Now that I have a rather impressive supply of Datrex Ration Bars in 3,600 calorie packs I decided I should do a quick product review. This review was actually inspired more by curious children than anything else. As I was vacuum sealing the packages that were somehow compromised with a break in their external foil packaging seal, a couple of my youngest started asking questions. Lots of questions. After a while I became at least a Datrex Ration Bar salesman, if not sidewalk expert.
First I prefer Datrex bars because their ingredient list is very simple and not filled with chemicals or fake foods. The ingredients are: wheat flour, vegetable shortening, cane sugar, water, and coconut. That's it. They are not Keto (the healthiest way to eat), but survival is survival. They are a bit dry and crumbly, but I believe this is intentional to reduce weight and perhaps even extend their shelf life. Speaking of which, they are supposed to have a shelf life of 5 years but the very first bars I purchased still smelled, looked, and tasted fine at 6 year 3 months. They were of course stored in my humidity controlled cool dry basement storage room, which may have accounted for the extended shelf life. By the 7 year 2 month mark they went into the big green rolling dumpster outside. The taste of these bars is what I would call acceptable for normal consumption and delicious in a survival situation. Especially when compared to freshly killed field mouse or a handful of living grub worms. They are dry, a bit chalky, slightly sweet, and have a mild coconut flavor. Like a school cafeteria cookie. I asked my 3 youngest kids to each taste a piece yesterday. 2 said they were "okay" and 1 declared them "tasty". All of them agreed that they would prefer the Datrex Bar over an earth worm or grasshopper.
Each package 3,600 calorie pack contains 18 individually wrapped bars that are the size of the small soaps hotels (used to) put out. Each bar contains 200 calories, 3 grams of protein, 26 carbs, 9 grams of fat, and a touch of sodium. Vitamin content is 1% Vitamin A, 1% Vitamin C, 8% Thiamin, 5% Riboflavin, and 4% Niacin. They are reportedly non-GMO and contain no nuts. They also list as them as "non thirst provoking". Which is probably true, but they are a whole lot better if you have a drink of water before, during, and after. Your digestive system will be happier too. These bars are made in the US with locally sourced ingredients (or so I am told). Their headquarters are in Louisiana, but I am sure exactly where these bars are produced. Datrex Inc. has a number of locations around the country.
The average selling price seems to be between $11-12 each for a single 3,600 calorie pack, but prices vary and they do have case lots available at a lower per package rate. That's really not a bad price considering their portability and the fact that they can eaten immediately without heating water, cooking anything, etc. I keep 2 packages of 3,600 calorie bars in each of my 72 hour survival packs. I also keep them in our vehicle survival kits. Most survival food does do not well in both harsh winter and hot summer weather, but the Datrex bars do just fine - albeit with a surely reduced shelf life. The one kid who said they were tasty now has 2 small individually vacuum sealed bars in her school back. You know, "just in case".
https://www.datrex.com/
First I prefer Datrex bars because their ingredient list is very simple and not filled with chemicals or fake foods. The ingredients are: wheat flour, vegetable shortening, cane sugar, water, and coconut. That's it. They are not Keto (the healthiest way to eat), but survival is survival. They are a bit dry and crumbly, but I believe this is intentional to reduce weight and perhaps even extend their shelf life. Speaking of which, they are supposed to have a shelf life of 5 years but the very first bars I purchased still smelled, looked, and tasted fine at 6 year 3 months. They were of course stored in my humidity controlled cool dry basement storage room, which may have accounted for the extended shelf life. By the 7 year 2 month mark they went into the big green rolling dumpster outside. The taste of these bars is what I would call acceptable for normal consumption and delicious in a survival situation. Especially when compared to freshly killed field mouse or a handful of living grub worms. They are dry, a bit chalky, slightly sweet, and have a mild coconut flavor. Like a school cafeteria cookie. I asked my 3 youngest kids to each taste a piece yesterday. 2 said they were "okay" and 1 declared them "tasty". All of them agreed that they would prefer the Datrex Bar over an earth worm or grasshopper.
Each package 3,600 calorie pack contains 18 individually wrapped bars that are the size of the small soaps hotels (used to) put out. Each bar contains 200 calories, 3 grams of protein, 26 carbs, 9 grams of fat, and a touch of sodium. Vitamin content is 1% Vitamin A, 1% Vitamin C, 8% Thiamin, 5% Riboflavin, and 4% Niacin. They are reportedly non-GMO and contain no nuts. They also list as them as "non thirst provoking". Which is probably true, but they are a whole lot better if you have a drink of water before, during, and after. Your digestive system will be happier too. These bars are made in the US with locally sourced ingredients (or so I am told). Their headquarters are in Louisiana, but I am sure exactly where these bars are produced. Datrex Inc. has a number of locations around the country.
The average selling price seems to be between $11-12 each for a single 3,600 calorie pack, but prices vary and they do have case lots available at a lower per package rate. That's really not a bad price considering their portability and the fact that they can eaten immediately without heating water, cooking anything, etc. I keep 2 packages of 3,600 calorie bars in each of my 72 hour survival packs. I also keep them in our vehicle survival kits. Most survival food does do not well in both harsh winter and hot summer weather, but the Datrex bars do just fine - albeit with a surely reduced shelf life. The one kid who said they were tasty now has 2 small individually vacuum sealed bars in her school back. You know, "just in case".
https://www.datrex.com/
