Mr. Rawles:
First off, I would like to thank you personally for the nice note you sent to thank me for becoming a “10 Cent Challenge” subscriber. The services you provide are worth much, much more than the $36.50 [per year that] you ask. To be honest, you’re a better man than me; if I were you, I would probably make the subscription mandatory.
I do have a question for you: in your considerable opinion, how would you rate the usefulness of this product from a preparedness perspective
As you can see, they tout “The ARK” [bucket-packaged storage food unit] as having up to a 15 year shelf-life and $119 + $25 shipping seems pretty reasonable for a full month of meals for one individual – especially if it really is 1600 calories per day.
I’m a little confused. As I’m sure you saw, the very top of the web page lists the bucket as containing “90 Complete, Delicious, Easy to Prepare Meals.” But, if you add together the individual food servings contained within, my count brings me to 177 individual servings; dividing that by three squares a day would actually give you 59 days (call it 2 months by adding some minor additional preps along the way) worth of individual meals for one person at 1600 calories per day – in a rationing situation, getting by on 2 meals a day plus limited extra preps could stretch this bucket out to a 90 day supply for one person! Sounds too good to be true. Thanks, – J.S.C.
JWR Replies: I believe that it is too good to be true. This product–or one remarkably like it–was originally marketed as a “three month food supply for one person.” There was at least one lawsuit over their claims– which focused on the number of meals and caloric content. This was covered in SurvivalBlog back in August of 2006. It might be a product worth buying, but realistically, consider it just a 15 to perhaps 20 day food supply for one adult.