Survivalist Forum banner
18K views 77 replies 53 participants last post by  moreair 
#1 ·
Costco has a deal on 30 day's of food, (or 4 people for a week) in a pail ready to go or store neatly.
330 Servings, Up to 15 Year Shelf Life. under 100 Federal Reserve Fiat Notes INCLUDING SHIPPING to the 1st 48 states. Please, compare prices AND serving servings... This is 11 servings a day... IF your not a Costco member, there is a 5% surcharge, BUT you can still order and get this.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11649759


When it comes to Food Storage, Chef's Banquet has set a new standard for quality and taste. You won't believe food storage can taste this good. All of the meals have been developed with the finest quality ingredients possible. The ARK (All-purpose Readiness Kit) is great for long term storage or for daily meals. With a full 2100 calories per day for one adult for 30 days, the ARK can be your stand alone food storage solution. Each of the meals takes less than 20 minutes to prepare (just add water).

Delicious just-add-water meals
Easy to Open zip-seal mylar foil pouches
Oxygen absorber in every pouch
Easily Transportable
6 gallon weather proof bucket
Shelf Life - Up to 15 years - if stored in a dry, cool environment
No High Fructose Corn-Syrup
No MSG

Each ARK contains the following:

330 Total Servings
2,100 calories/day for 30 days
Oatmeal - 60 Servings
Hearty Potato Soup - 60 Servings
Chicken Vegetable Stew - 30 Servings
Mixed Vegetables - 30 Servings
Instant Potatoes - 60 Servings
Macaroni & Cheese - 30 Servings
Beef Flavored Vegetable Stew - 30 Servings
Cheddar Broccoli Rice - 30 Servings

Mod's, sorry if this is ion the wrong section. I have no interest in upsetting anyone and make nothing on this.
 
See less See more
1
#42 ·
I'd not want to eat most of the prep food for long, most have 6-8 things and you would get tired of them fast AND not have balanced meals. Yes store rice/beans and we do canned butter and bacon as well as other things for a good mix. I have a family of 4 and add 6-8 of these, some of the vegetarian ones, some wise foods, MT house stuff, cases of MRE's, and shelf reliance things and stuff gives a good mix for long term. The dried fruits are very good, I even got my non prep mother into them and it helped get her to buy a few of these pails for her long term storage, she could afford them on her fixed budget. Ideal? No, but none are really. A good start? Yes, Good add to existing stuff? Yes. The also have a pretty decent vegetable stew (http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11658147) 368 servings for 75.. These are really good, specially if you add chix, beef bullion or meat to them to spice them up.
 
#57 ·
It depends on what you store and how you cook it. I eat out of my food storage daily and we have meals from all over the world. The world is full of cuisines that use the same basic staples. The only difference is in the prep and seasoning.

For example, beans and wheat can become pasta and sopa di fagioli (Italian bean soup), middle eastern hummus and tabouli, a bean burrito, Indian dahl and naan bread, etc.

Cooking is a basic life skill. Like all other survival skills, it's an important one to master.

How so? they figure 30 days, 11 servings a day 2100 calories per day.. That's more them most other prepper stuff out there...
I must not be thinking of the same bucket then. I remember doing a calorie comparison on the 275 "serving" one and it seriously came up short.

One thing I always do when I compare calories is remove all sugar and drink products from the total. Some of the food storage kits use a lot of these to bolster their "calorie" count. But I believe that only calories from food actually matter.
 
#49 ·
I think these are probably a great idea for folks just starting out and want a quick jumpstart to their preps. I would imagine this 30 day kit would get someone through 99% of all situations they are actually likely to ever encounter.

Like it or not, the odds are extremely long of actually being involved in a true SHTF scenario that lasts more than a few weeks. I know most on here are convinced they will need their year supply of rice when Planet X hits, but chances are they will never tap into those preps.
 
#52 ·
2100 cal per day aint too shabby. Reviews on Costco- its salty. Drink fluids. $100 per week of feeding the family. Or solo for a month.

