MRE's. Yes or NO?

[Amigi'sLastStand]

Best way to find them on ebay is search 'MRE Entree' or 'MRE MISC'.
Just bid on two more while looking for the answer to the question!

[KirkMcquest]

Wanted to start a thread about MRE's. Seems like their mentioned in a lot for food threads, so let's put our opinions here.

My opinion:

Whole MREs are way too heavy and to expensive. I've seen them for $5 to 10$ per. Forget that.
What I have done is to buy just the main course part in bulk via ebay. I usually end up get 12 mains for $12. I pack six with me as a change up between endless days of Lipton and cheese spread and oatmeal, etc. I put six in my mail drops each couple of weeks. I will eat the main course, say chicken pasta, using the MRE heater and jetboil some litpon veg soup with crackers and a cup of fruit. Mmmm. Filling and good for ya!
Great break in the monotony of my trail eating habits.

Info on MREs: http://www.safetycentral.com/mrfahishliin.html
Quick points from me:
MREs are a full balanced meal meant for soldiers in combat burning 6000 cal/day. Each part of an MRE fulfills a different part of the balanced meal.
The main course part usually has the carb and protein with some vitamin requirements. If you know nutrition, easy to figure out what the main course contains and what you will need to supplement.

Please post your opinions or experiences for other.
Thanks,
Amigi'sLastStand

Some of the preservatives and additives frighten me.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Mags, I searched and serached for the ingredients in MRE's without success. I did find several mentions of a warning label needing to be applied near the ingredient list, but nothing about what is actually in them.

[Amigi'sLastStand]

Wow, i'm really surprised at the comments on here. It looks to me like you folks haven't been hungry enough yet. Never say never to food. I've eaten all kinds of stuff to satisfy hunger and i must say that MRE's are not so tasty, but they will do the job.
I once hiked with a vegan out west and when i saw him a few years later, he was coming east to hike the Long trail. I was shocked when he told me he was carrying shredded beef mixed with lard (only) for his food. To go from a vegan to this amazed me. It's whatever keeps you going!

Me too. Highly suprised. First thing I noticed was many ppl didn't seem to read the thread starter, which is proper forum etiquette to do. I never said the whole MRE, just the main. Secondly, since Halliburton won't be setting up a cafeteria anytime soon on the AT, I expected a little more objective advice from other former soldiers, sailors, and Marines.

1) No you won't poop much, that's the way its suppossed to work. Then you get the deer pellet poop, *blink, bling, bloop, blink*, and one piece of TP does it!

2) At a dollar a piece on ebay, they are far cheaper than any of that freeze dried crap at 7.99 a bag I have at my local retailers.

3) For ppl who maybe have not hiked a lot, I would rather have a newbie buy MRE's than use the ingenius alcohol stoves I see in the photo section. I have one and use it on my lighter treks, and some of you may too, but my experience on long haul hikes is: most ppl I have seen cant use them correctly, whine when the wind is high, spill DeNat all over the place and then put their fuel bottle and stove in their pack covered in DeNat. "Got a light?"

4) No, they don't taste the best, but better than most, and hey, Tabasco's cheap.

[SGT Rock]

Me too. Highly suprised. First thing I noticed was many ppl didn't seem to read the thread starter, which is proper forum etiquette to do. I never said the whole MRE, just the main. Secondly, since Halliburton won't be setting up a cafeteria anytime soon on the AT, I expected a little more objective advice from other former soldiers, sailors, and Marines.

Actually I did. The main course we are talking about are the worst parts. The only good stuff in the new ones are the snack foods that have been added and can be bought anywhere like tootsie rolls, pop-tarts, and combo snack crackers. mmmmmmmmmm

1) No you won't poop much, that's the way its suppossed to work. Then you get the deer pellet poop, *blink, bling, bloop, blink*, and one piece of TP does it!

Actually I wouldn't reccomend the one sheet trick unless you have short figernails and a good sense of humor

2) At a dollar a piece on ebay, they are far cheaper than any of that freeze dried crap at 7.99 a bag I have at my local retailers.

