Government source for MRE's

[thechip1]

I recently found a source for current-issue MRE's that is sort of surprising. A friend of mine at work is a retired Navy Chief, and he shops regularly at the commisaries around D.C. It turns out that most of them around here sell MRE's. I'm a liitle embarrased to say that I am paying $7.32 each for them (since that is the GSA price) but at least I can pick out the exact menu I want, and they are from a controlled environment (I assume anyway.) It just occured to me that I can probably ask them for a whole case at a time. It's a little expensive, but seeing as everyone on e-Bay seems to be charging $30 shipping, it isn't too bad. So does anyone think I'm dumb to be paying that much?

[kman]

I won't say you're dumb. There are some valid reasons for wanting to buy MREs like that - mainly because there's no doubt they're completely legal and freshness is more or less guaranteed.

However, that is an awful lot to pay for MREs. $7.32 each comes out to $87.84 per case, which as you mentioned, is the published GSA price for a case of MREs. Compare that to the current deals running on ebay where you can get two cases of 2006 MREs for $72 plus reasonable ($30 for me) shipping. That's double the MREs for only $15 more.

If a reliable source of MREs is most important to you, then you shouldn't feel bad about paying so much for them. But if you need to save money, then eBay might be the way to go.

[thechip1]

True, I did recently see at least one guy selling two cases for $72, and that is a pretty good deal. A lot better then a few months ago, when they were going for that much for a single case. I probably will pick up one of them too. But it is nice to be able to go and just get ones that I know are fresh, if I just want a particular menu.

I did just pick up a case of in-date MCW's off e-Bay for $60, which I thought was pretty good. After $20 shipping, they still don't seem so bad for a relatively rare ration.

[rjmeylan]

I just got 2 for $72. They're 3/06 pack date, and they're sealed, so no choice.

[kman]

Hey rjmeylan - I've been eyeing those auctions like the one you just picked up - 2 cases for $72. But I've been wondering about which menus exactly are in the cases. 3/2006 is right on the edge of when they probably switched from the 2005 to the 2006 menus. If/when you open up the cases, can you please let us know which menus match the contents:

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

Here's what to look for:

Case A, 2005, Menu 10 = Chili w/ Macaroni
Case A, 2006, Menu 10 = Tuna

Case B, 2005, Menu 21 = Chicken Tetrazzini
Case B, 2006, Menu 21 = Chili w/ Macaroni

Thanks!

[BigMark]

Every time I see Chili Mac I just want to open one up and eat it, I hate that they moved it to the B case, I don't like those as much as A cases.

[rjmeylan]

kman: Both my A and B cases were packed 3/30/06. In my A case menu #10 was Chili mac, so it would be 05 leftovers. I didn't open case B. By the way, neither case was strapped, for what that's worth. -- RM

[thechip1]

Hey rjmeylan, what do the TTI indicators on the boxes look like? Any indication that the boxes were overheated in storage, or do they look good?

[rjmeylan]

BigMark. You can get Chili Mac entrees from www.MREdepot.com. They have a bunch of entrees and sides.

[kman]

Personally, I'd recommend people check out http://www.mrefoods.com, http://www.theepicenter.com, and http://www.longlifefoods.com for entrees.