Got my first MRE today...

alchemist · Post by **alchemist** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:07 am

Kind of hard to obtain in Australia, this one was picked up on Ebay out of interest...

It's a 2002 package as far as I can tell, but the bread and the brownie in the package were as fresh as the day they were made (haven't opened anything else yet!)

Interestingly enough, the FRH and the matches were left in the bag, Australian Quarrantine opend the pack and then left them in!

Now to try and work out how I can get a few more of these things to keep for trips etc...

Post by **kman** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 7:25 am

That's cool, Alchemist. I've found that the wheat snack bread, crackers, and most desserts hold up pretty well over time. It's usually the applesauce and cheese spread that go bad first. Well...they don't really go bad, they just change into unappetizing colors.

And that's interesting stuff about Australian Quarantine opening up your MRE. I guess they don't like sealed military-looking packages.

SpikNik · Post by **SpikNik** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:16 am

I got my first cases today (had some loose ones previously).
It made me realise just what bad condition the ones I had previously were in. They were 1997/98, squashed, out of shape, whatever, and dirty. I now assume they'd been kicking around at the bottom of a hummer for months.

These new ones from a case are, well...., clean! And all the same shape.
24 menus to try now, so it's lunchtime....

Post by **kman** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:26 am

You got me thinking, SpikNik...it'd be fun to do a blind MRE taste test. Well, not blind as in "blindfolded" - but more like blind to the dates of the MREs. Take an MRE from 1998, 2002, and 2006 and set them up so you don't know which MRE is from which date. Then see if you can guess which one is 9 years old and which ones are 5 and 1 year old.

alchemist · Post by **alchemist** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:00 am

This one worked out relatively cheap at $15 including postage.

Usually anyone on EBAY wants 30-40 bucks to post an MRE from the US.

I think the best idea would be to buy a case and have them sent surface mail... but I'm not sure I could get anyone to do it.

I guess I'll have to snap them up one at a time when I see them!

SpikNik · Post by **SpikNik** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:15 am

Actually I must admit, the loose MREs I had before looked bad on the outside, but in terms of taste there were no complaints. In fact my first one was a 10 year old pork chop something-or-other, and it was very nice.

The first one I have opened from these new cases is a beef patty. Meat, 2 breads, cheese, BBQ sauce. A DIY cheeseburger-in-a-kit that can last for years. Ingenious.

SpikNik · Post by **SpikNik** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:43 am

BTW, USPS (American post) do a flat rate box to anywhere in the world for 37 USD. It holds either 4 full MREs, 16 entrees only, or loads of snacks/sides, or an assortment. It might be worth you quoting that to US sellers, you never know. It worked for me once, but then I found this forum and have been lucky enough to get some from Europe.

http://ircalc.usps.gov/IntlMailServices ... 0&O=0&sd=1

C-rats · Post by **C-rats** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:03 am

Does anyone here have an idea as to what shipping a full case of MREs to our friend in Australia would cost

Post by **kman** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:34 am

According to the US Post Office's website, a 23 lb. box would cost $98 to ship to Australia. You could probably remove the MREs from the case and put them in a lighter-weight box to save a couple of pounds.

Does anyone know a better way to ship internationally? I'm trying to get a package to Germany and the USPS seems like the best way to go - but it's still $80 to ship a 20lb package.