MRE's - AR15.COM

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Posted: 1/5/2016 1:43:58 PM EDT

So back in the late 80's early 90's I had a few cases of MRE's. These were the ones in the OD green plastic. I generally liked them and ate them when camping, hiking, during training days, etc..

Fast forward to 2004. I wound up buying some MRE's, which I think might be civilian versions. They are packed in a clear plastic outer package, and the entrees are in brown plastic. I'm trying to rotate out my preps so recently started to eat them. What a difference between these and the ones I had previously. Can't say I have liked any of these so far, and the worst being the omelette, which does not even look like eggs, just some brown paste with pieces of red and green pepper sprinkled throughout. The wheat bread sucks, fortunately my chickens like it though. What happened to the deserts? No more cherry nut cake, or my favorite the oatmeal cookie bar. Now you get some fig newton knock off with blueberry filling.

Are current production MRE's any better? I see cases on Craigslist from time to time and wonder if I should buy some newer ones, but I really don't want to if they taste like the ones I am eating now.

Posted: 1/5/2016 1:50:00 PM EDT

[#1]

The ones in clear plastic are a lower quality civilian version. Buy the ones in a tan package with the fancy MRE logo, and you'll likely see a big difference! The omelet one you mention, is one of the worst there ever was! No one has ever said a good thing about it, and rate it as lousy in all reviews that I've seen.

You can pick up late date cases on Ebay pretty reasonable. Prices vary allot due to various sipping distances of the Sellers.

Posted: 1/5/2016 8:15:21 PM EDT

[#2]

Don't know where in Va you are.I always find current production ones/sealed cases w/ heaters on Fredericksburg craigslist from guys stationed at Quantico.

Posted: 1/5/2016 9:36:24 PM EDT

[#3]

I'm in Virginia Beach, plenty of military down this way, and I have seen MRE's on CL here before.

Good to know the current military ones taste better than the ones I have. I like having a couple of cases added to the preps and would hate to stop including them because of the taste.

Posted: 1/6/2016 11:21:56 AM EDT

[#4]

We have had threads on mre itself and the entrees may have had their own thread. The threads had places to buy em from as well.

Might be worth trying some out perhaps.

I agree today's stuff is not that bad but I am not even reading the thread in general discussion about the military wanting volunteers to eat mre stuff for 3 weeks straight. I don't see that going all that well for some folks.

I have some of the more recent stuff, made in the last few years, and have been using it for riding around and goofing off in the woods and most of it is fine but some is not to my taste. And by that I mean it is just stuff I don't normally eat so not something I would normally be wanting to taste test.

Posted: 1/8/2016 1:29:33 PM EDT

[#5]

In Dec 2014 I bought a case of 12 from MREStar.

They don't come with TP but are otherwise nearly identical to mil versions.

ETA The julian date on the case was Nov 2014, so they were brand new. Another place was offering them for less, but their date was almost 3 years old.

Posted: 1/8/2016 5:24:07 PM EDT

[#6]

I had two cases of MREs that I squirreled away in the event of emergency, power outage, natural disaster, etc. Then, I changed my mind about keeping MREs for emergencies.

The reason? I actually ate them

Get thyself Mountain House packets, You get more food, they are WAY better than MREs, and you won't think you have a three course meal only to realize it's just a bag full of cardboard and plastic bags. Some of those entrees are almost restaurant quality, like their chili macaroni. In the case of emergency a hot delicious meal will do wonders for your morale, where the MREs are more of a survival ration.

The main difference is that you need to provide your own heat, but I've never been able to get those heaters to cook entrees hotter than room temperature anyway.

Posted: 1/8/2016 6:28:37 PM EDT

[#7]

I've taken the approach of having both Mountain House and MREs. There are times that it just isn't practical to get water hot enough for reconstituting freeze dried foods. With that in mind, I have select flavors of MREs on hand for kind of a fast food option. Other flavors that don't appeal to me real well, are kept for barter material.

