Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm incredibly disappointed by these rations. After years of being absolutely spoiled by Mountain House, I decided to give these a try because they were on sale. 104 servings, I thought, for $88 - it's cheaper, looks nice, and hey, it comes in a box, and I can always use that after I'm done with it. First off, the packaging. The packaging of these meals is absolutely terrible. It's that faux-aluminum foil stuff that they used in US MRE's for years and years, and everyone hated. I haven't even had the mealpack for 20 minutes and, already, I'm just shaking my head. Compared to the Mountain House rations that I get - where every individual meal is packaged in a re-sealable package, labelled clearly and colorfully, with nutrition information on every ration - these packages are just garbage. The only identification that you get is a small, stamped label for anything that isn't a main meal; and about 75% of the package ISN'T main meals. These packages are just awful, especially after what I've had in the past. It's no longer the 70s, Wise, no one is impressed by foil-lined packages anymore. Secondly, the meals. The meals are awful. Not only are about 75% of them just not main meals (Instead, accessories meant to enhance meals made in the wild, or the pre-packaged ones), the main courses just taste terrible. Mine were only manufactured in 2017, and they tasted stale and flavorless. I had to bust into my own, homemade ration accessory packets just to smother it in salt and pepper, because literally none of that is included with the meals. Instead, you'll be let to enjoy things like dried strawberries and "butter sauce," that is more akin to liquefying cardboard then it is to do with butter. Honestly, I'd be much better off just making my own meals from what I've got lying around of 80s and 90's era MRE's and Mountain House packets. At least, then, I'd have something resembling a coherent meal. Third, the ease of use. I cannot believe that these packets passed any sort of QC. Christ, for half of them you've got to pour boiling water in - the packets aren't even thick enough to protect yours hands while it's cooking the meal, and most of the water portions are WILDLY off, creating some sort of odd stew of whatever the heck you managed to salvage from trying to get the bags even open. Compare this to Mountain House - which has a quick-rip top, resealable packaging, and thick-bottomed packages - and honestly you're just left wondering why these two products are even remotely the same price. Maybe I've been spoiled by US MRE's and Mountain House supplements. Maybe I've come to expect a better product for my price over the years, and just managed to get bamboozled this time. And, you know, I have to hand it to them : these meals are, TECHNICALLY, food. I have to give it two stars for that, because some of these products, in conjunction with stuff I've already bought, are marginally useful. But I'd never waste my cash on this set again when Mountain House offers a far superior product for about the same price. Whatever hooligan dreamed up this "survival kit," I'll never know, but I wish him all the best in life. God bless him/her, really, because it proves that you don't have to know anything about squat to work for Wise.