Review: American Red Cross 4 Person 72 Hour Food Supply Bucket

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This food bucket is an excellent bargain for those that want a compact bucket they can stick under the kitchen cabinets and know that they have some easy to prepare nutritionally complete meals for their family. For the couple, this offers at least 6 days worth and only weighs 12.2 lbs!

I like that the bucket has a seal that must be torn away before use. This means the bucket is totally sealed so even if it got water poured on it, your food is safe. All rations are sealed in mylar pouches for a long 20 year shelf life.

The Bottom Line

• 4 People
• 3 Days (72 Hours)
• 2,100 Calories / Day for each Person
• 120 Servings
• Different Variety Each Day
• Convenient 10 Serving Pouches. Use the entire pouch at each meal.
• Long Shelf Life

Entrees Included And Meal Plan

The meal plan below is included in the bucket and allows you to experience different meals each day. If you are serving less people you can save the remaining pouch for another day and reduce the amount of water used for preparation accordingly.

Day 1

• Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Oatmeal (10 Servings)
• Chicken Flavored Vegetable Stew (10 Servings)
• Hearty Potato Soup (10 Servings)
• Macaroni & Cheese (10 Servings)

Day 2

• Creamy Cinnamon Rice Pudding (10 Servings)
• Cheddar Potatoes (10 Servings)
• Black Beans & Rice (10 Servings)
• Cheddar Broccoli Rice (10 Servings)

Day 3

• Cheddar Cheese Grits with Green Chiles (10 Servings)
• Chicken Flavored Vegetable Stew (10 Servings)
• Creamy Cinnamon Rice Pudding (10 Servings)
• Cheddar Broccoli Rice (10 Servings)

Very simple and easy preparation

All the entrees are designed to be made by simply adding water and simmering for 15-20 minutes. This means the most basic rocket stove or camp stove can be utilized. If you are a fan of fuel tablets, sterno, or candle stoves then this food bucket is a good choice for simple preparation.

Comfort Food

These are hearty and filling rations. There is a lot of dairy via cheese but no meat products in the bucket. It is good that Ready Project considered choosing comfort food style recipes for these rations. During a survival situation, the taste of cheese and high protein is a luxury that makes the situation a little easier to get through.

Suggested Uses

I think these are a great idea for those that are short on space and want to be prepared for a power outage or natural disaster. I remember what it was like to be in a catastrophic flood and having something like this on hand would have made life easier and I would have probably eaten better than some of the meals that we could throw together at the time when I was a kid.

Stretching Out The Bucket

2,100 calories per day is a lot. This bucket could easily last longer than what it says. Part of this depends on your physical activity level, temperatures that you are exposed to, and of course your size and age. I have no doubts that 2 people could easily live on this bucket for a week and not suffer even if working a bit extra.

With a total of 33,600 calories, you could provide 3 people with 1,600 calories per day, which would be enough to survive. During an emergency, you may also need to think about throwing some things in the mix that won’t survive with a lack of refrigeration and how much this can add to the calories you have at your disposal each day.

Cost Per Person Per Day

Ready Project’s American Red Cross 72 Hour Food Supply Bucket comes out costing $6.25 per day per person. That is a good deal for the number of calories and variety of meals you are getting.

That means that even if you added in some extra dried fruits or meats you could have a good supply of easy to prepare meals and snacks for under $10 per day per person. Considering that a single convenience meal at a restaurant costs that or more in a lot of areas, this food bucket could be a good addition to your prepper pantry.

What I Would Add

Protein is important. There is a lot of cheesy products in this bucket which is fine by me but I would recommend adding either canned or dried meats and some fruit just for some variety. I know that I would get tired of eating so much potatoes and rice but I wouldn’t care so much about it being a lot of my diet if I had something to throw in it. Ready Project offers Mountain House dried meats.

Mountain House Ground Beef Cooked

Currently beef appears to be sold out on Ready Project’s site.

This can offers 22 servings which adds up to the equivalent of about 4.88 lbs of fresh ground beef.  Sure you are paying the equivalent of $10 per lb when you buy this but in an emergency, this would add a lot of flavor. This would enable a family of 4 to have a serving of meat per day for 5 days and have a bit left over.

Canned Meats

Of course you can always just put back a few cans of tuna, canned chicken, beef, ect. and possibly save a little money. Watch out for how much water you are paying for. There should be a drained weight listed on most cans.

Conclusion: Is it Worth i?

This is not a bad deal for what you are getting. At $110 or so for this bucket, you are getting a lot of food security for your money. The smaller size makes it easy to stash a few of these in the back corners of your kitchen for an emergency.

If you know of friends or family that want to be a little more prepared or take the first steps towards having a good natural disaster plan, then have them take a look at this bucket.

Where to Buy? You can pick up this kit directly from the Ready Project here.

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