awesome! congratulations:)
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awesome! congratulations:)
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.
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.
have you tried mres
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.
buy survival rations from a navy or military surplus store , shelf life of 4 years so you wouldnt have to replace em as much
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.
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? :rolleyes: 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.Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.
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.:eek: He never gave his location so that he might get the proper response.:confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by survivalhike
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.
Hands down MREs. Some are actually tasty
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.
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.
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
My freind got MREs for christmas:D.
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.
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.
C-Rats were better IMHO
That canned goop, The only thing in there good was the one with the sweets :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Beowulf65
A few notes on MREs from some one who has eaten them on and off for the last 15 yrs.
First the heaters are great but there are 2 huge warnings about them. 1 u must use them in well ventilated areas because the gas they put out as they heat is highly flammable. if using the heater as a means of generating additional body heat make sure not to spill any of the water inside the heater on u it can cause a nasty chemical burn.
A few pages back some one was asking if it was one pack per day the answer is no. MREs are designed to be eaten 3 times a day breakfast lunch and dinner however there are designed for soldiers in combat who are burning over 2000 calories a day. Each MRE on the average contains around 1400 calories so you could get by on 2 a day easy if you had to.
Just got done bounce around e-bay looking at the MRE for sale another note is military grade MREs always come in a tan meal bag. If u find ones in green or brown outer bags they are from before 2000 don't buy them they are no good. Aside from that MREs aren't 2 bad i ate them for 30 straight days when we invaded Iraq and they got the job done.
~1400 calories is the minimum. The packages state they contain between 1400 and 3000 calories. So yeah, two a day would definitely work. I did the math one day sitting in the field though, and the MRE package stated it contained like 2600 calories. When I added it up it basically came out that to get the 2600 calories out of it you had to eat the instant coffee, the creamer, the sugar, and probably the cardboard to. So 1400 is probably closer to the truth.
I think MREs are a rip off. I agree that doing it yourself is better,Quote:
Originally Posted by nell67
Jjst get a pack of nuts,
Some dried fruit.
Some flour... thats your MRE.
I am thinking of getting a dhydrater but I have to find a good deal. and a coupon code.
Yep, yall are right they handed out tons of them after Katrina. FVR is right after you eat them for a couple of weeks you can keep them. Do not get take this wrong I still bring MREs for meals when hunting or fishing but its not something you want to live on. Guess what comes in almost evey bag-----yep you guessed it a little bag of tobasco--you can almost eat cardboard with a little of that on it! Oh and by the way if you have a rat problem the omlett meal will do nicely for killing them.
I forgot to mention the heaters can make a good fishing tool if you know how to use them.
Don't keep it a secret.
Cajun - Fishing with explosives is illegal.:D
What A Killjoy ! :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick
I prefer to use dried rice and dried beans and noodles. They are much cheaper and you can spice them the way you want. There is a whole site dedicated to freezer bag cooking. You set up a meal for 1 or 2 people in a freezer bag, add hot water, wait 5 minutes, and eat.
http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/
An earlier poster stated that he keeps the MRE's in his car. What temperatures can the MRE's withstand? Wikipedia (MRE) isn't very specific on the subject. Come summer, my Oldmobile packs some heat. You could fry an egg on the roof.
Actual fact: max. temperature registered in my car 130 in summer 2006. Is that hot or is that hot? Can't be good for long term storage of rations...
I figure I'm going to make my own little "emergency package" containing the basic camping gear (backpack, one-man-tent, change of clothes and a weeks worth rations). That way I can be spontaneous when hunting fever grips me and I need some freedom or when the Missus don't let me home :-)
Be seein' you!
Hank
steiger589 - If you scroll down on this link, there is a table of time vs temp. Probably not the ideal food item to store in your vehicle unless you rotate it frequently.
http://www.nitro-pak.com/product_inf...d3bf93b35ab1d3
Short of energy bars or something along those lines, I don't store food in my car. The temperature extremes are too much for processed food of any kind.
The only food stored in the vehicles are Kashi Go Lean bars. I think they have a shelf life of about 100 years.
I have purchased several mres from Long Life Food Depot you can buy one or two or buy the case. It is not to expensive and i recieve my order within a few days. I highly recommend the brownies,but i have not bought one yet that i have not like. also i have had mres that are 5 to 7 years old and still taste good. just keep them in a cool dry place and have alot on hand for the unexpected.
ericka
The MRE's do have a pretty good shelf life, but it is reduced with higher temperatures. Welcome to th eforum Erika - when you get a chance head on over to the introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself. You can find it here http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...splay.php?f=14
Here's some info on the shelf life of MRE's. http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c...l_2007_7882292
I have tried MRE's on several occassions and have been really happy with them, except for the cost. My brother and I have been dehydrating food or using pre-dehydrated foods and vacuum sealing it for some time now and have been amazed with the results. The different types of food you can use is really only limited by your imagination. We both have a reflective bag to place our plastic food bag into, which directs the heat back into itself. We just add hot water, let it sit in bag, and bingo...awesome 10 minute meals of ANY variety in ANY location. And you can't beat the lightweight qualities of this method, even MRE's are nowhere near as light.
Welcome GM. Why not go over to the Introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself?
I like MREs, Apacks, etc. for longer camping trips. They are water efficient so you don't use up what you are carrying just to make a meal. Otherwise, dehydrated is the berries (get it? dehydrated, berries?).
the ones we currently eat are still in the brown outer bag.....secondly mre's are meant to be one a day in a survival situation thus the reason they have 3500 calories. i dont know where you got your info but its not correct.Quote:
Originally Posted by SGTD00m