[bellson]

Hi Twa,

Good thing Misty replied with a good answer. The Tacticool Shop had one bucket open for samples (that were giving away), and they are out now. They did have full buckets, but I am not yet in a position to do that.

Thanks for the info Misty.

The Tacticoolers all said about the same thing as Misty did. Not bad, you can live on it. Not terribly interesting. But, Not K Rations either. One of the Tacticoolers is a Korean War Vet. His $0.02 was: I wish we would have had these in 1951! He also has subsisted off of C Rations and LRP Rations in Vietnam. He felt that the variety offered by the Wise Lite meals was such that it would not become horrible until you hit the two or three month mark. And if you supplemented with Rice, Beans, Canned meats, etc. and had a good supply of cheap spices, it could be quite livable for an extended period of time.

Just passing on the conversation. I have not tried the Wise Lite meals myself. I have had all of the rest: Mountain House, MREs, K Rations, C Rations, LRP Rations, Life Boat cookies, and Civil Defense biscuits, rations, and supplements. All will work. Wise Lite represents long shelf life, and easy carry if you can get water. Worth it's weight in Gold when you need it.
My vote is that it is worth the price for at least a couple of buckets. I intend to do that very soon.

On a tangent now: I have been experimenting with the Thermos food jars that hold 20 or so ounces. Screw top, the same size as the container. I have been mixing 4 ounces of dried beans, 6 ounces of rice, and some spices. Sometimes I throw a hard vitamin in as well, and fill it to the rim with BOILING hot water. Screw the top on and leave it for 4-5 hours. Then mix up and eat. Not too bad. Actually kinda nice when I mix in some meat. I just tried adding some home made beef jerky, and that worked really well, better flavor. My figuring tells me that the rice, beans, and vitamin are good for 550 calories, and a goodly portion of the needed vitamins and minerals. I look at the vitamins as a great just in case kind of thing. So, after I figure everything else out, the 550 calories is something like $0.28. Beat that! I am also going to experiment with "supplement packs" for dietary fibre, and anything else I can think of. My concept is to be able to home pack (meaning vacuum pack) my own meals for a once a day kind of thing. I am going to have to try this (meaning subsist off of it) for a two week period to ensure that it is all good. The package will end up being a "Not Ready to Eat" package. It will require re-hydrating. But, it should be cheap, and easy to carry.

Just my $0.02.

Regards,