I agree that the Mountain House is the best option for taste, but water and a heat source might not be handy to do it right. If you're on the move, it likely wouldn't be practical either.

Posted: 1/10/2016 12:30:32 AM EDT

[#8]

Be careful buying MREs from areas around military bases on Ebay and such. Might end up with folks from the .mil coming by saying they were stolen.

Posted: 1/10/2016 9:01:27 PM EDT

[#9]

My family all likes the new MREs. Haven't had many clunkers off the menus. Once or twice a month, wife and I are feeling lazy and don't want to cook dinner. "Hey kids, let's have MREs for dinner." We have three teenagers, two are picky eaters. The universal response is, "Yay." Excited yay, not a sarcastic yay. They all like them. Wife is a vegetarian, and she likes the veghead MREs, too.

Posted: 1/12/2016 4:50:55 AM EDT

[#10]

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I've taken the approach of having both Mountain House and MREs. There are times that it just isn't practical to get water hot enough for reconstituting freeze dried foods. With that in mind, I have select flavors of MREs on hand for kind of a fast food option. Other flavors that don't appeal to me real well, are kept for barter material.

I agree that the Mountain House is the best option for taste, but water and a heat source might not be handy to do it right. If you're on the move, it likely wouldn't be practical either.

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Posted: 1/12/2016 2:56:41 PM EDT

[#11]

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I've taken the approach of having both Mountain House and MREs. There are times that it just isn't practical to get water hot enough for reconstituting freeze dried foods. With that in mind, I have select flavors of MREs on hand for kind of a fast food option. Other flavors that don't appeal to me real well, are kept for barter material.

I agree that the Mountain House is the best option for taste, but water and a heat source might not be handy to do it right. If you're on the move, it likely wouldn't be practical either.

this

+1

They both have uses that the other doesn't cover and both can come in very handy.

Posted: 1/17/2016 3:47:43 PM EDT

[#12]

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+1

They both have uses that the other doesn't cover and both can come in very handy.

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Quoted:
I've taken the approach of having both Mountain House and MREs. There are times that it just isn't practical to get water hot enough for reconstituting freeze dried foods. With that in mind, I have select flavors of MREs on hand for kind of a fast food option. Other flavors that don't appeal to me real well, are kept for barter material.

I agree that the Mountain House is the best option for taste, but water and a heat source might not be handy to do it right. If you're on the move, it likely wouldn't be practical either.

this

+1

They both have uses that the other doesn't cover and both can come in very handy.

Yup...

Posted: 1/17/2016 7:13:57 PM EDT

[#13]

MRE's are not my only fall back food. Have about 10 plastic boxes full of MH meals, a couple of dozen Mainstay lifeboat ration packs, #10 cans of freeze dried food from Honeyville grain, and a large stock of regular canned goods.

I was just worried that if I bought some new MRE's they would taste as crappy as the ones I am currently trying to eat.

Posted: 1/17/2016 7:24:32 PM EDT

[#14]

www.beprepared.com runs some good deals on MRE components. They don't sell the full Military packs. I am guessing they buy over runs from the manufacturer. I just put my own 'meals' together with the components.
They are always fresh when you buy from them, they seem to have a good shelf life, and are inexpensive

Posted: 1/17/2016 8:29:14 PM EDT

[#15]

I have a combination of mores and freeze dried food.

I also have a limited amount of canned goods as well.

Posted: 1/17/2016 11:19:53 PM EDT

[#16]

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MRE's are not my only fall back food. Have about 10 plastic boxes full of MH meals, a couple of dozen Mainstay lifeboat ration packs, #10 cans of freeze dried food from Honeyville grain, and a large stock of regular canned goods.

I was just worried that if I bought some new MRE's they would taste as crappy as the ones I am currently trying to eat.

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Some of the older ones weren't bad. For the most part, the newer stuff is better. They try to keep changing menus and improve the menus and product.

