Posted: 11/14/2009 7:51:00 PM EDT
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So, I'm a poor College kid and I'm sick of eating Ramen... I got to thinking about MREs and looked them up on Ebay... some of the prices suck, but some can be had relatively cheap... so a few questions... 1) are the Ebay MREs legal? is there any way to legally sell an MRE? 2) Is there anywhere in ND that I can pick some up, short of giving my ass to the .gov? 3) Am I crazy for wanting these? ETA: spoze I threw this in HT just to see if any one around here knows any local places so really thats what im interested in |
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1) Yes they are perfectly legal.
2) Probably, but where? No idea. 3) Crazy? No, it's good to try new things. If you still think they are a better option than ramen after eating one I will be a little surprised though One thing to watch out for when buying MREs is the shelf life remaining, sometimes surplus places will get them with much less than the original shelf life left on them. This is more of an issue for someone planning on saving them for a SHTF type of situation than someone planning on eating them relatively soon after purchase. One other thing, you're probably going to get a better cost to food ratio going to Walmart than buying MREs from the prices I have seen when looking at them. Dan |
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Quoted:
So, I'm a poor College kid and I'm sick of eating Ramen... I got to thinking about MREs and looked them up on Ebay... some of the prices suck, but some can be had relatively cheap... so a few questions... 1) are the Ebay MREs legal? is there any way to legally sell an MRE? Yes the ones you find on ebay are "legal", however i would pick them up from a reputable dealer rather than just some nut off of ebay.
2) Is there anywhere in ND that I can pick some up, short of giving my ass to the .gov? The only places i can think of that would have actual MRE's for sale would maybe be gun shops/mil surplus stores. Other than that there are imitation MRE meals that are sold at scheels and gander mtns and such. Same thing really, just packaged in clear plastic usually. If you have access to a military installation check out the commissary, they usually have the imitation ones.
3) Am I crazy for wanting these? Yes your crazy. The MRE's are generally pretty expensive for a poor college student to be eating just for the hell of it. They arent exactly good for you either. They have a ton of calories packed into that little bag, made to support a soldier who is hoofin it around the deserts and jungles, not a kid carrying a bag around college campus (however dangerous it may be  ) Also i'm not sure if you've ever had one or not.. but the stuff usually tastes pretty bad, and you'll probably end up with some decent constipation out of the deal. If you do go this route for some reason make sure you drink a ton of water to try and offset the insane amount of sodium in these things.
My bottom line thinking in your situation would be to go another route to try and find something different to eat. Your stating that your a "poor" college kid. You can find cheap stuff to eat, that still tastes good. Make a pot of chili and play with eating the left over chili over top of things like rice or pasta till you run out. Even just eating some rice with some veggies and some beef or chicken broth mixed in is pretty good and damn cheap. Maybe another suggestion would be to go over to the food and garden forum, underneath the outdoors tab. Post up your situation, ie. college kid looking for inexpensive yet satisfying easy to cook meals and see what suggestions you get there. I'm sure you'll get a ton of responses. Maybe tell everyone a list of cooking appliances you have at your disposal, ie pots and pans, stove, microwave, blender, grill? Hope this helps you out in your quest. EZ |
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I have had MREs back when I was in scouts, they weren't that bad... I know all about rice and cheap eating, just sick of eating the same basic crap and was thinking about changing it up... some of the cases can be had at 2$ a meal, which wouldn't be that horrible considering I would get something different every day instead of just changing the flavor of spam i mix in with my rice or the flavor of ramen I make.
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| If you can find them relatively cheap and don't mind them then go for it, the only local place I have found here in Sioux Falls was selling them for over 4 bucks a pop last time I checked, for 2 its a better deal. Good conversation piece and story for alter on as well I guess. Also I was looking, and the legality issue was about what I presumed it to be, that some people were taking ones initially sold to the government and reselling them in one form or another, but presumably anyone selling them is selling them legally, that is not originally contracted to the US government. Long story short I wouldn't really worry about it, if for some reason you bought illegal ones you would most likely be ok anyway, as long as you didn't know/have reason to believe they were stolen. |
| Hmm, i dont know if i would trust a $2 MRE.. probably way close to, if not past the expiration date. Either way man i think you can do way better for your money than MRE's. What kind of cooking appliances do you have at your disposal? I'll try and think of some things for you to try. |
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im thinking its a no go, forgot the shipping on those MREs which raised the price considerably... I know how to cook im just sick of eating the same crap all the time and wanted to try something different. maybe I can find someone who has access in the military
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Lol man this is killin me for some reason.. just cant believe you would want to eat an MRE as a source of food in a non-SHTF situation. I guess something you could try would be to look at the entrees youd be getting in a MRE and go to the store and buy that stuff. Lets see, spaghetti & meatballs MRE=can of chef boyardee for $1. Chili mac MRE=1 Box hamburger helper, little bit of milk &butter, and hamburger, price around $4 and you could prolly get 3 meals out of a box. The pork tenderloin and "meatloaf thing" MRE's= a $2 frozen dinner from the store, or just some spam with a little barbecue sauce marinade. To add to some of these things, buy a .50 cent can of pork'n beans. And to get your little sugar fix, buy a pack of cookies and split them up into baggies of 3-4 cookies to have as dessert with each meal. All i'm doin is try and show you that MRE's are nothing special.
PS: Jumbalaya MRE=$1 box of zatarans and some ground beef, maybe $4 total and you can get a few meals out of that as well. PSS: if your feeling jipped at the end of the meal because you didnt get anything special, go buy pack of napkins, a box of tissues, a box of matches, a container of chiclets, and go steal some hot sauce packets from taco bell. Split these items up into baggies and include as a bonus with each meal, that way you get something to play with as well as a full belly 
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Tesla, if your serious about wanting some MRE's send me an IM. They sell them at the commissary here, there about $5-something each if I remember right. Mil-spec clear bagged and they have pretty recent date codes.
Only time I've ate them is when they were issued and that's ALL I had to eat, lol. Avoid the omelets. The dairy shake powder and pound cake is delicious though. |
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I hear ya. When I was in college, I was so sick of mac and cheese with sliced hotdogs, I'll never eat that again.
Here are some recipes. A lot of these are very cheap and easy to make. http://www.taprackbang.com/grandma_recipes/main_dishes/ |