Presented by Be Prepared Emergency Essentials (beprepared.com)

In 1989 when I was a teenager, a category 4 hurricane barreled through the Caribbean and then north up the east coast of the United States. The hurricane was named Hugo. I remember how the storm tore our city apart. Trees were down everywhere, homes and cars were ruined, food and gas were scarce (for awhile) and we were without electricity for an entire month. The only fun thing was that we didn’t have to go to school until everything got back to normal. 

During that month my family ate out a lot. I mean it was fast food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Or, my dad grilled out and we kept our food hot with aluminum pans and Sterno cans. That month would have been a lot more productive if we had been prepared. Sure, we did the obligatory bread and milk run to the grocery store ahead of the hurricane, but my parents certainly didn’t anticipate that we would be without power for an entire month. It was bizarre to say the least! 

For those who are perpetually in the way of hurricanes, tornadoes, or fires, or want to always be prepared for any type of disaster or emergency, there are a lot easier ways to be prepared aside from clearing out grocery store shelves. 

I was recently given the 2-Week Survival in a Pail ($114.99) by Be Prepared Emergency Essentials to review. The first thing I thought when I saw it was how convenient it would have been in 1989 when we had to deal with the aftermath of hurricane Hugo. 

With the increased frequency of natural disasters, FEMA recommends that every family should have at least a 72-hour supply of food, water, and other essentials. In the pail you have everything to sustain a person for two weeks. In fact, the entire pail contains over 28,000 calories, 726 grams of protein, and six gallons of water. There is a lot of food in this pail! Conceivably, a family of four could live off of the pail for as long as you’d like to ration the 131 serving sizes. Each serving size contains 1800 calories and 40 grams of protein. Be Prepared Emergency Essentials is very diligent about the caloric and protein intake available for each person. Be Prepared Emergency Essentials even developed their own standard, the Quality Survival Standards, that ensures your family will get the nutrients they need even during a disaster. While sharing the pail may be ideal depending on your family I recommend that everyone in your family has their own individual pail. Each pail contains the following foods:

• 3 pouches Cheesy Broccoli Rice
• 3 pouches Creamy Chicken- Flavored Rice
• 2 pouches Spanish Rice
• 1 pouch Fettuccine Alfredo
• 2 pouches Hearty Vegetable Chicken-Flavored Soup
• 2 pouches Creamy Potato Soup
• 1 pouch Banana Chips
• 2 pouches Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal
• 2 pouches High-Protein Chocolate Meal Shake
• 1 pouch High-Protein Vanilla Meal Shakes

In addition to the food, there are also:

• 3 Fire Disks
• 1 WaterBasics Bag-to-Bag Water Filter
• 1 Stove
• 1 Pot & Lid
• 1 Box of Matches
• 1 Emergency Reflective Sleeping Bag

Each bag has cooking instructions and the number of servings. For example, the cheesy broccoli rice makes eight servings. It is a lot! While the fettucine alfredo is four servings. You and your family, then, are able to choose how much you’d like to eat based on the servings in the pouch.

I tasted a few of the foods in the pail and I was pleasantly surprised. It was better than I thought survival food would taste that can essentially last 25 years.

There are a few things of note with the 2-Week Survival in a Pail. It can be a bit hard to open. It took us awhile. I chatted with customer service at Be Prepared Emergency Essentials via their website and they were incredibly quick to connect, courteous and helpful. You will want to purchase the bung wrench and bucket lid opener ($9.99) to make things much easier when opening your pail. Also, you need to have someplace where you can store your pail in moderate temperatures, no extreme heat or cold.

My family and I love the 2-Week Survival in a Pail and will keep it for any emergency or disaster that may head our way. And, we plan to buy additional pails that we can use or can share with family and friends. 

Discover more about the 2-Week Survival in a Pail at www.beprepared.com.