MRE in your BOB?

[s4alex]

So, I know that some of you keep a BOB in the car. I know even more keep a few MRE's in there with them.

My questions is, how often do you cycle the MRE's in your auto BOB? I mean, if you keep it in there, doesn't the heat from the day to day speed up the freshness / end of life for the MRE?

The cooler the better and the warmer the temp, limits the time you can keep them.

[odysseus]

Yes, the heat of a car sitting out most times of the year in California gets an MRE in some cases over 120F for long periods of time. The end of life of the MRE is greatly manifold then, so you would need to cycle through them a lot.

Search out there, there is a graphical table out on the net which shows this.

[TheChief]

Heat and cold affect an MRE so I only keep them in the house where the temp is controlled.

In the GHB in the vehicles I have life boat rations that are not adversely affected by the temp swings. I also keep something like six king size Payday bars. Lots of protein and carbs.

[stix213]

I just keep some cans of spam and tuna in the car bag. I'm just trying to get home or out of a situation with the car bag, so food is actually a low priority for me.

[mindwip]

water would be worth tge weight if hiking out in sourthern ca desert. I keep one freeze deied meal and cliff bars in my day hike bag which is my get home bag.

MRE cost too much to die in the car.

[C&Rtrader]

Cliff type bars (6 or so) and trail mix. I keep it light and rotate them.

[C&Rtrader]

Cliff type bars (6 or so) and trail mix. I keep it light and rotate them.

[s4alex]

Yeah, I was aware of the heat vs age on MRE's, which is why I am posing the question.

But, those food bars do sound like a good idea. They sound more tolerant to temp changes. I basically want to just have my bag in the cars and not deal with it, except for maybe doing a periodic inventory after a few months or so.

Maybe another thing I will look for at the next show. If I go.

[jonnyt16]

Originally Posted by C&Rtrader

Cliff type bars (6 or so) and trail mix. I keep it light and rotate them.

Yep, Cliff bars for me too. I keep the MREs at home.

Here's a table of MRE longevity by the way:

[kb58]

That chart may very well be right. A coworker was in the Middle East and they had a load of MREs in a non-air-conditioned sea container. They ate a meal and everyone got food poisioning, yet the MREs were only about a month old.

[EmptySkuLL]

+1 on the Boat ration bars.

They are made to hold up to temperature extremes for 5 years (rated -40 to 300 deg F or -22 to 149 deg depending on the brand). The Datrex, Mainstay & Mayday ones taste decent. The ones that Westmarine sells suck (plus they gouge you on price). The 3600 calorie bars go for $5.50 to $3.95 from various vendors online, Westmarine jacks you for $10 for a single 2400 cal bar.

The Datrex tastes like Coconut cookies, the Mainstay tastes like Lemon cookies, the Mayday like Apple/Cinnamon.

New Millenium also makes a 5yr shelf life ration bar in 400 cal sizes that come in different flavors (perfect for picky people/kids) they have orange, lemon, cherry, apricot, tropical fruit, blueberry, raspberry and vanilla.

[johnny1290]

I like the Datrex bars the best. I just had some mainstay and yuck but edible. MREs are fairly disgusting IMO.

To be honest I have a jar of honey, peanut butter, and minute oats for my bob. I always eat the Datrex bars because I love sweets and wouldn't normally buy anything with suga.

The pb and honey I'm not tempted to eat, but look forward to it in case of a delicous emergency! MMMMMmmmm! :-)

I plan on replacing it yearly and its about $10, plus doesn't go to waste.

[wjc]

I keep Mayday Bars and water pouches in the car.

I keep MRE's and water pouches for 3 days with my BOB at home.

[Exocet5]

Originally Posted by kb58

That chart may very well be right. A coworker was in the Middle East and they had a load of MREs in a non-air-conditioned sea container. They ate a meal and everyone got food poisioning, yet the MREs were only about a month old.

Hmmm, i wonder if they ran into a bad lot of food? I know some of the milk shakes (and a few other drink packets) had e-coli contamination associated with certain batches.

Other than that, those MRE's should be just like eating canned food meaning as long as the packet isn't busted/damaged to allow contamination, the heat may have destroyed some amount of the nutrients but it shouldn't make you sick.

