Saturday, August 18, 2018

MRE Shelf Life And Stockpiling MREs: (Should "Preppers" Stockpile them)

I saw this over at ALLOUTDOOR this morning. I know the question of whether to stock MREs or not can become almost as divisive as the 1911 vs. Glock question. As I say in both, "to each their own". As for me, I keep a few MREs on hand for the "grab and go" aspect, but dollar for dollar I can store foods I routinely eat that are healthier, better tasting,  higher in caloric value, etc. than MRE's.  I know an MRE would be better than nothing, but I would hate to know I had to eat MREs "back to back" for more than a couple of days if I had the choice prior to needing food.




8 comments:

  1. I keep some tubs of Mountain House around (just in case). Far longer shelf life and taste better than MREs.

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  2. Quite agree but having eaten C & K rations back in the day, there are/were worse choices than MREs.

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  3. I keep a few cases. Three major hurricanes taught me everything can go to shit, and you still have to eat.

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  4. I've found that MRE's have a longer shelf life than listed, but the taste gets worse with age (from experience) and according to some article the food value goes way down.

    If you keep a few rotate them out on a regular basis

    Exole1981

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    1. Absolutely Exile1981. Storing them in a cool place helps too. Every now and again, I see the military versions of MREs at gun shows. The going price is usually $60 for a case of 12 meals (at least one can avoid shipping costs). About a year and half ago I found some "Eversafe" MREs (the latest version with 12 meals per case) locally online. They had good dates. I bought several and the guy sold them to me for $30.00 per case. Of course they do not have the condiment pack like the military version which usually contains the tiny bottle of Tabasco sauce, toilet paper, matches, chewing gun, moistened towelette, etc.l, but still a bargain at $2.50 per meal.

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  5. Yep, emergency meal only. For long term, I store Mountain House packs.

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  6. Old NFO, you've been spoiled by that fine brown-shoe cooking while aloft. :-)

    I ate five MREs that were seventeen years old. I dunno the storage conditions. Some edible. Some not. The chiclits disintegrated almost immediately and the coffee was no longer a food item. The Tabasco was still good. And necessary.

    As for C-rats: during sea trials I ate a meal that was twenty-one years old. The canned spaghetti 'n "meatball"(well, mush) tasted like pure salt while the cigarettes crumbled into dust when opened.

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  7. I remember when the Army transitioned from C-Rats to the MRE. Horrible. I would rather trap squirrels or rats and eat those than MREs..

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