Best Combat Rations

M

mrbbc

Joined
Oct 10, 2000
Messages
58
I see all the complaints about the MRE, what does it consist of?
Does it really taste so bad?
I have tried the Aussie Army Rations and it was really yummy...
 
There are different MREs. Some taste better than others. I'm curious about this too. In Bravo Two Zero (story of an SAS disaster in Iraq) Andy McNab comments that the U.S. special forces kits had a lot better stuff in them than the British kits, except for the food which he thought was better in the British kits. Does any one know to what he was referring?
 
I don't think that MREs are that bad at all. some of them are quite tasty. I would think it comes from living on them for extended periods.

I wish they didn't put so many chemicals in them or I'd have more in my supplies.




I have never had foriegn ones.
 
I believe McNab was referring to the American deserts/treats, the condiments in the American rations, and the infamous "racing spoon".

Be sure you buy your MRE's from a reputable source. I got far out in the woods only to learn that some of them were good, but others were Pre-"racing spoon" MRE's that were completely rotten and had been purged from the military during the early 1990's for apparently being too old. I was a very hungry camper, mad at the world.

PS the same store had also sold us hexamine tabs that would not burn. We were in bad shape.
 
McNab talks about a tradition when somebody in the unit gets a good treat from back home or scavenges something that everybody wants a taste of, the rule is everybody gets one spoonful. The spoon in American MRE's is durable, has a long handle, and has a deeper scoop than the British spoon. McNab confides that the American spoon will allow you a better scoop of your friends grub even if you are last in line an have to scrape the bottom of the container. He took an American MRE spoon, put a hole in the handle and wore it around his neck while in the rear. He referred to the long, brown plastic spoon as a "racing spoon" in his writings.

The pre-racing spoon era MRE's contained a white, shorter, and fragile spoon (looks like something you would get in a HS cafeteria). As I understand it, US armed forces found these older rations mixed in with newer ones on ships while enroute to Desert Storm. I don't know what the shelf life of an MRE is, but the one's I saw had puncture holes in their bags, leaks, and a basic mess when they were opened (although the exterior package looked fine).

Some less scrupulous surplus dealers snagged up the MRE's at a discount and have sold them to civilians. Even without the clue of the spoon, the one I cooked smelled unmistakingly rancid when opened (we had good ones to compare the smell to). The memories of rancid tuna come back to haunt me as I write this....

The moral of my story is check your supplies before wandering off into the woods and when possible buy from somebody that you know wouldn't screw you like that.

Spoiled food and fire proof hexamine is no way to to send a couple of campers off for a hike.:(
 
Some of the MRE's I've eaten were pretty durn good, but I haven't seen them in quite some time ... like the turkey and gravy and chicken-a-la-king. Those were my hunting season favorite lunches.
Now, seems all I can find if vegetarian cra*. If God had intended for me to be a vegetarian, he wouldn't have given me a gun and a hunting license. Vegetarian = Native American word for lousy hunter.

Mike :D
 
I never eaten MREs but the Australian army rations are very good but thay have two problems. One there are only 4 different flavours which rely gets to you if you are on a long trip. Two the spoon in the rations is terrible the solders named it Fred (F!#$ing radicules eating diverse). Here in Australia a new ration came out not long ago thay known as "outback survival" thay take up a lot of space in a back pack but are perfect for short trips.
 
Originally posted by Stormbringer
I believe McNab was referring to the American deserts/treats
Click to expand...
Oh, he must have had a bad experience with the Maple Butt Plug.
I've always liked MREs. The meals were good, the deserts were ok (I loved the maple nut cake, personally), but that didn't matter cause you could always crumble up your crackers in the hot chocolate mix (delicacy;)).
If you could get your hands on shelf stable bread and peanut butter and jelly packets, it was hog heaven.
 
All reference to "maple butt plugs" aside...I do have what I hope is a legitimate question...

What is the "shelf life" on MRE's?

I bought 5 dozen entree's about 4 or 5 years years ago, and gobbled most of them up as "good eats" when backpacking a bunch around 3 years ago...

