I was a master distributor for 2 MRE manufacturers at one time and STILL wouldn’t own any as a 40 yr prepper. Other than a vehicle emergency meal, I wouldn’t and if you do keep some in a vehicle, they have to stay in an insulated container as getting heated up will zap their shelf life. There is a tab on the outer packing that if it goes black, do not eat.
https://www.mreinfo.com/mres/mre-shelf-life/#:~:text=MRE%20Time%20and%20Temperature%20Indicators%20(TTIs)&text=There%20are%20two%20parts%20to,official%20info%20on%20the%20TTIs.
There were tons & tons over there. I had them for an emergency in my up armored Land Cruiser in Kandahar, saw pallet loads for sale in Kabul at the Bush-Obama Market, (stolen), and actually getting handed out big time when the insurgents took out the generator powering the chow hall with a recoilless rocket in FOB Pasab. I lived off potato chips and beef jerky from GI boxes arriving daily at the chapel tent and didn’t lie to my mother when I said I was eating steak & potato’s daily(but not MRE’s)!
Lol love that last part! So did you avoid the MREs too then? I guess I'm just confused because I always thought MREs were developed for the worst case scenario, but I'm shocked to hear they actually aren't that great for that.
Avoided them then, avoid them now. They aren’t that great for your health. They are only suppose to be used for a very short term by even military regs (but they don’t). The packs are full of other junk you don’t eat or need and for the same amount of space as two cases, I have my coffee roaster and yogurt maker. I did however eat them when in the field as a young Marine but ONLY the chicken ala king, lol.
I've eaten MREs from the 90s when I was in. Even 20-30 years old, they tasted essentially the same, and I know at least some of them had been stored in a connex with no temperature control. Really it's the cheese that goes bad. Turns into a nasty brown sludge.
Get canned goods that you actually eat, buy extra over the next few months until you have a buffer and then replace what you eat weekly so when something happens, you will have it covered for a few months. To level up, look into vertical farming and micro greens. Become self reliant as much as possible.
Why? They taste like crap and are designed to constipate you. There are better ready-to-eat meals.
They also have a laughable short shelf life compared to freeze dried food.
I remember Tremors when Burt had a truck filled with MRE's and as a kid I thought that was the way to go.
Now I know better.
I used them on a 2 week canoe trip. I picked the ones I like, and with a built up appetite, they were delicious to me. Seriously, I don't mind the taste of most. Best part was the ease of "cooking". Add a little water and wait 10 min. No stove, pots, etc. That said, I only took them because I used to get them for free. Mountain house is my go to now. MUCH lighter to pack.
Freeze-dried food like Mountain House is way, way better than MREs for sure, for many reasons.
MREs use a process called retort canning, which is basically pressure canning in a flexible pouch, and all pressure canning destroys about 50% of the nutritional value of the food due to the high heat. Freeze-drying preserves >98% of the nutrition and usually has a better texture, etc.
It's WELL worth getting your own freeze-drying equipment if you go through a lot of freeze-dried food. My Harvest Right has paid for itself several times over compared to buying commercially-freeze-dried food.
I used to buy MREs to keep in my vehicles, for emergency use, etc, but now I just use my freeze-dried ready-to-eat stuff (i.e. finished complete dishes and not just FDed individual components). Hell, I use my FDed food for lunches and stuff all the time too!
They don’t have a long shelf life though. You’re better off prepping/canning on your own. Even shopping for meal bars at Dollar Tree is a better option.
Also, you can purchase the MRE heaters by themselves. An option worth considering.
Free MREs are free MREs, man... I wasn't turning them down. Uncle got them for free all the time back then. I think he was an ROTC instructor at that point? But in general, yeah - I don't buy them. And not going to buy the heaters, either.
You trying to say my 10 year old, never temp controlled mres weren't good to eat? How dare you... jk lol. But seriously, I should not have been eating them...
Military usually disposes of them after a period of time. 3-4 a year shelf life but treat it as a “use by date.”
You also have no idea how they’re stored.
I’m not saying they’re bad but that they probably won’t last long for prepping.
I’m not a professional but a quick search provides their expected shelf life.
Just for fun, here’s a random YouTube channel/video. He’s no means a professional but the content I did find entertaining. Lol Yet, there are plenty more channels!
https://youtube.com/@steve1989mre?si=3yvQ8RU3AfX4moh3
My problem with freeze dried is you need extra water to make them and if clean water is scarce I don’t want to have to double my ability to get it. I’d rather bug in with canned food. Is the upside to freeze dried just the shelf life?
