Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Ever tried those self heating meals for the field?

Are they actually warm, or just another leather hockey puck?

Spot

MREs? We sometimes get a good deal on them and use them when we're too far away from camp. They are full of salt and will dehydrate you if you're not staying on top of the water. You also have to activate them with a little water to get them going, and should be done 15-20 minutes prior to when you're hungry. The more patient you are the hotter you food will be. I've had some very good heartburn with them; nothing like heartburn when your humping the mountains!!
Overall they're pretty filling and packed with about 2000+ calories, so I suppose they're convenient and the flavor of the entree is much better now than post Vietnam/Korea era ones, which are a bit funky in my opinion.

1 MRE contain 3500 calories, it is what the body needs to survive for eating one a day, hence why in Ranger school you get 1 MRE a day. They aren't bad, and if you don't want to use the heaters to conserve water, put the meal pouch next to you skin while hiking, it will warm it up plenty. Les

I have used the current Military MRE packs. I find them to be an exellent trail food item, and one will keep me going for two meals.
I keep three of those, 4 Mountain House 2 portion packs, and a dozen Cliff Bars in my back pack that goes everwhere with me in the truck.

The new MREs are a world ahead of my first one, Parris Island circa 1987.
Dad and I carried one for lunch last year blackpowder hunting, not too bad. I was impressed at how hot they got and if you pour Texan Pete in anything it's edible.