ReadyWise review: calories per day and cost
Short answer: 7 of ReadyWise's 17 emergency food supplies sold by days reach a full 2,000-calorie day (2,065 to 2,260 kcal per person a day). The other 10 work out to 1,800 to 1,988 kcal - 86-95% of the 2,100 kcal UNHCR uses as its planning minimum for emergency food assistance. At the prices charged that day, cost runs from $3.88 to $11.88 per 1,000 kcal. On October 27, 2026, 1 of the 17 was sold out on ReadyWise's own store.
In our roundup, built on our comparison of 69 kits, ReadyWise takes the most kits that clear a full 2,000-calorie day category. See how the winners were picked in the best emergency food supply guide.
Servings, total calories and prices are ReadyWise's own, read off its product pages on October 27, 2026; the per-day, per-serving and per-calorie figures are our arithmetic on them. Only some ReadyWise pages say a kit is for one person; we read every kit as one person's supply for the days it is sold as. ReadyWise sells the serving packages by servings and prints their days at 1,800 calories a day; its 1 Year kit is "360 days of food".
ReadyWise kits, on the numbers
| Kit | kcal/day | Days at 2,000 kcal | $/1,000 kcal | $/1,000 kcal at struck-through price | Price | Total kcal | kcal/serving |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,820 | 2.7 of 3 | $8.24 | - | $44.99 | 5,460 | - | |
| 2,260 | 3.4 of 3 | $7.37 | - | $49.99 | 6,780 | - | |
| 1,988 | 7.0 of 7 | $9.34 | - | $129.99 | 13,920 | - | |
| 1,827 | 12.8 of 14 | $5.86 | - | $149.99 | 25,580 | - | |
| 2,212 | 31.0 of 28 | $3.88 | - | $239.99 | 61,930 | 190 | |
| 2,085 | 31.3 of 30 | $4.48 | - | $279.99 | 62,540 | 192 | |
| 2,085 | 93.8 of 90 | $4.32 | $4.48 | $809.97 |
187,620 | - | |
Wise 3-Month Survival Food Supply
Sold out
|
2,224 | 100.1 of 90 | $3.88 | - | $776.99 | 200,160 | 193 |
| 2,085 | 187.6 of 180 | $4.24 | $4.48 | $1,589.94 |
375,240 | - | |
| 2,065 | 371.6 of 360 | $4.20 | $4.52 | $3,119.88 |
743,280 | - | |
| 1,823 | 26.4 of 29 | $10.40 | $10.95 | $549.99 |
52,880 | 220 | |
| 1,800 | 38.7 of 43 | $10.98 | $11.88 | $849.99 |
77,420 | 215 | |
| 1,803 | 79.3 of 88 | $11.16 | - | $1,769.94 | 158,640 | 220 | |
| 1,815 | 116.1 of 128 | $11.88 | - | $2,759.91 | 232,260 | 215 | |
| 1,813 | 158.6 of 175 | $11.16 | - | $3,539.88 | 317,280 | 220 | |
| 1,815 | 232.3 of 256 | $11.88 | - | $5,519.82 | 464,520 | 215 | |
| 1,811 | 464.5 of 513 | $11.88 | - | $11,039.64 | 929,040 | 215 |
kcal/day = total calories ÷ the days the kit is sold as, shown as the brand's own printed figure where the two differ only by rounding; green reaches 2,000, amber falls short. Price is what ReadyWise's page charged that day, with the struck-through price shown under it where there was one; $/1,000 kcal = price charged ÷ total calories, with the same figure at the struck-through price in its own column. "Days at 2,000 kcal" is how long the kit lasts one person eating 2,000 kcal a day. Left out: the 6 Month Mega Food Supply, whose page describes "236 days of food at 2,000 calories per day" while its 484,680 kcal would be 242 days at that rate and its name says six months; the Outdoor 2-Day Adventure Meal Kit, an outdoor kit; single buckets (breakfast, entrée, organic, gluten-free, sampler and others), even where the page also prints a day count; and multi-kit packs and bundles.
- ReadyWise lists servings by food line rather than as a kit total on most named kits, so kcal per serving appears only where a total is printed.
How long a ReadyWise kit lasts at 2,000 kcal a day
ReadyWise sizes its kits by days at its own per-day figures. At 2,000 kcal a day the One Week Emergency Food Supply (13,920 kcal) lasts 7.0 days; it is sold as a 7-day kit. At the 2,100 kcal UNHCR uses as its planning minimum for emergency food assistance, it covers 6.6 days.
