MREInfo.com

This might make a good poll.
How many MREs do you stock?

I have always liked them but at $9.00 each at the surplus store I never bought more than one or two at a time. My son needed 2 for a campout this summer and luckily I found this site. With the advice here I have two cases on the way. My wife is not exactly enthusiastic with my purchase and when I mentioned I should probably get a few more cases just to have around I got "The Look".
I don't want a garage full but maybe another 2 or 4 cases.
Whats a normal quantity to keep on hand?
Dan

Hi Dan - welcome to the forums!

I sure am glad to hear you found another source for MREs besides the surplus stores - the prices there are crazy! Did you find your new cases on ebay? If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for them?

I know exactly what you mean about "The Look". When I first started collecting MREs, I got that look *every* time a new case arrived. But over time, she's gotten used to it so now it's just, "hey...you got more MREs today."

But how many to keep around? I guess it all depends on what you're keeping them around for. If they're for hunting or camping or hiking, figure out how many you'd need for each outing and figure out how long a case would last you.

But if you're keeping MREs around for "just in case" or for hurricane season, then you might want to take a closer look at things. For example, for me, I live in North Carolina and every year, we get concerned about hurricane season (I'm a little far from the coast but they've hit here before). If I'm planning on using MREs for my food source should a bad storm hit, I'll need to figure out how long a case can last me. I usually figure 2 MREs a day per person. There's two of us, so that makes 4 MREs for day. So one case can last us 3 days. If we want enough food for a week, we'd need 3 cases. For 2 weeks, we'd need 5 cases.

Of course, there are other things we can eat besides MREs if a storm hits (first thing to do is eat from the refridgerator and freezer before all that stuff goes bad) but you get my point.

Personally...I say keep as many MREs around as you can afford/have room for. Maybe start with the two cases you have now and see how long they last - when one case is gone, order two more to replace it.

Of course, the other thing with MREs is price - I may be stocked up on them now, but if I run across a real good deal, I'll buy as many as I can. The current ebay price seems to be around $40/case. If I can find them for local pickup for $20/case, I'll buy as many as I can carry.

Yep I bought from EBAY.
There are 2 surplus stores by me, one has the real MRE at $9.00 each and the other store has a clear bagged one that has the only the main meal an accessory and utensils with salt and pepper for $7.00.
I bought a B-Case on ebay at $50.00 buy it now plus $15.00 shipping and a second case later at auction for $42.00 plus 14 shipping. Both cases had inspect by dates of 2007.

I know now that the $50 was too much to pay but comparing it to the surplus store at over $100 I got a bargain anyway.