please share DEALS on shelf stable food

[mjwise]

BePrepared.com (AKA Emergency Essentials) has a decent selection of MRE basics. Even their knockoff MRE meals/combos aren't bad - they only use real MRE components in things they advertise in the MRE section (mix of mostly Wornick and a little Ameriqual production) and production dates are invariably quite fresh. Shipping is $6 up to a $60 purchase, which isn't bad if you put together a little MRE grab bag for yourself.

I cannot recommend their canned products though - they just don't pack them well enough (and certainly not for cross-country trip) and you will get dented cans from them (happened to me twice!).

Be aware too that they have giant advertising and logos on their boxes - you can request unmarked boxes, but they seem to only inconsistently honor such requests. You will also get put on their mailing list too, which is about as subtle as their boxes.

[Ruleryak]

I've never come across variety like this. Even back when longlifefooddepot.com and mredepot.com had them they never had a selection anywhere close to this. Pricing is a bit high here, at a shop in Idaho I stop at every year they carry 3 or 4 varieties at a time and sell them for $6.95 a tray.

That's a deal! Where in Idaho?

Idaho Falls - It's right off route 15 as you're passing through town. They've got a website too but they're a bit lazy with it and I'd bet less than 10% of what they have in the store is on there. Plus the website shipping is pretty bad and they mark everything up so I really don't recommend buying from them online at all. In person their deals are worth it and they've always got a fairly huge selection. Last time I was there they had the shelf stable sandwiches for $3 each - a pretty good deal when there's no additional shipping cost. They also always stock random mre components in bulk for a decent price so it's worth checking them out if you ever get the chance.

[TurtleNomad]

Thanks to everyone for their great tips (and store review from mjwise!), in particular Treesuit for the EpiCenter polytray deal and Ruleryak for the Idaho surplus store polytray tip!

When folks get a chance, could you add some mini reviews to one of the polytray threads? Nothing elaborate, just a list of the ones you've tried and what you thought of them. I'm particularly wondering about the ones that EpiCenter has, plus the "Creamy Gravy With [x]" varieties.

Speaking of polytrays, Cheaper Than Dirt has discounted two of their 2-packs down to $11.93 (i.e. only $5.97 per polytray):
MRE T-Ration Chicken Breast In Gravy Two Polymeric Trays
MRE T-Ration Creamy Gravy With Pork Set of Two Polymeric Trays

[TurtleNomad]

The price of the Alpine Aire 7-day instant meal kit has dropped to only $82.74.
That's a mere $3.31 per pouch!

I ordered one of these three months ago (when it cost about $15 more!), and am very pleased with the purchase. I'm seriously considering ordering a 2nd one.

The pouches are similar size (weight) and construction to Mountain House (i.e. "cook in bag").
There's twenty five unique varieties.
The calorie count is honest (i.e. almost 2000 calories per "day").

This is the best freeze dried pouch sampler I've seen (great price, variety, quality).

I've tried all the dinner entrees, most of the lunches, about half the breakfast ones, but none of the desserts (I'm seriously considering trying the "Chocolate Mudslide Pie" tonight, during "Jayne Cobb"'s guest appearance on TV's "Castle").
All have been decent to very good.

Most are "gluten free".
There's an excellent mix of vegetarian and carnivore varieties, so if you have a mixed household, this solves that problem.
The meat chunks do not require a magnifying device to see.

Mild Cons:
* Some are far more bland than the typical Mountain House entree, but they also generally have a better (healthier) variety of ingredients.
* There are no egg dishes, and it does not contain beef stroganoff, which is my favorite AA entree (and better, IMO, than MH's).

Note that the "best by" dates of the one I received in January ranged from 04/2016 to 11/2016, with a weighted average of "08/2016". It appears those are based on a five year shelf life, however the pouches contain oxygen absorbers and are as well constructed as the MH pouches, so there is a decent probability that these will last longer. I plan to keep at least a couple of pouches well past their BB date, sample them, and report back to y'all.

