MRE Supply

V8TOYTRUCK

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Anyone know of a good source for fresh MREs? They might be in short supply now but after seeing everyone after Katrina I need to get serious about preparing for emergency situations.

The best prices I've found were about $60 locally, I'll pay taxes but save on shipping.
 

JasonC8301

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Thats about the right price for a case of 12. I hope locally you can get the ones that say Civilian sales forbidden or something along those lines.

I got like a 12 gallon tote in the basement full of MRE stuff that was left over from a training exercise (eat some now, save the rest for later and somehow it ended up home.)

There were endless MRE's when I was deployed to Iraq, but shipping them home would of cost $$$.
 

greenlight

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The nice thing about MREs is that each has its own heating pouch. You place it against a rock (or something) and it is hot in 3 mins.

The bad thing about MREs is that they are mostly waste and the meal is about as good as a can of soup. Then you want another one.

I would invest in camp stoves with different fuel sources and plenty of cheap cans of food. A wood bbq is probably best because you can GET that fuel. Having a quantity of food available in an emergency is important and you don't want it to run out. If you needed to you would eat cans of cold beans or soup anyway, no problem. You might find yourself feeding more people than you expect to. The MREs will run out quickly, and you can cook the same thing easily out of cans which are plentyful.

Have extra can openers available, too.

I have to say I love the super dense oatmeal cookies they used to have in the MREs. I would buy those if they were available.
 

tvodrd

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Hi V8,

MRE's have a pretty good shelf life- I *think* on the order of 5 years, even though they should be good longer, depending on storage conditions. My understanding is they are gamma-irradiated/sterilized. The individual meals should be dated. I used to keep a couple of cases of "C's" and later, MRE's for a disaster, but found them expiring in the absence of any disasters. :green: I try to keep a fair amount of canned goods and dry stuff and rotate/donate it yearly. (Reminds me, time to clean out the cupboard again.)

(Ammo (and 123's/CR2's) keep real well! I have some .303 and .30-06 from the '40's that is still 100% :D )

Larry
 

raggie33

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i am going to try a mre .i know my sad hated the ones he had in vietnam but theeere way difent now i think.but they seem smart to have
 

tvodrd

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Raggs,

In Vietnam, we had C-rats. C-rations were field rations intended for troops away from where they could set-up an actual kitchen. C-rats came in a cardboard box ~4"x6"x5" and the "main course" was canned and they had an "accessories" packet which included a spoon, salt, pepper, coffee, creamer, sugar, matches, candy bar, and a pack of 5 cigarettes. (Other vets fill-in the details I have forgotten. :D ) they came in a case of 10 or 12 (I don't remember!) which included 4 "John Wayne/P38" can openers. I brought back a bunch of them and still keep one on my keyring! (Except when I have to fly! :crackup: )

MRE's (Meal, ready-to-eat) were the military's next evolution in field rations. They are a heavy-duty, sealed, brown-colored bag, and the main course is also in a heavy-duty bag. As a result of the '91 Gulf war, they "improved" the contents for palatability. At gunshows/swapmeets you can often find tiny plastic bottles of Tabasco sauce which were added to improve pallatability of MRE offerings. I'm sure some others can add a bunch to the saga!

Larry
 

raggie33

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cool stuff larry but glad i didnt eat any lol/i used to have a can opener like you ssaid but i seem to recall it always unfolding in pocket.i did eat on miltary base once i was excited cause ya could have all the milk you wanted lol
 

3rd_shift

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I had a Security post commander last year who was in the Army.
He had served in Irag the year before and was even shot down in a helicopter and was shipped back to the States.
Last October, he had just finished some training and brought back an MRE.
He showed me how to use it and it really was neat. :)
We cooked the main course outside and then brought it back into the building for me to finish.

Trust me Raggie, if anyone can get one over your way, it will be interesting to check out.
In fact, I wish I had some to take with me to work. :thinking:
 

BentHeadTX

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Boy Scouts really love MREs,
They are a good thing to throw in the trunk of your car incase you get stranded or bring them camping. Kids really like to cook them up and fight over who has the pound cake (I think it actually weighs a pound) Not sure what happened to the oatmeal cookies or (my favorite) dehydrated fruit as they change the food around on occasion.
If I was going to have spare food laying around for emergencies, a case of MREs would be there to "mix things up". Dry beans, chunky veggie soup, ravioli and other foods can be stored but make sure to rotate your stock. Make your own beef jerky and keep it stored in a freezer goes a long way to keep your energy up. My kitchen contains a food dehydrator and a jerky machine (venison jerky is my favorite) Make your own stuff and freeze it to ensure freshness. Your freezer will let you know when to eat it, if the power failure is long enough it will defrost.
How long can food in cans survive? I'll keep an eye out on this thread as I am sure someone knows.
 

Unicorn

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greenlight,
That made me laugh. That line about leaning it up against a rock or "something" has not changed in over a decade, and has always made someone go WTF when they first see it. I almost have to wonder if it was intentional, or if it stayed because someone realised how funny it sounded.
Those oatmeal cookie bars that were like little bricks were the best. I loved those things.
 

