Meal, Combat Individual Rations & New Member Intro

[iceman21]

Good Afternoon!

As a new member i'd like to first introduce myself and thank you all for compiling this incredible wealth of information on such a niche topic. Much respect to you all.

My name is Arob and I am a Korean born Swedish American who resides in Mexico for most of the year. I have always had a fascination for obscure and eccentric hobbies: skydiving, freight hopping, silver stacking, bone collecting, etc. so naturally MRE food science/education fits quite nicely. I've been interested in military collectables from an early age, my grandfather was employed as a uniformed officer (O-6) for the PHS and held positions at the FDA's biologics laboratories and NIH as a senior investigator. He would often bring home items from colleagues such as MRE items, laboratory experiments and equipment he received while traveling the globe. I had the pleasure of trying many food components from the 60's-80's. All sorts of compressed, dehydrated, canned products that I assume came from military sources. After his retirement from service and life I drifted away from my curiosities surrounding MRE's which leads me to the subject of this post.

Earlier this year an elderly neighbor needed some help moving and by happenstance we got on the topic of military service and all the fun and not so fun things I got to try a kid. As the day wrapped she handed me a large box of items that her late husband had saved from his own time as a military contractor. Inside the insulated cardboard box was a large selection of MCI components that all seem to be dated 1979/1980.

I left the box in my wine cellar back in Feb and now finally have had a chance to open some now that I am back stateside. To my surprise it seems as though all of the cans with the exception of mains have more or less preserved with zero spoilage. I have opened a B-1, B-2, B-3 unit, accessory packet and all components have been fully palatable, edible and actually quite pleasant.

Opened and tested:
B-1:
Crackers
Chocolate Fudge Disk

B-2:
Crackers
Cocoa Beverage Powder

B-3:
Crackers
Candy Chocolate Disk with Toffee, Enriched, Sweet

Accessory Packet:
Chewing Gum
Coffee
Creamer
Sugar

In addition to the B units there are also peanut butter, jams, rolls/cakes, chopped ham and eggs, tuna and many accessory packet and spoons. In total there around around 40 cans, 35 accessory packets and 30 spoons.The cans themselves are in pristine condition with no oxidation. The only telltale sign of age is some delamination on the accessory packets but the internal components are just fine.

Long story short I would love to entertain some trades to get these time capsules into the hands of anyone that wants them either for display or consumption at their own risk, I see no interest in exchanging cash when we there are so many MRE options waiting to be opened and eaten so i'd love to see what is available.

My main interests having done some limited research would be the following:
-Ration Cold Weather
-Meal Cold Weather
-Food Packet Long Range Patrol
-Food Packet Survival General Purpose
-UGR Cookies
-International Rations from Korea, Sweden, Japan, GB, Canada
-Anything else that is particularly tasty or interesting among you experienced lot.


Thank you for your time and have a great day!
-A

[safariman1]

Iceman21. PM me for a list. I may have some stuff you'd be interested in.
Welcome to the hobby,
Ted/Safariman1

[Faraway13]

Welcome to our forum! I think it’s great you already delved into the stalwarts of the rations now. PM me for some options, I may have some things you might like. Enjoy!