RE working had and calories
I'm a big fat guy now, but I remember one camping trip back when I was oh, 17 or so - we were not car camping etc, we were backpacking, and couldn't really afford freeze dried stuff, so it was store dry stuff, and cooking time - 2 week trip, and I'd say we averaged 2-3k elevation change a day, with 50+lb packs on - Hike 10-12 hours/day, with elevation changes, often bushwacking, and gad do you burn calories

I know every chance we had to make a side trip to get supplies, we did. The middle weekend, Mom and dad came up with like 10 lbs of lasagna, they ate one small piece each, and the 3 of us who were hiking at the reast, then asked for a lift into town to get some more food

I think the least any of us lost was 10 lbs, and I lost like 20, and I don't even want to KNOW how many calories/day I was eating - 3K was probably low

A 17 year boy can probably eat half a cow... they're still growing. Add heavy physical exercise to the equation and he can probably eat the whole cow. But you'd better stop eating like that when you grow older ...


Eating enough is actually a problem on polar expeditions. The combination of heavy sledge pulling for 12 hours and the increased energy consumption at rest (to a certain degree, the body compensates for low temperatures by burning more calories) means that they just can't eat enough. Børge Ousland and Mike Horn stuffed themselves with about 7K each day on their way to the North pole (in 1996) - and still lost a lot of weight.

Not everyone has the US-style chem heaters- look for the scrubbies and the esbit tabs.

I wish the comparison pictures had pointed out that some packets were a full day's rations and others a single meal. I saw this article in another venue, and people were making comments to the effect that (a) some nations starve their troops or (b) other troops must be shaped like bowling balls. *growls*

The person who did that article got a lot of info and help from mreinfo.com

I'm also a member of the forum there. Lots of great information on all sorts of rations.

There was a question about use the FRH (Flameless Ration Heater) to make hot water. The newer MREs include a Hot Beverage bag that can be filled and placed in the FRH to heat up.

There are no specific breakfast MREs. Well, there is one or two menus that a bit more oriented towards breakfast.

There is a newer ration call the FSR (First Strike Ration) which is meant to be a limited use 24hr ration. It takes the place of 3 MREs.

The French RCIRs are actually quite good... Another 24hr ration. They come with a little Esbit emergency stove for reheating.

The British 24hr Rations are typically placed in boiling water to be reheated. They don't come with a specific way of heating.

Homemade MRE v Mil Spec MRE

I haven't seen the article before posting, but were the FSR's included? I've seen them piecemeal for sale (protein shake and granola-type bars), and they're pretty calorie dense at about 400 Cal/per. I used them as my emergency food when I had a go-bag during my month in AK.

The FSRs were not mentioned in that article...