Depends on what the planned use is....as a substitute for regular food, or as an actual "energy bar" of the type intended for athletics?
There are big differences. Energy bars are intended to get a lot of sugar into your system fast, and can make you queasy if you fill your belly. Regular food bars like granola bars or Bear Valley Pemmican bars are really just grain/oats/fruits.

 

Personally I think that while they are useful, they are also a waste of money. For a fraction of the price, if you can bake cookies, you can make your own.

I mix my own GORP, which is M&Ms, assorted nuts and a dried fruit like raisins or apricots. Good concentrated energy and a bit of protein with some fruit vitamins.

Or pick up some food bars in the breakfast isle. I'm particularly fond of Fig Newtons.

 

Jar of peanut butter, and some Graham crackers. Either way you are going to need lots of water.

 

Ya, good stuff there. We bring bagels to. Sometimes honey. Occasionally nasty ass cliff's bars. They tame the beast, but taste like crap. Yuck.

 

Millennium food bars: http://beprepared.com/tropical-fruit-punch-millennium-energy-bar-sos.html

On sale is better. They've gone up some.

Just my opinion.

 

Millennium food bars: http://beprepared.com/tropical-fruit-punch-millennium-energy-bar-sos.html

On sale is better. They've gone up some.

Just my opinion.

Ditto on the Millennium bars, I recommend the Combo Pack :thumb:

 

depends what your wanting them for.

 

Biggest advantage to me is they are heat stable. So you can leave them in the car trunk all summer without problems. Being that I don't ever get more than 50 miles from home I don't need them. If I am in town and need to walk home for some reason I just would go to a store and get a bunch of Payday candy bars. Or just tough it out for the two- three day walk home and not eat. Won't hurt anybody to not eat for a week or so. Best thing to do if you think they will meet your needs is to buy one of each type off E-bay and see which one you like. Lots of YouTube videos on this subject.

http://www.youtube.com/results?sear....0.650536.652529.0.653105.8.5.0.3.3.0.196.718.0j5.5.0...0.0...1ac.1.5vFS03g6Cjo

 

I just go for the Snickers bar, have for 40 years and they help alot if I'm too busy to eat at the moment. Energy bars are $$ and usually taste funny, some give me gas and that's never good while wearing waders.

 

I get fruit and nut bars at Sam's club. Large boxes, great price, heat tolerant, and everything you need (salt, sugar, protien, fat etc)

 

Any recommendations on where to buy the Millennium bars in bulk? I get so excited when they're about $1.40 until I find the seller charges pallet-like shipping. :xeye:

 

I tried the Datrex. It was ok.

Yesterday I ordered the Mainstay 1200 and a Millenium variety pack.

As others mentioned I've ordered these based primarily on their shelf life ability. But if I gotta eat em then I'm ordering the good stuff lol.

Based on online reviews these are supposed to be pretty good. We'll see

 

Ok. They're here. I've only tried the Mainstay so far (and the datrex before).

Think of slightly lemony pound cake that you've compressed as tightly as possible and then a bit dry. The taste was perfectly agreeable without being too sweet. 1.5pts better in taste compared to the datrex dx1000f and 5pts higher in structure since it holds itself together far better. This makes it easier to eat lol.

In fact the datrex falls apart rather easily.

Neither the datrex or mainstay have sucked the water out of me. Always a consideration when water is finite.

Looking at the labels the mainstay is much better in the nutrition department than the Millenium. As far as I understand the first ingredient in a list represents the biggest ingredient. So enriched flour, with all the vitamins and stuff, for the mainstay and sugar for the Millenium.

But wow that mainstay is a monster lol. Nearly the size of a 16oz water bottle.


Some photos showing scale:

 

I used to eat the regular MetRx and Myoplex bars you'd find in GNC. Recently I tried the Power Crunch made by BioNutritional Research Group and love the flavors (Vanilla Creme, Choclat, Wild Berry Crime, PB Creme, etc). They're big into creamy waffle like bars which I like.

 

How about making some Pemmican. I've heard that Natives live of this while hunting. Always wanted to try making some, never have though.

 

If you bring a jar of peanut butter and put a thin layer on the cliff bars, it makes them taste totally different. Couple years in Iraq taught me that. It gets rid of the nasty zing.

 

I wouldnt say that they're a waste of money, but they are more of a convenience food. I use them for trail calories. I just buy the Powerbars (the newer kind) or Zone bars by the box at Walmart. They end up being well under a buck each that way and give about 230 calories a bar for the Powerbars. The important thing if you want to use them is to find ones that you like. Ive tried some that I just couldnt eat.

 

Just make sure you do 2 things.

1. Drink 40 ml of water per kilo of body weight

2. Take laxettes once a day.

 

Food bars... I have different layers of food bars in my BOB. Mainstay 3600cal. Massive emergency, I gotta hump 6 days to get home. Maximum calories per square inch. Long shelf life... Power bars. Protein bars- mainstay does not have much protein, lifeboat rations- proteins take water to digest.

Theyre quick. Theyre easy. Low waste/garbage. Plan is to never use the mainstay, but eat what I use Cliff and powerbars.

 

I pack CLIF bars in my BOB and EDC. High in carbs and protein.

 

Funny, I was going to suggest that you try these "Pemmican bars". I have carried, paddled, stashed, stored and scarfed these suckers for nigh on 25 years. I know some city slickers who don't care for them, as they do not come in either 'pizza nacho burrito' or 'chocolaty, fudge dripping, triple-dipped German chocolate cake' - but I love 'em.

One of these with about a pint of water has been my breakfast, lunch or dinner on many, many excursions afoot and afloat. They fill me up, pack/carry and store well, are tasty to me and don't have a lot of crap in 'em.

(Plus they don't send me screaming, fumbling for my belt and running for the closest makeshift woodsy facilities/comfort station as do the sugar-soaked, exlax-style Cliffbars - whew, doagies... That's tough - and can be very NOT pretty - when it kicks in whilst paddling a briskly-moving river with only high-banks...)


http://www.mealpack.com/index.html

 

'chocolaty, fudge dripping, triple-dipped German chocolate cake'

What ones are those?
I want one, just to try.

 

I’ve heard the Pemmican bars are actually pretty good.

For backpacking and temporary GHB use, we prefer Clif bars and more recently, I have a pro-discount for Pro-Bars which are actually quite nice, non-GMO and a little more “natural” for a processed bar.

For longer term storage, I much prefer the Datrex “bricks”. I prefer the taste of Mainstay and the Millennium food bars. Taste is not too relevant for when you actually need them. Actually the blander they taste, the least likely you’ll snack on them when you really don’t need them.

As mentioned, peanut butter makes all of them taste a little better and is a good staple to have on hand. Also, drink plenty of water! Even the ones built more around carbs than protein; water is really needed to help digest.

ROCK6

 

Clif bars are a good choose. They are designed for hiking/outdoor activites.

 

You can probably make your own for much cheaper.