My wife and I are putting together full survival bags. There coming along nicely. When you’re in the wilderness you’re going to have to learn how to scrounge for food, fish and possibly even hunt. If you pack right you can have some food for the first few days to keep your energy up. So my wife and I are looking into MREs. After reading tons of reviews we decided to check out the US government MREs. Let’s not confuse them with military, for these are the ones that they give to civilians during disaster relief. We’ve bought 4 and have tried 2.
Frost one was Asian beef strips with sugar cookies, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, mixed fruit and two kinds of drink mix. He also had paper towels, moist towelettes, mint gum and bag of salt. Also a flameless heating bag for your beef strips (only got it warm).
The second one was lemon pepper tuna with mayonnaise to mix, cheese spread with two tortillas for the tuna. Pound cake and barbecue corn nuts. Then of course your two drink mixes, paper towel, wet nap, gum and salt. Of course there was no heating pouch with this one because there was nothing to heat.
Now this is our first attempt at trying MREs. And we were both very satisfied with the meals. Not bad tasting and very filling. In fact I’m stuffed and I’m a big boy. You can find these on amazon.com.
Now the question is who out there has tried MREs? other than these government made MREs.
We’re asking because we want to find the best ones because we’re going to stock up on things like this in case we ever need it.
So please give brand names and opinions whether they’re good or bad so we know which ones to try and which ones to stay away from. Thank you for all the information that you can give.
The fruit cocktail that you wouldn’t rehydrate and ate like a bar…yep (although it was jagged enough to scrap the skin off the roof of your mouth if you weren’t careful)…I preferred the cheese and crackers over the PB and crackers…ah the good ol days…
XMRE 1300XT MRE for military type, or their Blue Line MREs for FEMA-style. The XMRE Lite MRE is a good choice for go bags and other activities where mass and weight are issues. They are 600 calorie meals. The idea is similar to the way we used to strip our C-rations and MREs down before multi-day dismounted recon patrols in the Infantry minus the instant coffee pack: entree, cookie/brownie, crackers & cheese/PB. MidwayUSA typically has the best prices (shipped) and availability.
I guess MRE’s are an acquired taste thing I’ve always thought they were pretty good while others complained all the time. Having said that they can & do stop the Plumbing. One thing to remember is that MRE’s must be stored properly & have a shelf life they don’t like hot & cold (don’t leave them in car trunks if you have change of seasons. Mountain House makes some great tasting dishes for backpacking that will store longer term. Also the life Boat type ration bars 1200-2400-3600 calorie bars will last for 5 yrs in any type of environment you just need to find what type/flavor you like. the Boat type don’t taste bad but its like chewing on a brick Good luck try some option before choosing Mike
I generally prefer stuff off the grocery shelf.
Milkman dried milk
Krusteze pancake mix
Dried fruit of all types
Pasta
Beans
Better than bullion
Keebler Pecan Sandies (these apparently are immortal!)
Honey
Rumiano Dry Jack cheese----no refrigeration needed.
A bag of Russets
A bag of Onions
LIpton’s Instant Soup ----Cream of Chicken has a high calorie count
Quaker Instant Oat Meal
Instant Cream of Wheat
Ramen noodles
Peanut Butter
Dried meats from New Braunfel Smokehouse,
Brandy, Whisky, etc…
As with tho old C Rats. I have heard positive and negative on both. I was to young to have had a K Rat. But on the account of both that I have used as a soldier they did what they were designed for and some menus are very good in my opinion. But the one thing I really found out about both is,That when you are hungry they may as well been a steak dinner at Western Sizzler. But alway remember as we didn’t like something we would possibly trade it off
, but the beef stew is good too.