OPSEC:
My order arrived in a completely "normal" Amazon box. There was no way the delivery guy could have known what was in it.

I'll start posting up reviews soon.

[TurtleNomad]

Two non-food but closely related items, available from Amazon:


$14.26 eligible for Free Super Saver shipping
McNett Tactical Aquamira Frontier Pro Ultralight Water Filter
The typical decent price is about $18, and I've often seen it for more than $20.

It's not food, but we all need water.

Name_not_found posted a mini review, recently. It had already been on my mental list to buy, next time the price dipped, and Name's review gave me an extra nudge. I like field reports.


$5.21 with free shipping (not eligible for "Free Super Saver" shipping)
G.I. Type P-51 Can Opener - 10 Pack
These often go for $1 each, so this ten pack is a great price.
Very Important Note: please order from "hobbytoolsupply".

According to the Amazon reviews, some other vendors are selling cheap knockoffs. One reviewer mentioned that the "hobbytoolsupply" ones were authentic, so I PM'd them, they confirmed they're US made, and I ordered a batch. I have tested one of them, on two cans, and it's a good one.
I lost my last two, more than a decade ago, and have been mostly using my SAK. Wow, this is so much easier! I had forgotten how perfectly engineered these are.

[dirtbag]

The P-51's are sooo much easier to use than the John Wayne. (p-38)
The P-38 was designed to open the C-rat cans, which were very thin.
The P-51 was made to open the larger (and sturdier) 4-in-1 and 10-in-1 tins.
You needed a sturdier opener !
Buying 10 might seem like an excessive number, but they do wear out and you'll probably give some away.

[housil]

The P-38 was designed to open the C-rat cans, which were very thin.

I have a P-38 at my keyring since 1982 and still use it - even to tight screws

[dirtbag]

I used to carry one also, but it kept opening up and digging holes in my...leg!

[mjwise]

CheaperThanDirt has some rare HDRs in stock:

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/MRE-175

I bought one and the pack date is an incredible 5/15/12! I've never seen any contract production so fresh before in my life. The packer is Ameriqual and the box was in mint, sealed condition. If you ever wanted to get a chance to try HDRs, this is probably as good as a chance as you'll ever have.

[TurtleNomad]

Buying 10 might seem like an excessive number, but they do wear out and you'll probably give some away.

Exactly! I've put one in each of my main emergency kits, and expect to give away the rest.

Housil, good point about its use as a screwdriver!
I'm now considering adding one to my cargo pocket emergency/handy kit. The only tool I always carry (keyring) is the wee SAK Classic, so this might fill in for a few general uses. Will try it out soon, and see how it feels (will probably put some duct tape or something else to keep the blade closed).

CheaperThanDirt has some rare HDRs in stock:

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/MRE-175

I bought one and the pack date is an incredible 5/15/12! I've never seen any contract production so fresh before in my life. The packer is Ameriqual and the box was in mint, sealed condition. If you ever wanted to get a chance to try HDRs, this is probably as good as a chance as you'll ever have.

Wow, that is a great find, mjwise!!!

Please please post a review.
If you don't have convenient access to a camera, that's ok. I'd mainly like an inventory listing.

In particular, does the case contain a variety of meal types, or are they all the exact same?


I hadn't checked CTD in over three weeks, so I re-ran my little "diff" tool, and found these other new food items:
$49.97 Five HDR MRE Complete Meals
$39.97 MRE HDR 50 Piece Spread and Desert Item Sampler Pack Bulk Pack of 50 Items
$29.97 Rare Find! MRE Fruit 22 Individual Serving Pouches
$24.97 MRE Side Dishes 28 Individual Servings

None as good as mjwise's fantastic find, but of interest to anyone who wants to save on shipping by ordering a few things. Please, somebody buy and try out that "AquaPodKit".