questions about 1986 MRE's

[rjmeylan]

I just bought a case of '86 MRE's. It has menus 1-8 and 12. Is it normal to not get menus 1-12? Secondly, the individual meals are marked "not for pre-flight use". That wouldn't mean much to a grunt. Were rations sent to the air force, navy/marines and army? The menus appear to be the same although I haven't opened them. All help greatly appreciated. RJM.

[dirtbag]

I believe the 'Not for pre-flight' refers to the methane producing qualities of MRE's in a non-pressurized aircraft...

[mxjf]

I just bought a case of '86 MRE's. It has menus 1-8 and 12. Is it normal to not get menus 1-12? Secondly, the individual meals are marked "not for pre-flight use". That wouldn't mean much to a grunt. Were rations sent to the air force, navy/marines and army? The menus appear to be the same although I haven't opened them. All help greatly appreciated. RJM.

do they keep mre's in jets? i think it would be hard to eat one while shooting down enemies. and just think what if this happened:

pilot opens an mre while in flight

chows down the entree

drops his cracker while doing a barrel roll, and it ends up on the instrument panel(dashboard)

he reaches for it, and accedentally makes his control stick make him dive....and.............boom!!!!!!!!..crash!!!!!

also he farted and had to pinch his nose while reaching for the cracker!


pretty random huh.

[kman]

rjmeylan - so you received a case of MREs and it only had menus 1-8 and 12 in it? Did it contain 9 MREs or 12? I'd guess that either someone took out their favorite meals and replacement them with non-favorites or else maybe the factory ran out of certain menus and replaced them.

As for the "not for pre-flight use" part, dirtbag has it right about the internal gas certain MRE parts can induce. That stuff is fine on the ground but it could affect you differently in a pressurized aircraft.

Here's a previous thread where this was discussed:

DANGER: EXHAUST!
viewtopic.php?t=394

Here's a quote from CaptBob in that thread:

According to the Los Alamos National Laboratory's "Airline Travel Nutrition Tips":

Effects of Altitude
Although aircraft cabins are pressurized, the barometric pressure is less than on the ground at sea level. For most flights, the cabin pressure is similar to that found at 5000-8000 feet above sea level. The effects are: less oxygen available; and gas within our body cavities expands. This is usually well tolerated by healthy passengers, but it may help to avoid gas-forming foods or liquids before flight.

Though everyone responds differently to food, here are some foods that most commonly cause distress:

Fruits - apples, apple juice, avocado, bananas, melon, grapes, raisins, watermelon

Vegetables - beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, corn, cucumbers, leeks, onions, split peas, lentils, green peppers, radishes, soybeans

Cereals & Grains - bran cereals, large amounts of wheat products

Miscellaneous - carbonated beverages, chewing gum, hard candy, nuts, alcohol sugars (sorbitol, mannitol), high fat foods.

[norge]

they contain beans and products that makes gas in your stomac.
i gues i have read about this prefligth mres earlyer on the mre info
somewhere?
btw do you want to trade some old stock mres with british or dutch
rations?
cheers from norge

[rjmeylan]

kman: No. there were 12 in the case. And I'll tell you, if you were hungry you would have starved to death before you got the case open. It was staped (rusted staples), and glued unbelieveably. The box alone weighed damn near ten pounds.
I also opened a case of '94's. It was the same thing, about 8 menus with four duplicates. Different style box, with no staples but glued like a m********r.
Norge: I'm going to keep these, I just re-entered the MRE world. But I'm going to keep buying, and down the road I'd be glad to. But I don't collect, I eat. So keep your old SS iron rations.

[dirtbag]

Norge: I'm going to keep these, I just re-entered the MRE world. But I'm going to keep buying, and down the road I'd be glad to. But I don't collect, I eat. So keep your old SS iron rations.

I did a trade with Norge for a Dutch ration, and I recieved a very nice " Artic " ration, with good dates on it. I too plan on eating it, although I don't think I will do it it one day, as there's a Hell of a lot of food in these things... I just wish the postage wasn't so high both ways
I'd do a trade with Norge anyday, good guy !

[Lifesaver]

I did a trade with Norge for a Dutch ration, and I recieved a very nice " Artic " ration, with good dates on it. I too plan on eating it, although I don't think I will do it it one day, as there's a Hell of a lot of food in these things... I just wish the postage wasn't so high both ways
I'd do a trade with Norge anyday, good guy !

I wholeheartedly second this. I've done several trades with norge. They have always gone smoothly. We are in the middle of one now. If you trade with him, you will be happy with the results.

[rjmeylan]

Gentlemen, I wasn't blowing Norge off. I'll bet we'd both like having a couple (hundred) beers together. And foreign rations are a bit thin on the ground in Florida. Like I said, I'll keep buying MRE's and I'll keep Norge in mind first. I may even give him first choice, as long as he wants Country Captain Chicken.

[dirtbag]

I don't have much experience with the 'Foreign' rations, but the Dutch rations are much bigger and seem to be better than our stuff. I realize its a 24 hr version, but it has MUCH more than 3 MRE's... There's only two things wrong that I can see. 1) only 4 menus. 2) we don't have something like this !!!
I think our guys at Natick should put aside the 'Not invented here' syndrome and duplicate the 24 hr ration of france, germany, Brits or the dutch... All better than ours