sure, thanks again, cheers
Awesome job guys! This is soo helpful!
You got it, Joy! Thanks for watching and glad it helped. Hope we earned a sub from ya😉. -Rusty
With noodle heavy meals you have the option of adding meat if you wanted to, canned meat has a shelf life of several years and freeze dried much longer. I have not sampled as many as you have and thank you for doing some of the heavy lifting.
Some outdoor outfitters offer a 10% discount on 8 or more pouches and at the end of the year you get a rebate check sou the end cost is around 20% off, this brings the Peak Refuel meals down close to the $10-$11 mark.
I have Mountain House and 4 Patriots, both of which you need to add water.... and I also have the Datrex Lifeboat rations, which you can just open up and eat.
I know this is a little late to mention, but don't you think the Desiccant packet should be removed before you cook and eat the food? Just wondering.
Our plan for the emergency rations is as a supplement to the calorie count. Even with mountian house, hitting 2000 plus calories a day with just the recommended servings is tough. And planning for 3000 in times of a lot of movement, or work is better. Adding emergency rations, which are designed to not need a not of water to digest, as snacks, is a calorie booster.
I would like to see you do a comparison of 25 year shelf life freeze dried food packets.
We got the major freeze dried players in this comparison (along with some dehydrated options).
Ya know I personally like Mountain House, but when you have MRE's it is so nice because you don't need to boil your water.
If crap hits the fan I'm sure people would trade lots of ammo for a few packs readywise 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️ is this emergency food or glamping food?
It’s glamping food
Somehow people are confusing you’d eat anything short of eating bark and animal poo and somehow you are so far gone from civilization that you somehow underpacked and haven’t eaten in a week 😂
For people wanting convenience. Uniformity. Weight savings. And feeling cool either weekend camping or a month long hiking trail…
It’s first class food. If you were actually poor you’d be taking those brick bars and moving on with the day. We live in a first world society where somehow good isn’t good enough anymore 😂
This is the video I've been looking for!
Awesome video. I would like to see a nutrition face off comparison.
A website called theepicenter said, "In a side-by-side comparison of similar meals, Peak Refuel meals have a higher calorie count and typically more protein and less sodium per serving than do the Mountain House meals. And, Peak Refuel Meals contain more content (net weight, larger portion size) than do Mountain House meals." My experience is the Peak Refuel meals have many chunks of chicken while Mountain House has some small pieces.
are they all 25 year shelf life, or in that neighborhood???
Peak refuel is 5 year
Man, if only I'd seen this two years ago, I could have mentioned that Good To-Go is kicking ass at backpacking/emergency meals.
Was that a CRKT I saw? I carry a CRKT Hissatsu as my EDC.
Have a way to get readwise meals for really cheap (under $6 per pouch). I just tried their lasagna and thought it was actually pretty ok, but after watching this I'll definitely steer clear of their Alfredo and beef stroganoff flavors. Good to know about Peak, a local gas station has them at $9 a meal, cheaper than I can get most Mountain House Meals.
Great video! I feel confident in making my purchase now. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful, Bernice! -Rusty
i like the direct approach on judgeing. and those mic's are all in the, not like that before
Pure freaking CHAOS guys
The key to MREs and the best taste is to heat them. It truly changes how they taste..
Isn’t that how it was intended to be? Do people eat these cold?
@@gordo9104 yes people do.
@@gordo9104 you can eat them cold, they're designed to be heated for maximum flavor, etc. After spending 27 years eating them every way you can.
You add boiling water thats how their heated
@@joelstanhope7231 you add cold water to the heating element, you then place the MRE into the packaging containing the heating element and it heats the meal while in the package. You could take the MRE entree and put it in boiling water. But you almost will never have boiling water to do this, that's why they come with the heating element. As a civilian you could boil them to heat them. I've used a generator to heat mine laying them on the block. They are designed to be heated with the included heating element so you don't have to have boiling water, a fire or anything else.
Right after you add boiling water. Shake the bag itself. Insulate. Wait 10 minutes. Shake again. Wait double whatever recomendations say.
Peak is the best by far. But sometimes the meat can be a little under hydrated if you let the package cool down to fast.
