MILITARY SURPLUS AND MRE discussion

[HILLBILLY-06]

OK, Anybody know where to get MRE's Less than $100.00 per 12 meals?
That stuff aint that great to begin with, but it's handy.
"Anybody" got any idea's on how to beat those inflated prices, or how to say... "build your own" boxes of similar "long Lasting" products.... For just in case, and not spend nowhere near that much money.
I know Bean & Bacon soup is cheap, but that's not exactly what I wanted for disaster preparedness. So if there are any previous discussions, or if anyone has any great ideas... lets hear about them.........HILLBILLY-06.

Information

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[VinnAY]

just what came to mind, I've got no experience with the product or manufacturer myself:

MRE-520 - MRE 12 Complete Meal Case MRESTAR 1200 Calories Per Meal 8 Dinners 4 Breakfast NSN# 8970-01-321-9153

[TDH]

Cheaper than Dirt seems to have the best prices for bulk. I've had some of the newer MRE's and let me assure you sir it is gormet eating compared to the WW2 and Korean era C-rat's we used to get. I still shudder at Ham and Lima Beans and scrabbled eggs. Try eating a pinapple slice from the 1920's.

[arado]

My MRE's are Hormel Compleats. microwavable in one minute. $2 a meal. 24 different meals in it's dish.all you need is a fork. shelf life as military MRE. years.....Made by the maker of Spam... I heat mine at the range on a car hood in the sun..

[smellie]

Don't know about MREs: all we were ever issued were endless cans of stuff that you needed a fire for...... or a god ML cannon. The 30-year-old hardtack tasted a bit fausty, but the canned potatoes, almost as old as we were, really took the cake: hard as ROCKS and twice as tasty.

If I were getting ready for SHTF or something of equal fun value, I would stock various staples in sealed containers, rotate these on an annual or biennial basis whee possible. Most condensed tinned soups are good for 5 years: add equal water. Watch TOMATO-based soups and rotate more often: Tomatoes contain a lot of acid and that can eat the CAN, not to mention what it can do to your very own guttiwutts. For long-term, rice nd other staples are easy to store, and you can get the instant variety (cooks in 2 minutes) for quick eating.

Lots of stuff on the market but you have to make a list first, THEN go shopping. Anything else costs too much.

[FTIII]

Mr. HILLBILLY-06,
It is cheaper to put together supplies that taste better than the MRE's (my opinion only) and are better for you than the MRE. I have nothing against MRE's and I even include some in my pantry for use in the field but I don't depend on them. If stored properly the things you store can last as long or longer than MRE's. Just one small but important thing to do with most any food you store, date the packages with a perminant marking pen then rotate your items as you wish. There were discussions on this very subject in CSP some time back and it did what a lot of discussions in CSP do. I have no idea what might happen here.

[Aragorn243]

Get yourself a food dehydrator and a vacume pack sealer. Stuff shrinks to tiny size and will last almost forever. All you need to do is add water and heat.

I have a case of 20 year old MRE's in the basement. Haven't checked them to see if they are any good or not.