People actualy eat those things? why not just stock up on good old fashion peanut butter at a fraction of the cost of energy bars? it lasts for decades in the unopened jar, stacks neatly on a pantry shelf, and has just as much protien. add in that its more versatile, eating it plain or added to other things you cook.
add variety with other " nut butters" and a few assorted jars of jelly and save you a basket of money over those over processed, high price, yuppy bars.
And just a FYI; I have PB jars on my shelf 10 years old, still as good as the day they were bought. Recall the old USDA 'surplus' cheese, salmon, and peanut butter, dates on them reflected they were a decade old before they were given away in government food programs. K.I.S.S theory applies.

 

Peanut butter lasts for decades? I have never heard that. Are you sure you're just not picking up on the rancidity?

There are a lot of sources that indicate it goes bad after a far shorter time than a decade, e.g.:

http://www.livescience.com/32178-can-peanut-butter-go-bad.html

http://shelflifeadvice.com/condiments-herbs-spices-spreads/spreads/peanut-butter

http://www.eatbydate.com/proteins/n.../nuts/how-long-does-peanut-butter-last-shelf-life-expiration-date-food-storage/

And yet, I too have eaten peanut butter that has been stored for a while, and I do know what a rancid smell is (like bad crayons).

So where is the truth in this? Does peanut butter contain bht or sodium nitrite to inhibit rancidity?

 

Like the idea of peanut butter on the shelf, but for this conversation, I was thinking about GHB for mine & MRS trucks, as well as snack use when out cutting wood, etc... ( though snack could also be made up from the peanut butter for those chores )

 

OP-

I just bought some cliff bars at Sams Club over the weekend as part of my food stockpile. I also bought 4 huge tubs of peanut butter. The pack I bought has like 18-24 bars, split between 4 flavors. I would rather spend the extra few dollars and have the variety in flavor, and pre-packaged so that I can just grab one and go if needed. I'll take a look at the shelf life, I believe it was about 2 years though (which is pretty much the best by date on all food you buy).

I am stocking what I eat, and eating what I stock. I can rotate these bars into our daily use pantry in a few years and replace them with a case or 2 of fresh ones if I want, or just keep them as I am sure they would be fine. Not sure how helpful that is, but I would say they would be fine, and if you are overly concerned about them just rotate them out in a few years and replace.

Good luck!

 

Cliff bars don't keep well in a hot vehicle, of course few food items do.

 

That's why hey are stored in my cool, dry, and dark basement individually wrapped and inside of a box

 

I was wondering about that... currently I have hard non melty candy ( Smarties to be specific ) as energy food in my bag... protein is taken care of in the form of jerky

I do have a couple packs of those Keebler peanut butter & cheese crackers & will be looking at them after a year, to see how they are working out...

in MN, I have to worry about both freezing & extreme heat & humidity

I'd love to put mini Snickers in my bag, but they would need to be rotated out before summer

I was hoping the Cliff bars ( or something similar ) might be ok for a couple years in a GHB... I could likely do a couple packs of those hard granola bars ( but I hate those ) was hoping to find something better

 

You might take a look at Millennium bars. They're rated for a few years and are heat tolerant. They have a good variety of flavors also.

 

Cliff bar left in my car for 1.5 years, ended up in a small bum **** nowhere town with ZERO restaurants for work related stuff.

Saw the bar in my door pocket and said "why not...."

It tasted fine.

I have a few Cliff bars in my GHB that i keep in the car.

Although one time, i bit into a fresh Cliff bar and got a nasty dose of a rancid, disgusting juice. I dont think the mix got properly mixed and there was a pocket of that.

Good god that was disgusting.

I do use Cliff bars as meal replacements when i cant get a proper meal in or as a protein boost before a workout.

 

I have about 12 cliff's and other assorted energy bars in a zip lock in my 55liter backpack that have been in there since early last year.
Guess maybe I'll look at the dates? :xeye:

 

Never had the cliff energy bars, but I used to eat the protein bars after lifting weights, not great, but not bad. I keep them in go bags for food supplement.

 

you know... I was at CTD's web site looking at these, ( Millennium Energy Food Bars ) & reading the reviews... half are 4 & 5 stars, half are 1 & 2 stars... definitely a divided response from people who have purchased those...

in trying to read between the lines, maybe I'd be just as well off with the jerky & Smarties candy I have in my bag... although there is not much fat in my bag right now... a little in the peanut butter in the Keebler cheese cracker sandwiches...

looks like I'm still thinking

 

Some people love one and not the other. Personally I don't like coconut so the Datrex is out for me. But I do like lemon so I have the Mainstay.

Make sure your body can handle them though. It definitely takes a little getting used to. I'd recommend getting them both and trying them.

Almost everything else is going to need to be rotated eventually which really isn't a big deal, especially if you're out a bit. I eat a redic amount of peanut butter so I'm going to start having those in my bags.

I love me some Clif bars though on occasion If you're worried about the amount of carbs and sugars, they have protein bars which are also tasty.

 

I keep a few in my BOB and a survival bottle simply because there nice and soft and conform to a tight space. Energy bars aren't really suitable long term. I view them as useful for the first 72 hours of fleeing and won't touch them till that time comes.

 

CLIF bars hold about a year. They have some degree of oil in them that does not help shelf life. The SOS store in Los Angeles (you can google it) has 9 different flavors of survival bars in 1200 calorie packs. They have a 3 year shelf life and are a little more balanced for survival.

If you can't eat too many carbs vacuum sealed jerky has a similar 1 year shelf life.
HK

 

I have some CLIF bars in my car kits. I just had them in the house to refresh some items, add to them and so on--and decided to check the CLIF bars.

They had an expiry of July 2013, so naturally I had to test one.

It was fine. They're the dry granola type, and tested just fine. No evidence of rancidity either in taste or smell.

Further, these bars have made it through NUMEROUS freeze/thaw cycles. I keep 'em in my trunk here in Wisconsin, and between the extreme heat of summer sun beating down on the trunk, and the below zero temps of winter, they've been through some pretty extreme conditions for a couple years.

I'm impressed by them. I'm going to get some new ones and replace them, but it's clear they'll go well beyond the best-by date.

 

I've always kept Clif bars in my GHB. But I want something with a higher caloric value for my BOB. I've been looking at emergency meal bars. Something that will boost the calories per day to around 2400. I've was looking at a few different brands. I looked at SOS bars on Amazon. But the only ones that I could find were coconut flavored. These are a non-issue as I'm allergic to coconut. Even the smell turns my stomach. But I was, also, looking at Mainstay, Mayday and UST bars. I want something light enough to be able to carry around in a SHTF event, in case I have to walk to the farm. But it needs to be something that will give me enough calories to make the trek. Any suggestions?