The pouches are nice, but a #10 can can hold around ten servings, and if the food is freeze dried, it barely weighs more than the can itself. Backpacking is different, of course, but for bugging out, a case of six cans, chosen carefully, can be managed easily by anyone without a full blown disability and would provide around 60 servings for the space it takes. For a car bugout, I would go with that in a heartbeat.
I'm more interested in what's in the ingredients, is there canola oil, veg oil etc
A great video and the reason for the price difference, in my opinion, is the quality that goes into making the product. Mnt. House uses real meat whereas Ready Wise doesn't. The top 3 are pricier because of that. I would choose any of the top three without question and not even consider the bottom ones, except perhaps the emergency bars. As to the MRE, I am not sure, I would have to do a taste test myself. An excellent video and comparison, I have seen other videos that compared Mt. House and Ready Wise and they ranked them the same as you do, the reason being is Mt. House uses meat, and Ready Wise has meat, but also meat substitutes. Again, take care and stay well.
I have been thinking about getting a few months of food storage just in case there is another pandemic, or some other unforeseeable emergency that would make getting food for a while either very hard, or extremely expensive. I have been looking at the Ready Hour 3 month supply, but after seeing this video I decided that I might be happier with Mountain House. I looked at the results on your website (Thank you for creating such an easy and understandable review and chart) and noticed that Mountain House was not very much more expensive than the Ready Hour. That is until I priced both of their 3 month emergency meal kits on their websites. The Ready Hour 3 month supply was $897and the Mountain House 3 month supply was $2,359 which is a little over 2 and a half times more (as of July 2022). So at this point, I think I am back to considering the Ready Hour. I am prepared for cooking without electricity, or gas at the house and I am not looking so much for a mobile situation since there are not many natural disasters near me. But I am looking for long term storage that will be able to last a long time. At this point I am thinking the balance between cost and taste is Ready Hour for my situation. It seems to be middle of the road in taste, but comes in at a low budget price. I am very fortunate to never in my life having needed a 3 month emergency food supply, but I think of it as insurance and I am willing to sacrifice a taste quality for the price difference since I the odds are against me ever actually ever really needing a 3 month supply of emergency food. Thank you very much for making this video and also writing the article with the chart on your website. It was a very informative review. Thanks again and cheers.
Happy to help, Opensage... and thanks for watching! Whatever you decide to do, at least you are making an informed decision. Hope to see you around on the channel. Have a great one! -Rusty
What's the best bang for your buck, if you're on survival mode taste is the last thing on your mind. Which 1 can I get more for the money. Thx
My unedible Ranger School meal was dehydrated pork patty. Class 9-85.
Who are the people who don’t like to see/hear people eat?? What’s the big deal? Thank you for an informative vid!
Cooked 1st and 2nd ones with air remover pack?
Nope 😉. Just didn’t show removing them. -Rusty
our base exchange sells Mountain House brands in the camping section and i think they go for 7 or 8 bucks if i remember right
Thank You Boyz you made my DAY!
Some are making rubbery foods that people unknowingly eat and the food bends instead of snap free. But when you guys were saying the cheese was rubbery like. I was like oh no.
Amazon doesn't allow sellers to offer their products through someone else for a lower price through their agreement to sell through them and that's for any product sold through Amazon. That may be why
So Peak or Mountain House, it seems. Now i know what to buy. Thanks.
Mountain House makes a good product. I hike with it. Go Brandon!
Agreed, 1nowmannh. Let's Go! -Rusty
Brandon loves Rediwise.
LOL
I buy mountain house and ready hour. The thing that’s good about ready hour is they don’t just sell this. They have # 10cans of veggies, beans, meat and you can combine these into better meals. They’re not geared towards camping or backpacking. They’re geared towards survival like hurricane outages.
Did you ever try wise company and douse military rations go out of date or any food for survival is it ok to eat?
Thanks for watching! ReadyWise is the new name for Wise Company. -Rusty
i would try for myself. i dont have confidence in the mixing done to rehydrate properly
Have you tried Augason farms ?
Wonderful video! Can you do a video on your best Mountain House meals? I just sub’d.
Maybe Should've just poured the entire contents onto a new plate for each one. Thx for the video guys... also what about nutristore brand I noticed them on Amazon and am curious