As I've mentioned, I don't really like the appellation, "survivalist" because through the years it's picked up a sort of negative connotation of one those paranoid (don't trust the gov't), possibly religio-political fanatic gun nut with a dash of White Supremist mixed in. "Survivor" may be more accurate, but it also now connotes a type of victim or one who survived an ordeal. I don't really like "survival expert" either, because it sounds too authoritative and people might take my advice and suggestions for hard fact and go out and hurt themselves. Les Stroud (and to a slightly lesser degree Bear Gryllis) is a survival expert. I'm just a regular Joe jotting down my twp cemts about woodcraft, my personal experiences, and my particular "plan" to survive. 2 cents is about what my advice is worth.
I'm a "survivalist" in the sense that I live in a earthquake zone and also spend a lot of time in the outdoors away from civilization and prefer to "be prepared". I've tried different types and different brands of highly concentrated survival foods and ounce for ounce Mainstay rations are the best (for shelf-life, compactness, nutritional value, shape, and, yes, even taste). I daresay, many people don't even know that such a concentrated ration bar exists. I first discovered them in Air Force survival vests and emergency lifeboat lockers. They are readily available for purchase at marine supply stores, surplus stores, some disaster preparedness retailers, and Amazon.com.
They were originally developed (and USCG approved) for lifeboat survival, so I used to pick them up by the case at marine and boat supply places. Because of this maritime background, they are designed not to cause thirst or intensify dehydration, like other foods can (remember digestion usually requires water).
Each rectangular vacuum-sealed mylar-backed laminate plastic package is a little bit bigger than a double CD album (like the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack.... LOL), and consists of 9 blocks of food. Each block is the caloric equivalent of about 1 meal. So if you pace yourself, you have about 3-4 days of rations for 1 person in one package. I recommend stocking at least one package for each member of your family, or each person in your shelter. I read in a catalogue once that they were approved for use by all world religions, if that matters to you (when you're starving). I particularly like the shape of this package because I have a pocket on my "Go" bag which perfectly fits one Mainstay. For those not familiar, a Go Bag is an emergency supply/gear bag that you can quickly grab on the way out the door or when bailing from a vehicle under exigent circumstances.
I still use MREs, freeze-dried foods (Mountain House), and canned foods also, but Mainstays are a great back-up and like I said the most compact food energy source of all of them. Mainstays can also be crumbled and used over less nutritious foods to supplement them (like field greens, roots, nuts, berries, thin soup, etc.) or to make them more palatable. My favourite "field" recipe, a Mainstay block with a big dollop of peanut butter on it. It's a calorie bomb that feels "hearty" and will keep you going at a slow burn for half a day.
As for taste, I kind of like them and believe me, when you're hungry, they taste great. A Mainstay tastes neutral, slightly sweet, to me, like a shortening cookie. I think the instructions advise that if rescue is not imminent, don't eat for the first 24 hours. LOL... I can't speak to the nutritional requirements of non-human consumers, but I will just mention... dogs seem to like them. As soon as you get them, write the Expiration Date on the front (like, "01/12") with a Sharpie so you can know which ones to eat first. Every few years, when I rotate my stock, I enjoy them for a few days of snacking.
Oh, and TSA inspectors don't like them in carry-on... LOL.
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