Am I an MRE freak??
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cable pirate
Am I an MRE freak??
Hello to all! I am glad to see there is a world of MRE freaks other than me. I just found this site and I can't beleive there is so much info on these things. I am 33 years old but have been eating them since 82'. My brother was in the Air Force in the early 80's and used to bring me cases of them to take to school for my lunches. AAhh!! I remember when the ketchup used to be powder. Anyway, I also had family in Mullins, SC, and had connections to them there, where they were packaged at the time. Then later on, I consumed them at Military high school. No, they did not issue them to us kids however the school was based in South Carolina and one of my fellow students happened to be the heir of So-pak-co. He still is today actually. I just recently got back into them because of the massive explosion of Ebay mre auctions. I have 2 questions for you guys: Has anyone every opened an MRE that had the food burst inside the pouch for a long period of time?? It is so freakin gross!! 2: I just got a case of HDR's and wanted to know the shelf life of them??
Welcome to the forums, cable pirate! Glad to have another north carolina member here (that make 3 or 4 of us, I think).
Has anyone here ever opened an MRE with a burst food pouch inside? There might be someone but I haven't had the pleasure yet. I did have the fun of going through a case of MCIs that had about 80% of the cans either already exploded, leaking, or just about to leak.
But for an MRE to already be at that stage, something must have really been wrong inside. Yuck!
The shelf life of HDRs? According to the DSCP, their shelf life is the same as MREs - at least 36 months at 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Which translates in real life to at least 10 years at unknown temperatures.
As for the the edible life of HDRS...meaning how long with they last before you can't stand to eat them...for me personally, that's about 0 days. I really need to get my HDR review up soon...I think I've been putting it off so I won't have to look at those pictures again.
Has anyone here ever opened an MRE with a burst food pouch inside? There might be someone but I haven't had the pleasure yet. I did have the fun of going through a case of MCIs that had about 80% of the cans either already exploded, leaking, or just about to leak.
But for an MRE to already be at that stage, something must have really been wrong inside. Yuck!
The shelf life of HDRs? According to the DSCP, their shelf life is the same as MREs - at least 36 months at 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Which translates in real life to at least 10 years at unknown temperatures.
As for the the edible life of HDRS...meaning how long with they last before you can't stand to eat them...for me personally, that's about 0 days.
I really need to get my HDR review up soon...I think I've been putting it off so I won't have to look at those pictures again.Hi Cable Pirate,
Once I bought a closed box filled with the old style MRE's (the dark brown bags). One package had no air in it - you could notice it was absolutely vacumed. I thought it was odd to vacume this package, so it was the first I opened....
It was terrible!! The main meal package had bursted open and the contents had presumably used up all the air in the package during the rottening proces. Holy Cow, it smelled very BAD!
So instead the package was swollen up, it was complety vacumised. Strange isn't it?
Good luck!
Once I bought a closed box filled with the old style MRE's (the dark brown bags). One package had no air in it - you could notice it was absolutely vacumed. I thought it was odd to vacume this package, so it was the first I opened....
It was terrible!! The main meal package had bursted open and the contents had presumably used up all the air in the package during the rottening proces. Holy Cow, it smelled very BAD!
So instead the package was swollen up, it was complety vacumised. Strange isn't it?
Good luck!
"if you don't read the newspaper, you are uniformed. If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed". (Mark Twain)
Yeah kman, beware of vacumised MRE packages.
BTW, while you were in Amsterdam, I was in the Caraibic! Too bad we missed this chance to swap some rations. (Yep, I live near Amsterdam).
Greetings from Holland!
BTW, while you were in Amsterdam, I was in the Caraibic! Too bad we missed this chance to swap some rations. (Yep, I live near Amsterdam).
Greetings from Holland!
"if you don't read the newspaper, you are uniformed. If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed". (Mark Twain)
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DangerousDave
- Posts: 1156
- Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2005 4:48 pm
- Location: Virginia
Back in the mid '80's, a bunch of meals were compromised, and the Army, in all it's wisdom, put a moratoriam on mre's being issued in the field, for a month or 2. A bunch of the brown bags went bad or something. I saw one, all puffed up, Beef with gravy,actually at Hohenfels, Camp Albertsthof in '86. Lucky for us, we got 3 hots off a deuce and a half for about a week, instead of just breakfast. Thats not saying much, but yea, a veal patty with 2 slices of bread and hot sauce, green beans and pear slices are good also. 
Hello cable pirate,
I too recently got a case of HDR, and although they were produced in Feb 2003, they are easily the freshest tasting ones I have; obviously they were stored well. So many distributed to the Hurricane victims seemed to be of the same date.
So in these conditions, I'm sure they could last 10 years+
I too recently got a case of HDR, and although they were produced in Feb 2003, they are easily the freshest tasting ones I have; obviously they were stored well. So many distributed to the Hurricane victims seemed to be of the same date.
So in these conditions, I'm sure they could last 10 years+
kman wrote: "So what'd you think of the newer HDRs, rational? Did you try any of them out?"
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sorry kman I hadn't been watching for your reply -
These seem perfectly fresh even though made in Feb 2003.
And these were menu "C" so they had the max amount of food crammed in:
2 entrees (designed for the middle-eastern palate, and all vegetarian too) both 8 ounces, not 5. I like to add a can of albacore or chicken to the rice dishes. Most of the others are loaded with lentils, so there is lots of protein. And they are loaded with maltodextrin also, so these would be great performance meals for climbers/hikers. i.e. Red Beans & Rice entree has 75 grams of carbohydrate! More than the carbo-enhanced applesauce. Finally, the entrees are also have a lot of calcium, which is good for those who don't/can't have milk products along.
Toaster Pastry 2-pack, apple, non-frosted, super fresh, as the original thin foil is overwrapped in very thick foil laminate. Same as MRE, really good.
Fig bar 2-pack, super fresh. Same as MRE
Cracker pack Same as MRE
Vegetable cracker pack Same as MRE
Peanut butter - tasted brand new it was so fresh Same as MRE
Strawberry jam Same as MRE
Shortbread bar
Accessory pack has salt & pepper, and ground red pepper also, instead of Tabasco.
Tons of calories, great deal. Although I have heard good comments about the Red Beans & Rice, I have just had rice dishes so far, mixed with a small can of meat to make about 12 oz & 600+ calories.
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sorry kman I hadn't been watching for your reply -
These seem perfectly fresh even though made in Feb 2003.
And these were menu "C" so they had the max amount of food crammed in:
2 entrees (designed for the middle-eastern palate, and all vegetarian too) both 8 ounces, not 5. I like to add a can of albacore or chicken to the rice dishes. Most of the others are loaded with lentils, so there is lots of protein. And they are loaded with maltodextrin also, so these would be great performance meals for climbers/hikers. i.e. Red Beans & Rice entree has 75 grams of carbohydrate! More than the carbo-enhanced applesauce. Finally, the entrees are also have a lot of calcium, which is good for those who don't/can't have milk products along.
Toaster Pastry 2-pack, apple, non-frosted, super fresh, as the original thin foil is overwrapped in very thick foil laminate. Same as MRE, really good.
Fig bar 2-pack, super fresh. Same as MRE
Cracker pack Same as MRE
Vegetable cracker pack Same as MRE
Peanut butter - tasted brand new it was so fresh Same as MRE
Strawberry jam Same as MRE
Shortbread bar
Accessory pack has salt & pepper, and ground red pepper also, instead of Tabasco.
Tons of calories, great deal. Although I have heard good comments about the Red Beans & Rice, I have just had rice dishes so far, mixed with a small can of meat to make about 12 oz & 600+ calories.