Ready Hour 4-Week vs Emergency Essentials 1-Month: which food kit should you buy?

Specs side by side

Specs as each maker states them.

The key differences at a glance

Ready Hour's 4-Week Supply, sold by My Patriot Supply, lists 250 servings and 56,460 total calories in two lockable buckets. The Emergency Essentials 1-Month kit lists 257 servings and 56,650 calories in a single 8.5-gallon stackable bucket. Both makers say up to 25 years. The difference is framing and packing: Ready Hour describes 28 days at about 2,000 calories a day, while Emergency Essentials describes 30 days at 1,888 calories a day. Read our Ready Hour review and Emergency Essentials review, or see the full emergency food supply comparison.

Calories and servings as the makers list them

My Patriot Supply says Ready Hour is designed to feed one person for 28 days at approximately 2,000 calories per day, and adds that some people may need more depending on age, gender and activity level. Emergency Essentials says its kit gives 1,888 calories and 45 grams of protein per day and feeds one person for 30 days, or a family of four for about a week.

Serving counts are each maker's own unit, so compare total calories rather than servings. Note too that the Amazon listing for Ready Hour quotes 56,140 total calories, not the 56,460 on My Patriot Supply's page, and Emergency Essentials says its printed label can differ slightly from its page because of ingredient supplier changes. Treat the label on the bucket as final.

Buckets, weight and shelf life

My Patriot Supply says Ready Hour's two containers hold 31 pounds of food in all, each measuring 9.75 by 11.75 by 15.75 inches with a collapsible carrying handle. Emergency Essentials lists dimensions of 11.25 by 11.5 by 18 inches and an approximate net weight of 31 lbs 7.11 oz. So the food weight is similar; it is split across two containers or packed into one.

Both makers say up to 25 years, with storage between 55°F and 70°F, and both say actual shelf life varies with conditions. On opening, the two say much the same: Emergency Essentials' FAQ says opened products last up to one year and that unopened pouches inside an opened container keep their full shelf life, and My Patriot Supply says unopened pouches keep their shelf life after a bucket is opened. Each maker also says it may substitute items of equal or greater value when stock is short, so your menu can differ from the list.

Water, heat and the menu

Neither maker gives a water total. Emergency Essentials' specification table has a row for approximate water needed to rehydrate the food, but the row is empty, and My Patriot Supply's product description gives no water figure. Emergency Essentials says to "just add water, heat" and Amazon's copy for Ready Hour says "add water, heat, then eat." Work out water from the pouch labels, using our guide to how much water to store and the water storage page, and plan a way to heat it with a camp stove.

Both menus lean on grains. Ready Hour lists 16 varieties including mac and cheese, stroganoff, white rice, pancake mix and oatmeal. Emergency Essentials lists 12 meal varieties, from chili beans and mac to oatmeal and rice pudding.

Which to choose

Pick Ready Hour if you want a kit framed around 2,000 calories a day, 16 varieties and two buckets with their own carrying handles. Pick Emergency Essentials if you prefer everything in one stackable bucket and want a stated protein figure and allergen line on the product page. Either way, this is shelf-stable food that mostly needs water and heat (Amazon's Ready Hour copy says some foods need no heat), so pair it with pantry food you rotate, as our emergency food storage guide explains.

Common questions

Keep comparing