Just had my first MRE

[xcentryk]

So it happened, i took a trip to the army surplus and purchased a US MRE. I was quite excited to try it. The menu I purchased was menu 11 Vegetable Crumbles With Pasta in Taco Style Sauce. I opened it up and was pretty excited to begin trying it out. First I diddled around with the heater to get the main meal in it. While I waited for that to do its thing I decided to open the mixed fruit. Not quite as tasty as canned fruit but not bad for a lowly civilian such as myself. Then I decided to dig in the crackers and peanut butter. Very tasty! And the oatmeal cookie combined with the french vanilla was delectable. I then finished off with the main meal and a cold glass of lemonade.

I'm telling you folks, this is food of the gods. I would have never thought to say that about food stored in a package for who knows how many years. I will definitely be back to buy some more and I think they will make a fine addition to my escape pack.

[sourwes]

Xcentryk...Welcome to the group, glad you enjoyed it! It's a great hobby that also has a practical side to it. I've been enjoying rations for over 30 years. Never hurts to always be prepared. Don't expect the government to be there for you in case of emergency. There are so many great rations out there it's hard to know where to start. Rations are designed to give soldiers a "taste of home", so it's a great way to try authentic tastes/flavors of foreign cultures without spending a fortune. This is a great group of members from around the globe that regularly makes foreign rations available to each other. You can always post a wish list in the buy/sell thread and find almost anything you'd be interested in. If you liked the US MREs, you'll love the foreign ones aswell. I would suggest trying a 24hr Ration also. There's a great variety of items in those, that are very affordable. May I suggest Canadian IMP, Russian IRP, French RCIR, and British ORP. All are great choices to start, with a wide variety of items for around $25 to $50. Happy ration hunting!

[parafireboy]

Welcome to the group, and thanks for sharing your first MRE experience with us!

For a meal that can be stuck away on a shelf for years (in reasonable conditions, of course), they really are pretty darn good. For years I just had a few cases around the house for emergencies or for times when I needed a quick meal on the go, and then I found this site and started trying international ones. Then the bug bit . It's a really cool way to sample different foods from around the world, as each ration is a sampling of it's countries food types, candies, etc. It can be pretty addictive. Like sourwes mentioned, there are a lot of great people on here from all around the world, so if you're looking for something else to sample, just make a post about it and someone will likely be able to help you out.

Again, welcome, and beware. . . . it's addictive!

[xcentryk]

Thanks for your welcoming, gentlemen (I presume). I went back to pick some more MREs up and talked to the owner for a bit. He said MREs can hold for 10 years but the box only says 3 years. I guess if i'm going to put this in my go bag I should stick to brand new MREs and change em out every couple years.

I'm glad the government is here to help us when a disaster occurs but I know better than to rely on them for emergency preparedness. Just look at the whole Katrina fiasco.

I did some searching around for international MREs but learned that they were very costly. Ouch! I may buy a few to try but I'm content enough with good ol American ones lol!

[Conrad]

He said MREs can hold for 10 years but the box only says 3 years. !

They can last a long time if stored right, just look at some of the review channels on youtube, plenty of those guys have eaten the 90s and and some even older.
As for the international MREs there are a few European members on here who would help you to get them if you wanted. Instead of guys on ebay trying to make money out of the rations. It's much easier to get them over here for obvious enough reasons.
You could perhaps offer a trade some of the hard to get (in europe) US rations like LRPs and MCWs for european stuff.
It's easy to buy the standard MREs here but not the other stuff.

[housil]

He said MREs can hold for 10 years but the box only says 3 years.

The box doesn´t say so. The box says, the MREs need to be inspected after three years for further storage.
I just ate a 2007 one with no lost.

[SD_Jeff]

So it happened, i took a trip to the army surplus and purchased a US MRE. I was quite excited to try it. The menu I purchased was menu 11 Vegetable Crumbles With Pasta in Taco Style Sauce. I opened it up and was pretty excited to begin trying it out. First I diddled around with the heater to get the main meal in it. While I waited for that to do its thing I decided to open the mixed fruit. Not quite as tasty as canned fruit but not bad for a lowly civilian such as myself. Then I decided to dig in the crackers and peanut butter. Very tasty! And the oatmeal cookie combined with the french vanilla was delectable. I then finished off with the main meal and a cold glass of lemonade.

I'm telling you folks, this is food of the gods. I would have never thought to say that about food stored in a package for who knows how many years. I will definitely be back to buy some more and I think they will make a fine addition to my escape pack.

That menu item was one of my favorites. I would say second or third best of the menu B list.

[FREMONT]

Thanks for your welcoming, gentlemen (I presume). I went back to pick some more MREs up and talked to the owner for a bit. He said MREs can hold for 10 years but the box only says 3 years. I guess if i'm going to put this in my go bag I should stick to brand new MREs and change em out every couple years.

I'm glad the government is here to help us when a disaster occurs but I know better than to rely on them for emergency preparedness. Just look at the whole Katrina fiasco.

I did some searching around for international MREs but learned that they were very costly. Ouch! I may buy a few to try but I'm content enough with good ol American ones lol!

Wait until you see the wide variety of US rations. You only had the standard issue MRE; the most common US by far. There are TOTM, UGR tray rations, First Strike rations, Long Range Patrol Rations, cold Weather rations, and much more. There are also vintage rations you can get if you feel to live life on the edge such as 1st generation brown bag MREs and Vietnam era C-rations commonly found on the market.