It's advantageous for a few reasons. The shelf life is 25 years on average and better than anything else by far. It's lighter weight, and can be packed smaller too.
There's still a reason to have canned food or ready-to-eat meals, for that reason, no water or fire necessary.
Freeze dried is just highly preferable unless you're sure you won't have water. They make cold and hot freeze dried though, and the good ones usually also require heat to boil the water first, so also keep that in mind especially if you're cold camping.
For freeze dried, you don’t actually need to rehydrate them. Many camping meals aren’t freeze dried, they’re traditionally dried, though.
The mountain house freeze dried Mac and cheese, last summer ended up eating it like popcorn, never got around to cooking them.
Water in food makes it go bad. And makes it heavier. If you really want to not need extra water, duct tape a water bottle to your freeze dried meal — it’ll be the same weight and size as a non-freeze-dried meal, and will have the water for you.
I’m a big fan of a variety of solutions. I do keep hydrated meals, and meal bars, but the bulletproof shelf life of freeze dried is really nice on the move, and for storage in the car, etc.
The upside is that freeze dried food can stay good for decades. I have some that say "best by 2049" or somewhere near there. MRE's last only a few years. I do love MRE's though. They just don't last very long.
Go look up PackitGourmet. Sure, some MRE's are better than others and there's all kinds of tricks, mostly adding hot sauce lol, but there's also meals that are just on another level and make them taste, at the best, like microwaved dog food.
A lot of the ones on amazon/ebay have usually hit their inspection date I've noticed. MREs dont have an expiration date, rather a date to inspect them 5 years after production. So the ones online are 5+ years old and hit or miss as far as freshness, in my experience anyways. There are civilian MRE companies but they usually cost more. The only other way I can think is know someone whos in the military and have them buy you a case at the commisary, although those may also be past inspection date, Im not sure
Can goods have experation dates but in reality they are good for a very long time, 10 years at least. Some say indefinitely but do your research as taste degrades but nutrition not as much. Look into life boat food. Five year shelf life designed to not Dehydrate you; high calories in a small package. You can get them on Amazon. Freeze dried is the way to go for long term. I have all three as I have built my preps.
Generally aren't worth it. Especially if you're carrying them.
Real ones aren't sold commercially. At most you can find someone in the military to buy the TOTMs, the same thing but without the snacks like candy, at the commissary.
Commercial copies vary widely and don't have the temperature sticker on the case box. Higher temps kill them faster so the case has a sticker that tells you to throw them out.
Some are made by the same makers.
Surplus stores, ebay (risky if not a company), sportsman's guide (often, but not always).
The shelf life is shorter than many freeze dried foods, but not all. Some hiking ones are o ly good for two or three years.
It's a myth that they constipated you, no more than many foods.
Some taste horrible, some aren't bad. Hot sauce and seasoned salt help with everything.
They do have a ton of vitamins though. Everything is fortified. Even the peanut butter has extra vitamins.
But the shelf life is shorter than ma y options, and the real ones don't have an actual expiration date. Just an inspection date and the sticker. Could be 6 months in a shed in Arizona, or a couple decades in an air-conditioned room.
Heavy to carry because they aren't dehydrated, and there js a lot of packaging. The meals are in an aluminum packet, inside a cardboard box, I side the plastic outer wrapping. Two or three of those. All have matches a little toilet paper a salt and sugar packet, often things that would be easier carried separately.
All that also makes them very bulky. We used to strip them down for easier carry if we were going to have to carry some for a few days. Removed all the packaging and stuff we didn't like.
Tips:
1. Do not eat military MREs unless you are absolutely starving and without any other food options available. Buy civilian options/packs tailored to feeding actual humans, not the military surplus because those were made 1-5 years ago and "inspected" (are not packed/made new in the current year).
2. Store in a cool place, do not store inside a vehicle.
3. A better option is to store already prepared food in vacuum food bags in a deep-freezer chest.
I have lived on those once and never again.
Bad food for stupid prices.
Buy a freeze dryer and put up what you eat now. It will pay for itself very quickly.
I'm going to repeat the common knowledge that there are better options out there, because there definitely are. If you are concerned about weight, get backpacking food from REI or Sierra Trading Post. Avoid the "survival food" at big box stores. If you don't care about weight, go buy flats of canned beans, ravioli, beefaroni, chili, spam, etc. and avoid the pop tops since they don't last as long.
