So everyone is always looking to find the best option for camping food, right? Personally I've gone back and forth on everything from canned food, ramen noodles, mountain house, military and civilian MREs, homemade MREs or packing what regular food I can take that will last a night or two and still be safe. Of course I will occasionally make some fresh food or cook some bannock bread as well. Right now I typically take stripped down MREs, extra energy bars, beef jerky, single serving oatmeal and a mountain house meal or two depending on the length of my outing. MRE (Meals Ready to Eat). The first real current style MREs started getting issued to the US Military in 1986 even tho they began testing with the more modern MRE back in 1963. Prior to the MRE there was the common C-Ration meals which were canned, these dated back to about 1940 when they began field testing them. USGI Military MREs: These are actually some of my favorites. These usually contain more items and calories than their civilian knockoffs or versions. They are truly ready to eat without any adding of water or preparing. They do come with a MRE heater which is a chemical pack which reacts to a water and heats your meal (I typically only use these when it is cold out). From my experience these pack 1300 to 1600 calories per package. Each pack contains: Main entree, side dish, crackers or bread, snack, candy or desert, jelly, peanut butter or cheese spread, cold drink mix, accessory packet which contains: *coffee or tea, creamer, napkin, wet nap, toilet paper, sugar, salt, pepper, spoon, gum, matches*, tabasco* etc. *tabasco, matches and some other items will vary depending on the meal and year of MRE. These MREs vary in variety in a lot of ways. Each year they make 24 meals (numbered 1-24) and issue them in a case A which contains meals 1-12 and case B which contains meals 13-24. These change every single year. USGI MREs (current issue) are sealed in a light brown package and stamped with "US GOVERNMENT PROPERTY - NOT FOR RETAIL SALE". The cases are brown cardboard, very plain, with simple text such as "INSP/TEST", "MENUS", "CASE B", "DATE PKD/LOT" etc. Military MRE prices vary widely, depending on the sellers, date of MFG and how they are sold. Typically cases will sell for $55-120 and individual meals will sell for $5-12. Keep in mind these are almost always sent to the military before winding up in the civilian market, so there is no guarantee what temperature or conditions they were kept in before you getting your hands on them MREs are advertised to have a 3-7 year shelf life depending on condition. I've personally had MREs that were packaged in 1992 and ate them as late as 2014... They were noticeably not as good as fresh ones but most items were okay. The chocolate bar was a little chalky white but edible. The crackers were a little stale but with the peanut butter tasted okay. Civilian MREs: The civilian MREs can vary widely, but for simplicity I will group them into one group. These are usually made by the same companies as the military MREs. They can some with everything the military MREs come with, however most come with less. Typically civilian MREs will not come with gum, tabasco sauce, matches, toilet paper in the accessory pack. They usually lack 1-2 food items as well, however it really just depends on the batch. They usually contain 800-1200 calories per package. The cases can be very sporadic in terms of contents and consistency. I've seen cases with 12 different main entrees, 12 of the same in the entire case or just random mixes. The civilian MREs come in mostly clear packages, however there are some companies who try to make them look like the issue MREs by using brown packaging and similar graphics. The civilian MRE cases can vary from only saying "MRE" on the side to having the company logo and information about the contents. Civilian MRE prices can range widely as well. Typically they do sell for 10-25% less than USGI MREs and can typically be guaranteed what conditions they were kept in because they will usually be shipped from the manufacturer to the store where you are buying them from. Homemade MREs: I've tried many different varieties of these but always have a hard time making it truly "Ready To Eat" without heating and or adding water. I won't go into great detail but my best (or favorite) version consisted of: Chicken or beef top-ramen soup, saltine or other crackers, instant coffee or other drinks, sugar & creamer, napkin, wet wipe, granola or energy bar, matches, little candy, beef jerky, can of chicken, spam pouch, etc, P38 can opener if the can of chicken requires it, jelly or peanut butter. All sealed in a vacuum pack or 1 gallon zip lock bag. What makes these nice is they are cheap to make. typically you can make this for under $3. I also like to add my jerky or chicken to my ramen soup which makes it much more filling and satisfying of a meal. However, if you are planning on doing this for a longer trip, these homemade MREs lack calories. The photo of the one below has a little over 600 calories if I ate and drank everything in there. Suggestions for acquiring stuff to make your own: Dollar Stores! You can get the wet napkins, ramen noodles for, match boxes, jerky, cans of chicken, sugar and creamer packs, instant coffee, crackers, granola bars and peanut butter. You can really build 6-10 of these MRE kits for $12-18... They will typically have a 2-4 year shelf life if you choose the items with the best shelf lives. You can always save left over salt, pepper, napkins, spoons, wet naps, sugar, creamer and other spices from when you eat out... Just about everyone has some of that stuff in the glove compartment. Mountain House Meals: I love Mountain House food for a variety of reasons including shelf life, weight, variety, taste and quality. However, they are also more expensive for the most part. I've yet to have one of their meals which I didn't enjoy, I like them all and would buy any of them again. The biggest downfall is they are freeze dried which means they need water and more specifically boiling water. Here in California water isn't something we have in abundance everywhere, so you either have to be 100% sure you are going somewhere where you'll have access to water or pack in a bit of extra water. Another nice thing is Mountain house meals are designed to be prepared inside the pouch, just boil the water in a cup or pot and pour it directly to the pouch, stir and shake then wait for it to cook (typically 10-15 minutes). One thing I would like to mention is the Mountain House pouches can contain servings for as little as 1 person and up to 4 persons, so make sure to check the back of the pouch when planning for a longer trip especially with several people. Most of the main meals are 2.5 servings which work great for 2 people cause we all know 1 serving typically doesn't do the trick. Also note these serving are typically around 300 calories, so make sure you have enough calories for a long trek. Most Mountain House meals range from $3.90-$9.00 and the prices can vary and surprisingly most big store (target, walmart, dicks sporting good are more expensive than smaller stores). Locally the Army/Navy Surplus store has the best selection and prices than anyone in the County. I hope you enjoyed reading my take of camping food.
Feel free to comment below with what you like most and any ideas for other food you take on the trails!
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Tactical-BushcrafterI'm an avid outdoorsman who enjoys a good mix of primitive bushcrafting skills and modern tactical gear and survival equipment. Archives
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