New to MRE's

[icarus]

Hi, I am very new to MRE's but am looking to store some for emergency preparedness measures.

I have gone through the main website here a bit, and am still somewhat unsure how to go about purchasing the MRE's (what to look for, etc.).

From what I gather it doesn't seem like one gets to choose which items they would like in a meal.
But I guess my main concern would be the age of the meals. One exampe on the MREinfo website showed a box of MRE's that was packed in 2001 and then inspected in 2004 (or maybe that's when it's supposed to be inspected?). When I see that, I can't help but think that's a long time for the food to be sitting around in some warehouse. So, how does one purchase MRE's with the expectation of getting the latest menu/ freshest food? Or is it up to the warehouse? Are such requests one's that I as a consumer can make, and how do I know I'm not getting screwed when the package shows up and it's already 7 years old?

I want to ensure that I'm getting the freshest and not the bargain basement clearnance items.

Thanks,
~I~

[kman]

With most MREs, you don't get much of a choice as to what comes in the meal. With the military versions, you get either a case of the A menus or the B menus. You can find the menus from various years here:

http://www.mreinfo.com/mre-menus.html

The menus change a little bit each year so a case from 2004 won't have exactly the same stuff in it as a case from 2005 or 2006.

As for the age of the meals, MREs really do last a long time. I still have cases from 2000/2001 that I wouldn't hesitate to eat. As long as they aren't stored in high temperatures, they should last a good, long while. If you're concerned about having older food, then my advice would be to just not buy old MREs. However you get them (unless you're military, it'll probably be eBay), you usually have a choice as to which cases you buy. So buy a case that has a recent "Date Packed" on it. Be sure to check out this web page for how to read those date codes on the MRE cases:

http://www.mreinfo.com/mres-how-old.html

But all that is for military MREs. If you're really asking about Civilian MREs:

http://www.mreinfo.com/civilian-mres.html

then the answer is a little different. Most of the places I recommend for buying MREs either tell you how old they are or say they're "recent manufacture". In my experience, most of the cilivian MRE cases I've ordered have only been around 9 months old at the oldest. You're generally safer ordering civilian MREs because those come from known, trusted suppliers and you always have a place to go back to if there are any quality problems. With the military MREs you might find on eBay or at gun shows, you don't have that option.

If you're looking to buy some civilian MREs, feel free to email the various vendors (MREFoods.com, TheEpicenter.com, etc.) and ask what the dates on their cases are. They'll be happy to tell you, I'm sure.

As for the contents of civilian MREs, the sellers I mention here:

http://www.mreinfo.com/buying-other-mres.html

usually post the menus of the MREs they're selling. TheEpicenter is particularly good about this and even gives you a choice of a number of different menus to choose from for the Sure-Pak MREs. No matter where you get them, the aPack MREs menus are fixed right now so they're the same everywhere. Same goes with the MREStar MREs.

To get back to your last question, "How do I know I'm not getting screwed when the package shows up and it's already 7 years old?", the best answer is:

1) When buying military MREs, make sure you get the date packed or inspection date from the seller so you can tell how old the MREs are.

or

2) When buying civilian MREs, either check the vendor's website or email them and ask them how old the cases are.

Good luck!

[icarus]

Thanks for the response!

So, is it safe to assume that a case of 12 includes 12 dinner meals, and that i would have to puchase breakfast meals separately?

At this stage I'm looking to purchase 72 hours worth for my famil for emergency needs, and then rotating them somewhere down the future (putting them into our normal meal plan and then restocking).

Also, I thought it was interesting that you mention The Epicenter. I was on their website and some of the images they show, are of boxes that this site recommends being careful of, (particularly the yellow and green labeled case).

Thanks again.

[kman]

I might need to rephrase that "warning" about the MREs you mentioned. What you're seeing on The Epicenter's site is a case of Sopakco civilian MREs. The thing I was warning about was people who try to sell the civilian MREs as "real military MREs". Those are perfectly good civilian MREs but they're not exactly the same as the military version.

And yes, it is save to assume that a case of 12 includes 12 meals. They don't have to be dinner meal - you could also eat them for lunch or even breakfast. If you're looking for "breakfasty"-type items in MREs, the pickings are pretty slim. There is a new omelet MRE out there but I haven't seen it pop up in the civilian versions yet.

Another thing to consider for stocking up on emergency food supplies is the Mountain House dehydrated food. This stuff takes a little more preparation to eat (add hot water) but it can last a lot longer and is easier to divide up into portions. Search for "mountain house" in the forums here and you'll find some threads talking about it.

Within the next week or two, over at the Warrifles.com Surival Food forums, Broadsword will be starting another Mountain House group buy where you can save a lot of money on Mountain House food.

[mreheater72]

In this context I have a trite question: What actually means the "inspection/test date" stamped on the MRE cases, its about three years later than the "date packed"?

Greets mreheater72

[kman]

The inspection/test date is the date (usually three years after the date packed) on which the MREs should first be tested to see how well they've held up. They don't actually test every case - they just pick a representative sample of cases that were stored together.

If you are really curious, here's the section of the DSCP website that contains all the inspection procedures:

http://www.dscp.dla.mil/subs/support/qa ... /index.asp

[jubifahrer]

Thats right mreheater72

Bye

jubi

[icarus]

Another thing to consider for stocking up on emergency food supplies is the Mountain House dehydrated food. This stuff takes a little more preparation to eat (add hot water) but it can last a lot longer and is easier to divide up into portions. Search for "mountain house" in the forums here and you'll find some threads talking about it.

Yes, I've been considering this but again I have to question when those items are packed. I also wish they carried a smaller can size (2.5), as I could see much waste with the #10 can.

I have been looking into a company called ready reserve foods:
http://www.readyreservefoods.com/

and they seem to be a small operation, which I like who only cans a certain amount of food, and they carry the smaller cans.

[kman]

Yes, I've been considering this but again I have to question when those items are packed. I also wish they carried a smaller can size (2.5), as I could see much waste with the #10 can.

When buying food products from any reputable online company, I think you can be reasonably assured that the production dates will be fairly recent (but you can always ask!). But when you buy from someplace like eBay, I think that's when you have to be cautious. For me personally, I don't worry too much about whether my MREs or dehydrated food is brand-new or fresh - either way, the shelf life is measured in 5/10/20/30 years depending on the product.

Definitely read up on that Mountain House group buy thread over on warrifles.com. The group buy not only covers the #10 canned foods but also the single and double-serving pouches. I took part in group buy #2 or #3 and picked up a bunch of pouches. They're a little bit more expensive per serving than the canned products, but you don't have worry about opening a whole can just for a few meals.

[icarus]

Thanks.

I actually just purchased some MH stuff to test out. The freeze dried food is much more expensive, but I guess if I buy it over time (maybe a month or 2 at a time), I may be able to build up a nice six or nine month supply, possibly mixed in with MRE's and some canned goods.

Thanks again.