Posted on 04/19/2006 5:25:34 PM PDT by neutrino
I've been thinking of procuring some MREs as the hurricane/severe weather season approaches - and thought my fellow FReepers would be the best possible source of information.
It appears that there are two general options - the MRE pack from SOPAKCO - an example of which is here
The other supply seems to be assembled from contract overruns, for example the item at this link
It appears that MREs are more cost-effective than freeze dried items. I prefer to have an assembled meal instead of purchasing individual items. Also, I recognize that the Sopakco meals don't have heaters - but, those can be obtained elsewhere.
I realize that actual military MREs are available on eBay, but I hesitate to go there since I understand there are legal issues with purchasing them.
So, fellow FReepers - please share your wisdom with me. What should I look at?
The peanut butter demanded some serious kneeding - otherwise, it remained separated into oil and a truly horrific residue. The cheese spread, about 15 years ago, was quite good - but the most recent was disappointing. On the plus side, it didn't require kneeding.
The baked goods are something to look forward to.
I always tried to avoid the Hamsteak one...
There are a few of the Vegetarian ones that were good but I like pastas anyway.
The Cheese Tortellini was nice as was the Beef Chili Mac.
The rest of them I could go without....
Good ideas - the rotation issue is important.
Please be assured that I believe in exercising my second amendment rights.
I have considered MRE's but I have found most of them to be to high in sugar and simple carbs to be suitable.
The last thing I want in an emergency is for my blood sugar to be wonky.
That is where i bought mine.
I have a small one for the beach. Its sweet. Why more people don't have a solar radio for the beach or coolers that have the solar panel on them. Makes it a bit heavier but it works great.
I left Texas 4.5 years ago and sense that time I have always had plenty of canned meats on hand. I rotate them out of course.
I personally have an aversion to MRE's...maybe it's because I had to eat them in the Army...maybe not.
I would buy just one box (12 each) if you really want to buy one and store up with regular food.
My home was hit 3 times by hurricanes. I lost power for 5 days on the first one. 3 days on the second and 3 days on the third. Here's a list of what I had and what was hard to find.
20 Gallons of drinking water
25 lbs of Frozen meat
40 lbs of charcoal
3 bottles of charcoal fluid
matches
4 flashlights (D-Cell) 24 extra batteries
30 or so cans of canned meat
30 cans of various vegetables
30 cans of various (fruits)
4 Cans of roasted nuts
10 lb bag of potatoes
Powdered milk
Cereal
I wished I had bought:
BREAD!! (all the stores for 20 miles were out!)
CRACKERS!! all stores were out!)
Gasoline (all stores were out or without power!!)
I really didn't even put a dent in my storage. The whole neighborhood had cookouts all the time. It was fun. We used up all of our perishable goods first. By that time the power was restored. BTW, I have a wife and three small children.
Boy I need to learn how to spell!
Water was non-existent too, but it is a priority for power companies to get power to this first...so you should have plenty.
Awww man...I eat those like candy!
Nice and salty!
They are great with a little Tabasco Sauce and some hard tack.
I haven't a clue, but glad you posted this so I can learn also. I am concerned about the bird flu that is being down played by the media and etc. I am stashing back some supplies just in case! Thanks!
Don't even think about it. Buy some canned foods and a manual can opener. Powdered milk. Dry cereals.
That's a good list...I'm good on the water, with 40 gallons.
The crackers, canned fruits, and so forth are good ideas. But frozen meat? It seems that you'd need to plan to cook it all up at once....
I often use mine at home too so that I can carry it room to room with my talk radio favorites.
If you have a large freezer it will keep for days.
I have a small one and as long as you don't open it and keep it packed tight with frozen food or ice it will keep for 3 days.
We cooked all of ours at once actually (3rd day), and shared it with neighbors. They did the same for us.
Oh yeah, I forgot. Buy plenty of toilet paper. It was gone! You couldn't find it for a week.
I did share my water with folks. I gave it away. Some people won't be as fortunate or will not plan like you...expect that.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
A lot of myths out there about the MRE's. We were taught to drink one (1) qt. minimum of water with each MRE et, at least. They are very concentrated, w/ approx 12-1450 calories per meal. The early meals were "not so good" compared to the C's but in the last 20 years they have improved considerably. You won't find a C ration newer than about 30 years, so are probably not the tastiest at this point. I say bring back those 4 packs of ciggies in the accessory pack. The ones I had were fresh as a daisy, Pall Mall's iirc.
I bought a few C's at a surplus shop a few years ago. The pound cake (Eunice King's Kitchen) was really good. The MRE's have this now, too - Eunice still makes a mean poundcake - the _lemon_ and _vanilla_ pound cake is REALLY GOOD.
Storage conditions are important, freeze-thaw cycles are not what you want.
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