A Comprehensive Comparison of 26 Options from 14 Sources

Seed companies have been selling special collections of seeds for years. Some of those companies have now shifted their marketing strategies to buy into the buzz phrase “survival seeds”. These specific package deals have sprung up like weeds in a favorable Spring environment. Many savvy entrepreneurs as well as survival gear stores have taken on what may likely be an entirely new product line.

The packages available were varied in price, quantity, variety, various extras and type of storage containment. In some cases when making comparisons, the price to yield or price to feed ability ratio did not vary as widely across samples taken. However, the variance in the range for purported yield or feeding ability was large for similar quantities of seeds.

To further complicate matters there was a large variety in seeds and combinations in seeds across the board, as well as the fact that the weight or number of seeds was commonly not provided. In other words, it was difficult to make a fair and true comparison. It also put into question the validity of claims as well as source data, if any were used at all, as to yield or feeding ability of available survival seed packages.

Terms commonly used to promote and describe these seeds within survival seed packages are: non-hybrid, heirloom, open-pollinated, non-GMO and on occasion even organic.

Non-hybrid, heirloom and open-pollinated all have the same basic meaning: the resulting plants will produce viable seeds that if they are harvested properly have the ability to produce a crop the following growing season. If hybrid seeds are used, the resulting plants will not consistently have the same characteristics of the original plant from which the seed derived, and may produce totally disparate wildcards within the crop. While open-pollination may not produce a garden full of varieties uniform in characteristics, by its very nature, this plant stock will eventually become hardier and adapt to the local climate and soil environment.

Non-GMO refers to the term genetically modified organism. Usually a GMO plant will produce sterile seeds. In other words the seeds are unable to produce a crop.

The term organic can be tricky and the ability to apply this term falls under the regulation umbrella of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. An organization may seek Organic Certification and often farming operations will opt to simply take up practices that are considered organic even if there are stipulations they have trouble adhering to which keep them from being able to use terms such as Certified Organic. Some requirements are out of their control, such as proximity to certain environmental factors. Seek out information on farming practices at the source of the product for the truth. There are times when a label or lack of a label will not tell the entire story about the conditions of the source of agricultural products.

Fourteen sources on the Internet were reviewed, which garnered 26 survival seed package options. Listed in alphabetical order the sources are: American Survival Store, Ark Institute, Emergency Essentials, Healthy Harvest, Heirloom Organics, Heirloom Seeds, Lipscomb Affiliates, Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc., Survival Acres, Survival Logistics, Survival Seed Bank, Survivalist Seeds, Territorial Seed Company, and The Survival Zone. (Links are provided at the end of this article.)

The lowest price found was $31.95 from Survival Acres. 15 varieties of seeds for a total of 17 packs are offered in a #10 can. Survival Acres also offers a second option for $191.70 that is simply 6 #10 cans. This is exactly the cost of 6 #10 cans individually. Seeds provided are: Blue Lake Bush Bean (2 packs), Detroit Dark Red Beet, Golden Acre Cabbage, Scarlet Nantes Carrot, Golden Bantum 8 Corn, Straight Eight Cucumber, Salad Bowl Green Leaf Lettuce, Utah Yellow Sweet Spanish Onion, Lincoln Pea (2 packs), Champion Radish, Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach, Zucchini Black Beauty Summer Squash, Sweet Meat Winter Squash, and Rutgers Tomato. The weights are given in ounces or grams and are typical of the average seed packet purchased in a home garden store. It should be noted that a minimum combined order of $250.00 is required.

