Vanity Best MRE s

n/a ^ | charlespg

[Charlespg]

mre for hurricane season

[Screaming_Gerbil]

I’m sorry.. But to rely on MREs? This isn’t the apocolypse.

Interesting times may be a lot closer than you think. Just best to be prepared...

[mylife]

I dont know if they still make it but I liked the Pork Chow Mein

[Screaming_Gerbil]

Castleberry's Beef Stew, Original, 7.5-Ounce Pouches (Pack of 6)

[randomhero97]

It's cheaper to put your own together. Plus, you can take these hiking, to the range, even work.

build your own MRE

Much information is on this site as well:

survivalist boards

[djf]

Izzat freeze-dried?

[goseminoles]

Point taken. There are other foods as others have pointed out that provide the same staple. The premise was a hurricane and you have a)plenty of time to haul ass and b) if you are in medical/law enforcement/ med, there are places to go and food to eat. You think the NO cops went hungry during Katrina? Service personnel are generally safe and will not starve.

[mylife]

Just picked up a few 12 oz tins of hormel roast beef in gravy for the pantry

[yarddog]

I once traded for 36 cases of MREs at a gun show. This was not long after Hurricane Andrew and I think that is how he got them.

I thought they were pretty good as a whole. There were a few meals I didn’t care for but most were good and a few were delicious. I always heated them btw. Some of my favorites were the pork patty, the beef stew, the fruit cake, the white cheese,(which went well with the crackers).

I particularly disliked the tetrazini or teriyaki or whatever they called it. There was always more hot sauce than I wanted so I ended up with around a hundred little bottles of it. Sometimes they came with candy bars which were good. I never cared for the peanut butter and saved it to make PB&J sandwiches.

[JRandomFreeper]

The problem with MREs is handing one to a middle-aged in-law when they have never seen one before.

They haven't been acclimated to the taste, it's going to plug them up badly, and menu fatigue sets in very quickly. Like in 24 meals, if you have several cases of the new mixed rats.

The upside is what you said, long shelf life, so-so on diet requirements (they can't be fed without augments for very long), and are fairly handy.

But knowledge is a force multiplier. If you know how many calories you need a day, and can buy canned, transportable and storable foods that you already eat to cover the expected time period, you are better off with the stuff you normally eat. IMHO.

But good water is critical.

/johnny

[mylife]

Vifon noodles are excellent without all the salt.

http://www.amazon.com/Vifon-Noodles-Flavor-Instant-2-1-Ounce/dp/B000R2R3L0

[mylife]

it's going to plug them up badly,

That's a fact LoL

[djf]

In fairness, though, we’re talking survival rations, not filet mignon.

I used to do alot of hiking in the cascades and a buddy gave me one of his survival granola bar things. So I’m sitting about 2700 feet up and I try to eat this thing, hell, rabbit pellets imbedded in cardboard would have been better!

But it was enough to keep you alive.
With a nasty aftertaste maybe, but alive!

[Screaming_Gerbil]

No, the beef stew is in a packet instead of a can.

[djf]

Mountain House makes a bunch of freeze dried stews and breakfasts and stuff that comes in packets, I bought a bunch of them, haven’t tried them yet.

[yarddog]

A few months ago, Wal-Mart cleared out some of the Mountain House meals. Even at half price they were not cheap but that did make them at least reasonable. I bought a dozen or maybe a few more and intended to save them for emergencies.

They ended up tasting so good that I just ate them. Actually better than your average meal.

[mylife]

Then there are these.
http://www.hormelfoods.com/brands/hormel/HormelCompleats.aspx
I don’t know how you’d heat em but they are dirt cheat.
They have all the downfalls of an MRE, but I keep several as back up.

Canned meat and veggies is superior, but this stuff is ready to go with some heat

[phalynx]

Bumblebee Tuna.....

[JRandomFreeper]

One is ok, on a hike. 3 days is ok if TSHTF. 30 days? Forget it.

I can get by on a civil war ration and gleaning. But I have years of training in fine dining kitchens where miracles are expected.

The important part is to identify the time you expect to be on the rations and plan accordingly.

1 day? Nothing, you won't starve if you are normally healthy. If you have special needs, have your doctor recommend something.

3 days? One MRE per person per day. Or the equivalent in other portable, storable rations.

A week? 3 days of storable, portable rations like MREs and lots of other stuff.

6 months? A knife, a .22 with ammo, string, and experience unless you have a logistics tail.

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

I don’t know how you’d heat em

You are going to boil your water and filter it and aerate it before you drink it, so pitch them in with the water you are sanitizing.

I've used those, they are good, and they will stand up to boiling water. They also get boring for modern Americans after a week is the only downside.

/johnny

[Goldsborough]

First, I second the Tabasco sauce recommendation. Laugh all you may, but I go to Cash & Carry locally at least once a year, and buy a case of Tabasco brand Garlic Pepper Sauce, the best of breed. You can hunt local stray dogs if necessary and make them palatable with Tabasco.

Item two is an MSR Miniworks. Water is way more necessary than food, and a pump action cartridge water filter solves two problems at once if the water supply is compromised. First, you have fresh drinking water, even if it is stored in a rain barrel, a hot water heater, or a toilet reservoir. Secondly, you don't have to come up with any fuel for a fire to boil, or create possibly unpalatable water using iodine or bleach.

Having had many MRE's in my time, both as a veteran and as a backpacker, they have their virtues, but in a fixed site "bug in," what I go with is a mix of preferred canned goods with their contents Sharpied onto the lid in the event of label loss from flooding or whatnot, over the expense of anything more than a few MREs placed in reserve in my bug out bag.

Twelve MRE or knock-off meals at $50-70 per dozen is freakin' expensive compared to canned goods, let alone buying enough to get by for weeks, especially when the only real world advantage is weight savings and the possibility of a minor morale boost from a warm meal if clean water is available, differences which are not at a premium in either a home or vehicle storage situation.

Canned goods, a world class field packable water filter, a metal match, and an authentic Swiss Army Knife or a name brand multitool with a tested can opener, are better investments for non end of the world disasters than anything other than a three day supply of MREs.