[bsg]

Originally Posted by TheChief

I also keep something like six king size Payday bars. Lots of protein and carbs.

+1 to this; and, i like the taste.

[jarhead714]

I don't even keep MRE's for one major reason. If you have ever had to eat them for an extended period of time, say more than 4 or 5 days on an exclusive basis you would realize the tremendous amount of water required to even pass them out the other side. I don't want to waste my water trying to digest MRE's. I'm telling you bowell movements are downright painful. You basically give birth to a fist size turd that scrapes you all the way out. Upside is you really don't even need toilet paper.

[jfifer]

Wow. I was getting hungry till the last post. Now i am thirsty.

[s4alex]

Originally Posted by jarhead714

I don't even keep MRE's for one major reason. If you have ever had to eat them for an extended period of time, say more than 4 or 5 days on an exclusive basis you would realize the tremendous amount of water required to even pass them out the other side. I don't want to waste my water trying to digest MRE's. I'm telling you bowell movements are downright painful. You basically give birth to a fist size turd that scrapes you all the way out. Upside is you really don't even need toilet paper.

Hey now, this is SF, fist size turds are nothing for us.

[Yehosha]

Originally Posted by TheChief

Heat and cold affect an MRE so I only keep them in the house where the temp is controlled.

In the GHB in the vehicles I have life boat rations that are not adversely affected by the temp swings. I also keep something like six king size Payday bars. Lots of protein and carbs.

Same here almost. I have Mayday 3600 Calorie Food Bars in my GHBs, and BOBs. They say they have a 5 year shelf life, but I'd be surprised if they didn't last longer.


I also have lots of Nature Valley Sweet and Salty Peanut Granola Bars from Costco that taste great, give good energy, and last a long time. My whole family, even the kids, loves them and we take some of them everywhere, vacations, camping, hiking, school snacks, etc.

[johnny1290]

I can't believe you guys keep stuff like this in your car and don't eat them! I'd be all over those !

[Yehosha]

Originally Posted by johnny1290

I can't believe you guys keep stuff like this in your car and don't eat them! I'd be all over those !

I probably eat one of those granola bars every other day as a snack or meal on the go. he MayDay food rations however are too expensive to eat on a regular basis, and were only bought for emergencies. If you eat or use up what's in your GHB/BOB, when the time comes for you to actually need it, you'll be SOL.

[spareparts]

Originally Posted by Yehosha

Same here almost. I have Mayday 3600 Calorie Food Bars in my GHBs, and BOBs. They say they have a 5 year shelf life, but I'd be surprised if they didn't last longer.

The food bars do actually go bad. We cleaned out a earthquake kit about 6 months ago. There were some of the 3600 calorie bars in it with an expiration of about 1994 or 1995. They smelled pretty bad and tasted horribly rancid. The kind of rancid where you have to find something to wipe it off of your tongue because spitting it out isn't good enough.

These bars were stored in a climate controlled office.

[jfifer]

Those maydays are awesome. I bought 3 manufactured in august so im good for a while.

Fist sized turds eh?

[Yehosha]

Originally Posted by spareparts

The food bars do actually go bad. We cleaned out a earthquake kit about 6 months ago. There were some of the 3600 calorie bars in it with an expiration of about 1994 or 1995. They smelled pretty bad and tasted horribly rancid. The kind of rancid where you have to find something to wipe it off of your tongue because spitting it out isn't good enough.

These bars were stored in a climate controlled office.

What I'm curious about is at what point does that happen? 18 or 19 years is a long time. Do they last 7, 10 or even 15 years? Earlier today I tried googling it and found nothing conclusive abotu a definite expiration date so I emailed MayDay and asked. If/when they write back I'll post their reply.

[Johnnykck]

I have eaten MRE's that were 7 years old and stored in a garage in a non controlled climate. Didn't have any bad side effects.

[spareparts]

Originally Posted by Yehosha

What I'm curious about is at what point does that happen? 18 or 19 years is a long time. Do they last 7, 10 or even 15 years? Earlier today I tried googling it and found nothing conclusive abotu a definite expiration date so I emailed MayDay and asked. If/when they write back I'll post their reply.

