Good or Bad: MRE's

[mosher111 1]

When picking up MRE's what is the best way to tell that what I am getting is good? Do MRE's really "go bad"? Throw some info on me guys.

[RobRez 1,895]

They are all Totally awesome!! Bold flavors with subtle nuances and delicate undertones of flavor!!! Can't go wrong!

[bigsal 757]

I would go with freeze dried Mountain House products rather than MREs. MREs go bad in about 4 or 5 years. Freeze dried stuff lasts around 25 (in ideal conditions).

[mosher111 1]

Sal you hit the nail on the head. I am looking for something that will store well.

 

 

I moving to your place Sal if the shtf.

[superA 289]

Mountain house is pretty tasty to.

[nalioth 405]

I would go with freeze dried Mountain House products rather than MREs. MREs go bad in about 4 or 5 years. Freeze dried stuff lasts around 25 (in ideal conditions).

They go bad in 5 minutes if left in some asshole's trunk in a Texas summer sun.

 

Sal you hit the nail on the head. I am looking for something that will store well.

 

 

I moving to your place Sal if the shtf.

MREs will last 10 years if kept under optimal conditions. MRE Longevity

[mosher111 1]

MRE Longevity

 

Good info thanks. So low temperature area is best to store these.

[Marrok857 51]

I LOVE MRE'S!!!!!!!! My dad got a massive box from a friend one year. If i remember right it had somehting like 100 meals in it. Needless to say we ate all of that, mostly on camping trips. Saves ALOT on grocery costs, leaves more for beer money. Since there salty, drinking beer on a hot summer day isnt bad, keeps you from sweating alot.

 

It was a mainly beef stew and spaghetti. Good hunting treats too.

 

Added- According to that chart, its still an estimated 60 months which equals 5 years. So Sal (this hurts) is right.

Edited August 6, 2010 by Marrok

[nalioth 405]

I LOVE MRE'S!!!!!!!! My dad got a massive box from a friend one year. If i remember right it had somehting like 100 meals in it. Needless to say we ate all of that, mostly on camping trips. Saves ALOT on grocery costs, leaves more for beer money. Since there salty, drinking beer on a hot summer day isnt bad, keeps you from sweating alot.

 

It was a mainly beef stew and spaghetti. Good hunting treats too.

 

Added- According to that chart, its still an estimated 60 months which equals 5 years. So Sal (this hurts) is right.

For those that can read (and not just look at pictures) the official shelf life is 10 years.

[Marrok857 51]

I LOVE MRE'S!!!!!!!! My dad got a massive box from a friend one year. If i remember right it had somehting like 100 meals in it. Needless to say we ate all of that, mostly on camping trips. Saves ALOT on grocery costs, leaves more for beer money. Since there salty, drinking beer on a hot summer day isnt bad, keeps you from sweating alot.

 

It was a mainly beef stew and spaghetti. Good hunting treats too.

 

Added- According to that chart, its still an estimated 60 months which equals 5 years. So Sal (this hurts) is right.

For those that can read (and not just look at pictures) the official shelf life is 10 years.

 

I would go with 5 years, something over that would just seem to disgusting to eat, even if it is kept at optimal temps.

[mosher111 1]

I would go with 5 years, something over that would just seem to disgusting to eat, even if it is kept at optimal temps.

 

I dont expect it to be gourmet and I wont be eating them on camping trips. I looking for the best shelf life. It could be 12 years old and if there wasnt much else to eat I am sure you would not turn one down.

[Marrok857 51]

I would go with 5 years, something over that would just seem to disgusting to eat, even if it is kept at optimal temps.

 

I dont expect it to be gourmet and I wont be eating them on camping trips. I looking for the best shelf life. It could be 12 years old and if there wasnt much else to eat I am sure you would not turn one down.

 

Believe you me, if i was in a life or death situation and it came down to even 15 yeard old mre's, they would magically go away before anyone knew what happened to em.

[Stansplace 414]

if stored right, if you were hungry you would eat them after 15 years. I opened one last year (stew beef) that I know was 10 years old. The crackers were stale, but the fruit tasted like fruit and the stew beef tasted like stew beef.

[mosher111 1]

I like stale crackers

[Marrok857 51]

I like stale crackers

 

they make great targets too

[mosher111 1]

not those kind of "crakas"

[bigsal 757]

Sal you hit the nail on the head. I am looking for something that will store well.

 

 

I moving to your place Sal if the shtf.

 

One of the reasons I live in Idaho is there is plenty of extra space. When SHTF, you are all welcome....Even Nalioth, when he admits hes an asshat for doubting my wisdom...

 

 

Added- According to that chart, its still an estimated 60 months which equals 5 years. So Sal (this hurts) is right.

 

 

This adds to my 99.9% track record...

Edited August 6, 2010 by bigsal

[MT Predator 2,294]

If the bag is balloned up full of air, they have gone bad. It's one of the inspection criteria from what I have been told. Humanitarian MREs (yellow bag) suck ass BTW. They do not contain any entries with meat so they can be distributed around the world without offending anyone.

