Ready Hour is My Patriot Supply’s newly rebranded line of emergency food storage. They’ve moved from the old Patriot Pantry name where every package looked like it was pancake mix, to a new modern design which I kind of like.
The food still has the same 25+ year shelf life, it just has a different package and they’ve changed up some things to make it taste a little better.
With the switch in names, they also added something that I don’t remember seeing in other food storage companies, guaranteed 2 day delivery in the lower 48. If you’re outside of the lower 48 you’re still looking at traditional delivery times, but for the rest of us, that’s really fast!
At least now there’s a place to order food storage if you’ve been procrastinating and potentially have a storm bearing down on you.
Ready Hour 72-Hour Emergency Kit
I asked for a review sample of their new food line and My Patriot Supply was nice enough to provide me with one of their 72-hour emergency kits with no strings attached.
The first thing I noticed was how different the new packaging really is. They seem to be leaning more toward the modern prepper with their branding than the prepared family that seemed to be their target before.
Not that the package changes what’s inside. As long as the food tastes good and lasts for a long time, it’s still perfect for anyone looking for food storage.
The outside package is a large Mylar bag with a ziplock style closure on the top. You can also see that it’s clearly marked as averaging 1,600 calories a day for 1 person.
What You Get Inside
You need to know what you’re ordering when you decide to buy any long term food storage. Look at the calorie counts per day, look at the number of servings, look at the number of people it’s targetting. All of these are important and can drastically change what you get inside!
When you first open the bag, you see the four meals inside. You can see that one of my meals still had the old Patriot Pantry packaging.
I’d imagine that they’re just working their way through the last of the old packaging. Once they do, you’ll probably only get the Read Hour branded meals.
Each pouch is made of Mylar and has a ziplock style closure on top. Even though I have a bunch of Patriot Pantry food I don’t think I ever realized that they had a ziplock pouch. That’s going to make it easier to try to use some of the meal and save the rest.
I personally store Ready Hour food on top of my home packaged beans, rice and other food items. Their 3 month food supply is one of the better deals out there and it provides a full 2000 calories a day unlike a lot of other manufacturers.
Chicken Flavored Rice
The chicken flavored rice was my second favorite in the 72-hour kit. It was thick and didn’t need any salt to get it flavored to my liking.
Potato Soup
This was my favorite meal. It was thick, filling, and really hits the mark from a comfort food standpoint.
I did have to add some salt to it to get it just right, but I can’t hold that against it.
Mac & Cheese
I thought the mac and cheese was okay, but I’m not a huge mac and cheese fan to begin with. With just a little bit of salt it was good to go.
I had to set it sit for about 10 minutes after it was done cooking to get it to thicken up to the point that I was happy. It was a little too watery before that.
Black Beans and Rice Soup
The black beans and rice was my least favorite of the meals in the 72-hr kit. It could have used more seasoning to get it to where I would like it.
I added salt, but I still found that I was wishing it had something else. It wasn’t bad, but I don’t think I would be as satisfied eating this during a disaster as I would with the other meals.
Overall, most of the meals needed some salt and it seems like they’re aiming for light seasoning rather than going the overseasoned route that some companies shoot for. It really makes sense when you think about it.
If they go for lighter seasoning they can appeal to a larger audience…you can always add your own seasoning if you want. It also makes the food less likely to upset your stomach in a survival or emergency situation. I like the route they chose.
How to Store Your Food
When you get your food from My Patriot Supply, most of the hard work is done for you. A majority of their kits come in plastic containers and all of their food comes in sealed mylar pouches with oxygen absorbers.
The only thing you’ll need to do is find a cool dry place between 55 and 75 degrees to store it. If you’re storing your food above 75 degrees, they warn that you may shorten the shelf life.
As long as it’s relatively cool, I’d expect to get the full 25 years out of it. If you have it in a garage that gets really hot in the summer and really cold in the winter then you’re definitely going to lose some of the shelf life.
Uses for the 72-Hour Emergency Kit
The main complaint that I see about the 72-hour kit is that it only has about 1,600 calories per day.
On one level that’s a fair complaint. 1,600 calories are less than you’d expect to eat in a day. On the other hand, you need to take into consideration what the kit is designed for.
It’s made to keep you going for 72-hours. In this case, if you were stuck in your house for 72-hours and this was all you had to eat, then you’d be fine. Realistically you wouldn’t even need to eat in that 72-hours but this will keep you from being miserable.
Ultimately, I see this kit being useful for two things.
First, it would be a perfect amount of food for a weekend hiking trip. You’d have two meals each day and around 2,400 calories a day.
Second, it’s an inexpensive way to see if you like the food. I really think this is what most people are going to use this kit for. It’s a great way to decide if making the plunge into one of their bigger kits is right for you.
I saw a couple of people say that they got the 72-hour kit for a bug out bag. Personally, I think MREs or even just a couple of protein bars are a better choice for a bug out bag.
You need over a gallon of water to cook these 4 meals and each one takes around 15-20 minutes to cook. That’s a lot of water and a lot of energy that you may not have in a bug out situation.
Once you cook these meals it also takes a little bit of effort to clean your cookware afterward. It’s not a big deal but it’s something that you should at least think about.
You can read my whole bug out bag philosophy here.
Ready Hour’s Short Term and Long Term Food Supplies
Read Hour has two types of food storage listed on the My Patriot Supply website, short term food storage and long term food storage. At first glance, they may seem the same but you need to take a closer look.
The short term kits go up to 2 weeks for one person and they have around 1,500 calories per day. It makes sense to sell these kits with lower calorie counts because you can go for several weeks of reduced caloric intake and have no bad side effects.
Almost every food company out there does this. These are made for short term disasters where you’re going probably be back to normal within a few weeks.
In their long term food storage kits, they up the calorie count to 2,000 calories a day because you’re not entering a disaster where you’re going to need to survive off your food storage long term. This means you need to be able to keep your body weight up in the long run.
Their long term food storage kits are a better deal overall. You get more calories per day for about the same price per day.
Conclusion
I was impressed with the 4 meals that I tried and I think the 72-hour kit is a great way to see if you’re interested in spending more money on one of their more expensive food storage kits. If you decide to get one of their other kits, go for the ones aimed at a month or more, they’re a better deal.
You should also look at the #10 cans and other food storage items they have to offer.