Yep, and I don't recommend that overpriced slop either, cheaper, lighter, and better tasting fair is available at any grocery store in the US and you can drive there and pick it out instead of doing internet orders

3) For ppl who maybe have not hiked a lot, I would rather have a newbie buy MRE's than use the ingenius alcohol stoves I see in the photo section.

I would reccomend the other way around. Less weight and you could get better tasting food. Wouldn't want a newbie to think food (or a stove) has to be bad and weigh a lot and cost a lot to get on the trail .

4) No, they don't taste the best, but better than most, and hey, Tabasco's cheap.

And Zatarans is cheaper than MREs and tastes better - and you can still use tobasco in it too - in fact that is mo' better

[sarbar]

1) No you won't poop much, that's the way its suppossed to work. Then you get the deer pellet poop, *blink, bling, bloop, blink*, and one piece of TP does it!

2) At a dollar a piece on ebay, they are far cheaper than any of that freeze dried crap at 7.99 a bag I have at my local retailers.

3) For ppl who maybe have not hiked a lot, I would rather have a newbie buy MRE's than use the ingenius alcohol stoves I see in the photo section. I have one and use it on my lighter treks, and some of you may too, but my experience on long haul hikes is: most ppl I have seen cant use them correctly, whine when the wind is high, spill DeNat all over the place and then put their fuel bottle and stove in their pack covered in DeNat. "Got a light?"

4) No, they don't taste the best, but better than most, and hey, Tabasco's cheap.

You can do waaaay better making your own meals. And not getting bound up for a week.

Heck, unless you are a certified idiot, using a canister stove to boil a couple cups of water isn't rocket science.

I have never understood MRE's. Everytime I see one I start poking it and prodding it. It is squishy! They always make me think of those shelf stable Hormel meals

MRE's are things that make me not want to know how they do it..kind of like how the ARMY keeps trying to come up with shelf stable sandwiches

You can do way better with 30 minutes at your local grocery store But, hey, each to their own

[Rift Zone]

Too heavy. Too expensive. Too nasty.

Heard that.

MRE=processed, pasturized food product. Yuck. I'd rather sustain on ramin and oatmeal.

[Newb]

http://www.longlifefood.com/

Go to this site and you can pick and choose the best of the MRE parts.

[RumpusParable]

generally i agree with the over-all concensus: not dehydrated = too heavy and too big, and the taste of most is horrific. that said, though, i do seriously miss the oatmeal cookie bars in the old ones. i traded like all hell for those and still look for them in surplus stores haha. they discontinued them in the new mre's. the vegetarian pasta meal in the new ones isn't too bad, but there are still much better options out there. i do carry one or two of the old mre heaters in my pack though as work both to heat food and bodies in cases of emergency.

[RumpusParable]

and the peanutbutter pouches are convenient to suck out of while hiking...

[Seeker]

I have never understood MRE's.

see, there you go, thinkin' again... if'n the army wanted you to think, they'da issued you a brain... look in yer helmit, soldier... do you see a brain in there? no. nothing but straps and webbing... so quit asking questions...(LOL)


they serve their purpose well. they are ill suited for backpacking.

i don't wanna know how they make the bread 'shelf-stable' either...

[sarbar]

Lol..shelf stable bread..one of the mysteries of life that should be never understood....

[tweeter21]

I love MRE's. After 17 years of Army service, I still count on them for camping, hunting, or hiking trips. I will say that the whole meal (or multiple ones) is heavy and not convenient on a long trek. I, too, get several and just use the main courses and usually the peanut butter, chesse spread, and the crackers. Also, the cookie bars, or granola bars are great. Eventhough the new ones come with heaters, I still like to boil water in a canteen cup and set the main course packet in the water for a few minutes to heat it better. If you haven't had the newer MRE's, don't make a judgement based on the MRE's from years gone by. I used to hate them too.

[TheTwanger]

yeaaaa...Ever look at the ingredient list :O , more chemicals than meth... and its been stated again and again but i cannot help but emphasize from experience, constipation hazard...