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Survival and Preparations Long and short term survival and 'prepping'. |
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#1
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When to toss MREs?
I have several cases of MREs up to 12 years old. when do you toss them? they have been stored in a cool environment, 74 - 76 degrees. Not sure how to inspect them.
TIA
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#3
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I have eaten much older MREs in the Army. If you open the package and it stinks, toss it.
You knowing the storage temps is a great thing to maintain your confidence. I would suggest you open one of them up now to test it.
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All things being equal... |
#4
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you wouldn't just toss them anyway. the heaters, accessory packs and spoons will still be good, and probably the beverage powders as well.
lol, were they still putting crackers in 12 years ago?
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#5
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https://www.mreinfo.com/mres/mre-shelf-life/
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If you will need to rely on MREs for weeks, ought to supplement with fiber - https://www.walmart.com/browse/healt...586366_5240691 or siimilar. A single MRE might have 5 g of fiber (might be just 3); that's a feature for hard-exercising soldiers. But, Quote:
Last edited by Librarian; 12-12-2020 at 7:17 PM.. |
#6
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I tried a couple of the MRE meals I had squirreled away for Y2K in 2010, and while they may retain most of their nutritional value, after 10 years, they tasted so nasty that you wouldn't want to eat one. Had to toss cases of them, and which is why I went to dried and freeze dried alternatives.
Exception may be the very high salt meals like the corner beef hash, which will age better.
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#7
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If you think a 10 year old MRE tastes nasty, what until you try and eat your freeze dried alternatives with no water to make them edible. Same applies to rice and beans. In a true SHTF scenario, potable water and electricity will be the first things to stop running. (unless of course you live in a region with a natural water resource i.e. well, river, spring etc.) |
#8
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#9
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I had a pouch of tuna from one of my 2008 MRE a few months ago. Tasted and smelled fine, it was packed in Starkist retail packaging...some of the mains taste a bit metallic...but not what I call “bad”.
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"I prefer peace. But if trouble must come, let it come in my time, so that my children can live in peace." Thomas Paine |
#11
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That fish was harvested pre-Fukushima. Probably a lot safer to eat than any tuna you might buy today.
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#12
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#13
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Great info. So, basically like canned foods.
This is for SHTF. We also store whole grain rice and dried oatmeal and about 50 gallons of purified water. We ate one from Y2K this evening and it tasted pretty good. Some sort of meat patty. My thinking, if we couldn’t eat it, we should toss them.
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We’re ALL GOING TO DIE! Can’t somebody do something?!?!?!?! Last edited by five.five-six; 12-12-2020 at 8:18 PM.. |
#14
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No problems with brown rice after 20 years? |
#15
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I did an internet search for "MRE shelf life chart" and got a range of charts with differing opinions. They all seem to agree that storage at 60 degrees or below offer the longest shelf life. 70 degrees ranged from 3.5 to 6 years depending on which chart you're looking at. At 120 degrees, about a month is what you could expect so storing in a car is not likely to produce agreeable results. An unheated basement would be the ideal storage environment.
I also learned that MRE's are intended for short term use (< 28 days) and are very high calorie intended to nourish persons engaged in heavy physical activity (combat). They also have very low fiber content so if you do eat them, they may be more digestible if you can supplement with fiber. Due to calorie content, you may want to split a meal with a partner if your physical activity is more on the sedentary side. I've never eaten an MRE but the idea sounds intriguing. Rather than storing MRE's, my household strategy is to just store a generous supply of the canned goods we normally eat and keep an organized rotation system in place. On the other hand, having a few MRE's gives one the option of having food that can be taken with you in an emergency evacuation and prepared where there is no access to kitchen facilities. I'm afraid they would just end up going to waste though. I already live at my "bug-out" location. |
#16
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Both are part of our regular diet, we cycle through it.
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We’re ALL GOING TO DIE! Can’t somebody do something?!?!?!?! |
#17
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i've eaten 20 year old MREs and they're "good" in that you won't starve, but it's up to your particular taste buds whether you would eat it in a SHTF situation.
I had 10 cases of 2005 MREs and broke them up and threw away: osmotic raisins, fig bars, all entrees except beef stew and chicken noodles. 2012 MREs at a decent temperature...keep for at least a few more years. |
#18
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I have some that are the same age (dated 2008, I acquired them in 2010). I ate one months ago (in the early part of this year) and it was fine. I wouldn't count on a lot of nutritional value out of it, but it tasted fine and didn't make me sick.
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#22
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Trade 'em to starving neighbors during the Boogaloo... for ammo!
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#24
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Wife and I shared a Y2K entree last night and neither is ill today.
Passed inspection.
