# Anyone keep MRE's?



## Oddcaliber (Feb 17, 2014)

In spite of the joke names for MRE's,do you include them in your food storage plan?


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## Jeep (Aug 5, 2014)

When I can find a deal on them I do try to pick them up. Just the little accessory pack is good to have.


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

Nope. I've hated those things since they took the place of C-rats. I loved C-rats. Especially green eggs and ham. That was my favorite.


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

Yeah, I've picked some up that I got a deal on. This is not my main source though.


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Personally, I go for the 25 year storage dehydrated stuff. Some of the expiration dates on the MREs are not as favorable.


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## 7515 (Aug 31, 2014)

I bought a case just to put two in each of our GHB's
The left over ones I put in the preps closet


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

Just remember, expiration dates can be misleading. I stole this from another website.

*Consider this exerpt from FDA Consumer:

"The steamboat Bertrand was heavily laden with provisions when it set out on the Missouri River in 1865, destined for the gold mining camps in Fort Benton, Mont. The boat snagged and swamped under the weight, sinking to the bottom of the river. It was found a century later, under 30 feet of silt a little north of Omaha, Neb.

Among the canned food items retrieved from the Bertrand in 1968 were brandied peaches, oysters, plum tomatoes, honey, and mixed vegetables. In 1974, chemists at the National Food Processors Association (NFPA) analyzed the products for bacterial contamination and nutrient value. Although the food had lost its fresh smell and appearance, the NFPA chemists detected no microbial growth and determined that the foods were as safe to eat as they had been when canned more than 100 years earlier.

The nutrient values varied depending upon the product and nutrient. NFPA chemists Janet Dudek and Edgar Elkins report that significant amounts of vitamins C and A were lost. But protein levels remained high, and all calcium values "were comparable to today's products."

NFPA chemists also analyzed a 40-year-old can of corn found in the basement of a home in California. Again, the canning process had kept the corn safe from contaminants and from much nutrient loss. In addition, Dudek says, the kernels looked and smelled like recently canned corn. *


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## Jeep (Aug 5, 2014)

More conrbeef hash enroute


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## Tennessee (Feb 1, 2014)

No. MRE shelf live varies with the temperature they are stored. Shelf life can be as little as a few weeks.


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## Jeep (Aug 5, 2014)

I can assure you no MRE is kept optimal in the desert. And they are still edible for months


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Denton said:


> Nope. I've hated those things since they took the place of C-rats. I loved C-rats. Especially green eggs and ham. That was my favorite.


Back in college we lived next door to a native American ****** Peeples up in Okiehoma. His Granny got the C Rations and they gave them to us. The beanie weenies were my favorite. The crackers would make good roofing shingles. The smokes and toilet paper always came in handy. Guessing they was maybe left over from Korea. Mighty glad to get them. The canned beef was sorta nasty. lol


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

A friend gave me a case for Christmas last year. I felt bad all I gave him was quart each of homemade brown sugar and hot chocolate.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I have just enough MREs for a one day hide and seek. The next few days are Mountain House dehydrated pouches if I'm bugging out or hiding outside our house


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## shotlady (Aug 30, 2012)

I have about 20 boxes of 12. part of the plan? no. but I guess so. I have them in my car, get home and bug out bag. they are nice to have ya know for back up. and for comedy. theres nothing like pooping duraflame logs when times are tough to make you laugh. the farts. wow um theres nothing like an MRE fart.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

At my age, I don't know if I could tell the difference.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Yes, I lived off them more than once


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## rim (Nov 17, 2012)

Yes, have enough for about 2 weeks...


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## shotlady (Aug 30, 2012)

oh god that was funny sockpuppet! theres a cute former army kid that's a range safety officer. hes always asking me for mre's so I I gave him a couple of boxes. my god this kid has the nastiest farts! I thought my boys had gross MRE butts until I met eric. Eric owns the title for shitass of the yr!


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## Dalarast (May 16, 2014)

We have enough MRE's in our house to keep the family good for a full month, 3 meals a day, and some left overs. One can live off of a single MRE a day for prolonged period of time..... 

Having said that.. MRE's are backup and quick meals on the go. Just as if your in country... "hot meals" at the firebase and MREs are broken down and packed away for patrolling that turns into drawn out missions. 