[Ruffian72 548]

MREs, keep a few in every vehicle. 5+ years. Have big cans of the Mountain for long term. 3X4X365 you do math. MRE are just handy. Heater Meals are same idea as MRE yet are lifed for 3 to 10 years depending on style. Cabelas and some Walmarts stock these. Seen the movie "The Road", some lucky person will find my storage after I'm gone.

[VanKiller 322]

I found some old LRRPs a couple years ago I had stashed from my old active duty days. That old Vietnam-era stuff really keeps. Of course it tasted like crap from day one...........well not really crap, more like floor dry............

[whitetrashrn 74]

Always updating My MRE stock. Have 2 cases, 1 I munch on over a years time and the other stays ready. When one case is gone buy another and start

munching on the other. Always move up on your dates. I also buy packs of the heaters. I think that is the coolest thing (dont take much to amuse me).

Except the rice and beans or the sausage anything, I am pretty much ok with all the meals.

[bigsal 757]

Have big cans of the Mountain for long term. 3X4X365 you do math.

Seems like the first thing I have in common with you man. My house has a similar stock of MH #10 cans....

 

Always updating My MRE stock. Have 2 cases, 1 I munch on over a years time and the other stays ready. When one case is gone buy another and start

munching on the other. Always move up on your dates. I also buy packs of the heaters. I think that is the coolest thing (dont take much to amuse me).

Except the rice and beans or the sausage anything, I am pretty much ok with all the meals.

 

two cases of anything is just a temporary measure. I recommend getting at least a year of food and three months of water.... just in case the republicans get into office...

Edited August 6, 2010 by bigsal

[nalioth 405]

MREs, keep a few in every vehicle. 5+ years.

You are asking for a slow painful death.

 

Heat kills MREs.

 

If you keep them in the heat (say, during the summer), their shelf life disintegrates.

[Shandlanos 1,470]

Heating MREs only makes them unsafe, not 100% deadly.

 

You might get away with eating ancient MREs, and you might get food poisoning and die. I've eaten an MRE that was sitting in my trunk through a summer and a winter, then I had a flat and got hungry, rummaged through my trunk and found it. I didn't get sick. Maybe lucky, or maybe the shelf life is based on that basic tenet of modern American life called "liability." If company says product only lasts for five years, and you eat it after ten, company isn't liable if you eat it anyway and get sick. Maybe it's still ok, maybe not. Company doesn't give a shit as long as it lasts as advertised.

 

The oldest MREs I've eaten were packaged in '04, and they were stored properly in the mean time. They were as good as MREs are when you get them shortly after packaging. Not very.

[nalioth 405]

[DogMan 2,343]

Mountain house stuff is good if you have to carry it around. For home emergency rations I just buy canned food. The shelf life rivals anything else you can buy, there is more variety, and they are more convenient to rotate into your everyday meals and replace so they don't even need to get too old.

[going12220 125]

Mountain house stuff is good if you have to carry it around. For home emergency rations I just buy canned food. The shelf life rivals anything else you can buy, there is more variety, and they are more convenient to rotate into your everyday meals and replace so they don't even need to get too old.

 

Agreed, never got too wild about MREs would rather work out of a can.

Luckily never really got stuck with them long term,

RedHorse had cooks assigned and they deployed with a mobile field kitchen.

Sometimes MREs were an option for lunch, usually just gave it to a local.

If I was in a bad way now I think water would be a bigger long term issue.

[MN.9130 44]

My personal, sometimes painful experiences with MREs leave me VERY, very mindful of storage: I wasn't even any place very dangerous, but a pallet was left on the tarmac for a few days, in the summer in the Arabian Gulf... and I had a very romantic week, just me and the fiberglass shithouse.

 

But, being the adult I am, I can forgive them for their utility. If stored someplace cool, dark and dry, I would:

 

Eat without hesitation up to five years

Eat with caution, and probably not very far afoot from my shelter, up to ten years

 

A nice compromise, I think, but again: store with care, and you should be fine.

[CJS3 3]

I keep MREs as part of my "Hurricane Kit". I'll buy a case in the early spring for the kit and then use them after hurricane season at the deer camp. I try to cycle through the oldest ones first to keep a "fresh" supply, so I really don't know how long they'll last.

[Klassy Kalashnikov 1,393]

Mountain house stuff is good if you have to carry it around. For home emergency rations I just buy canned food. The shelf life rivals anything else you can buy, there is more variety, and they are more convenient to rotate into your everyday meals and replace so they don't even need to get too old.

 

Not to mention most commercial canned food also tastes a whole lot better too!

 

One thing about MREs is they have massive fat content...Yeah I know, people are shooting at you, last of your worries may be getting fat, but, if you are not truly in a combat situation or lugging 70+ pounds of gear all day like the soldiers it was meant for, well, sitting in the house eating MREs all day for a year, you may survive SHTF just to die of diabetes/heart attack shortly after

 

I would hate to see what kind of lard ass a person would look like after 365 days sedentary eating over 150 grams of fat a day. Maybe invest in an exercise bike if you'll be staying in with your MREs?

Edited August 7, 2010 by Classy Kalashnikov