Frangible

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Just ordered 12 from Sportsman's Guide... cost $50 ($40+$10 shipping). That was the cheapest I could find them.

Though really, you're gonna run out of water long before food. Make sure to stock up on water, and also note even distilled water will require purification prior to consumption.

The bad thing about MREs is that they are mostly waste and the meal is about as good as a can of soup. Then you want another one.

Throw some ephedrine in there with it, it's a rather effective appetite suppressant. Actually I could write a novel on why ephedrine should be one of the first things in your bailout bag, but it's not really relevant to this thread.
 

greenLED

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wasn't somebody offering them on CPF? I remember the thread, but I'll leave the search to you guys :green:
 

bwaites

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So far as I know, ephedrine is no longer available OTC and I would not use it without recognizing the significant health risks associated with it.

MRE's do store well, but remember that you will definitely want some variation within 2 or 3 days.

Why would distilled water have to be purified?

Storing more than a little water is tough. Picking up a water filter/purifier from one of the outdoors outfitters makes lots of sense, though. REI and Cabelas sell good ones.

Bill
 

tvodrd

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Bill, even distilled water will eventually grow bugs. Even WFI (Water For Injection) and IV bags have expiration dates. My (frequently-defective) recollection is a recommendation to add a teaspoon (or was that tablespoon?) of bleach for each gallon of water for long term storage.

Larry
 

bwaites

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Teaspoon, I'm almost certain. (I store enough drinking water for 3 days this way, but I'm not sure why, I have a lake with millions and millions of gallons a hundred yards out my back door.) A simple filter pump and sterilizer tabs would do the trick.

I understand that part, but distilled water in sterile containers? If there ain't no bugs, there ain't no bugs!

I guess if you aren't sure of that, you should boil it to be sure.

Bill
 

Frangible

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bwaites said:
So far as I know, ephedrine is no longer available OTC and I would not use it without recognizing the significant health risks associated with it.

MRE's do store well, but remember that you will definitely want some variation within 2 or 3 days.

Why would distilled water have to be purified?

Storing more than a little water is tough. Picking up a water filter/purifier from one of the outdoors outfitters makes lots of sense, though. REI and Cabelas sell good ones.

Bill

It's still available OTC and the health risks were way overstated. But certainly, do your research prior to buying it, and make sure you're aware of the contraindicators and what a reasonable dose is.

Distilled water still has stuff growing in it. As do the containers. The water may be filtered but it's not a 100% sterile kind of thing. Keeping it in a cool, dark place is best for retarding microbe growth but I still would not drink it without treating it.

A small water filter used in camping/hiking would be an excellent investment, as would some purification tabs as a backup (a friend of mine's broke... not a good thing to have happen if your life's on the line).
 

bwaites

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According to the FDA and from its site:

"Questions and Answers about FDA's Actions on Dietary Supplements Containing Ephedrine Alkaloids

February 6, 2004

What did FDA do today?

FDA published a final rule concluding that dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids (ephedra) present an unreasonable risk of illness or injury under conditions of use suggested or recommended in the labeling, or if the labeling is silent, under ordinary conditions of use, and are therefore adulterated under Section 402(f)(l)(A) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Are you prohibiting the sale of ephedra?

That is, essentially, what the rule will do. The rule concludes that dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids present an unreasonable risk to the public health and are adulterated under Section 402(f)(1)(A) of the FD&C Act."

So if you're getting it, it's against the law. Are you getting pseudoephedrine maybe? Name brand is Sudafed, among others.

As far as distilled water, distilled water has no organisms in it, it is sterile. It can be contaminated, and manufacturers worry about that, so they put expiration dates on their packaging, not because there is worry about growth in the sterile packaging, but because they worry about the packaging being compromised in unknown, long term storage. Distilled water is not filtered, it is distilled, usually by heat distillation, which kills the bacteria and viruses possibly present.

Bill
 

Frangible

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You are interpreting that text incorrectly. It cannot be sold as a dietary supplement. Ephedrine is still quite legal when sold with 200mg of guaifenisen, an expectorant (Vasopro being the most popular brand), and when sold in quantities of 10mg of less per tablet as per a court ruling reversing part of the ban earlier this year. State/local laws may vary.

As far as distilled water, distilled water has no organisms in it, it is sterile.

The water itself may be sterile, but the plant and container are not. Thus there is a risk of contamination from the distilling process to the container.
 

tvodrd

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WFI is triple distilled, and filled products are then, again steam/autoclave-sterilized. Sterilization doesn't insure complete sterilization, with the possible exception of gamma. It becomes a ststistical number's game, includind pyrogens, (dead bug body parts which will cause fevers and other problems intraveinously.) You're right about expiration dates being conservative, and for good reason. As to drinking water, a much higher bacterial level is acceptable. If the "big one" (Newport-Inglewood/San Andreas ever hits here, I will have my toliet (tribute to Craigski) tank and water heater hopefully available.

Larry
 
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