(No problems there, a day without McDonald's and they start tasting pretty good...a few days at 12,000' and they start tasting "Really good"...) ;)

So, I have around two dozen 5 year old MRE entree's, mostly Chicken and Tuna...should I scrap them?

And more importantly, who is a "Good source" for replacements?

(Ok, I went and read about 20 of the previous forum threads that had MRE content...mine are old, green pouch, and I have no problem ditching them, but I would like to replace them with current production Mil-Spec versions.)

I have oats, rice, nuts, trail mix, freeze dried foods, dehydrated foods, sugar, salt, cocoa mix, jerkey, protein bars, protein mix, water purifier, water purification tabs, heaters, stoves, Mg. Bar's, fire starters, etc...

I just want current Mil-Spec or equivelent MRE entree's...

Any help here would be greatly appreciated...
 
I like the MRE's, even the old dark brown ones with the sawdust bar (my favorite - too bad they don't have it anymore) and the dehydrated fruit block - and yes I have lived on them for long periods of time. The constipation that others seem to complain about doesn't seem to bother me.

I also traded a US MRE for a French one. Apparently the French get a big box (about 12x4x6) that is supposed to last 24 hours. In other words I got a 24 hour French MRE for a single US meal MRE. The trade turned out to be bad since the French MRE had stuff I didn't care for (ie: potted meat in jelly, biscuits/crackers, beats, etc.)

The British had terrible food! Wasn't any different when I went to London as a civilian either. Didn't get an MRE from them since they all ate from a field mess. Heard them complain a lot about the food.
 
Informative page on MRE's, shelf life, date coding them, etc.
http://www.millennium-ark.net/News_Files/INFO_Files/MREs.html

From that page:
Each MRE product is date coded with a series of numbers. The numbers include the production year, and the day produced in addition to a lot number extension. Look for a number stamped on the package that looks like 7055A B02A. Look at the first digit of the number 7055. The "7" stand for the last digit of the year, 1997. If you are buying from a disreputable dealer, it could also stand for 1986. Ask your dealer for clarification. The following three numbers "055" represents the 55th day of the year, or February 25th. The full breakdown of the date code would be February 25, 1997. The "B02A" is the lot number which can be ignored.
 
mrbbc,
Tha MRE's today are not too bad. They have improved vastly over the last few years.
The very old brown ones were pretty bad. The worst bein Frankfurters with "Bean Component", which had a warning in large bold print on the beans package DO NOT EAT BEFORE FLIGHT OPERATIONS . The other entrees included thing like "Ham and Chicken Loaf", "Dehydrated Beff Patty", "Dehydrated Pork Patty","Corned Beef Hash",and the dreaded "Chicken Ala King":barf:
The next generation were slightly better and had a few new items but nothing to write home about. Most everything still needed liberal doses of Tabasco to be edible.
The current MRE's are fairly good. The new entrees are not bad at all. There are now more than 24 entrees and some "faith friendly" MRE's which are both Kosher and acceptable for Muslim Soldiers. There are more off the shelf snack items now as well. The vegatarian meals have the best tasting entrees my favorite being "Tortelline with Cheese". All in all we dont have it too bad with MRE's although you really don't want to live off them for an extended length of time, you could get by for a few weeks.
OF all the foreign ones I have eaten the Spaninsh "MRE's" must be the worst. They are all like old C rations. Everything is in cans. There are only five, these titles are written on the cans in English "Squid in it's own ink", "Haddock Pizzicane Style", "Sardines in Oil", "Bovine in Sauce", and I can't remember the last one. They were the most vile thing I have ever had to eat:barf: :barf: :barf: We were training with the Spanish for a month and we had to eat them for a week or so. We had soldiers looking in every nook and cranny of our vehicles for any scrap of an American MRE that my have fallen somewhere. I had on soldier who lived on crackers and the breakfast thay gave us for almost the entire time. Their regular hot rations were not much better. At the end of the week we spent in the base camp they threw all the left over in a big pot and served the result for dinner. Luckily we had lots of beer that night so no one cared too much:D

Regards,

Nick
 
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