MRE's

[trax]

awesome! congratulations

[nell67]

Thanx.Now gotta try out the curing method,and want to try to smoke some to ,a little more labor intensive,but I am willing to learn what ever I need to to preserve more especially meat.

[pursang]

I'm looking for recommendations for emergency food for our vehicles, living in a cold climate it would have to endure freezing/thawing cycles and still be edible, this food would be replaced annually, in the past we've used canned items such as tuna, brown beans, and chunky chicken vegetable soup, but after freezing/thawing the soup becomes something you wouldn't want to eat ! so we were thinking of foods that wouldn't freeze.

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[sam30248]

have you tried mres

[HOP]

Dehydrate some of your favorite meals and vacum seal them rotate them out every once in a while to you hiking pack and use them you wouyld need water and heat for these just cover with water and heat to boil and they are down to your own taste and selection.

[marberry]

buy survival rations from a navy or military surplus store , shelf life of 4 years so you wouldnt have to replace em as much

[Beo]

MREs are perfect for that and the shelf life is incredable. Pick them cheap at a military surplus store usually you can mix your own contents.

[survivalhike]

Another bit of advise would be to only take them into the car when you go out. Yeah, it's a lot of moving stuff around but your food will last longer.

After my father and I were stuck on a trail for two days without food we decided to get some MRE rations before our next trip out. We're planning on leaving them in a closet in the house except for the times when we load up the jeep and head out on a ride.

[Sarge47]

Another bit of advise would be to only take them into the car when you go out. Yeah, it's a lot of moving stuff around but your food will last longer.

After my father and I were stuck on a trail for two days without food we decided to get some MRE rations before our next trip out. We're planning on leaving them in a closet in the house except for the times when we load up the jeep and head out on a ride.

Live & learn, right SH? The problem here,as I see it, is that we don't really have an idea where you're talking about. What area of the country are you referring to, if it's here in this country? How cold are we looking at? You can make up your own food packs or buy the "freeze-dried" stuff from any outdoor supplier.

[survivalhike]

Arizona has a really diverse climate, contrary to what people think. Durring the summer the desert is really hot in the day and kinda hot at night. In the winter it can range from 85-90 in the day and 25-40 at night. Where we were last week was in the high desert north of Globe AZ, and the overnight was about 40 by my guess. We had sleeping bags that were rated for that temp, and we were a bit cold in the early morning.

I'm looking at MRE's or the freeze dried mountain house meals. I'm undecided because the nice thing about MRE's is that in a pinch you don't really have to cook them. With the MHM's you need to boil water first, which requires fire, fuel, a pot, and water. Not too hard to come by, but in a rain storm or a white out it would be hard to get everything going.

[Sarge47]

Arizona has a really diverse climate, contrary to what people think. Durring the summer the desert is really hot in the day and kinda hot at night. In the winter it can range from 85-90 in the day and 25-40 at night. Where we were last week was in the high desert north of Globe AZ, and the overnight was about 40 by my guess. We had sleeping bags that were rated for that temp, and we were a bit cold in the early morning.

I'm looking at MRE's or the freeze dried mountain house meals. I'm undecided because the nice thing about MRE's is that in a pinch you don't really have to cook them. With the MHM's you need to boil water first, which requires fire, fuel, a pot, and water. Not too hard to come by, but in a rain storm or a white out it would be hard to get everything going.

My bad, the major part of my last post was directed to Pursang. The far northern states where they have wilderness close to the Canadian border will make your AZ winters feel like a day in a sauna. He never gave his location so that he might get the proper response.

[pursang]

Thanks for all your help and advice everyone, we live in the southern okanagan of british columbia, Canada, winter temps range from -22C or -8F but most of the winter we sit at -2C/29F to +2/36F. toasty compared to up north we had -39C/-38F a few times, thats like living on another planet ! I think those MRE's are looking pretty good, I was thinking of bringing the stuff indoors and just grabbing it whenever we take a vehicle, but that'll become a pain and it could even freeze sitting in the car while your shopping. I'm thinking I could bring decent tasting food from say april to october and always have some MRE's on board.

[MCBushbaby]

Hands down MREs. Some are actually tasty

[Rick]

You didn't specify if the food in your vehicles is in case you get stranded or if you're storing your bug out food there. Soooo........

You might be interested in these folks:

http://www.ameriqual.com/

Ameriqual is a current supplier of military MREs but they also produce a civilian version called the APack and you can order directly from them.

MREs bother me only because its sometimes hard to find cases that haven't sat around for a year or so already and I don't know what conditions they were stored under. That's a real concern. The fresher the better.

Just remember that not all MREs are military grade. There are civilian MREs that are just as good, but if you are specifically looking for military-grade MREs, you need to verify that information before you buy.

Make sure that the MREs you are buying include a heater. Not all do. If it seems like you are getting an incredible deal, make sure the heaters are included. You could be getting shortchanged.

MREs run anywhere from $40 to $75 per case of 12, depending on what is included.

Expect to pay about $15 for shipping and handling for a case of MREs. You will need to include that into the overall cost unless you purchase them locally, of course. Divide the total price (including shipping) by 12 and that will tell you what you are paying per meal.

If you are buying MREs by the case, you generally cannot pick and choose the type of entrees that are included in the case. If you buy them singly, which will cost more, you can.

Here's a handy MRE storage life chart:

(based on taste testing at U.S. Army's NATIC Research Laboratories)
Temperature (Fahrenheit)..100...90...85...80...75....70....60
Storage Life in Months........22...55...60...76...88..100...130+

High temperatures are not a good thing for MREs or most stored foods for that matter. You also want to avoid fluctuating temperatures especially in and out of the freezing range, which will be a problem for you. That will really reduce the quality.

You might also be interested in freeze-dried or commercially dehydrated foods. Of course, you have to add water to either to reconstitute them. Both have long shelf lives and are lighter in weight than MREs. Might not be a good choice for your vehicles if you just want the food in case you get stranded.

If you are storing the food in your vehicle for bug out then re-consider and move the food inside. You will have a much longer shelf life and better quality no matter what kind you go with.

Hope that helps.

[hermitman]

For cold climates besides mre's there are soups were all you have to do is tear off part and it will heat itself no water.

[Tony uk]

A heater isnt really needed, Although nice. MREs are eddible in cold state or hot. I like to put them in boiling water for about 15 mins to get them nice and toasty. the screech tho is best served child regardless. Also the beverage whitener in british MREs is flamible making a good tinder

[ws3445]

My freind got MREs for christmas.

[hermitman]

The heat isn't really needed for survival. The heat can help maintain body heat and moral which is one of the most important things.

[nell67]

Christmas 2006,my oldest son was home from his AIT training,and he brought mre's and a camelback for my daughter and younger son home for Christmas,LOL they were not real impressed with the mre's.

[Beo]

C-Rats were better IMHO