MRE Help

RayKickButts · Post by **RayKickButts** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 2:50 am

HI Guys, i'm looking for some advice on getting MRE's into the UK.

I understand firstly that it is now a no no to actually sell these on place like ebay etc. Is that correct?

Are there any legit sellers, surplus dealers in the US i could contact?

I need the Millitary version as i require the heating element of the meal for a climbing expedition. The idea being we cut down on weight.

I don't need a long life on the food, till the end of the year would be fine.

I've also checked with our HM Customs and for me to get them in to the UK safely i need to get commodity codes for each meal and also tell them what percentage of meat is in each meal!!!

Has anyone come across this before ?

I have had the odd case before but paid a premium for them.

Any help would be appreciated

jubifahrer · Post by **jubifahrer** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:51 am

hi ray,

shipping from US is to expensive to UK.

Better take a look at ebay germany.

bye

jubifahrer

SpikNik · Post by **SpikNik** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:54 am

If you want to cut down on weight but also want the heating option, I'd suggest getting UK ration main meals, which are available from various places for about £2 each, then getting the heaters separately.

This place CLICK HERE sell meals for £1.99 or packs of 5 for £8.99, but I'm not recommending them, just something I saw a while back.

For heaters, I have 30 ish available if you want to buy them, or you could try ebay.

For the actual heating, the UK meals fit in the heaters, but you need to bend the edges in a bit because they're bigger than a MRE meal. Also, heat them longer for the same reason.

Also, I've just seen the previous reply above and yes, if you do want full MREs, Germany is by far the best place to get them in Europe. Also, they have very good courier services and prices. Just ask in the Buy/Sell/Trade section and you'll most likely get what you want at the price you want from one of our various German forum members.

Post by **MCIera** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 12:39 pm

As weight is a factor, have you given consideration to freeze dried foods rather than wet packed rations? You can heat those use FRH elements as well with some sort of insulated container or a commercial item like the Mountain House Oven. The problem with the Mountain House bag is that it isn't being offered in the EU and would probably have to be imported. As for freeze dried foods, rumor has it that the products available in Europe may be a bit more tasty than those from this side of the pond.

The other factor to take into account are the environmental conditions that you'll be encountering on your trek. If the temperatures are going to be low (e.g. around 0ºC,) the FRH's may not work very well in warming foods. Also take into account that, in quantity, the number of FRH's that you're carrying may weigh as much or more than a light weight stove.

One other point that you may want to take into consideration, if you decide to go with wet packed retort food, is that commercially available retort food products are more plentiful in Europe than it is in the States and that you shouldn't limit yourself to just military rations.

RayKickButts · Post by **RayKickButts** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 1:17 pm

Thanks for all the tips gents.

I've had MRE'S before so know that taste wise they aren't half bad.

One thing i hadn't thought about was the temp, it may go down as low as -5 to -6 where were going and pretty much can count on snow on the peaks and slopes.

As for weight i'm only gonna take the main meal and prob only around 2 rations a day so 14 in all. The freeze dried stuff i've taken before was rank and gave a few of us bad stomachs not what you want when your tabbing 25 miles a day with a 45lb pack.

I may just get one case and take a few for emergancys. I've looked at Ebay.de and yea there are a few on there.

As a guide how much should i pay for 1 case?

BigMark · Post by **BigMark** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:26 pm

Here are some retort foods you can buy in the UK, supposedly the venison sausage is pretty good; it would probably be cheaper to get the FRHs from Nik and buy these locally, YMMV.
http://www.lookwhatwefound.co.uk/store/ ... dn7e3tu4i3

If anyone is interested in doing some sort of a group buy from them here in the US, let me know, I'm considering ordering anyway.

Post by **kman** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:59 pm

I'm catching up a little late on this thread so I wanted to chime in on a couple of questions you've asked...

RayKickButts wrote:I understand firstly that it is now a no no to actually sell these on place like ebay etc. Is that correct?

Are there any legit sellers, surplus dealers in the US i could contact?

I've also checked with our HM Customs and for me to get them in to the UK safely i need to get commodity codes for each meal and also tell them what percentage of meat is in each meal!!!

It's always a no no to sell MREs that have been illegally obtained. But there are MREs for sale on eBay that have been legitimately obtained. As a buyer, it's difficult to determine the original source of the MREs so it's really "buyer beware".

I've only heard of one "legit" seller in the US selling officially surplussed military MREs. That site is http://www.mredirect.us/ but it looks like they're currently out of stock. Other than that, eBay (one of the ones in Europe) is probably your best bet.

There was another British member here who was trying to go through official channels to import MREs and he seemed to be having a fun (not!) time with all the Customs regulations that needed to be followed.

RayKickButts wrote:One thing i hadn't thought about was the temp, it may go down as low as -5 to -6 where were going and pretty much can count on snow on the peaks and slopes.

As a guide how much should i pay for 1 case?

I've read recommendations where if you're going to be eating MREs in very cold conditions, you might need to bring extra FRHs because one might not be enough to heat it the meal. You might be fine at only -5 or -6C but it's something to keep in mind.

As for how much to pay, I can only give you prices I've been following on the US eBay. US $60 seems to be the going rate here. But don't let the exchange rate fool you. The dollar may be weak for exchange right now, but I'm not sure if MREs (actual products) have followed the same trend. You're probably better off searching eBay's completed auctions to see how much the latest MRE auctions have been going for. That'll give you a more accurate picture of what you can expect to pay.

Good luck!

RayKickButts · Post by **RayKickButts** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:34 am

guys just found a reasonable priced one on Ebay.de but the inspection date is 02/07 is that now well out of date?

I can understand the brit guys frustration our system is so crap its unreal it took 5 calls to differant departments to find out i had to list them all seperatley with meat %!!! FGS how are you meant to tell that!! its a world gone mad

YouTube · Post by **housil** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:31 am

RayKickButts wrote:guys just found a reasonable priced one on Ebay.de but the inspection date is 02/07 is that now well out of date?

If the TTI

http://www.mreinfo.com/us/mre/mre-longevity.html

seems OK, don´t worry about the age

I´m current eating a 1998 case

RayKickButts · Post by **RayKickButts** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:53 am

Wot a laugh.... well i found a case A and B on ebay.de, won them at 50 Euro's but the guy doesn't take PP.... and after 3 days he still hasn't sent me payment details..... slightly frustrated.... beginning to think he doesn't want to sell to a brit!!

Sent 5 e-mails last two in German..... and covered my self by writing to Ebay in case of a non payment strike!!

I'll give it till the end of the week then search again i guess.

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