Across the 10 kits that list pouch-style servings, one serving is 190-220 kcal and the kits plan on 8.2-11.6 servings a day. For scale, the median backpacking meal pouch in our 284-meal database is 530 kcal for the whole pouch. Serving sizes are not standardized across brands, so compare kits on total calories, not servings.
Cost per 1,000 kcal
At the prices charged on October 27, 2026, the cheapest per calorie was the WFS 4-Week Patriot Emergency Food Supply at $3.88 per 1,000 kcal; the most expensive was the 1080 Serving Package of Long Term Emergency Food Supply, the 2160 Serving Package of Long Term Emergency Food Supply and the 4320 Servings of Long Term Emergency Food Supply (tied) at $11.88. Across the 69 one-person kits from 8 brands in our comparison, priced the same way, cost ran from $3.35 to $19.54 per 1,000 kcal with a median of $9.41, and 10 of the 17 kits in the table come in below it. A low cost per calorie does not make a kit last longer, so compare the "Days at 2,000 kcal" column before the price.
Does it really last 25 years?
ReadyWise advertises a shelf life of up to 25 years on its kit pages. Independent storage research shows why the conditions matter: Utah State University Extension reports plain wheat keeping acceptable quality for 25 years stored cold but only 5 years stored hot (citing Brigham Young University research), and white rice storing well for up to 10 years at a constant 70°F with oxygen absorbers, against 25 to 30 years when properly sealed and stored. Those are plain grains, not prepared meals, so read them as a measure of how much heat matters rather than a forecast for any kit. Keep kits somewhere cool and dry, not in a garage or attic.
Which ReadyWise kit fits which job
- A full 2,000-calorie day: 7 of these 17 kits get there; the cheapest of them per calorie is the WFS 4-Week Patriot Emergency Food Supply (2,212 kcal a day, $3.88 per 1,000 kcal).
- Lowest cost per calorie: the WFS 4-Week Patriot Emergency Food Supply at $3.88 per 1,000 kcal ($239.99).
- Most expensive per calorie: the 1080 Serving Package of Long Term Emergency Food Supply, the 2160 Serving Package of Long Term Emergency Food Supply and the 4320 Servings of Long Term Emergency Food Supply (tied) at $11.88.
- Availability: on October 27, 2026, the Wise 3-Month Survival Food Supply was sold out; the other 16 could be bought on ReadyWise's own store.
Frequently asked
How many calories per day do ReadyWise kits provide?
7 of the 17 ReadyWise emergency food supplies sold by days reach a full 2,000-calorie day (2,065 to 2,260 kcal per person a day); the other 10 work out to 1,800 to 1,988. Method: total calories divided by the days each kit is sold as.
How long does a ReadyWise kit last at 2,000 calories a day?
Divide the kit's total calories by 2,000. The One Week Emergency Food Supply holds 13,920 kcal, which is 7.0 days at 2,000 kcal; it is sold as a 7-day kit. The table above gives the figure for every kit.
Which ReadyWise kit is the best value?
At the prices charged on October 27, 2026, the cheapest per calorie was the WFS 4-Week Patriot Emergency Food Supply at $3.88 per 1,000 kcal; the most expensive was the 1080 Serving Package of Long Term Emergency Food Supply, the 2160 Serving Package of Long Term Emergency Food Supply and the 4320 Servings of Long Term Emergency Food Supply (tied) at $11.88. Across the 69 kits from 8 brands in our cross-brand comparison, priced the same way, the median was $9.41, and 10 of the 17 kits in the table come in below it.
Does ReadyWise food really last 25 years?
ReadyWise advertises a shelf life of up to 25 years on its kit pages. Temperature is the big variable. Utah State University Extension reports plain wheat keeping acceptable quality for 25 years stored cold but only 5 years stored hot (citing Brigham Young University research), and white rice storing well for up to 10 years at a constant 70°F with oxygen absorbers, against 25 to 30 years when properly sealed and stored. Those are plain grains, not prepared meals, so read them as a measure of how much heat matters rather than a forecast for any kit.
What counts as a serving in a ReadyWise kit?
Across the 10 kits that list pouch-style servings, a serving works out to 190 to 220 kcal, and the kits plan on roughly 8.2 to 11.6 servings per person per day. Compare kits on total calories, not servings.
See ReadyWise lined up against every brand in the emergency food supply comparison (69 kits, sortable and filterable), or read the best emergency food supply roundup for the category winners.
Data source: ReadyWise's own product pages, captured October 27, 2026. We compare one-person, single-supply kits on calories per person per day (total calories ÷ days, read as set out above), cost per 1,000 kcal (price charged on the brand page) and stated shelf life. Prices are not live - confirm on the brand's page before buying. No brand paid for placement; there are no affiliate links here.