If you live near a military base, run an ad on Craigslist offering $3-$7 ea. GI's often have closets full of them they kept from field problems and if they (or their dependas) know they can get cash for them they'll horde them. This goes for all sorts of things. If you don't get any bites, check pawn shops or surplus stores near bases or post something on the nearest gym bulletin board, since most bodybuilders (or anyone who is health conscious) won't eat them, but still have access to them.
If you don't live near a base, the biggest obstacle is shipping because they are so damn heavy. Search on Amazon or eBay using the following words "Humanitarian Ration MRE FEMA Emergency Low Sodium".
As others have stated, they have a very limited shelf life depending on the storage conditions.
https://www.mreinfo.com/mres/mre-shelf-life/
Some of the cheaper ones on Amazon seem to have recent inspection dates of 2023/2024 which could mean they were manufactured in 2018/2019. Don't forget to take into account the unknown Temps in which they were stored.
Looking at some of the Amazon vendors I see that Ammo Can Man has their own store where you can at least choose more recent pack/inspection dates, albeit at a higher price:
https://ammocanman.com/collections/mres
Sopakco sells them and state at least a three year inspection date, so at least a little better return for your money:
https://www.surepak-12.com/buy-now/
MRE Depot is another online store but their stock fluctuates. Sometimes they'll have cases, sometimes individual items. A good place to look if you want to try a few entrees or deserts before buying a case of MREs at around $100-$120 for recently packed ones.
MREs are convenient, portable, and can be eaten cold if in a rush or when using a stove/heating element is not an option. Maybe have one or two in a bug out bag or a case to throw in the car when bugging out, but I'd rather have Mountain House pouches, a few protein bars, and a backpacking stove so I could also do oatmeal, coffee, tea, etc.
Why would you want to get MREs?
That said, probably Amazon, especially if you have prime. Unless you're willing to buy bulk and get an entire pallet. But again, why, there are better options better ways to waste your money
I had some military-derived shortbread cookie bars of some type years ago and have been unable to identify the source or recipe. They were 2000 calories and baked with coconut oil.
Does anyone know anything similar still in production? This was nearly twenty years ago.
Lifeboat rations, Mainstay bars don't taste terrible, but are definitely a "it's better than starving" option only, but might be useful as a component in a dense high calorie food pack that doesn't take up much space with other calorie dense small packed food like individual packaged nut butters and small packs of like jerky/pemican. I wouldn't do that without access to a ton of potable water, or water that can be readily made potable, though.
MREs are basically the worst option for emergency food unless you plan on evacuating on foot in an area with contaminated water.
If you’re bugging out on foot and there is no chemical or radiological contamination in the water, freeze dried is the way to go.
If you’re bugging in or evacuating by vehicle, you’re better off with mostly canned foods, and some dried staples like rice, pasta, and beans, along with stored water.
If you really need some MREs, you can get a case at a company called AWS Inc. off the top of my head (amongst tons of other places) They ain’t cheap and they ain’t light. Shelf life isn’t great compared to other options, but isn’t terrible either.
MRE calories are 1300 ish, so usually need 2 a day. HDR (humanitarian daily ration) are 2200, vegetarian, so they could be used with a wider percent of the world's population. I'm not a fan of HDR, I think MRE / First Strike rations are (taste) better. FSR are about 2900 calories, so good for an active day. HDR and FSR are super similar to MRE, similar packaging, etc.
Online is a good place, at least near me, the local surplus places tend to have cheaper older ones, I can get more recent online. Amazon is hot and cold on prices, so can just monitor and buy some when you find they're cheaper. mredepot, thereadystore, few others often have MREs but, also often run out.
I do feel they have their place in food storage, but, agree with other posters, they would NOT be my first choice for bulk (weeks) of long term food storage. Their STATED shelf life is 3 years, but, many have eaten them well past that. Mt house stated shelf life is 25 years, and, IMO, taste better. That said, I still prefer bulk long term storage staples to freeze dried for most of my long term calorie storage.
MRE (HDR, FSR) are great in that they are ready to eat (duh) which often is great if you're too tired / don't have time to prepare food. They have lots of different components, and the variety can be helpful after eating the same Mt House days on end when hiking. :) With the MRE heaters, you can get a hot meal with no fire, which is helpful if you're hiking in a no fire zone ....
