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KMan, do you consider Heater Meals as rations? I'm thinking they deserve a little atention...

Funny you should ask...I just finished putting together my collection of HeaterMeals reviews and I should them up on the site soon.

But do I consider them rations? Sort of...here's the "ration hierarchy" as I see it:

1. Military MREs
2. Civilian MREs
3. HeaterMeals
4. Hormel meals (Compleats, etc.)
5. Any other pouch or container-based ready-to-eat food
6. Canned food

Personally, I think HeaterMeals are pretty expensive for what you get. I probably wouldn't stockpile them myself, but in an emergency situation, I'd be happy to have one for food.

i like the heatermeals. i think they tast pretty good. but they are too expensive for what you get.

Agreed `bishop.....

A few years ago I contracted out to provide emergency medical services to a national guard unit going through their annual weapons qualifications and they provided us with HeaterMeal "Completes". These are the full meal versions (snacks, sides, and a beverage) that come packaged in their own cardboard tray. I was impressed with them so I looked up the company on the Internet and was almost shocked to see what the price was. I decided to purchase a case of mixed entrees (only) and a full case of a breakfast entree (pancakes with saucage). The dinner entrees were all good but the pancakes were very dry and the saucage with them were......well, let's just say not very good. But what really killed my enthusiasm for purchasing them any more was the shipping charge. The added cost just blew the desirability out of the water.

Given the discussion on Hormel Compleats, and the comparitively higher cost of HeaterMeals, why wouldn't someone just add an FRH to a Hormel Compleat or some other retort packaged tray item? As a matter of fact, it would seem to provide a bit more variety than what HeaterMeals offer.