Reddit mentions of Mainstay Emergency Food Rations - 3600 Calorie Bars (Single)

More detail of the second pic in the link above:

• MINI wheel locks (with a socket wrench, which isn't pictured)
  
• Ice scraper
  
• A small mesh bag with a Garmin GPS and a Gerber multitool
  
• Tripp-lite power inverter
  
• Jumper cables
  
• Tow hook
  
• A "Oh Sh*t" bag that contains Mainstay Emergency Food Rations, a survival kit and a first aid kit
  
• MINI bag with a spare quart of oil
  
• A handful of bungee cords in assorted sizes
  
  I LOVE that lower compartment. So great to have all the random items I might need available, but out of the way and out of sight.

are you looking for something like this?
http://www.amazon.com/Mainstay-3600-Emergency-Food-Rations/dp/B000QZ3CWC

I also recommend Mainstay bars for something to keep in your car/office. They taste like extremely crumbly and dry lemon cookies, but they'll keep for five years in just about any place you're likely to put them.

I would look at survival rations. ER Bar, S.O.S. Rations, Mainstay, and Datrex were the brands I looked at. I ended up with Mainstay after a little research. There honestly appears to be little difference overall though so you could actually get whatever you can find cheapest or whatever little differences you prefer. One 3600 calorie package is supposed to last 3 days giving you 400 calories per day.

The biggest thing to remember is that these are made specifically to be light, compact, and the minimum you need to keep going for 3 days. You would not want to pack them for living for months off of but for 3 days they were the best alternative I could find.

The thing with bug out bags is first figuring out where you're going to bug out to and how you're going to get there. Do you have relatives that live 100 miles away? If so can you walk there if your car is unusable? I'm still struggling with this as my family is in the exact opposite direction of where I'd want to bug out to in a disaster/ SHTF situation.

Unfortunately, BOB's can get pretty expensive quickly - I picked my bag and contents for an indefinite bug out so naturally I ended up spending a good amount of $ on it - BUT spaced out purchases throughout many months as I also didn't have the money to be spending all at once.

Anyway, if you want to keep it under $50, I'd suggest looking for second hand bags....even for a halfway decent one, this can bring your budget to at least half that. Ideally, you'll want one with an internal frame and a belt strap. This will keep the weight off your shoulders and distributed evenly throughout - this is especially important if you plan on walking a bunch of miles. If you're not planning on walking far, then this isn't much of an issue but to me, bugging out assumes some walking involved.

Following the survival rule of 3's, the first item you'll need to address is some sort of shelter. Get some 550 paracord and a decent tarp. This shouldn't cost too much and you can make a quick & easy A frame type shelter. Even a few heavy duty trash bags could go a long way (ie solar shower, solar still).

I'd def get at least a light summer sleeping bag unless you feel ok sleeping on a bundle of pine sprigs. Do you have decent hiking boots and wool socks ready to go? I see a lot of bug out bags skimping on this but to me is one of the most important things to have.

Can you start a fire with the fire striker you have? How about if the ground is wet? Not saying you need to get one of these but also not sure if you would be able to process wood with a leatherman.

Next is water. Do you have a cup/ canteen to hold/ boil water in? If you're on the run, get something like this. But if you have time to boil any stagnant water, the canteen with cup linked above is a good idea to have.

For food, yeah protein bars, cans of tuna are cheap and good to have. I got a few of these. But they actually get kinda heavy quick (3 days worth of food in one block). For longer term, I'm currently looking into a decent fishing rod and setting snares.

Hope this helps! If you want to spend a bit more $ I can share with you some of the other contents I have..

This is currently the fore-runner:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QZ3CWC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?smid=A3077ZB2LWZZWN&psc=1

We absolutely do - they're just marketed as emergency rations, and in bar form instead of kibble since we eat with our hands.

Example

However, the US military has spent a buttload of money on rations research and developed better no-cook light-weight rations.

Nuts, avocados, bananas, peanut butter, and coconut/olive oil and butters are all healthy, high calorie foods and have pretty much been covered in this thread.

The only other option I can think of is something like the Mainstay Bars. They're designed to be calorie-dense for emergency situations, however you might find breaking a bar down and eating a bit every day would work for you. They're about 400 calories a bar, have some added vitamins and minerals, and have a mild lemon flavor. There are other types of these bars as well, but Mainstay is one of the more common ones.

http://www.amazon.com/Mainstay-Emergency-Food-Rations-Calorie/dp/B000QZ3CWC

You could try something like this... http://www.amazon.com/Mainstay-Emergency-Food-Rations-Calorie/dp/B000QZ3CWC