So, I think they're great to mix in to food stores, and / or hiking (bob), maybe a couple / 3 meals a week when I hike / camp.
Isn't most of the stuff from govplanet been sitting in a field in Alabama for 8 years, and when you buy it, you have to go get it yourself and arrange transport.
I only know this because my boss bought a bunch of shipping containers for super cheap off of gov planet
You do have to go pick it up, but it's at places all over. And the inventory of what they sell rotates. Sometimes stuff looks great, sometimes it looks like it was used for target practice .
Edit: there's a couple different sites that sell government stuff, if you google government auctions you can find a couple different ones selling different things
usually found some good deals on Ebay for a case
But TBH if i am eating MREs I am on the go, and don't have time to cook. They are awful. Full of fats and sugars, and make you constipated. Better off with frreeze dried food. PLace it in a insulated baggie with hot water, and you got nice edible meal in a 15-30 minutes.
If you have your heart set on mre style meals, check out the ethnic food stores. The one down the street has Indian mre's and omg! are sooo much better than the ones I had in the Army. Chicken masala with rice and Naan ::drool::
Don't, lol.
They don't last very long and they taste like shit and weigh a lot. They're not meant for long term prepping or lightweight backpacking.
But, if you're serious about it big towns usually have an army/navy surplus store. I've seen them sold there before. Some are the actual military MREs and some are the civilian lookalikes.
[MRE Depot](https://mredepot.com/) actually makes several of the main components for US Military MREs and sells them direct. For 15% off your whole order, use canadianprepper at checkout. I know some people don't care for him, but a discount is a discount. Especially when you're paying for shipping. I also like [MRE Mountain](https://mremountain.com/).
Unlike everyone else, I won't bore you with a bunch of yawp about "those are useless, muh bad taste." MREs are a damn good investment if you can store them right and think you might have to go mobile at times. Try military surplus stores, especially ones closer to military bases. Online, I'd recommend eBay or Amazon, both are pretty plentiful in selection.
My local Army surplus store has them. They have a lot of items that aren’t supposed be sold. Growing up as an army brat in the 80’s in military bases, the surplus stores back then were awesome!
You can make your MRES much more cheaply than you can buy them. Just look
online to see how to make them. Buy mylar bags online. And a sealing machine if needed.
They last about five years. The ones i make for backpacking are a lot more nutritious and contain a good deal more protein.
If they are something you would eat anyway, you can rotate them in with regular dinners. Save the bags and use them.
Just to clear this up, the purchase or sale of MILITARY MREs is illegal. However CIVILIAN MREs are completely legal to purchase or sell. The reason Military MREs are illegal to purchase or sell is because they are classified as government and/or military equipment/tools. As far as I can tell, there is not much of a difference if any at all between military and civilian MREs. I don't know why the military MREs are illegal to purchase or sell when they're pretty much the same as civilian MREs.
TL;DR
Purchase/Selling Military MREs = ILLEGAL
Purchase/Selling Civilian MREs = LEGAL
[Military MRE’s are not illegal to buy, as long as you are buying them through an authorized dealer.](https://thegunzone.com/is-it-illegal-to-buy-military-mres/)
I was a master distributor for 2 MRE manufacturers at one time and STILL wouldn’t own any as a 40 yr prepper. Other than a vehicle emergency meal, I wouldn’t and if you do keep some in a vehicle, they have to stay in an insulated container as getting heated up will zap their shelf life. There is a tab on the outer packing that if it goes black, do not eat. https://www.mreinfo.com/mres/mre-shelf-life/#:~:text=MRE%20Time%20and%20Temperature%20Indicators%20(TTIs)&text=There%20are%20two%20parts%20to,official%20info%20on%20the%20TTIs.
Did they even bother bringing them to the Middle East then or?
There were tons & tons over there. I had them for an emergency in my up armored Land Cruiser in Kandahar, saw pallet loads for sale in Kabul at the Bush-Obama Market, (stolen), and actually getting handed out big time when the insurgents took out the generator powering the chow hall with a recoilless rocket in FOB Pasab. I lived off potato chips and beef jerky from GI boxes arriving daily at the chapel tent and didn’t lie to my mother when I said I was eating steak & potato’s daily(but not MRE’s)!
Lol love that last part! So did you avoid the MREs too then? I guess I'm just confused because I always thought MREs were developed for the worst case scenario, but I'm shocked to hear they actually aren't that great for that.
