Millennium Energy Bars Assorted 12-pack

First of all, I am not one of those goofball preppers you see on reality tv. (most preppers aren't goofballs, anyway). I bought these for insurance, just like I carry a spare tire in my car. I wanted something I could put in my car in case I had to stay overnight at work or got snowed in somewhere (I live in Wisconsin). I have tried one so far. Here is my take on them.I received a random flavor group of twelve bars. I tried a lemon, reasoning it was a pretty distinctive flavor. The package is vacuum sealed plastic, with the manufacturing date and expiration dates marked on each bar. They are rated for five years storage, and the ones I got were produced the month before I got them. Each bar of 400 calories is individually wrapped, so no leftovers to deal with or go bad. The package was solid enough that a grab and pull with my teeth wasn't going anywhere, but a nick with my pocketknife got it peeled back. I don't know how it will stand up to bouncing around in a glove compartment or backpack, but it seemed pretty sturdy.The bar itself was solid and didn't fall apart when I took it out of the package. It kind of reminded me of a bar of cookie dough. I nibbled my way through it in about a half hour while working in my basement shop. There isn't a lot of fruit flavor to it. I wouldn't have known it was lemon if I hadn't seen the wrapper. It was chewy, mildly sweet and quite rich, again reminding me of cookie dough. I found it quite filling, but I did eat it after a regular work day, with a lunch and dinner. It might have been better to substitute a bar for lunch. That said, it seemed to give me extra energy. That last might have been placebo effect.The bar was not at all crumbly, a nice minor virtue if you have to eat in your car or somewhere else where you can't wash up. Of course, this bar was new and hadn't been banging around in a coat pocket for a year.I think these bars are a good buy, especially for you real preppers out there. They would be a good choice for a Get Home Safe bag or even a 72 Hour bag. In the next few months I intend to eat some more bars while doing yard work and other calorie burning activities to see how my system gets along with them. I got these in late winter, when I tend to vegetate. I plan to update this review, and let you know how they hold up longer term stored in my car.All in all, I would rate them a good buy for their purpose.Update August 2014:I stuck one of these bars in my outside coat pocket last fall and left it there over the winter. It went where I went during a fairly serious Wisconsin winter--snow shoveling, snow blowing, loading heavy machinery on flatbeds outdoors at -15F, all the fun stuff. In April I ate the bar. Same as above, the bar wasn't broken or even crumby after six months in my pocket.I will do one more update around Labor Day when I try another bar that has been in the back of my car 24/7 since I bought it.Final update November 2014:I finally dug one of these bars out of my emergency bag in the trunk. It had been in the car since I got it in April 2013. Same results and taste as before. So far I can honestly say that a year and a half in a car at -20F to +120F had no noticeable effect on taste or texture. Keep them dark and out of sight in the trunk and they should be good for at least the five year rating on the label.

The nice list of different flavors? Well more like a list of possible flavors you could be shipped. I contacted the company to ask if I would receive a couple of each flavor, their response was "we'll mix them up." I ended up with only 3 flavors cherry, tropical fruit, and orange. The one thing they left out is that all bars contain desiccated coconut? Not sure what that is except it has coconut to a degree in it and in all bars. Should be interesting since I'm allergic to coconut cant wait to see what happens! Think all contain wheat, coconut and soybeans. Well tried it, just a bit so far no reaction to the coconut. It smelled like cherry for a bit when opened then nothing. I myself don't think it tastes like a shortbread cookie unless its from the stone age. lol. The first thing I tasted was sugar. It's not bad for what it is, an emergency food ration. They are made by the sos company. It is edible and not awful but would opt for an MRE first haha. Sugary, sandy, is what comes to mind when eating it. It has a "cookie" type consistency but does not remind me of cookie dough at all, being a big fan of the stuff since I was a kid, but just my opinion. The price, shelf life and being editable make it a keeper for my emergency bag as well as for my family. Just looked up desiccated coconut, its a reduced moisture shredded or flaked coconut. So basically coconut! ha ha. I hate the stuff hope it don't make me sick as no amount is listed.

I needed to find some decent emergency rations for my bug-out-bag (BOB). I try to avoid the typical Navy issue ration bars. Might as well eat the leather off your shoe. The Millennium energy bars worked out perfectly. I keep some freeze dried meals in my BOB as well, but when you are on the go and need some quick food energy, these really do the trick.These are technically not a ration bar, but at 400 calories, they can easily be a meal replacement. I essentially have 3 - 5 days worth of nutrition from this 12-count pack. I haven't tried all the flavors yet, but the apricot and lemon are really tasty. My only complaint is they are a little on the chewy side, but it's to be expected when you condense a meals worth of calories/nutrition into a few ounces.

hard stale artificially flavored cookie bars. that doesn't sound like a complimentary description does it? so why the 4 stars? because as far as survival bars go, these aren't bad. They win over other options because these are individually packaged so you can open just one at a time as needed and keep the rest fresh as opposed to competitor bars where they all come in one shrink wrapped package so if you break into it you have to eat them all right then. they don't taste the best in the world, but they don't really taste bad either. I would and probably will buy these again for BOB and general survival purposes.

These bars are THE BOMB....hands down, i have tried a few others, they lack flavor....THESE? absolutely delicious. The citrus flavors are not as strong as some of the other flavors are so even if you are not a lemon or orange lover, they are not as strong. I tried all but the coconut, the wife doesn't like coconut, but she raved about the vanilla (haaaaaaa and if you knew my wife, the mere fact that she would even try them, yes i gave her bites of all but the lemon) she gave a thumbs up to vanilla and cherry as her favs the rest she liked too.....anyway, i would TOTALLY recommend these for your bug out bag....remember, the bags don't have to be for a SHTF scenario, there are natural disasters too....always good to have a B.O.B. I have 36 bars now, enough for 6 days each for myself and the wife.....i may buy more too. Best part is you can search and buy them in singles :) (this person is not a paid actor paid to endorse this product lol) :) :)