MRE: Meal's Ready to Eat. Anyone else had them?

**Magrat** · Jun 4th, 2011, 12:47 PM

For six months I was house sitting for some friends. Looking after their cats while they trained in the army. With little cash flow, I was occasionally forced to dine on some of their MREs. Able to be eaten hot and cold (cold is shudderworthy at the best of times), they were a lifesaver but dear lord were some of the combinations disturbing!

I'm wondering if anyone else has experience with these things. Military peoples probably have dealt with them :P but please share any horror stories/sick-of-this stories/combined-two-and-they-tasted-great stories you have!

Cheers.

**Tandem25** · Jun 4th, 2011, 01:52 PM

I lived on some for a while during a bad hurricane season in central and south Florida. I didn't have a choice. I had to keep working on the project I was on for community safety reasons. I liked em at first but after a while. Uughhh!

They served a purpose though. And, for that I am thankful.

**Luna Guardian** · Jun 4th, 2011, 03:40 PM

I've got one word for you, just one word!

Spices

**Ctatyk Frost** · Jun 4th, 2011, 04:18 PM

Yeah, without spices (tobasco sauce) they're 3 lies in each package. They aren't Meals. They aren't Ready. They aren't edible....
Just kidding....some of them aren't bad. I wouldn't want to have to live on them, but given the need, I could.

**Hellbringer** · Jun 4th, 2011, 07:47 PM

I've had MRE's since I was a kid starting back in '84. The first ones I had would be crap by today's standards because one of the main meals was "dry beef patty." You had to add water to it to rehydrate the thing, otherwise you were eating beef flavored cardboard.

I've had MRE's regularly, though, since '92 and consistently since '03. Each iteration actually is better than the previous round of MREs that were put out. Some of the newer guys will have to take my word on that because I wouldn't want to feed anyone an MRE that is almost 20 years old at this point.

**yarri** · Jun 4th, 2011, 07:49 PM

Yep it wasn't to awful though I couldn't finish it. Just to much food.

**Magrat** · Jun 5th, 2011, 04:07 AM

And then there are the Rat packs! (Ration pack) I had a chuckle when the gum was mentioned as a laxative in the podcast. In the Aussie rat pack it's the chocolate that's the laxative! It's in there to balance out the cheese, which blocks you up. You have to essentially eat the whole of the pack, you can't pick and choose. Fun times.

**cycogod** · Jun 6th, 2011, 12:30 PM

along time ago, had one that was a form of ham. put it on a piece of bread and some mustard, it had interesting effects on my body.

**Leedo2502** · Jun 6th, 2011, 12:43 PM

I loved them when they were in that darker brown packaging... the new ones with all the newer menues suck. I'll take the "4 Fingers of death" any day (beef Frankfurters).

I keep waiting for KC to bring up the Charms = Bad Luck thing in the Podcast. I'm not sure how it is in the Combat Support units but Saul for sure would know about the Curse of the Charms. Charms bring rain, officers and broken equipment.

http://forums.military.com/eve/forum.../3130091732001

Kc · Jun 6th, 2011, 12:46 PM

Originally Posted by Leedo2502

I loved them when they were in that darker brown packaging... the new ones with all the newer menues suck. I'll take the "4 Fingers of death" any day (beef Frankfurters).

I keep waiting for KC to bring up the Charms = Bad Luck thing in the Podcast. I'm not sure how it is in the Combat Support units but Saul for sure would know about the Curse of the Charms. Charms bring rain, officers and broken equipment.

http://forums.military.com/eve/forum.../3130091732001

Maybe I never witnessed it because I never ate them

Those things were gross.