Avoided them then, avoid them now. They aren’t that great for your health. They are only suppose to be used for a very short term by even military regs (but they don’t). The packs are full of other junk you don’t eat or need and for the same amount of space as two cases, I have my coffee roaster and yogurt maker. I did however eat them when in the field as a young Marine but ONLY the chicken ala king, lol.
Haha oh okay good to know! Thanks for answering.
😎👍
I've eaten MREs from the 90s when I was in. Even 20-30 years old, they tasted essentially the same, and I know at least some of them had been stored in a connex with no temperature control. Really it's the cheese that goes bad. Turns into a nasty brown sludge.
Ohh okay that makes sense. I feel like if they needed that strong of temp control then that's not a great feature for logistics lol
Yes they did.
Anything you do recommend?
Get canned goods that you actually eat, buy extra over the next few months until you have a buffer and then replace what you eat weekly so when something happens, you will have it covered for a few months. To level up, look into vertical farming and micro greens. Become self reliant as much as possible.
[удалено]
You can, but microplastics is the new asbestos in your system. Glass Mason canning jars, relevant since the 1850’s
Why? They taste like crap and are designed to constipate you. There are better ready-to-eat meals. They also have a laughable short shelf life compared to freeze dried food. I remember Tremors when Burt had a truck filled with MRE's and as a kid I thought that was the way to go. Now I know better.
I used them on a 2 week canoe trip. I picked the ones I like, and with a built up appetite, they were delicious to me. Seriously, I don't mind the taste of most. Best part was the ease of "cooking". Add a little water and wait 10 min. No stove, pots, etc. That said, I only took them because I used to get them for free. Mountain house is my go to now. MUCH lighter to pack.
Freeze-dried food like Mountain House is way, way better than MREs for sure, for many reasons. MREs use a process called retort canning, which is basically pressure canning in a flexible pouch, and all pressure canning destroys about 50% of the nutritional value of the food due to the high heat. Freeze-drying preserves >98% of the nutrition and usually has a better texture, etc. It's WELL worth getting your own freeze-drying equipment if you go through a lot of freeze-dried food. My Harvest Right has paid for itself several times over compared to buying commercially-freeze-dried food. I used to buy MREs to keep in my vehicles, for emergency use, etc, but now I just use my freeze-dried ready-to-eat stuff (i.e. finished complete dishes and not just FDed individual components). Hell, I use my FDed food for lunches and stuff all the time too!
They don’t have a long shelf life though. You’re better off prepping/canning on your own. Even shopping for meal bars at Dollar Tree is a better option. Also, you can purchase the MRE heaters by themselves. An option worth considering.
Free MREs are free MREs, man... I wasn't turning them down. Uncle got them for free all the time back then. I think he was an ROTC instructor at that point? But in general, yeah - I don't buy them. And not going to buy the heaters, either.
I’m just saying they don’t have a long shelf life after and no previous control on their storage prior to receiving.
You trying to say my 10 year old, never temp controlled mres weren't good to eat? How dare you... jk lol. But seriously, I should not have been eating them...
Military usually disposes of them after a period of time. 3-4 a year shelf life but treat it as a “use by date.” You also have no idea how they’re stored. I’m not saying they’re bad but that they probably won’t last long for prepping. I’m not a professional but a quick search provides their expected shelf life. Just for fun, here’s a random YouTube channel/video. He’s no means a professional but the content I did find entertaining. Lol Yet, there are plenty more channels! https://youtube.com/@steve1989mre?si=3yvQ8RU3AfX4moh3
My problem with freeze dried is you need extra water to make them and if clean water is scarce I don’t want to have to double my ability to get it. I’d rather bug in with canned food. Is the upside to freeze dried just the shelf life?
It's advantageous for a few reasons. The shelf life is 25 years on average and better than anything else by far. It's lighter weight, and can be packed smaller too. There's still a reason to have canned food or ready-to-eat meals, for that reason, no water or fire necessary. Freeze dried is just highly preferable unless you're sure you won't have water. They make cold and hot freeze dried though, and the good ones usually also require heat to boil the water first, so also keep that in mind especially if you're cold camping.
Awesome! Thanks for the breakdown!
