DATREX Emergency Food Ration Bars for Disaster or Survival, 2400 Calories per Pack of 12 Bars

The bars that I got today, June 2019, were manufactured in May 2017, leaving less than tree years left on the shelf life. Getting only 3/5 of the shelf life earns only three out of five stars.

I received my order (short 3 packs) tossed into a box with everything else I had ordered that day along with some bubble packs. Nothing was damaged or anything, I just wasn't impressed with how it was done.I decided to open the pack I received to try them out after reading through more reviews. I liked the fact that the 12 bars are individually wrapped which makes distributing them among your group/family pretty easy and you don't have to eat it right away.The first thing I noticed upon opening one of the individually wrapped bars is that half of it immediately turned into a pile of crumbs. There were some chunks that you could easily pick up and eat if they also didn't immediately turn into a pile of crumbs. If you were in a situation where you were starving to death and crumbs were all you had to eat then that would be acceptable but other than that these are just a pain to eat.The flavor was definitely tolerable and right away I understood why other reviewers were calling them nothing more than cookies. They actually seem as if they could be made from a bunch of random crushed up cookies. The flavor is mild/bland, the texture and taste reminded me a bit of shortbread cookies but they taste much better. I think I could taste the coconut in there. Taste is subjective so everyone will have a different perception of the flavor.Overall and honestly, I would not buy these again. I have not tried the 2400 calorie food rations from our local Mart to compare them but I am sure there has to be better options out there. I cant feel confident stocking my cupboards with Datrex food rations and I am not confident that they would supply the necessary vitamins and nutrients needed for energy and survival.If there were no other options then these would be a perfectly acceptable source of food but I am certain that your money and mine would be better spent on something else.

Disclaimer: I have never eaten these in a survival situation. If I do and this website survives the whole thing I'll come back and update. Because whether DATRX looks, tastes, and feels great going down is going to depend on whether you are eating your 1st or your 101st.The experts and common sense tell me you should try out survival food before you ever get around to needing it, so you'll know at least a tiny facet of what it's like to eat and eat and eat the stuff you've so responsibly stowed. A little sample won't get you the context of foraging for moose and edible evergreens in arctic winter and coming across a discarded pack of unexpired DATREX. In that context they might taste as good as a steak -- and not a moose steak, either.But I did try a few in the comfort of my own home. Honestly? Dry: no moisture there to be lugging around in your backpack or to accelerate the ingredients' decomposition while sealed in the very snug, heavyweight wrappers they're factory-packaged in. A little sweet, nothing like a dry cracker; they say it's got a little tropical flavor there, but I can't vouch for that. I want to say texture-wise, they're nothing like a granola bar -- there are very few sizable chunks of anything in them. Instead they're powdery, and hygroscopic (drying to the mouth). Supposedly you don't need water to choke one down but I have yet to demonstrate past a bite #5.If your idea of a "survival bar" has a line of tappers and a bunch of rowdy locals to rub elbows with, you clicked on the wrong website. OTOH if you want a time-tested product that's been trusted for years, stow a bunch of these, check the expiration, and set your googly calendar (or your calendar towel, in case everything goes to heck and we're back to pre-IBM days) to re-order every few years. Rotate stock every couple of years: this isn't one of those things that lasts 25 years (though even fresh out of the pack some would say it tastes like it's been around that long).I sincerely appreciate that a company has made the trade-off between taste, texture, and all those comforts against the practicalities of survival, even going to the trouble to print clear instructions about food survival and water consumption on every pack of their product. Unequivocally 5 stars for the product, price, light weight, packaging, and lucid encouragement in aggregate.

I bought these emergency rations back in 2013 and kept them in a compartment of my car as part of my go bag. They have endured both extreme heat and freezing temperatures. I am in the process of rotating out these rations because they will be approaching their expiration date soon. I can say that after sitting in my car for four years, they are still good and taste the same. I highly recommend these for any one needing small portion rations that last a long time.

Great deal. All were still sealed on arrival. They taste pretty good. Each bar is individually wrapped, recommend using a knife to cut the plastic wrap and slide the bar out. If you try to tear with fingers or bite the wrapping with your teeth the bar will crumble. You can eat half the bar with a sip of water, then repeat. If you try and eat the entire bar at once with no water your mouth will dry out and it will be hard to swallow it. Overall.. I think these are great to have just in case.

I read the review & thought I'd risk it. Placed a double order (8 packs) 96 bars total. There are 12 bars to a vacuum sealed foil pack. 4 packs per order. 5 Year Shelf Life.Issue 1 - Damaged Foil - All of the seals seem OK, save one pack that has been impacted and punctured. Looks like an ice pick hit it! All Amazon Packaging was ok, so the puncture must have been at Datrex. I requested a replacement pack - we'll see if I get it.Issue 2 - Shelf Life - All 8 packs were manufactured in May 2012. They were nearly 11 months old when I received them. Effectively, these are only good for 4 years.Bottom line: For $18.69 per order (Amazon free shipping price) I was hoping for a wee bit more in product packaging & shelf life. They're OK. But for $38.38 I could have purchased 4 of those $10 bricks of energy bars at Costco and packed them away long enough to last 4 years. If I had to do it over, I'd invest my money elsewhere...should have bought another #10 can...

Not what I expected but they will do nicely in the event of a emergency 👍

Longevity

Fast delivery. Quite happy with the product