The highest price found was from Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc. $264.00 for 6 #10 cans. This is a savings of $11.70 when compared to the other offer available on their website for 1 #10 can containing 16 varieties of seeds for $45.95. If the case of #10 cans is purchased, it breaks down to $44.00 or a savings of $1.95 per can. Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc. claimed that each can would produce a ½ acre of yield and have a shelf life of 4-5 years if kept at 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Seeds were given as: Golden Bantam Corn, Blue Lake Pole Beans, Little Marvel Peas, Scarlet Nantes Carrots, Utah Sweet Spanish Onions, Golden Acre Cabbage, Lucullus Swiss Chard, Detroit Dark Red Beets, Butternut Winter Squash, Square Black Beauty Zucchini, Ace 55 VF Tomato, Barcarolle Romaine Lettuce, Yolo Wonder Peppers, Champion Radish and Bloodsdale Long Standing Spinach. The weight in grams or ounces was given for each seed packet as well. 5 ounces for a packet of corn and 6 grams for zucchini are typical weights for the average seed packet purchased in a home garden store. Currently Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc. offers free shipping for most orders of $100.00 or more in 48 states.

Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc. states that their seeds have been specially prepared and heat sealed in a triple layer foil packet to keep 3-6 times longer than typical seeds and Survival Acres makes similar claims about their package.

At face value the deal offered at Survival Acres appears to be a better deal than Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc. with a savings of $12.05 for a single can. There is also a difference of one pack of seeds. Neither website purports how many people these package deals may feed for a year.

Ark Institute appears to have a solid offer of $99.00 for 40 packets of 52 seed varieties. Ark Institute claims these packets will “keep for years”. This included vegetables, fruit and herbs. Some highlights are Baby Watermelon, Eggplant, Broccoli, X-Early Sweet Yellow Corn, 3 varieties of Hot Peppers and Tioga Hard Red Spring Wheat. Ark Institute also had two other offers. One was for small space and included 3 books and half the seeds for $129.00. The third offer was similar to the one for $129.00 but without the books and only costing $59.00. It is not discussed how the seeds are stored exactly, how many seeds there are or how many people the package will feed for a year. Shipping and handling is included in the price and each deal comes with instructions on how to prepare seeds for storage.

An interesting comparison was made between Survivalist Seeds, Lipscomb Affiliates, The Survival Zone and Survival Seed Bank. The Survival Zone and Survivalist Seeds appeared to have very similar if not the same offer, both for $118.95, which included shipping and handling. Each site offers 20 varieties for a total of 6000 seeds. The Survival Zone claimed it was nearly 2 pounds worth of seeds where as Survivalist Seeds claimed it was close to 3 pounds. Survivalist Seeds further stated it would feed “a family” for 3 ½ years. Survivalist Seeds also offers a free DVD that shows how to sell produce to restaurants, delis and farmers markets. There is also a claim they offer to buy harvested seeds.

Lipscomb Affiliates appears to offer a deal very similar. They claim their package produces 1 acre, and has 20 varieties. There is exactly 1/3 the seeds for a total of 2000 seeds, but not for a 1/3 of the price or even ½ the price. $64.95 with shipping and handling included is $5.47 more than half the price for a 1/3 of the apparent product.

Survival Seed Bank offers 22 varieties in a vacuum packed waterproof container for $129.00. This is $10.05 more than the offers from The Survival Zone and Survivalist Seeds. Survival Seed Bank does not make a claim of the number of seeds to make a proper comparison with The Survival Zone and Survivalist Seeds. It has 2 more varieties but only claims to make an acre garden. This is what Lipscomb Affiliates claimed 2000 seeds would produce, which was 1/3 the amount of seeds that Survivalist Seeds and The Survival Zone offers. The prices for the latter two are similar in price to Survival Seed Bank.

Survival Seed Bank offers instructions on how to harvest seeds as well as offering Nitro Seed Starter Solution, which is supposed to give seeds a boost in growing after they are soaked in this solution for a few seconds before being planted. When comparing Survivalist Seeds and The Survival Zone packages to Survival Seed Bank, the extra $10.05 may be offset by the starter solution if the DVD from Survivalist Seeds does not have value to the customer.