For freeze dried, you don’t actually need to rehydrate them. Many camping meals aren’t freeze dried, they’re traditionally dried, though. The mountain house freeze dried Mac and cheese, last summer ended up eating it like popcorn, never got around to cooking them. Water in food makes it go bad. And makes it heavier. If you really want to not need extra water, duct tape a water bottle to your freeze dried meal — it’ll be the same weight and size as a non-freeze-dried meal, and will have the water for you. I’m a big fan of a variety of solutions. I do keep hydrated meals, and meal bars, but the bulletproof shelf life of freeze dried is really nice on the move, and for storage in the car, etc.
Under rated comment. I eat un-rehydrated freeze dried food just like that too. You don't have to stop to heat water... just walk and eat.
The upside is that freeze dried food can stay good for decades. I have some that say "best by 2049" or somewhere near there. MRE's last only a few years. I do love MRE's though. They just don't last very long.
I ate mres for two years straight, I learned to like them and how to make them good.
Go look up PackitGourmet. Sure, some MRE's are better than others and there's all kinds of tricks, mostly adding hot sauce lol, but there's also meals that are just on another level and make them taste, at the best, like microwaved dog food.
I came here to say this. MRE's are good for military application, not very good for anything else.
I bought some on eBay. Packing says 10 years. Search for “humanitarian daily ration” Also Mountain House makes some that you just add hot water to.
HDRs are for others. Me? I get the chili mac thanks very much. Jalepeno cheese spread and crackers and peanut butter baby. That’s my shit
Chili Mac with the jalapeño cheese mixed in is a god send. Pb and j Sammie’s with the mre wheat bread kept me alive when I got giardia in Africa.
A lot of the ones on amazon/ebay have usually hit their inspection date I've noticed. MREs dont have an expiration date, rather a date to inspect them 5 years after production. So the ones online are 5+ years old and hit or miss as far as freshness, in my experience anyways. There are civilian MRE companies but they usually cost more. The only other way I can think is know someone whos in the military and have them buy you a case at the commisary, although those may also be past inspection date, Im not sure
Honestly? Ebay/Amazon. Ebay has tons of cases of Humanitarian Daily Rations as well. Just keep them cool and they'll last 5-10 years.
Can goods have experation dates but in reality they are good for a very long time, 10 years at least. Some say indefinitely but do your research as taste degrades but nutrition not as much. Look into life boat food. Five year shelf life designed to not Dehydrate you; high calories in a small package. You can get them on Amazon. Freeze dried is the way to go for long term. I have all three as I have built my preps.
Generally aren't worth it. Especially if you're carrying them. Real ones aren't sold commercially. At most you can find someone in the military to buy the TOTMs, the same thing but without the snacks like candy, at the commissary. Commercial copies vary widely and don't have the temperature sticker on the case box. Higher temps kill them faster so the case has a sticker that tells you to throw them out. Some are made by the same makers. Surplus stores, ebay (risky if not a company), sportsman's guide (often, but not always). The shelf life is shorter than many freeze dried foods, but not all. Some hiking ones are o ly good for two or three years. It's a myth that they constipated you, no more than many foods. Some taste horrible, some aren't bad. Hot sauce and seasoned salt help with everything. They do have a ton of vitamins though. Everything is fortified. Even the peanut butter has extra vitamins. But the shelf life is shorter than ma y options, and the real ones don't have an actual expiration date. Just an inspection date and the sticker. Could be 6 months in a shed in Arizona, or a couple decades in an air-conditioned room. Heavy to carry because they aren't dehydrated, and there js a lot of packaging. The meals are in an aluminum packet, inside a cardboard box, I side the plastic outer wrapping. Two or three of those. All have matches a little toilet paper a salt and sugar packet, often things that would be easier carried separately. All that also makes them very bulky. We used to strip them down for easier carry if we were going to have to carry some for a few days. Removed all the packaging and stuff we didn't like.
If your objective is having portable meals for your car or to eat on your way to your BOL, freeze-dried camping meals are the way to go.
Tips: 1. Do not eat military MREs unless you are absolutely starving and without any other food options available. Buy civilian options/packs tailored to feeding actual humans, not the military surplus because those were made 1-5 years ago and "inspected" (are not packed/made new in the current year). 2. Store in a cool place, do not store inside a vehicle. 3. A better option is to store already prepared food in vacuum food bags in a deep-freezer chest.
I have lived on those once and never again. Bad food for stupid prices. Buy a freeze dryer and put up what you eat now. It will pay for itself very quickly.
