How do MREs Taste?

I've heard things about them that make them sound worse than eating bark & bugs.

On a scale of 1 to 10, what do you think?

Depends on how hungry/exhausted one is....lol.... I have been in the field during exercises, and a had times when MRE's tasted like steak. *BUT* Under most circumstances, they rank about a 4 for me. There is a reason why EVERYBODY takes their own big bottle of hot sauce to the field with him/her.

In all fairness, it has been eleven years since I left active duty, so I don't know about improvements since that time.

Susan,
I have been eating a LOT of MREs for the last 13 years, they are much better than they used to be. As far as rating them I have to say, the first 2 weeks 8 or 9, then they start to decline at about a rate of 4 points a week until you can't stand to look at the outside wrapper. After about 2 months you would rather eat the wrapper. Chris

MREs are typically pretty close in flavor to Dinty Moore Beef Stew.

They are great camping food if you might be stuck in the tent due to weather and have the chemical heater. Freeze dried food is usually a step up, but takes longer to prepare and requires a stove.

We always carry two MRE main courses each. Probably eat one a week or so. I think they are great. Of course, we only eat 'em when we are HUNGRY!. ... But so far, I have not found anything as convenient or quick as a MRE cooked in its heater. There are a few menu's that I don't like. Best advice buy & try. I like 'em.

The worst MRE is at least a 5 over the best (if there is such a thing) C-Rat. Rumor has it that a steady diet of MRE's will plug up your digestive tract tho...

Plugging your digestive tract is a joke, unless you dont go to the head. They will stop you up, but if you take care of yourself and make sure you do a regular "movement' you will be OK.

MRE's are alot better than what they used to be, I agree, but I think after a while they all taste the same.

Garrett

I have tryed both MRE's and British ration packs. I find that the MRE's don't taste too bad, but BRIGHT PINK milk shake in a rat pack? Seems like a waste of space to me.
With the british packs, you get much more food for the size and weight of the package, as they are built for 24 hours. I've eaten a lot more Brit rat packs that US ones and find most of it to be edible, just one word of warning for both. Don't look in it when your eating <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />.

I prefer the MRE individual meals for kits as they are about 1/2 the size.

1. so where's a good place to get MRE's in bulk from and still get fresh/good selection from?

2. what's a good price for a case?

3. i've seen a look-a-like called TOTM (tailored operational training meal) which seems to have just about the same stuff in it for about half the MRE price. thoughts on these?

To answer the question: 5 edible but I have as of yet to get a real craving for them when regular food is available.

After a day or two of eating only MRE’s it seems like you are constantly belching MRE and they all belch as the same flavor.

I love them for supplementing dehydrated food on pack trips. I have found that it is best to open the main packages and get rid of all of the unwanted extras. Spoon, Creamer (don’t use it), little T.P. packets etc. The main packages are sealed full of air so they tend to take up about twice the space that they really need to. I am guessing the air is there for cushioning during shipping. Or maybe it is something other than just air to prolong shelf life. At any rate break em down they take less space and you aren’t carrying junk you don’t need. Unless you’re the type that insists on a “fresh” spoon for every meal.

Cameron

"...all belch the same flavor."
That is good! LOL, great way to start my day.
Thanks for that.

I found this information on the TOTM. Looks like it doesn't have the shelf life of an MRE which is up to 6 years depending on storage.

This product is designed to be a "just in time"/Direct Vendor Delivery (DVD) item with a 7-10 day delivery time. The shelf life of the TOTM at the time of delivery to the customer will be no less than 12 months.

http://www.dscp.dla.mil/subs/rations/meals/totm.htm

Sopakco (also spelled So Pak Co) is a company that make MREs and I've seen a lot of theirs around. One of the Army Surplus stores near me has them on a reqular basis for less that $50 a case (12 meals). I have not "bitten' the bullet" yet and bought any. But I plan to do so in the next few months. They are available through a lot of online outlets too.

Frankly, I think part of their bad reputation is simply the fact that they're designed for soldiers, and it's in the nature of a soldier to [censored] and complain. <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

They're designed to cater to the lowest common denominator, so of course they're a compromise. The military also has rules about providing soldiers a balanced diet (it's in their best interests to make sure their soldiers are healthy, obviously) so people who were weaned on Micky Dee's Big Macs and Quarter-pounders with Cheese might find them a trifle bland <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

In short, I always found them edible (even when we could only get the American ones <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) and a huge step up from bugs and tree-bark. (Tbf, I've never eaten bugs or tree-bark, tho <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> )

I remember back in basic training, when we pathetic lily-livered misbegotten excuses for the human race (i.e. recruits) dared to complain, our sergeant riposted "You wait till you've been out on exercise for a couple of weeks, you'll eat the cardboard box they came in." <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I never got that hungry, personally, but I did notice that spending 4 hours in the rain putting up an antenna markedly improved their taste <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Military rations are a little bit of a hobby with me, I've traded for and tried many. Overall the MRE's are pretty good. When they first came out they were nowhere near as good as they are now. There was a problem with both the taste and amount of food. At this point there are 24 or 26 varieties of meals and some are quite good. The "menu" is changed each year it seams, some items deleted and new ones added. Much of the bad reputation came from Gulf War 1, when soldiers ate the older MRE's that had been stock piled over there .for many years . Some troops ate nothing but old MRE's for many months.I like the enchilada and the chocolate covered oatmeal cookie. Fed the MRE rice to my family for dinner (with other regular food) and no one complained. The MRE could use lifeboat matches and water puri tabs like in the British rations.

As with all foods...your mileage may vary.

In the Great White North we have IMP's (Individual Meal Pack); they're the equivalent of the MRE but packed in a way as to generate more garbage than food. Longest I had to subsist on them was on Aircrew Survival for 3 weeks, but when you're busy and *hungry*, they hit the spot without too much griping. Take the time to heat and season the food to your taste, they'll be about a 7. Eat them cold and as they are, the taste drops to 5.

Certain meals will be liked, and others, like the infamous ham omelet, which could be used to patch a tarp, are practically inedible. But when you're hungry...well...even I "enjoyed" a ham omelet once.

But only once.

And drink plenty of water...that will prevent the constipation that some people experience. (It's either the food, or the reluctance to do as bears do in the woods...)