As mentioned before, they aren't the bestest and greatest, but they have their niche in the emergency food plan. Aside from MREs and MH freeze dried, I have a variety of canned and dry goods. Again everything has it's place in the food plan. In my plan, I plan on eating good whatever the situation!

Posted: 1/17/2016 11:54:10 PM EDT

[#17]

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I've taken the approach of having both Mountain House and MREs. There are times that it just isn't practical to get water hot enough for reconstituting freeze dried foods. With that in mind, I have select flavors of MREs on hand for kind of a fast food option. Other flavors that don't appeal to me real well, are kept for barter material.

I agree that the Mountain House is the best option for taste, but water and a heat source might not be handy to do it right. If you're on the move, it likely wouldn't be practical either.

this

I'm heavy in oreos with MH, but the truth is that MREs have a place because there are times when you are cold, tired, hungry and wet and all you want to do is eat and not have to cook a meal. MH is great, but the caloric value isn't there and you'll be waiting a half a hour to eat by the time you boil water and allow th food to rehydrate.

Posted: 1/18/2016 11:32:37 AM EDT

[#18]

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I've taken the approach of having both Mountain House and MREs.

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This, plus normal canned food in a Cansolidator setup to ensure rotation.

My current stock, in terms of man-days of food, is about 55% MREs, 30% MH, 10% bulk stores, and the rest is conventional canned food. I would like to burn the MREs down by about 10-15%, but rotating them into non-wasteful consumption plans is the most challenging out of all the food preps.

Posted: 1/18/2016 7:09:00 PM EDT

[#19]

Macaroni with beef/Chili mac aren't bad. Vegetarian taco pasta isnt bad as odd as it sounds.

Dont forget to get extra hot sauce packets

Posted: 1/18/2016 11:56:47 PM EDT

[#20]

They are not BAD - certainly not worse than 10-20 yrs ago. If within the 5-7 year mark I would say most all are edible and not hard to eat. Nothing will come close to a home cooked meal but they get the job done. I've had the same success with the DOD and the white plastic models. The materials appear to be virtually the same with some variation on the heaters and accessories.

Posted: 1/20/2016 9:07:11 PM EDT

[#21]

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Don't know where in Va you are.I always find current production ones/sealed cases w/ heaters on Fredericksburg craigslist from guys stationed at Quantico.

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So you're that guy that beats me.

Posted: 2/2/2016 2:55:06 PM EDT

[#22]

Posted: 2/2/2016 3:28:02 PM EDT

[#23]

That picture is of old, old, crap that was/is just plain crap. For something worse try the old Omelet one!

Posted: 2/2/2016 4:02:50 PM EDT

[#24]

The difference? I'm shocked you like the Green ones.

Though I still use them time to time, my best advice is move up to Freeze Dried and don't look back.

Tj

Posted: 2/4/2016 11:58:25 PM EDT

[#25]

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That picture is of old, old, crap that was/is just plain crap. For something worse try the old Omelet one!

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That picture is recently ordered from Old Grouch, packed Nov. 2012 meal. Not so damned old.

Posted: 2/5/2016 1:35:51 AM EDT

[#26]

The current crop of military MREs are infinitely better than the brown bagged ones I had in the late 80s and early 90s.

Posted: 2/5/2016 8:07:23 AM EDT

[#27]

I remember eating frozen spaghetti out of one like a Popsicle in the pre-heaters / dark brown pouch days. I remember the omelet with ham being the worst one, or so I thought until I tried it, it wasn't bad. I thought the frankfurters were the worst.

The newer ones in the tan bags are much better.

Posted: 2/5/2016 8:42:49 AM EDT

[#28]

MREs and freeze dried fill different needs, and I keep both on hand a long with lots of canned goods. Each has its own use, while there is some overlap, there isn't one that completely eliminates the need for the others.

Posted: 2/5/2016 10:49:36 AM EDT

[#29]

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MREs and freeze dried fill different needs, and I keep both on hand a long with lots of canned goods. Each has its own use, while there is some overlap, there isn't one that completely eliminates the need for the others.

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+1