Hope you /k/ombatants don't get too mad at me because this

>>32936389
Shelf life is 5 years. Then you just need to inspect them. Keep them in a cool, dry 40-60 degree area. A five year old MRE in these conditions will taste like new.

Clearly Steve on YouTube has shown us all a 7-10 year old MRE is typically gtg. Not my first choice but...Hey, it's good. I eat mine on the five year limit so I have an excuse to buy more.

I get fresh military cases from time to time from guys I know in the service. They ship cases of MREs to them. Otherwise I buy surepak that use the same components with a clear outer package. I think they are more balanced than say a freeze dried meal. Bottled water or a filter with canteen is gtg with them.

>>32936389
>Let's talk MRE.
>Are they a good value for disaster prep?
As much as any other preserved food. Better for hiking or something since they're designed to be light.
>What are the best to look for; military, HDR, or 3rd party?
A friend in the military. If not, probably eBay, just watch out for fakes.
>Shelf life?
Around 5 years depending on storage conditions according to the military. There are youtube videos with people eating older MREs with no side effects.
>Nutrition?
Made for someone who is physically active, not a lardass camping in his bunker.
>What country makes the "tastiest "?
The US is the only country that makes MREs, other countrys have different names for theirs and they're always all going to be more expensive than an MRE due to shipping.

>>32936453
I know the "shelf life "is 5 years, but have also watched youtube videos of guys eating 25+ year old rations. Will they make you sick, or just taste stale? Again, In a worse case scenario I can deal with gross food, but food poisoning is absolutely out of the question.

>>32936495
Here's the thing, unless an MRE package was damaged it shouldn't "go bad", but the nutritional value of the food decreases to the point where it's better to just get new canned food if you're bugging in. If you're bugging out you can afford to buy newer stuff since you can't carry all that many on you anyway.

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Only way to avoid them being ridiculously expensive ( with shipping ) is if you have access to a base exchange that actually sells them. I had a ton that i used backpacking then my base started selling the reduced calorie shit at the same price, nope. Now i just dehydrate alot of stuff and buy canned shit in bulk

>>32936389
They are a good value if you want to store your shit internally for the rest of your life

>>32936534
That makes sense. The only real reason. I was looking at the MRE route is because I don't really have the space to hold a 30 day food supply, for 2, in cans and bags. Plus the self heating saves water and again, space. All the water is used for drinking and sanitation, not cooking.

>>32936453
>Steve on YouTube
"Alright, nice."

Just ordered my first MREs with some money I had left over on a gift card.

I'm going to force my gourmand best friend to eat one with me when they arrive.

>>32936389
Why don't you just buy some rice, oats, and spam?

>>32936495
Well...Lots to say. Lol.

First it depends on the source. Most companies that package are under strict policies. Not so much government but their own sop's are often better than government standards. Hell with pharmaceuticals, cgmp's are from the 1970's and just cover record keeping and making sure you're not a retard that will cross contaminate. So if a recall happened, you wouldn't have the MRE to begin with. It's why qa does swabs and testing. They catch shit just in time typically. So from the packager your chances of contamination is really low.

If it's kept in perfect conditions most of it's life...I would eat a 6 to 7 year old MRE without thinking. If I knew the MRE was in inconsistent environments and past 5 years, I would give it the smell test and if I wasn't totally sure about it, just pick out what looks and smells good. If in a survival situation I'll give you a tip. If you see BlackBerry plants around and have the ability to make tea from the leafs, you can eat risky food and fallow it up with tea. Blackberries and the plant have a polyphenol that works in your gut and track that stops bacterial and viral Invaders and let's your immune system catch up.

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>>32936389
>Hope you /k/ombatants don't get too mad at me because this is loosely "military tech" but still feels appropriate for the board.

Well that certainly isn't /ck/, that's for sure.

>>32936600
Nice!

>>32936619
Cool, thanks. Obviously after an expiration date you should use judgment, but basically a 10 year old MRE is no worse then a 10 year old can of soup?

