MRE's

[pschultheis]

For thos of you who use MRE's when packing, where do you buy them? Also, what do you use, just the entrees or the complete meals? What has been your experience with the MREs.

THanks for the help,

Paul

[jrobbd7]

Ate them a couple of times on a scout trip, purdy nasty if you ask me. I think you can get them at army surplus stores, or maybe online.

[spectr17]

We've have the SOPAKCO Sure-Pak MREs in the store here. Half case or full case. One thing with MREs you gotta take in a lot of water or they'll plug you up good. The newer generation MREs aren't bad but I wouldn't want to eat them for weeks straight.

The one advantage with MREs is you get the meal, dessert, condiments, handi-wipe, drink powder or cocoa, spoon etc where with the Mountain House you just get the main meal and dessert. I think the Mountain House taste better but I keep the G.I issue MREs in the house and truck for emergencies. They just don't last long in the heat.

https://www.jesseshunting.com/osCommerce/in...acturers_id=198 (https://www.jesseshunting.com/osCommerce/index.php?manufacturers_id=198)

http://www.jesseshunting.com/images/sure_pak_mre_big.jpg

[FresnoHunter]

Paul, the Army surplus store on Belmont had them the last time I was there. You can buy the main entree
or even the other stuff ie crackers etc. I prefer the mountain house stuff myself but will try and use some grocery store type of food this year.

[Orygun]

They'll meet your nutritional requirements and generally keep you from starving. They definately pack well.

[Sheepshooter]

We hit up REI and get the Montian House freeze dried . Not the best stuff in the world but it's light and it'll keep you alive . If that's what you end up buying get the two person meals . The one person dinners are more like a snack . A lot of the meals tell you to cook items seperately . I use to do that and bring a spoon , fork , bowl , plate . Now I just have a pot and a spoon . Boil the water and dump it in the package , eat it right out of the bag .

The MRE's are rather heavy . That's all a buddy of mine uses . He takes them apart and gets rid off all the non essentials to lighten them up a bit .

[2rocky]

Be sure to get the heaters. I spent a weekend eating Cold MRE's because I thought the Heaters came with the MRE's. The Store I bough them from sold the heaters separate.

Now I'm a Freeze dried fan. I like a cup of coffee while waiting for the sun to come up. But I will pack an MRE in my day pack for emergencies.

[SierraFool]

Do a search online. There are many different brands of MRE's

[BOWUNTR]

I can&#39;t understand why guys like the MRE&#39;s. I&#39;ve tested them and really don&#39;t like the taste and by the time you sort through it and bring what you need, they are heavier than freeze dried, a stove and fuel. Todays freeze dried are great, IMO. Try making a meal like that in the backcountry. I look forward to my freeze dried meals. My http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/two-cents.gif Ed F

[SDHNTR]

MRE = Barf IMO. I just can&#39;t bring myself to eat a loaf of a turd that comes out of a brown plastic pouch that is God knows how old. The Mountain House stuff is pretty darn good, light, and easy to deal with. The little Kraft easy mac and cheese pouches are great for a quick lunch too. And for breakfast there aint much better than a cup of hot oatmeal and cocoa as the sun rises while you are set up glassing for bucks.

[Zbearclaw]

Well I never got issued the Mountain House, so I got to where MRE&#39;s were pretty good, just make sure you get plenty of Tortellini and the chicken breast, and life is good.

I do like the Mountain House meals, just depends on whether you do fuel or not. Also the bad weather makes you appreciate a heating source that you can wrap up and put anywhere while it warms.

[Zbearclaw]

Also a lot of folks I know that dislike them have had the Vietnam era meals that they found in Uncle Bubba&#39;s army surplus, the newer ones are much better, my granddad used to feed us the old ones and it was like an old tire cooked in crap, the newer ones are much better.

[Coues]

Ditto on MRE&#39;s = Barf

Lived on them for 6 months straight in the Gulf. Those things cannot be good for you. Too many preservatives and way way too much salt.

[SierraFool]

Ed, I think what has been discussed in articles is the weight to calorie ratio. it starts to break even at day three. Meaning 1-3 days MRE&#39;s win, but after day three the stove and freeze dried is more efficient.
Hands down I will take Mountain House any day. Chicken Cacciatori....YUM http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley_10sign.gif

[SDHNTR]

I&#39;m a Turkey Tetrazinni kind guy.

