Night Ops

Eating in the field is a surefire way to boost morale, confidence, alertness, and energy. Especially on a long op. US military issue MREs generally contain about 1600 calories, and can be prepared and consumed in minutes. Or can even be consumed cold if necessary, although they do contain chemical heaters for those who prefer a warm meal. They also include coffee, gum, hot sauce, desert, a protein shake, and a chocolate or fruit bar.
These rations can be kept in storage for months and even years.
I have used them before in my time with the BSA as a scout, and in the JROTC program when i was in High School. I prefer the ARMY issued ones, as they are the most reliable and useful. Does anyone know where I can get a hold of a case or two?

Likewise, I've tried Australian Army rations before and can confirm their usefulness in the field (particularly god for SHTF scenarios or long ops through remote terrain). Alas I've no idea where to acquire them without actually joining the army - that 25 year old tin of cheese was mighty excellent.

Hah, if i never see an MRE again it'll be too soon. They definitely work, although after a week or so of eating them some people tend to have certain... difficulties. I believe you should be able to just order them in bulk off of amazon. My favorite was always the pork sausage breakfast MRE, but beef ravioli was a close runner up. the only reason i don't really like them for hiking is because so much space is taken up by the packaging, their calorie to volume ratio isn't as high as one might expect. For stocking a house or bug out location for an SHTF scenario, though, they really can't be beat. 25 year shelf life is hard to argue with.

Therin the Hand wrote:I believe you should be able to just order them in bulk off of amazon.

Were they authentic US MIL?

Yup, they were legitimate US military MREs. If you're not interested in paying for the actual military ones, the same companies that are contracted to produce them for the military also often sell civilian versions that are essentially the same, with only minor differences in packaging.

I also feel the need to mention the fact that is rather easy to make your own. Not too mention rather cheaply as well.

teutoni wrote:I also feel the need to mention the fact that is rather easy to make your own. Not too mention rather cheaply as well.

make my own freeze dried food and chemical heaters? how exactly does one do that?

You wouldn't be freeze drying them (You could I just am not too familiar with it) instead you vacuum seal the contents. It keeps them good for 3-5 years depending on what you choose and not too mention can be tastier.

teutoni wrote:You wouldn't be freeze drying them (You could I just am not too familiar with it) instead you vacuum seal the contents. It keeps them good for 3-5 years depending on what you choose and not too mention can be tastier.

Sounds pretty good actually, same principle as tinned food and the air tight containers in ration packs.

I've only used the old british 24 hour ration packs, alas - they've now been replaced by 12 hour ones for some unknown reason. (I guess it does kinda make sense in some ways)



As you can see above, you got a fair amount of stuff in there - your breakfast, dinner (beans in them both, mark my words) and desert; all boil in the bag. But 2 packs of "biscuit browns", pate, chocolate, some biscuit type thing that was awful, water purification tabs, chocolate drinking powder, energy drinking powder, tea, coffee, enough sugar to make even the horrible coffee taste nice.

The best bit was when they introduced these.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkie_(chocolate_bar) <-- They had chocolate bars rebranded and made to different sizes; with a funny logo.

Only down side was boiling them; that said - always gave you enough water for a brew!