>>32936653
If the manufacturer is on top of sop's, I see no point in argument between them other than weight and shelf life as printed.

>>32936389
US MREs with British mains. US mains can be a bit iffy.

>>32936584
If you don't have space for cans and don't want to get dehydrated food, consider getting retort pouches and crackers/biscuits which are basically what MREs consist of.

>>32936716
Lol yeah. Building your own is good. I hate the instant coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker, never have been. Put that shit in my system and I feel like I can't stop doing shit. Feel wired as fuck.

>>32936600
"Let's get this out on a tray"

>>32936716
I have considered making my own but I also like the convenience of not having to ration. Just giving my wife a bag and one for myself for the day, and knowing that it is a complete days worth of calories and nutrition really appeals to me.

>>32936702
Right on, thanks.

>>32936454
>best tasting
I've found anything other than the united states rations were the best so ya

>>32936814
nice

>>32936778
Just be aware that the MRE is meant for soldiers in the field. One MRE is around 1300 calories I believe, and that's meant to be one meal.

>>32937421
Good point. Depending on how little or much you work in a survival situation, an MRE can pack a lot of energy.

>>32937421
I was aware but still good to point out. Obviously if it was a situation where there was no way to get any other food for a long time, it would be rationed.

MREs are great, but they're not exactly designed for solo hikes out innawoods. They're better if you're car camping or planning on sticking at home, or you can put a large stash of them somewhere you're bugging out to. They're pretty bulky and heavy, and you can do better for less weight and less space.

But they taste good, don't require clean water to enjoy (the entree and most of the snacks, the drinks you need clean water but those are optional).

>>32936389
Tried a couple MRE's, the only people that could possibly think they taste good are obese lardasses and people who served and have eventually gotten used to them.

>good value
Because of their extreme shelf life yes

>shelf life
10+ years in the right conditions

>nutrition
Abysmal, not meant to be your only source of nutrition for an extended period of time

They're sodium laden chemical bathes that will prevent you from starving to death but not much else.

>>32937575
>They're sodium laden chemical bathes that will prevent you from starving to death but not much else.

That is exactly why I wanted to have a decent amount of them on hand for worst case scenario situations. I was not asking if they should be used as a staple, just as a decent resource after my dry pantry runs out.

I ate a lot of MRE's when I was in but I never really thought much of them, just eat it and carry on. Do they really work all that well? I work construction now, doing 10 hour days and thought about having a buddy send me some for lunches during the day. Is this a good idea?

If you have a lot of $ they are good. $10.00 a pop for a meal.

You can definitely store dry rice and beans and cooking oil as staples for a lot less.

>>32937527
>They're pretty bulky and heavy
Step one when packing an MRE is to field strip it and toss away all the crap.
Second step is to then trade the entrees with someone who has actual food.

>>32936584
mres don't really save space as the packages they come in contains a whole lot of garbage and i hope you're not planning to drink the water used for heating.
honestly if you're looking for efficiency you'd be better off getting mountainhouse dried meals then mres.

As for MRE duration, as long as the food is kept in complete darkness I will go out on a limb and say it will last more than a century.

Canned goods have been found to be safe after a century. Most MRE food is processed the same way, just wrapped in foil instead of cans. Plus it's also irradiated.

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>>32936389

>>32936389
>Are they a good value for disaster prep?
Not really, just buy normal food.

Rule of thumb is that you should have a two week supply of food. At that point you are looking at a serious expense if you want to use just MREs.

The far cheaper option is to keep a rotating two-week stock of what you normally eat and enough fuel to cook it. You never have to worry about shelf life as it rotates as you use it, nutrition is the same as your baseline and taste is also not a problem.

>buy good dehydrator.
>follow recipes from /out/, various forums, youtube.
>make my own MREs from stuff I actually like to eat while having variety.

you save money and it is fun.

don't fall for the MRE meme.

>>32939548
NEVER KNOW WHEN YUR GONNA HAV 2 HOARD SHIT SON. STAY PREPARED. GOD BLESS.