What MREs do i have??

[Starcat]

So i did a lot of reading on here before i bought some MRE's

long story short, i ended up with a couple of cases of A and B from amazon.

these pictures are the first Batch, case A and B

i was under the impression that these are "Real" mre's

Then i encountered a guy who ran into my dad's work, he said he was retired military and could get REAL mre's from the commissary, and so he did.

he charged me 65 per case and brought these

I am not sure why the images are sideways, they look right side up on my screen. but anyway i was told the 2nd one are the real MRE's because he bought them from the commissary.

so whats the story here?

[Scotsman1984]

I dont k ow answer but i assume They must be training ones you can buy to practice with and let kids and family see etc as real MREs belong to US Govt as it says on front.

[Name_not_found]

They are Real, but not fighting MRE.

ToTM are for in class, on base etc, they have less items and calories than normal MRE

65 is a bit steep for ToTM (but not horrible for a case of standard mre)

[RockyRaab]

They are real, but not full MREs. As mentioned, a TOTM is a reduced-content meal meant for training situations (like being at the rifle range) where the chow hall isn't near by. I prefer TOTMs to full MREs because there's just too much food in an MRE. Heck, I hardly ever finish everything in a TOTM.

I also can shop at our local commissary, because I'm retired military. Full MREs cost about $7.69 each (or 92.28 a case) and TOTMs run $4.69 (or $56.28 a case of 12) The price varies a few cents once in a while, but those are the current numbers.

What your friend is doing isn't illegal because he's not selling them commercially. But it is frowned upon, so don't ask him to buy them for you too often. Still, that is the only way to get genuine current-issue meals. Buying from eBay often results in out-of-date, poorly stored - and therefore possibly inedible - MREs.

[housil]

I am not sure why the images are sideways, they look right side up on my screen.

Did you take them with a smartphone? You have to rotate them at your phone first.

[Starcat]

They are real, but not full MREs. As mentioned, a TOTM is a reduced-content meal meant for training situations (like being at the rifle range) where the chow hall isn't near by. I prefer TOTMs to full MREs because there's just too much food in an MRE. Heck, I hardly ever finish everything in a TOTM.

I also can shop at our local commissary, because I'm retired military. Full MREs cost about $7.69 each (or 92.28 a case) and TOTMs run $4.69 (or $56.28 a case of 12) The price varies a few cents once in a while, but those are the current numbers.

What your friend is doing isn't illegal because he's not selling them commercially. But it is frowned upon, so don't ask him to buy them for you too often. Still, that is the only way to get genuine current-issue meals. Buying from eBay often results in out-of-date, poorly stored - and therefore possibly inedible - MREs.

OK thanks. so the first ones i have , not the TOTMS are those FULL / FIGHTING mre's?

I am looking only for FULL ones.

These are the ones i ordered

[Name_not_found]

the first images are full real deal MRE's A and B case

sorry if my wording made that confusing.

[RockyRaab]

Yup. The cases marked "Meal, Ready to Eat, Individual" are the full Monty.

You may like those TOTMs more than you think. Even when I'm on a camping/fishing trip and burn a lot of calories pedaling my kayak, I find that one TOTM and one MRE are more than enough food for a day. If it's just a day trip, a TOTM is plenty for shore lunch.

[Starcat]

Yup. The cases marked "Meal, Ready to Eat, Individual" are the full Monty.

You may like those TOTMs more than you think. Even when I'm on a camping/fishing trip and burn a lot of calories pedaling my kayak, I find that one TOTM and one MRE are more than enough food for a day. If it's just a day trip, a TOTM is plenty for shore lunch.

aweosme. thanks.

NO i am stocking up a year of food for 4 people. so i need a lot.

[RockyRaab]

In that case, you'd be FAR better off with freeze-dried meals like those from Mountain House. Fewer preservative but much longer shelf life. Lighter and pack smaller. Even better tasting, to be honest.