Not the best thing for prepping
924182
Not the best thing for prepping. They are scrumptious, and you'll eat all of them long before you'll need them. So, I strongly suggest ordering at least two, putting one locked away, and go ahead, indulge and eat the others. The flavors are very true to taste, and when I eat them, I think of peach pie, lemon meringue, blueberry pie. Oh, these are delicious.
3058232
I bought this for some new menu ideas. While these would be good for appetizers, I'm not sold on the idea that they could count as as a whole meal. It was interesting but was not really a good fit with our eating patterns or the amount of prep time that I'm willing to invest.
1449921
This is something you can easily do without if you have the little spatula. I thought it would be good for scraping big cuttings off the mat, but it's really pretty mediocre.
3372507
This blade does what it is designed and purported to do, but there is still a thin line of whatever you are mixing above the rotating blade that doesn't get touched.  Given the time it takes to adequately mix most things and the foodstuff gets pulled/scraped into the mix anyway, I'm not sure this "convenience" is worth the extra money, especially if you normally don't have to scrape around the bowl more than once or twice anyway during the mixing of whatever you are making.  Not a bad item, by any means - just not even close to a necessity in many cases.
3793155
I have been seeing a lot of these paracord bracelets on Amazon and wanted to try one out but I liked this package because of the extras. I was offered this product at a discount or free in exchange for my honest review. So I get the package and open it to find it bagged up. It makes sense since this item is for "survival", it's functional with no frills. So onto the items.

The main event, as you may call it is the bracelet. And the bracelet itself isn't anything special. The fire starter in it is really hard to get going. I would not want to rely on it in a survival situation. I couldn't get it to spark but maybe that's because I'm not in a desperate survival situation. Who knows? I did not take it a part because it does not look like it goes back together once open. Maybe it does but I am also not the best at putting things together so it stayed in one piece. The compass seemed to work. I walked around my back yard a bit and it stayed north and I do not think there's much more you can ask for from a compass. The whistle worked ok. A bit hard to get going but since I can whistle pretty loud normally, it would be a back up whistle. For someone who can not though, this would be useful to have around.

Next were the two smaller S carabiners and the larger D carabiners. Honestly, I couldn't think of much use for these. Again, in a survival situation I may come up with something or they may become self evident but there's not much to say about their use until they have one. The ends open and close fine so that is a plus I guess.

The credit card knife is simple enough. It is shaped like a credit card until you need it. When in use, you slide the safety open and you fold the blade out. Then fit the ends over the bottom of the blade as a handle. This thing is sharp. Obviously a knife should be sharp but I honestly expected that it would not be too sharp and I was wrong.

The saw cable really shines. It ate through branches that I tried it on pretty quickly. I did not try it on anything too big, just sticks large enough to be used as walking sticks. It might be able to get through a larger log but I think you might be there awhile. If you need to get through a log then hopefully you have an actual saw. But in a pinch the cable works pretty well for getting through branches you would be otherwise unable to cut.

The emergency blanket is light weight and compact. It's great for easy transportation and when it is needed the full size is real large. You might not realize how warm your body is but this blanket should help you retain heat in an emergency situation.

The flashlight is bright and a smaller size. It seems like it'll be a great back up for my normal use flashlight. I used it a few times in low light situations and it fits the bill. You can see around when the lights are out with the flashlight and it's not super bulky.

Overall I liked most of the package. I'll throw it in my bag for when I need it.
487298
Of the others I've tried, this one isn't the best. But for a last minute, essentially non-perishable to have around, it's ok.
1026347
I'm not a hard core "prepper" and no...I don't think the sky is about to fall.  That being said I DO think it's a good idea for people to have some semblance of a "plan" in the event of a disaster.  As for myself, I did my stint in the military AND I spend a lot of time outdoors, a great deal of that time in wilderness or near-wilderness environments...As a result of my life experience/s a lot of the info provided in this book is just common sense reminders for things I already know.  So if I were rating the book on how valuable it was for me personally...ehhhhhh....I'd give it three stars.  On the other hand, for people who DON'T have a lot of experience outdoors, or for those who consider 2 hours without power "roughing it", then there is probably a lot of REALLY good and well thought out info in this book...Thus my 5 star rating.
1929733
While the recipes are probably tasty, they contain a lot of ingredients - many I don't have in my kitchen -  and take too much time to assemble and make, especially for everyday use. For example, the Hemp Heart and Sorghum Tabbouleh....I don't have either in my kitchen AND it takes an hour to make. The Big Tabbouleh Bowl requires you to make 3 recipes + the spiced chickpeas + grill zucchini + other stuff, again, taking at least an hour to prepare. And that's if you're already a good cook, I'll bet.

