# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Cooking, Food Storage, & Preserving >  Sailor Boy Pilot Bread

## dscrick

You guys in Alaska are lucky, you can walk into Fred Meyer or other store and just buy this stuff. 

I wanted to obtain a large quantity of this shelf stable cracker to put up in #2.5 cans, which one dozen of these large, thick crackers fit into perfectly (I've posted on the forum about the methods I use previously). So I started looking for a source here in the lower 48. Well, no luck there. 

I saw that MRE Depot was selling pilot bread (based on the nutritional data, it wasn't "Sailor Boy" brand) already packed in #2.5 cans at $79.95 for a case of 12 cans (144 crackers). Add shipping and I'd estimate about $95.00 a case.

I finally found a source, Span Alaska Sales, http://www.spanalaskasales.com/shop/basic-snacks.html ,who is an internet/mail order grocer that serves Alaskans primarily. I was able to purchase 24 pounds of Sailor boy (12 2lb boxes) for 81.99. Shipping via Fedex ground was on the expensive side, bringing the total cost up to $134.26. 

The Pilot Bread arrived six days after I ordered it. I immediately put it up in #2.5 cans with an oxygen absorber in each can. The yield was 38 cans of unbroken crackers, 12 to a can. Add my cost for the cans/lids at 90 cents per can, and oxygen absorbers at about 20 cents each, and I have about $175.00 invested (I already have a can seamer).

So, I got over 3 cases worth of the same thing MRE Depot is selling f(nothing against them, I buy other items from them) for about $110.00 less. Glad I bought that can seamer.

Why go through all this? I think having a shelf stable (estimated at 25 years packed in cans), ready to eat supplemental food that is rodent/vermin proof and protected from moisture and spoilage a good idea.

If anyone knows of a source for Sailor Boy in the lowere 48, please pass it along. I plan on putting up a bit more

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## Sourdough

I just keep it in the original case for years.


  WINCO Stores in America.

SAILOR BOY PILOT BREAD Interbake Foods is also the proud supplier of one-and-only Sailor Boy Pilot Bread. This specialty cracker is well-known in the Northwest United States and Alaska as the favorite bread in the bush country of Alaska. Interested in learning more? Please visit the Sailor Boy facebook page. Interested in purchasing Sailor Boy Pilot Bread crackers? Winco stores carry the Sailor Boy Pilot Bread in bulk bins in their stores in California, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington State. Span Alaska Sales, located in Monroe, Washington, is a stocking wholesale distributor who specializes in the direct shipment of grocery items. They offer Sailor Boy Pilot Bread and Sailor Boy Yukon Bulk Pilot Bread and will take orders via toll free number 1.800.367.9833.

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## Celticwarrior

If it already CAME in 2.5 cans, why unpack it, and then REpack it? Putting in the oxygen absorber shouldn't have been necessary if you left them in the original cans, since they are usually sealed in a low-Ox (probably nitrogen flooded) environment at the factory. The original cans should have given you the same results, or better, than the repack with the Oxygen Absorbers.

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## Rick

Sam's Club is supposed to carry it. 

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/sailor-...2lbs/156666.ip

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## dscrick

> If it already CAME in 2.5 cans, why unpack it, and then REpack it? Putting in the oxygen absorber shouldn't have been necessary if you left them in the original cans, since they are usually sealed in a low-Ox (probably nitrogen flooded) environment at the factory. The original cans should have given you the same results, or better, than the repack with the Oxygen Absorbers.


It comes that way from MREDepot, not from Span Alaska sales in bulk. I received it in 12 2 lb cardboard boxes (as stated in my post) with a plastic bag/twist tie, and of course no oxygen absorber.

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## dscrick

> Sam's Club is supposed to carry it. 
> 
> http://www.samsclub.com/sams/sailor-...2lbs/156666.ip


I tried that, not in stock at any store in the lower 48

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## Sourdough

It is baked in New Jersey, America

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