These meals are mobile Buckets of wheat, rice, bean, etc ARE NOT. Theyre static- lock 'n defend. You could break the bucket down and hike super long distances. They'll stay good, and nourish you enough. Not Alpine Aire or Mountain house, its TVP.
 
#60 ·
rather good, tho they are a little bland in the spice catagory. Many places to this as it's easier for the used to spice them up, then make it less so.
RW, how about those pics mate?

If you open them up, show us what they look like.

It might help us decide if we should also buy them?

Much appreciated!
I can do this over LaborDay weekend, we're planning a couple days camping and teaching my 2 daughters to make them. So can do. Sadly my oldest daughter is about only able to cook raman noddles... BUT this isn't really any harder... :)

I must not be thinking of the same bucket then. I remember doing a calorie comparison on the 275 "serving" one and it seriously came up short.

One thing I always do when I compare calories is remove all sugar and drink products from the total. Some of the food storage kits use a lot of these to bolster their "calorie" count. But I believe that only calories from food actually matter.
The 2100 calorie count in these don't include any drink mix, there isn't any in the pail. We add our own.

Thanx for the info OP ...... I'm not as advanced as a lot of people in here as when it comes to a lot of this stuff. This should serve me well.
Welcome...

Oh and on HONEY, as a beekeeper, honey never spoils so long as you don't get it wet or damp. if that happens, then it turns to mead... then vinegar... Diabetic's can have about 25-50% more honey then they can sugar and since honey is sweeter... Also in these, there is no TVP or Textured Vegetable Protein in these, personally, that stuff is kinda.. yuck.. BUT that's just my opinion. One way to add a bot to this or any pre-made pail like these, we get the tuna, chicken or salmon in the mylar wraps, and add them to these... a package of the chicken, for example, goes a long way added to a soup or stew.
 
#56 ·
RW, how about those pics mate?

If you open them up, show us what they look like.

It might help us decide if we should also buy them?

Much appreciated!
 
#68 ·
For a noob who thinks TSWHTF tomorrow I can see how these buckets will be appealing.
Yet canned food properly stored will outlast the claimed period of the product.
I wouldn't say don't buy one, but don't plan needing more than one or two as a monotony buster.
And more power to the people who can afford to waste their money on them.

Just because a person stocks up on Ramen doesn't mean they are going to use those nasty broth packets. Even if they are going to use them the sodium intake per serving is much easier to control.

Have a look at a pack of Maruchan. 2 servings per pack. The serving is concidered 1/2 block of noodles and 1/2 packet of broth flavoring.
One serving is 830mg. Yet we can easily control that by reducing the amount of flavoring we intake.

Now take a look at the Chicken Vegetable Stew.
Sodium is 530mg.
There is zero control of sodium. If you eat one serving , you will intake 530mg.
Hearty Potato Soup 810mg. Instant Potatoes 750mg. Once again the only control is how much of a serving you eat.
 
#67 ·
I have a couple and have bought one for my folks and a couple for my sister. My sister works down south of Houston at a chemical plant and lives right on the coast. She has nothing as far as preps and I buy stuff for her all the time. I will try and break one open and take some pics this weekend. I personally like the taste, but the wife said they taste like crap. best way is to buy one and test them out. :)
 
#72 ·
The price looks about right for feeding a family of 4 for a week.

And, in an emergency nobody wants to spend time cooking: the easy storage and cooking is a real bonus!

I am tempted, but, I think that my bags of rice and canned chicken and dried apricots sound more tasty. It would be an excellent thing to bug out with but I think that I will pass.
 
#73 ·
Everybody has different opinions and different methods of storing long term food and I wont critisize anyone for how they do or what foods they have! After a year and a half on this forum I have heard every damn arguement about every damn food and I'm doing it my way, period! I have a couple of buckets of the Costco stuff, along with MH #10 cans and pouches, cases of MRE's, cases of canned foods, and of course rice and beans! No matter how you do it, at least you are doing it and I applaud you for it! So lets stop the negative aspect of this particular product and be happy whoever buys it is prepping and wont be a FEMA handout candidate!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top