Expiration date... I ignore them and trust my nose and eye detector... doesn't smell or look bad... must be good!

MREs are also great for last minute camping trips at the beach with my daughters


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## PrepperDogs (May 12, 2013)

MRE's are expensive and have limited shelf life. While they may seem like the 'best-thing-since-sliced-bread' prepper food, they are not.


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## Boss Dog (Feb 8, 2013)

Auntie said:


> A friend gave me a case for Christmas last year. I felt bad all I gave him was quart each of homemade brown sugar and hot chocolate.


Please start a thread on how to make brown sugar!



shotlady said:


> ...wow um theres nothing like an MRE fart.


ist gut in der Lage, sein furzen, no? ::clapping::


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## bennettvm (Jan 5, 2013)

I generally don't purchase pre-packaged meals. I pick up a few MREs here and there at gun shows, when the price is right. The worst are foods from Wise. Those have the worst flavor I have ever come across. I would rather eat plain noodles or white rice any day before I eat anything from Wise.


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## TG (Jul 28, 2014)

Years ago I planned on buying some until I tried a few different flavours and they were ALL gross.. gag
I think I would rather catch a squirrel as a last resort.


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## MI.oldguy (Apr 18, 2013)

Dont have none here.ate enough in the field in the national guard when they first appeared.the only thing I liked was peanut butter and crackers and the m&m's.


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

Boss Dog said:


> Please start a thread on how to make brown sugar!


I posted the recipe.


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## Seneca (Nov 16, 2012)

I keep a couple in the vehicle and have them for the BOB's yet have taken to opening them up and taking out the main course repackaging what I want, which sort of works. I have an order of lifeboat rations on the way and am hoping that gives me a more compact BOB meal. 

I guess if you are hungry enough you'd eat about anything and that nasty old MRE may look pretty good two weeks into starvation. They do serve a purpose yet I don't see them as being the solution rather an additional source from which to draw from should thing go to hell in a hand basket...YMMV


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## dannydefense (Oct 9, 2013)

No MRE's. We stock ingredients as much as possible and have a few containers full of MH and similar brands that take a hit every time we go hiking; it's treated a lot like ammunition, we try to put more in during downtime then we take out.


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## Stick (Sep 29, 2014)

I have a few left I haven't eaten already. I hate paying the shipping, but if I can find a good deal I like em. Spices are the key to palatable MREs. That little bottle of hot sauce isn't there for making earrings (unless it has dried up).


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## Dalarast (May 16, 2014)

Stick said:


> I have a few left I haven't eaten already. I hate paying the shipping, but if I can find a good deal I like em. Spices are the key to palatable MREs. That little bottle of hot sauce isn't there for making earrings (unless it has dried up).


It was a sad day when about a year ago I tear open an MRE and look for my tobassco sauce to see the bottle was replaced with a little plastic condiment packet. A moment for the little plastic bottle of fire....

Maybe I've been brain washed; but there are many times I would prefer an MRE over chow hall food. Yes.. maybe not the long term effects and rock like after affects of the MRE; but overall taste. When you have had Cajun Styled Beef Roast at a Chow Hall you will wish for a MRE.

Except eggplant and the omelet MRE..... clear away!


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## redhawk (May 7, 2014)

I have a couple of cases of 12 MRE's, I like to keep them around. I tried some meals from WISE and IMHO they were absolutely nasty tasting and will never buy them anymore...JM2C


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

One of the saddest days of my life was when my buddy and I were in our early teens and went into an abandoned barracks that the Navy had been using for storage. We found a mountain of C-Rats. When we realized that there were cigarettes, matches and cinnamon rolls in many of the cans we thought we had struck gold! We spent all day opening boxes and grabbing up crackers, smokes, cinnamon rolls, fruit and can openers. We got every kid in base housing to pitch in. When it was all over we realized it was all for naught. The cigarettes burned up instantly, the matches didn't work, the rolls were as hard as stones as were the crackers and most of the fruit cans were swollen. The next month we saw a working party throwing that whole mountain into garbage trucks. They planned to throw them out the whole time and our folly was epic.

I still wish I had all those little can openers though.


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