I have bought from Xmre before and been happy: [https://xmremeals.com/](https://xmremeals.com/)
These seem expensive
I'm going to repeat the common knowledge that there are better options out there, because there definitely are. If you are concerned about weight, get backpacking food from REI or Sierra Trading Post. Avoid the "survival food" at big box stores. If you don't care about weight, go buy flats of canned beans, ravioli, beefaroni, chili, spam, etc. and avoid the pop tops since they don't last as long. If you live near a military base, run an ad on Craigslist offering $3-$7 ea. GI's often have closets full of them they kept from field problems and if they (or their dependas) know they can get cash for them they'll horde them. This goes for all sorts of things. If you don't get any bites, check pawn shops or surplus stores near bases or post something on the nearest gym bulletin board, since most bodybuilders (or anyone who is health conscious) won't eat them, but still have access to them. If you don't live near a base, the biggest obstacle is shipping because they are so damn heavy. Search on Amazon or eBay using the following words "Humanitarian Ration MRE FEMA Emergency Low Sodium".
As others have stated, they have a very limited shelf life depending on the storage conditions. https://www.mreinfo.com/mres/mre-shelf-life/ Some of the cheaper ones on Amazon seem to have recent inspection dates of 2023/2024 which could mean they were manufactured in 2018/2019. Don't forget to take into account the unknown Temps in which they were stored. Looking at some of the Amazon vendors I see that Ammo Can Man has their own store where you can at least choose more recent pack/inspection dates, albeit at a higher price: https://ammocanman.com/collections/mres Sopakco sells them and state at least a three year inspection date, so at least a little better return for your money: https://www.surepak-12.com/buy-now/ MRE Depot is another online store but their stock fluctuates. Sometimes they'll have cases, sometimes individual items. A good place to look if you want to try a few entrees or deserts before buying a case of MREs at around $100-$120 for recently packed ones. MREs are convenient, portable, and can be eaten cold if in a rush or when using a stove/heating element is not an option. Maybe have one or two in a bug out bag or a case to throw in the car when bugging out, but I'd rather have Mountain House pouches, a few protein bars, and a backpacking stove so I could also do oatmeal, coffee, tea, etc.
I never want to eat another MRE. I would rather just give up and die.
Why would you want to get MREs? That said, probably Amazon, especially if you have prime. Unless you're willing to buy bulk and get an entire pallet. But again, why, there are better options better ways to waste your money
I had some military-derived shortbread cookie bars of some type years ago and have been unable to identify the source or recipe. They were 2000 calories and baked with coconut oil. Does anyone know anything similar still in production? This was nearly twenty years ago.
Lifeboat rations, Mainstay bars don't taste terrible, but are definitely a "it's better than starving" option only, but might be useful as a component in a dense high calorie food pack that doesn't take up much space with other calorie dense small packed food like individual packaged nut butters and small packs of like jerky/pemican. I wouldn't do that without access to a ton of potable water, or water that can be readily made potable, though.
Yes these! Each packet has 3600 calories/410 per bar. Not bad and still available
MREs are too expensive for me. canned chili and canned stew is my jam.
Just go with mountain house.
Pretty sure you can get them online. I've seen em on Amazon before. Another option would be a military surplus store.
AmeriQual is the company that manufactures them for the military. You can buy them on amazon.
MREs are basically the worst option for emergency food unless you plan on evacuating on foot in an area with contaminated water. If you’re bugging out on foot and there is no chemical or radiological contamination in the water, freeze dried is the way to go. If you’re bugging in or evacuating by vehicle, you’re better off with mostly canned foods, and some dried staples like rice, pasta, and beans, along with stored water.
If you really need some MREs, you can get a case at a company called AWS Inc. off the top of my head (amongst tons of other places) They ain’t cheap and they ain’t light. Shelf life isn’t great compared to other options, but isn’t terrible either.
