What is an MRE?
MRE stands for Meal, Ready-to-Eat. They are meant to be self-contained packages that can sustain a solider when food service facilities are not available. There are twenty-four different varieties of military MRE meals; they contain an entrée and a variety of other food items like spices, cheese spread, peanut butter, snacks, and in some cases food heaters.
Should preppers buy MRE Meals for there emergency food supplies?
Over the years, stockpiling military supplies has become a growing trend with preppers. While stocking up on MREs may seem like a quick and easy way to grow your emergency food supplies, there are a number of reasons that you may be better off buying civilian MREs instead of their U.S. military counterpart.
Why Civilian MREs are a better option:
- The commercial sale of Civilian MRE is not restricted like military MREs.
- You can buy from legitimate dealers, not eBay sellers who may be selling you old or fake MRE.
Knowing Exactly where your Ready to Eat Meals came from: We have heard of some military MRE that have sat in war zones for months or years before making their way on to eBay. Who wants to eat something that’s been lying around in the desert for the last year? Even the best MRE are going to be affected by the harsh heat of the desert.
The U.S. Army’s NATIC Research Laboratories have done numerous tests on the shelf life of MREs. They found that when exposed to heat over 100 degrees they lasted less than two years while MRE stored at around 70 degrees were good for at least 100 months.
Knowing what’s on them: A lot of crazy stuff happens in war zones, including the use of some pretty nasty chemicals that can stick to everything. I don’t know about you, but after seeing all the people come back from Iraq with mysterious illnesses during Desert Storm, I tend to think that eating something that’s been sitting over there may not be so safe.
Quality Issues: The quality of everything the military gets is usually dependent on how some special interest group who won a no-bid contract for that item. In fact, the quality of a lot of equipment and military gear has gotten so bad over the years that many service members have been forced to buy their own gear. The sad truth is the government treats the military like crap. I just don’t trust them enough to believe that the MRE are any better than the civilian version. Civilian MRE companies have to worry about lawsuits from unsafe products; the military doesn’t.
Counterfeit MRE: Much of what you find online is complete garbage, and many of the so-called military MRE that are sold online are actually bad counterfeits from China. Personally, I wouldn’t trust someone on eBay or some thrown together website with my emergency food supplies!
What’s in Military MRES?
The average military MRE gives the soldier an average of 1,300 calories. For instance, a Chili with Beans MRE is about 1,291 calories (36 Grams of protein, 83 percent fat, and 177 Grams of carbohydrates) and about half of the Military Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamins and minerals.
What about real Military MREs: How long do they last?
If you’ve ever bought military MREs, you’ve probably noticed they don’t contain traditional expiration dates. This can make trying to figure out shelf life a little tricky. Most of the time you can determine the manufactured date by looking for a series of numbers on the package. The first looking at the first number represents the last number of the year it was packaged.
As long as your MRE supplies are not damaged in any way (swelling, punctured, ripped, etc…) then they should last for quite awhile.
The Army’s Natick Research Laboratories tests indicate that MRE from the early 80′s and 90′s stored below 60 degrees have a shelf life of about 130 months. The newer MRE now have a significantly shorter shelf life and will last for about 60 months at 60 degrees – this is what happens when cronyism takes the place of actually carrying about the quality of our military’s supplies. Any fluctuation in storage temperature can and will affect the shelf life of your MRE. For instance, the same MRE stored at 100 degrees has a shelf life of about 6 months.
Where to Buy the Top Civilian MRE products:
- Sure-Pak MRE’s – These are one of the Top MRE on the market and probably the closest to actual military MRE
- Mountain House #10 Can Freeze-Dried Food
- Wise Company Emergency Food Rations
- 2400 Calorie ER Bar – Emergency Food Ration (4 Pack)
- Mainstay Emergency Food Rations – Case of 10 Packs
First and foremost, “meals ready to eat” are temporary sustanance food. They are handy because science and processed foods producers have not come up with thesci fi food “pill” yet( one day it might happen and a soldier or marine or civilian back packer might be able to carry a weeks,supply of “food” in an aspirin bottle). Remember eating C rats and K rats in training( USMC, ’78 to ’82); back then it was the min. To keep people in the field fed with calories to continue to move and fight, but was never a home cooked or gourmet meal! This generations MREs are actually quite good for their intended use, they last 3 to 5 yrs, taste decent( akin to frozen micro wave food), and provide calories and nutrition -for emergencies or combat they work. But again they do not replace having a home meal or mess hl food. Arguing about their pluses or minuses is a waste of time. Buy a case from a reputable dealer and use them for camping or as a emergency kit. If you are worried about your future food supply , start a back yard garden, raise chickens , and learn to smoke or can , or dry store certain items
Military bashing aside, the original thoughts of longevity are really a matter of how hungry you are when you open one. The shelf life will depend on storage temp and conditions. I opened a 4 year old MRE and it was fresh to me….had it for lunch in my office.
If I had nothing else to eat and was hungry I really wouldn’t care too much about taste…I want the calories for strength to keep going.
Remember that water is number one, food comes later!
I’m not the type of person who has a bunker but because the crazy weather and increase of natural disasters I do have an emergency ” go bag”.Ihave a back pack I keep survival equipment in. I know how to use most of it but would like to get some MREs for it. Something with its own heat source. What would you suggest and what would be the best supplier to buy from?
Maybe this is off-topic. When I was in the military we were still using up WW2 C rations … PallMalls in green packages, gray chocolate, etc. Nothing to brag about. MREs came in after I got out. But I understand the premise.