[easymoney]

Great post and great responses all...
If I&#39;m only going out(especially here in the heart of the wildfire Azone) for a short trek over the weekend I do use MRE&#39;s and no stove, but if I go out for any length of time I use freezedried and a stove... The MRE&#39;s taste better than they used to and you can crop down to just the bare food and eat em cold if need be, very high in carbos... I second the chicken tetrazinni or the lasagna and the heaters are a wonder of modern science...

[pschultheis]

WOW!! Great converstation, thank you.

Most of my trips will be 1 and 2 nights either early Saturday morning till Sunday or Friday afternoon to Sunday. Atleast this year that is what I will likely be up to. I think that I will order some of the different MREs and give them a try. I can also pack some homemade stuff since my stays will be so short.

Thanks for the help,

Paul

[denny]

maybe I don&#39;t understand as I haven&#39;t used mre&#39;s, but I don&#39;t believe they require the use of any water beyond what is in them versus freeze dried foods which need a pint or so per meal, not a big deal unless finding water is uncertain. I know when I&#39;m facing a decent climb and know it&#39;s a dry camp on top I always have to figure the amount of water required to rehydrate my food as well as for drinking and even though they taste bad and weigh more, knowing I can eat if I don&#39;t find water is worth something.

[pbrdog]

MRE&#39;s are made for the "Ground Pounder", not your casual everyday hunter/hiker. They contain 3000+ calories per meal. If you are gonna hike a few miles and kick back by a campfire and enjoy your casual evening, they&#39;re not what you should pack. There are much tastier and more consumer friendly products out there. I keep a MRE or two in my truck when hunting, just for an emergency. Ya just never know.

[MattS]

I guess I am the odd ball, but I really like the taste of MRE&#39;s! I love the powdered milk shakes!

I do find the weight is what puts me off from using them more. If I am out for more than a few days, I take freeze dried to save on water and package weight. I really try to cut the ounces on extended trips. I also find the main entree isn&#39;t enough, even my freeze dried I get the 2 person meals for myself. I find I need the extra food when working hard. And Snickers bars always makes a good desert, or breakfast when smeared all over a bagel! Now that is chow!

I have been trying my own dehydrated foods lately, but love the mountain house meals. Chicken and Rice is down right grubby. Ok now I am hungry.......

[EvBouret]

After Hurricane Iniki in 92 i think the national guard handed them out. I liked them a lot...but I was only like 8 or 9 at the time, I used to take the candy, drink mix and the matches. I loved those matches, in the little green book. Haven&#39;t eaten one in a while but I used to like them a lot

[scr83jp]

I gave up on mtn house and other brands when we were backpacking tasted like a chemical packet so we bought a dehydrator and made our own meals.A good source of food is http://www.AlpineAire.com

[FresnoHunter]

SCR

Have you ever tried putting a casserole type of food, say Beef Stroganoff, into your dehydrator to see if it was able to work on something like that? I wasnt sure if the average dehydrator can be effective on something like that or if only some sort of industrial strength type of dehydrator is needed.

[Nic Barca]

I had one recently that a friend gave me and I thought it was great! Sort of funny tasting, but when you are really hungry, anything tastes good and it filled me up and supplied me with the egergy needed to hike many miles that day. A bit pricey though; I don&#39;t know if I would buy them. They are $5 each at the army surplus here and I wouldn&#39;t want to pay $20 for two days meals. We use saimen (ra-men) noodles as our staple food when we go camping. That equals out to 60 cents per meal. But I wouldn&#39;t mind taking one or two in to eat when I&#39;m away from camp during the day.

Make sure you get the heater pack. My meal would have been terrible if it wasn&#39;t hot. I think I had an omelette and hashbrowns meal. I ate nearly everything in that meal.

[easymoney]

pbrdog, nailed it with this:
"MRE&#39;s are made for the "Ground Pounder", not your casual everyday hunter/hiker. They contain 3000+ calories per meal." They are pre cooked and need no water to rehydrate, the water is for the heaters...They are probably full of salt, preservatives and fat, but when you are humping many miles at extreme altitudes, who cares... They do a great job for the buck.

[snoopdogg]

MRE&#39;s-way too heavy for me, all things considered. There just seemed to be too much crappola. Mountain House from Wal-Mart is pretty friggin&#39; cheap. I always have to have water, so the dehydrated stuff just fits fine.

[Hawk 1]

I used to eat the MRE&#39;s but my hunting buddies would say I would glow at night :) Not sure what types of preservatives are used so I have stayed awya for now.

All the best,

Hawk 1