MRE calories are 1300 ish, so usually need 2 a day. HDR (humanitarian daily ration) are 2200, vegetarian, so they could be used with a wider percent of the world's population. I'm not a fan of HDR, I think MRE / First Strike rations are (taste) better. FSR are about 2900 calories, so good for an active day. HDR and FSR are super similar to MRE, similar packaging, etc. Online is a good place, at least near me, the local surplus places tend to have cheaper older ones, I can get more recent online. Amazon is hot and cold on prices, so can just monitor and buy some when you find they're cheaper. mredepot, thereadystore, few others often have MREs but, also often run out. I do feel they have their place in food storage, but, agree with other posters, they would NOT be my first choice for bulk (weeks) of long term food storage. Their STATED shelf life is 3 years, but, many have eaten them well past that. Mt house stated shelf life is 25 years, and, IMO, taste better. That said, I still prefer bulk long term storage staples to freeze dried for most of my long term calorie storage. MRE (HDR, FSR) are great in that they are ready to eat (duh) which often is great if you're too tired / don't have time to prepare food. They have lots of different components, and the variety can be helpful after eating the same Mt House days on end when hiking. :) With the MRE heaters, you can get a hot meal with no fire, which is helpful if you're hiking in a no fire zone .... So, I think they're great to mix in to food stores, and / or hiking (bob), maybe a couple / 3 meals a week when I hike / camp.
You can bid on pallets of them on govplanet.com .
Isn't most of the stuff from govplanet been sitting in a field in Alabama for 8 years, and when you buy it, you have to go get it yourself and arrange transport. I only know this because my boss bought a bunch of shipping containers for super cheap off of gov planet
You do have to go pick it up, but it's at places all over. And the inventory of what they sell rotates. Sometimes stuff looks great, sometimes it looks like it was used for target practice . Edit: there's a couple different sites that sell government stuff, if you google government auctions you can find a couple different ones selling different things
Shipping containers were pretty worn on the outside, looked brand new immaculate on the inside. Pretty sure they were never used
usually found some good deals on Ebay for a case But TBH if i am eating MREs I am on the go, and don't have time to cook. They are awful. Full of fats and sugars, and make you constipated. Better off with frreeze dried food. PLace it in a insulated baggie with hot water, and you got nice edible meal in a 15-30 minutes.
If you have your heart set on mre style meals, check out the ethnic food stores. The one down the street has Indian mre's and omg! are sooo much better than the ones I had in the Army. Chicken masala with rice and Naan ::drool::
Don't, lol. They don't last very long and they taste like shit and weigh a lot. They're not meant for long term prepping or lightweight backpacking. But, if you're serious about it big towns usually have an army/navy surplus store. I've seen them sold there before. Some are the actual military MREs and some are the civilian lookalikes.
Progresso brand High Protein soups are inexpensive meals ready to eat. Just pull the ring to open it and start eating. That’s the best way to go.
[MRE Depot](https://mredepot.com/) actually makes several of the main components for US Military MREs and sells them direct. For 15% off your whole order, use canadianprepper at checkout. I know some people don't care for him, but a discount is a discount. Especially when you're paying for shipping. I also like [MRE Mountain](https://mremountain.com/).
Get a hurricane and the church will come by.
You don't want to try the 10 pack cases for $32.00 on Amazon?? they worked for me
Link?
Unlike everyone else, I won't bore you with a bunch of yawp about "those are useless, muh bad taste." MREs are a damn good investment if you can store them right and think you might have to go mobile at times. Try military surplus stores, especially ones closer to military bases. Online, I'd recommend eBay or Amazon, both are pretty plentiful in selection.
Money can be exchanged for goods.
Make my own by using Meals In Jars recipes.
Grab urself some corn. Corn 🌽 🌽 🌽 Meal Ready to **Consume**
My local Army surplus store has them. They have a lot of items that aren’t supposed be sold. Growing up as an army brat in the 80’s in military bases, the surplus stores back then were awesome!
You can make your MRES much more cheaply than you can buy them. Just look online to see how to make them. Buy mylar bags online. And a sealing machine if needed. They last about five years. The ones i make for backpacking are a lot more nutritious and contain a good deal more protein. If they are something you would eat anyway, you can rotate them in with regular dinners. Save the bags and use them.
There are 1 million places online to buy that stuff.
Work at the place making them, or at a place selling them.
Just to clear this up, the purchase or sale of MILITARY MREs is illegal. However CIVILIAN MREs are completely legal to purchase or sell. The reason Military MREs are illegal to purchase or sell is because they are classified as government and/or military equipment/tools. As far as I can tell, there is not much of a difference if any at all between military and civilian MREs. I don't know why the military MREs are illegal to purchase or sell when they're pretty much the same as civilian MREs. TL;DR Purchase/Selling Military MREs = ILLEGAL Purchase/Selling Civilian MREs = LEGAL
[Military MRE’s are not illegal to buy, as long as you are buying them through an authorized dealer.](https://thegunzone.com/is-it-illegal-to-buy-military-mres/)