I have some right now that are at or just past their expiration date. I'll be moving this summer so when I start going through things and locate them I plan on trying one each year for a few years to see if I can get an expiration idea. If I get time to go through the pantry sooner I'll post my observations.

[NHP1127]

The nice thing with US military mres is that they are all inclusive for survival. Besides the warm meal, warm beverage, etc, each pouch comes with a pack of matches and toilet paper.

As far as info on mres, go to mreinfo.com for everything you want to know about mres. Shameful plug, I sell them here on calguns. http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=723378

[American Samurai]

I wouldn't eat an MRE, not even in an emergency. UGH. I had enough of those nasty things as an active duty Marine.

[-aK-]

http://survivorind.com/3600.html

Not as susceptible to heat as mre's.

[NHP1127]

Originally Posted by American Samurai

I wouldn't eat an MRE, not even in an emergency. UGH. I had enough of those nasty things as an active duty Marine.

Semper Fi. I ate my share aswell. I sell these all over the USA. Lots of people like them. Regardless of opinions on taste, if the only thing a person had in hand from swimming to shore from a flipped canoe was an MRE, then you have a good start toward survival... a hot 1,200 calorie meal and matches to make a signal fire and be warm.

[johnny1290]

As disgusting as MREs are, warm food is a huuuuge morale boost.

[Lugiahua]

I once ate a MRE that was 13 years old and didn't get sick...lol

[Lugiahua]

I once ate a MRE that was 13 years old and didn't get sick...lol

[kel-tec-innovations]

Dry freeze mountain house foods in my cars. No worries of heat damage. Just add boiling or hot water and your good to go.

[joefrank64k]

Originally Posted by jarhead714

I don't even keep MRE's for one major reason. If you have ever had to eat them for an extended period of time, say more than 4 or 5 days on an exclusive basis you would realize the tremendous amount of water required to even pass them out the other side. I don't want to waste my water trying to digest MRE's. I'm telling you bowell movements are downright painful. You basically give birth to a fist size turd that scrapes you all the way out. Upside is you really don't even need toilet paper.

Originally Posted by fiferronald

Wow. I was getting hungry till the last post. Now i am thirsty.

HAHAHAHA!!!

[ElvenSoul]

Mt. House a couple of bottles of water and a 12v thermos

http://www.amazon.com/Roadpro-12V-Ho...ds=12v+thermos

[TheThousands]

I have some Mtn. House meals in my BOB that sits in my truck. Freeze dried so I don't worry about heat and I always bring water with me, not necessarily part of my BOB though.

[mrock11]

How long do you think MREs are in the Middle East before they're eaten? And I guarantee they were in an uncontrollable climate. MREs will survive with the cockroaches - have faith in that. I'm gonna blame weak stomachs. Sorry.

[cdtx2001]

Originally Posted by EmptySkuLL

+1 on the Boat ration bars.

They are made to hold up to temperature extremes for 5 years (rated -40 to 300 deg F or -22 to 149 deg depending on the brand). The Datrex, Mainstay & Mayday ones taste decent. The ones that Westmarine sells suck (plus they gouge you on price). The 3600 calorie bars go for $5.50 to $3.95 from various vendors online, Westmarine jacks you for $10 for a single 2400 cal bar.

The Datrex tastes like Coconut cookies, the Mainstay tastes like Lemon cookies, the Mayday like Apple/Cinnamon.

New Millenium also makes a 5yr shelf life ration bar in 400 cal sizes that come in different flavors (perfect for picky people/kids) they have orange, lemon, cherry, apricot, tropical fruit, blueberry, raspberry and vanilla.

I've had the New Millenium bars, not bad. Not great, but not bad. If I was hungry they would be great I'm sure. I keep several in my GHB.

Light weight, high calorie, long shelf life, low susceptibility to heat are what makes for good qualities in food bars. Decent taste always helps, but if one is hungry, anything edible will taste good.

Think about this, people in North Korea eat the bark off trees. How f***ing hungry would YOU have to be to eat that?