Also uses more oil than I would like. I don't see myself getting a lot of use from this cookbook, unfortunately.
1263219
I bought a Dehydrator to make beef and turkey jerky for my dog because she loves jerky and I did not want preservatives in her jerky nor did I want to buy the ones from China.  Since I was a rank beginner on dehydrating foods, I felt I needed all the help I could get. This book served its purpose because the instruction/recipe booklet that came with the dehydrator was very condensed and again relied on the included packets of spices, etc., which again had preservatives.  If you are an experienced person in dehydrating foods, this may be helpful for recipes but the reasons for doing things for safety reasons that are presented here which I needed, you may already know
2704754
Can't complain for what little I paid but don't expect to do too much with this. "Survival tool" is a bit of an overstatement.
639055
The recipes included do seem to be quick, as advertised, and do not rely completely on mixes and pre-packaged items to get there (some recipes do, many do not). Most include ingredients I wouldn't have around and wouldn't use the leftovers if I bought them just for this recipe. Or things I just don't particularly care for.

I will admit that two of my pet peeves are recipes that are so simple they are only useful for the most novice "cooks", or "fast" because they simply combine pre-packaged pre-prepared ingredients, and while *some* of these recipes fall into either category, it's not the vast majority.

The directions are clearly written and straightforward, the ingredients clearly listed.

Nutritional information included may be fairly complete, or may only show calories and fat, for instance.

Overall, three stars because of all the recipes included, I did not find a single one that interested me enough to try, but that isn't because they are inherently "bad" recipes. The chances that any other reader would find at least a few they wanted to try? I would say pretty good. And if so, they should be easy and quick.
3986726
Since my work hours vary so much, having something on the shelf that is quick, easy, and tastes good is important to me.  So, when this product became available, I decided to order it.  Here is what I found:

  1.  The best cooking method seems to be adding boiling water.  Using the microwave is not consistent.

  2.  This is either a large side or a small main dish.  When finished, the product comes up to the half way point on the plastic cup.

  3.  There is a flavor packet that to me is very weak.  But then I use a lot of spices when I cook, so you might feel it is strong if you normally do not use spice.  You can easily add more seasonings or use less of the packet, so the product is easy to adjust to your tastes.

  4.  To me, this is more of a starting point that you would add chopped veggies to, nuts, maybe some cheese, or other fresh items to.

  All in all, this is just ok for me.  While I can adjust it by adding fresh ingredients, it sort of defeats the purpose of being quick.
974414
It's useful but not the most amazing thing since sliced bread.  Does well with fresh, crunchy veggies but definitely not great when they go a little soft.
2335467
You can't really put a lot in at a time, which can be a little bit of a bummer, but overall this little guy does the job.
I've cut my prep time in half!
3068433
It works but it isn't very practical... it requires so much wood to cook a descent meal
2813853
Dont expect prime rib. But good to store for emergencies
3117520
If I were cooking for more than just myself, I'd be tempted to buy this because it's an easy way to add flavour to chicken. It's not an amazing or even very strong flavour, but it gets the job done.

Since I was just cooking for myself, though, I found that the packaging was really not ideal. I didn't need to use all of it at once, but it wasn't very convenient to divide up. I ended up just guessing, and pouring in more than half the package, so that I ended up with a bunch of leftover sauce in my bowl and a smaller amount in the package, neither of which really inspired me to use it. The package isn't resealable, so I suspect that the half-open package still sitting in my fridge should probably just be thrown out at this point. And since the whole point of buying pre-packaged foods is the convenience, I'm not very happy when the packaging introduces an additional inconvenience. Again, this is just a reflection of my personal situation, but it's something that other single people may want to consider as well.

Of course, it would be different if I really loved the flavour. In that case, I'd be happy to have the same meal several days in a row, and would use up the leftover sauce with no problem. Since I thought it was only average, though, I was less enthusiastic about eating it over and over again. I may look for other similar products.