Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting MREs

I'm preparing for a hunt that I will be truck camping and doing long day hikes to hunt. I'll be out past dark glassing. I thought packing an MRE would be a good idea for dinner in the field.

Any recommendations for who/what to buy MREs? I've at military issued MREs but not the civilian versions.

I've still got some military MRE's that a National Guard member sold me. They work, and, if you like them, use them. Or use the parts you like.
But for quick and easy, Mountain House Meals, assuming you pack a stove to boil water, are faster and simplier. Just make sure you are getting the calores you need. MRE's are great for providing plenty of calores. Freeze dried meals tend to be light on calores. E

My hunting group uses MREs. I usually pack one when I know I'm going to be out all day for lunch at some point.

If I'm backpacking in, I go the Mountain House route with a Jet Boil to shave the weight. The wet meals in the MRE add lots of weight when packing 2 meals a day for 3 days, or so. This is where the freeze dried meals come in handy.

Living in CO Springs with the abundant military population, it isn't too hard to find the right connections for your MRE needs.

Good luck!

I won't be packing a stove or the extra water. Otherwise, I'd just eat Mountain House.

Any recommendations on where to but MREs?

eBay unless you have military connections. Possibly Craigslist?

I don't need military issued MREs. I'm wondering about the civilian issued MREs. Who makes the best tasting, economical, etc. I can find vendors using google, I'm looking for recommendations from someone who has bought them previously.

Bueler?

brymore:

Military MREs are heavy but very convenient and most of the items are actually edible. The weight is not a factor when they are carried for a day hike but they are too heavy for multi-night backpack trips.

I use to be able to get them from a retired military guy here in Colorado S[rings. They became hard to get when the army cracked down on soldiers taking them and selling them to local civilians. So I tried the civilian equivalent which I bought at a local army surplus store. They were disgusting and couldn't hold a candle to the military version. That was about 15 years ago. Haven't tried the civilian version since.

Last November, I went on a DIY Alaska hunt that lasted a week. One of the guys was active-duty military and he brought MREs for our lunches. They are still OK.

I would be very leery of the civilian copies. Maybe try them a little at a time before committing much $$$.

KC

Let me ask my old man. He's tried most of the commercial versions due to his multiple FEMA deployments.

That edible part is debatable on most of the ones I remember (spaghetti, BBQ pork patties omelette with ham,...). I was in abt 20yrs ago, they weren't very good then... Chicken ala King and Chicken Spaghetti were the only ones I would eat. The rest got traded or trashed.

I use them a lot but I just eat and buy only the main entrees. Just as good cold as hot. I supplement my meal with nuts, dried fruit(apricots, raisins, apples, banana chips, etc). ClifBar or granola bars are usually in my pack too.
I bought lots of them a few years ago for $1 each. The Army Surplus store here in IF sells complete MRE's and entrees only. The entrees are like $2.50. I could get some for you and bring them over if you want but our time is getting short!!!

My military experience was all C-rats. I've never eaten a military MRE. You wouldn't want a C-rat for a regular meal but they weren't bad if you were far enough from the road...but so was BBQ skunk.

Given the MRE bulk and the weight of the packaging, it's designed to last for years in storage and transit, there are better options out there IMHO.

The chief complaint on the civlian MREs, besides taste, is the heater unit. If the heater unit in the meal is crap, you are eating a cold meal anyway without a secondary heat source. If the heater is working right, and you have to Pack in/Pack out, it will produce heat and odor for quite a while after you have eaten the meal. Just a thought...

It doesn't sound like you plan on being out overnight, just late night. I'd take a Mountain House or similiar, and a small heat source like a JetBoil for water.

C-Rat spaghetti, now there's a memory...

Ham and [bleep] (lima beans) yuuuummmm....NOT!

Actually, the best meal I probably ever had was a B-2 unit, spaghetti/fruit/and John Wayne bars. That was because all I'd had for six days was a chicken and one handful of rice.

excellent suggestion, and they sell them stripped, so you can pick and choose what you want.
They also have about the best prices on Mountain House meals.

At $18 a copy through Cabelas, I say screw it and drive into town for a steak!

I use the Optimus and ramen with freeze dried beef or chicken. Sometimes just I re-hydrate Pappy Kershistine beef jerky with ramen noodles for a solid meal of carbs and protein. Soup starter works well too.

Most hikers rely on Knorr type dry meals with a can or foil pack of chicken or tuna.

And you know what "most hikers" eat how?

Because he's a tool.