Took a risky buy on eBay and had these MREs shipped to me.
It came was a little brochure, here are the pics.
What caught my eye was that there was no meal listing on the MRE's, just a number. This alone was interesting enough, so I bought them.
Without a list, I opened menu number 3 first. Inside was PASTA WITH VEGETABLES IN ALFREDO STYLE SAUCE, a pack of GRANOLA BARS in white packaging from an MCW, a strange paper envelope LEMON LIME BEVERAGE BASE POWDER, which is a bit uncommon since this was a 1999. Also, CRACKERS and APPLE JELLY.
Of course, being too excited, I went for the GRANOLA BARS. As soon as I opened them, a pleasant apple-cinnamon smell came out of it. Just as I hoped, they were completely fresh! A great flavor, and a nice crunch. I only ate one, I plan on eating the other another time.
The beverage base seemed fine, just like the Lemon Lime you see today in MREs. Another interesting thing: All but one of the MRE's I bought in this lot had the paper packaged lemon-lime beverage base. One had the regular plastic one, which hardened into a weird mass. Strange, eh?
The CRACKERS and APPLE JELLY were up next. Crackers had a nice hiss and were fine, but they seemed to be a bit burnt around the edges, which doesn't bother me too much, but it does taste a little burnt . The APPLE JELLY was fine, packed 8334, with a nice apple flavor and a healthy color. Yet ANOTHER interesting thing: All of these MRE's came with CRACKERS and APPLE JELLY.
I took the PASTA WITH VEGETABLES IN ALFREDO STYLE SAUCE out of an extra FRH I had, and poured it out. First impression? Nice Alfredo scent, smelled like spices. Taste was pretty decent, tasted like a fresh MRE. The taste, however, was a bit bland and needed the salt and pepper. After that, I can safely say this was an awesome entree!
As for the accessory packet, it was like any other civilian MRE. Sugar, spoon, napkin, a moist towelette, creamer salt, and pepper. The creamer was unfortunately shot, and was hard as a rock. Interesting enough, after opening all of the MRE's, some had coffee and some didn't. The coffee, like the creamer, was hard as a rock and rendered useless.
So there's a look at a pretty early civilian MRE. This reminded me a lot of the C menu rations that were around for a little while before being taken off the market. I have to say that this was quite a satisfying meal, and I'm here typing this, so I'm dead.. yet.
CHEERS!
M-PACKED II by SOPAKO 1999 Civilian MRE Review
- ElevatorFan73
- Posts: 64
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M-PACKED II by SOPAKO 1999 Civilian MRE Review
*opens crackers and a horrible, bleach scent fills the room*
"Not bad."
"Not bad."
Re: M-PACKED II by SOPAKO 1999 Civilian MRE Review
Wow, this is indeed very unusual. First time I have seen a RCW component in a regular MRE, let alone a civilian MRE. Looks like SOPAKO just assembled a bunch of MRE / and apparently RCW stuff together and packed them for the civy business! Do you have a pic of what the case looks like by chance? Or does it look just like in the brochure?
- ElevatorFan73
- Posts: 64
- Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2014 1:41 pm
- Location: Summerville, SC
Re: M-PACKED II by SOPAKO 1999 Civilian MRE Review
cavguy wrote:Wow, this is indeed very unusual. First time I have seen a RCW component in a regular MRE, let alone a civilian MRE. Looks like SOPAKO just assembled a bunch of MRE / and apparently RCW stuff together and packed them for the civy business! Do you have a pic of what the case looks like by chance? Or does it look just like in the brochure?
I sadly don't know what the case actually looked like.
I bought them here http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-5-MREs-M ... 2227317654 Looks like the seller has some more of them. And yes, it is very unusual to see different colored packaging in this, but it wouldn't be the first time I've seen something like this. When SOPAKO(?) did C Menu civilian meals, there were random components from an HDR. (See image)
I'm assuming these were probably among the first true "civilian MREs" in the sense that they use the same entrees from genuine ones, and 1999 would make sense since many people feared of Y2K.
The thing that gets me the most is the way these were packed. Every meal came with crackers, apple jelly, and a lemon lime beverage base. The only other things besides that were chocolate sports bars, peanuts, and the granola bars seen here.
*opens crackers and a horrible, bleach scent fills the room*
"Not bad."
"Not bad."
Re: M-PACKED II by SOPAKO 1999 Civilian MRE Review
Wow, what an unusual ration! I do say I really enjoyed the review. I'd wish they would still make civilian rations like this.
Good luck and may your rations stay unspoiled!
- parafireboy
- Posts: 1220
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- Location: Montana
Re: M-PACKED II by SOPAKO 1999 Civilian MRE Review
Very cool, thank for sharing!