There is a huge market for specialty food bars made just for survival kits and bug out bags. I’m not talking about those 3,600 calorie bricks of cardboard that will enable you to try out your emergency dental kit. I’m talking high calorie, high protein energy bars that were developed by a Navy Seal and somehow due to the precise ingredient mix allows them to attain a “tactical” level of existence.
While many of these survival bars are great – they are also expensive and often difficult to find. There are alternatives right around the corner and down the street at the checkout of your local grocery store and corner market. That’s right – the candy bar.
After taste testing close to a dozen of the top selling candy bars(it’s a tough job but someone has to do it) and evaluating the nutritional and environmental ruggedness of each I came to one conclusion:
The Payday Peanut Caramel Bar is the ULTIMATE bug out bag food bar.
So – why does the Payday rank so high?
While a Snickers bar combines that ultimate combination of chocolate, caramel, nougat, and peanuts the extreme heat sitting in a vehicle trunk will leave that Snickers looking like something created after eating at Taco Bell.
By the way – what the hell is nougat?
Anyways – while the Payday will soften inside a hot car it doesn’t become a disaster like any chocolate confection. The combination of peanuts and caramel taste great and provide a very high-calorie protein boost.
Here is the nutrient breakdown for the KING SIZE Payday bar:
In the King Size format, there are two smaller bars in one pack. For the entire 2 bar pack, there are 440 calories, 50 grams of carbs, 24 grams of fat, and 12 grams of protein. For someone expending a lot of energy via walking, running, or physical labor this is some serious fuel.
Shelf life pales in comparison to many of the more expensive cardboard survival bars. 6 months or so is a good estimate depending on storage conditions. Running less than $2.00 per Payday bar they extremely affordable.
So – when the asteroids are pummeling through the Earth’s atmosphere and zombies are crossing the railroad tracks to eat your brain and you need some quick energy – make it a Payday.
Rourke
While I agree payday bars rank VERY high, a option for the calorie dense survival\emergency bars is to break them up and put into water to make a ‘slurry ‘ and drink it. That is our new preferred way to consume them.
An option we use is mixing peanut, butter, Old fashioned oats, and honey. make small balls of the mixture and then roll it in whatever you want .. brown sugar white/confectioners.. etc.. and yo can add grains.
If you’ve ever had a diet like MRE’s or low in fiber it has some other benefits too.
Paydays are on my list.
GG58
Oat bran is an ingredient used often in the cooking in our home….subs in great when one would use oats but wants a little less noticeable but not less fiber…i especially like it in meatloaf, hot cereals, cookies, nobake cookies/bars/balls/ and bread…a little goes a long way.