Field rations

There are a lot of conversations going on about field rations, which ones are best and what ‘systems’ are more appropriate or BETTER.

MREs are the best because our military uses them, they are the coolest and most ‘sexy’ foods to eat out on maneuvers. They have a LONG shelf life and are lite weight. MREs also COST a lot more than most other foods of the same calorie count. IF cost is not a factor for you, great, go get a ton of them.

MREs weigh less…. the actual food content is the identical weight per serving as fresh made, frozen or canned. The packaging may weigh less than the metal can and when you are talking about shipping the amount needed for 500 people that IS a factor. In the amount per person for 3 days most people will not be able to tell the difference between a pack with MREs in it V an identical pack with the same amount of food that is packed in metal cans. If you think you can you are delusional and have never done a double blind test of it. BTW the component that adds the most weight to either is the water content.

MREs have a LONG shelf life…. yes they do.. WHEN properly stored. The cooler that they are stored equals longer shelf life. If you store your MRE in the trunk or passenger areas of your vehicle during the summer the temperature can get over 200 degrees F during the day in direct sunlight. It gets so hot that you can bake cookies or bread on the dashboard – or cook your kids / dog to death, but that is another story. The rated shelf life of an MRE over 140 degrees is under 3 months. SAME story for canned goods. Some friends and I when we went through basic military training were eating the old C-Rats which were 40 years old and some of them was just as bad as the day they were packaged, some we liked a lot, it all depends on your tastes and how hungry you are. ;]

canned goods…. as noted above … and they have at least 3 added benefits compared with MREs. 1. we are more familiar with eating them as there is most likely not a week go by that we do not have food from a can. 2. canned goods are more likely to be rotated in part due to the economical cost. 3. you end up with cans to use for other survival projects such as cooking, treating water and they can be used as part of an alarm system.

[ What other uses can you come up with? Please share your thoughts with the rest of us in the comment section of this post]