The most esthetically pleasing package deal was not geared toward survivalists, and it is possible the seeds may not be packed to keep for more than a year. It is a gift basket from Territorial Seed Company that comes in a 3-quart colander. It actually appears to be a decent deal if it were to be given as a gift to someone who would make use of it in the immediate growing season. As well as a colander, 2 different grow solutions are provided, a Seed Master II seed sower, as well as a seed to seed book. 24 varieties of seeds are included in this eye-catching basket for $109.95. The shipping weight is 9 pounds and so there is an extra shipping charge. A few highlights of the seed varieties are: Crimson Sweet Watermelon, Sweet Basil, Yellow Pear Tomato, Alderman Pea and Lemon Cucumber.

Two more deals from different sources were from Survival Logistics and Emergency Essentials. Although Survival Logistics did not provide as much information, it appears the package may be very similar if not exact. 16 jumbo-sized seed packets were offered in a can from Survival Logistics for $32.99. However, as of the writing of this article this offer was out of stock. Survival Logistics states that their seeds come in a resealable reuseable triple layered foil packet and their seeds have a shelf life of 4 years. Emergency Essentials also offered 16 varieties canned. Reusable triple foil bags are hermetically sealed to provide a 4-year shelf life at 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit. The cost of the package from Emergency Essentials is $40.99.

Healthy Harvest has 2 options for survival seed packages. The first one is $59.95 and includes a #10 can with 20 large packets of seeds. The second option is $99.95 and includes 40 varieties of seeds packaged in 4 separate #10 cans. There are no claims as to yield, weight, or amount of seeds for either option.

American Survival Store and Heirloom Organics appear to offer the same brand in the form of 4 offers at each of their websites. This was one of the most confusing comparisons, as there appears to be widely conflicting data on how many people their packages will feed, how many seeds are in otherwise similar packages, and the weight of the packages. Also there is a lack of information on the varieties of seeds contained in the various packages. Packages range in price from $69.00 up to $249.00, and claimed to feed from 1 person on up to 8 people.

Heirloom Seeds provides 2 very similar offers. The difference is $4.99. For that amount you receive your seeds either with or without a silica gel insert contained within a plastic bag. Heirloom Seeds claims that those seeds stored within the plastic bag will keep for 3 years. For either option $10.00 is donated to the American Red Cross for each purchase. $95.00 or $99.99 will get you 76 seed packets. Some highlights of seeds offered are: 6 varieties of Tomatoes, 4 varieties of Summer Squash, Parsnip, Kale, Golden Self Blanching Celery and New England Pie Pumpkin.

This is by no means a complete comparison of aspects such as shipping time, product quality, actual success with the seeds and actual testing of how long seeds keep before degrading beyond usefulness. The family at Survive That! would like to encourage its readers to take practical steps in disaster preparedness and survival. It is only when our readers take the initiative to voice their opinions and knowledge on collective experiences, such as that with survival seed packages, that our magazine can continue to grow. It is this writer’s humble wish that all of you will openly and honestly share your wisdom with one another.


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Garden Seed Can Contents

Triple-Layered Foil Packets
Sealed in a CAN FOR EXTRA PROTECTION

Sweet Corn, Golden Bantam: 5 oz./142 g.
Onion, Utah Sweet Spanish: 10 g.
Spinach, Bloomsdale Long Standing: 10 g.
Winter Squash, Waltham Butternut: 6 g.
Squash Zucchini, Black Beauty: 6 g.
Radish, Champion: 10 g.
Tomato,: 3 g.
Swiss Chard, Lucullus: 8 g.
Pea, Lincoln: 10 g.
Beet, Detroit Dark Red: 8 g.
Cabbage, Golden Acre: 10 g.
Lettuce, Barcarolle Romaine: 4 g.
Cucumber, Marketmore 76: 8 g.
Carrot, Scarlet Nantes: 6 g.
Pepper, Yolo Wonder: 5 g.
Pole Bean, Blue Lake: 5 oz./142 g.

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Websites referenced:

Survival Acres

Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc.

Ark Institute

Survivalist Seeds

Lipscomb Affiliates

The Survival Zone

Survival Seed Bank

Territorial Seed Company

Survival Logistics

Emergency Essentials

Healthy Harvest

American Survival Store

Heirloom Organics

Heirloom Seeds