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#25
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Ship them to Steve
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2I...idnnbWgJFiMeHA Real talk: try one. If stored correctly, they will last a long while.
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Hauoli Makahiki Hou ------- |
#26
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#27
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Nice!
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We’re ALL GOING TO DIE! Can’t somebody do something?!?!?!?! |
#28
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I've been introducing my grandkids to MRE's. They're having a blast reading and opening and preparing them while 'camping' in the backyard.
"Food for Marines!". And they get to open the packages with actual knives (with supervision). We've been opening and eating MRE's while 'camping' in the backyard with inspection dates from 2008-2009 with no issues other than evaporated Tobasco sauce. They would not like that anyway, so no biggie. They'll live. Got some French and Italian meals ready to serve. Also some Russian MRE's, but not sure how they're going adjust to those with the fish paste and other crap. We'll see.
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It cannot be inherited, nor can it ever be purchased. You and no one alive can buy it for any price. It is impossible to rent and cannot be lent. You alone and our own have earned it with...Your sweat, blood and lives. You own it forever. The title is....."United States Marine". |
#29
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I liked the old c-rats. My dad used to swipe them from somewhere and bring them on hikes or camping. They were over 10 years old when we ate them. The steel cans seemed to make them very durable.
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#32
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I found a very early MRE brown bag in my garage that had fallen behind the work bench. It was probably 20 years old at that time and had gone through a temp cycle of the low 40s to 110 over and over. The main course smelled ok. I didn't eat it though.
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#33
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Should we have a big disaster- quake
I would test MRE the same way I would test unknown antibiotics... On a dog or a cat.... Let them eat a meal and then see how they are in 8 hours....
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Rule 1- ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED Rule 2 -NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY (including your hands and legs) Rule 3 -KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET Rule 4 -BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET AND WHAT IS BEYOND IT (thanks to Jeff Cooper) |
#35
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I give the old ones away during Halloween.
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Got Zydrate? Help, I'm having premonitions of future flashbacks. "All Californians, like all citizens of the United States, have a fundamental Constitutional right to keep and bear common and dangerous arms. The nation’s Founders used arms for self-protection, for the common defense, for hunting food, and as a check against tyranny." Judge Benitez - March 2019 |
#36
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I cycle through my MREs on a semi-regular basis, buying new cases and pulling out the old ones, which I slowly eat my way through. My theory is that I should be constantly testing out my survival gear over the years.
I'm currently working through a case of 2005 MREs. I've probably eaten over 100 old MREs in the last 10-15 years. When my kids were young, we'd have MRE days where we'd open a bunch and sample them for fun, in between knife throwing and shooting paintballs at soda cans. I've eaten 20+ year old MREs with no problems. I've never seen one go bad. If there were no bacteria in them when they were initially produced, there's no way for them to go bad if they're still sealed. I've had lots more canned stuff go bad than MREs. Flavor is a different thing. There are flavor problems with oils going rancid, but the newer MREs put O2 scavenger packets in the susceptible foods, and that makes a huge difference. This is especially true of baked goods - crackers, cookies, bread, etc. The flavor will never improve from the original, of course - these aren't fine Bordeaux wines we're talking about. Texture is another thing, but most MRE foods didn't have great texture to begin with, often similar to canned foods. Now, if it smells rotten, yeah, definitely don't eat it. It also should have swollen up the bag in that case, and if I ever found one like that, I wouldn't even bother opening it. Likewise, if one has leaked into the main pouch, that's a bad sign. I had one do that quite a few years ago. So, back to the question of what to do with the old ones? If you don't want to eat them - understandable, but you should be sampling them at some point, like when they're fresher - you can sell them on ebay, at gun shows, garage sales, etc. You can also give them away, like to people who don't have any emergency food. |
#37
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Do you stock anything for the hoards to steal from you? I keep some medication bottles (empties) so I can add some advil or aspirin (something cheap) to them for anyone stealing something. I have kept some expired canned goods for that purpose as well. Should I get looted and they take these things great. Best part is if they think that's what I have then they are likely to stop looking.
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#38
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#39
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I am not a fan of MREs, but I have a case of MREs from sometimes in the 1990s. The box got wet at some point and it looks horrible!
I should list it here for trade, see if anyone has any interesting junk they want to trade for it.
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1 Corinthians 2:2 "Orwell was an Optimist" - Cali-Glock "May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one." - Mal Reynolds Freedom Week: March 29-April 6, 2019 // Freedom Day: April 23-24, 2020 - Thank you, Judge Benitez! NRA - Endowment Member // CRPA - Life Member (Disclaimer: Everything I write is fiction. I am just here to try out ideas for my to-be-written great-American-novel.) |
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