But … is there a significant difference (in taste, quality, shelf-life, etc) between MREs & commercially, off-the-grocery-shelf products like Hormel Compleats?
http://www.hormel.com/Brands/Compleats.aspx#CompleatsGoodMornings
All of you idiots talking about bad mre’s need to quit. We ate mre’s in Iraq that had been stored for 10 years in a cargo container and than sat in a puddle of oil and diesel on the deck plates of our tracks for months on end and everyone was fine. It’s not the quality of govetnment issue that’s going down, it’s the quality of members of the armed forces that’s going down and bitching about stuff that was a luxury to have for the old timers(ww2, Korea, Vietnam). Feel lucky that our boys are even supplied meals by their government. Mothers of America need to quit trying to turn the hounds of hell into the cabbage patch kids. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Semper Gumbi. Yat yas 1833
Does the military ship MREs back from the desert to CONUS? I would think they use them up or dispose of them there.
I need more info concerning the MRE’s that were provided for soldiers at Fort Leonard Wood MO in 1986. Please….Our son was poisoned by these and after a horrible existence, he died because of bacteria that had lodged in his liver – causing tumors…that spread throughout his body. He was 18 and the picture of HEALTH when he enlisted to become a Ranger. When he died at age 23, he did not weigh 100 pounds. Please…any info on this would help.
I just want to know the best way to get started.MRE: military, civilian or freeze dried? With all the craziness and uncertainty going on I want to make sure I have something to feed my family on the off chance that something bad does happen. I’m not looking to spend a lot of money at this time. I want to purchase small quantities here and there. But where do I start?
u should try beprepared.com they have a huge selection of food and supplies, regular sales and plans to buy according to your budget
Mountain house is the best tasting I’ve been camping hunting and fishing for most of my life as well as a force recon marine. Carry a small camp stove a pot and a cup put your seasonings in cut drinking straws sealed with a lighter as well as honey to put in your tea. Mountain house beef stroganoff was the best.
‘MRE’s are sold in the commissary on post for around $9.00 but limited selection. If you know a retiree that goes on post they may get you some.
I have MRE’s that my son brought home when he separated the Marines in 1986. Are there any outward signs of deterioration, such as bulging bag as with cans? Also, I too, worry about the need to fall back on resources, so I decided to do a square garden, and prep.
One of my learning site for bugging out is a goofy program called”Fat Guys in the Woods”. I have learned to find food. KISS.
Still don’t know which “MRE” is the best?
Most healthy, longest shelf life, most “reasonable” priced ETC. ???
Thanks!
Xtephen
Modern real MREs are boxed, double walled, double bagged, boxed again, in metal foil pouches.
After all those layers of protection, the food inside those pouches are cooked & preserved to the highest modern standard.
MREs taste GREAT ! So much better than starvation. Don’t believe me ? Skip eating anything but water for 5 days – then enjoy a tasty MRE.
Yes real military MREs are not for sale except on base commissary shops to military people.
But similar products do exist and are acceptable for camping of basic prepper stock.
As with all food stores, rotate your stock…
Be careful of your food supply sodium levels, such as canned soups. Some canned goods have so much salt in it – you might as well eat dirt & drink ocean water.
Water stocks are even more important for true preppers.
If you can tap and test a natural spring on your bug-out property, good. Get Life Straws, chlorine, and pre-filters & you shluld be good to go.
Not only is this a good idea for preppers, it also is good for times like when your city water discovers it is feeding kids liquid lead. Not Good.
So secure both food and water for emergencies & independence from the grid.
Hello my name is Joy Smith. I am a den leader of a pack of cubscout wolves. We are starting to get ready for our camp outs and we are starting with learning about survival food. I was wondering if you would be willing to donate to help with our training? Please let me know thankyou.
David Murphy, eat a dick, douchebag. Putting a banana in a vehicle isn’t the same as sealing it in an airtight package. And who the fuck has jeeps? I don’t know about your life experiences, but my life experiences including slipping, slithering, crawling and sneaking around through swamps, forests, jungles and deserts getting bit, stung, poked, stabbed, and sucked by every imaginable parasitic, carnivorous, insect, mammal, arachnid and reptilian critter known and unknown to man while sleeping in the dirtiest, brackish, blackest, parasite and disease ridden shithole we could find just to avoid getting killed by our local drug lord, communist, FARC or Shining Path friends, being shot 3x, stabbed 3 other times, and shrapnelled a few times wasn’t exactly a very funny joke. Since you seem to think it’s such a funny fucking joke perhaps you should diddy bop on down to your local recruiter office, sign up for some grunt work and show all us amateurs how it’s done. Then you, o great one, can carry your weight in ammo, gear, water, demo materials, various machine guns, grenades and launchers, maybe even an AT4 or a radio up and down big ass, rugged, triple canopy jungle covered mountains in 120 degree heat and 100% humidity, or big ass, rugged non-jungle covered mountains in Afghanistan, and then perhaps you can wander through village after village of hajis who want nothing more in life than to kill you as violently as possible even if he has to die with you and then maybe, just maybe, you can experience a good ol fashion IED detonation. then, as you lay there scattered from 1 side of the street to the other, unable to locate 1/2 your fucking body you can elaborate, in stark fucking detail what a big, fucking joke it all is. I’ll be waiting with bated breath for your update on Army life.
As for MREs, I always liked chicken ala king the most but apparently it n longer exists. Some MREs were pretty fucking good, some were pretty fucking bad. I don’t know that anyone ever got food poisoning from them, even some that were 10 yrs old or more. For me tobacco sauce was king. It made almost anything palatable. We ate MREs almost exclusively for months on end except for eating from the bounty of nature. That was 1 of many advantages of serving in jungle environments, as opposed to desert. We didn’t have the luxury of chow halls.
tobacco sauce