Purchasing real MREs legally

[Larry Whitlow]

They still produce SPAM? I haven't seen that in years. Some of the items in MRE's were very good, like the dehydrated fruit. Others, like the dehydrated pork patties, would get buried in a huge hole in the desert floor.

SPecial All purpose Meat. I hate to admit it, but we still have it occasionally for breakfast with fried eggs.

[John Pratt]

Real, honest to goodness, Authentic MREs are not available to the general public. In fact, they are illegal to sell and even military members can be prosecuted for selling them (and some have). Some MREs do find there way into military surplus stores, but so do a lot of things that shouldn't be there. At military commissaries, you can buy the exact same meal but it is in different packaging. For those that have been out of the military for some time, the meal selection and taste has improved considerably over the years. Gone are the dehydrated pork and beef patties ( or the dreaded ham loaf) and some of the meals are actually quite good now.

[Derek Gilmer]

I've used/eaten wise foods http://wisefoodstorage.com/ quite a bit and been very happy. No consumer available item is going to have the heater that comes in a MRE. It is that heater that makes them a no-go for civilians. But if you are prepping for a disaster surely you are prepped to make fire to heat your food

[Dave Anderson NH]

As a genuine old fart I am cracking up about the MRE complaints. I come from the days of C rations (Meal, Individual Combat Type C). You haven't lived until you have dined on C rations for 30 days straight without any other food. In the older versions there was a meal that was the epitome of awful called Ham and Lima Beans. Now I like both ham and lima beans, but in this case we are talking about fatty greasy smoked shoulder packaged with extra grease and huge tough lima beans. They were know by most Marines by another name that can not be used on a family forum. Later on in my tour in SE Asia I worked in an area under Army controil and they provided our logistical support. Occasionally we received cases of what were called LRRPS for Long Range Reconnasiance Patrol Rations. These were freeze dried meals that were the forerunners of MREs. We thought they were the greatest thing on earth and always looked forward to getting them. Even the poorer meals were great. The bottom line is that if you are hungry enough almost anything is edible.

[Brian Elfert]

The Boy Scouts have a huge event every four years at a National Guard base/camp owned by the state. Dinner the time I went consisted of MRE heaters used to heat up Dinty Moore shelf stable meals. I'm surprised they used the MRE heaters, but not the actual MREs. The heaters worked well, but the Dinty Moore meals were nasty. They would probably have been better if heated in a microwave as intended.

Actual MREs probably would have been better than the Dinty Moore crap.

[ray hampton]

They still produce SPAM? I haven't seen that in years. Some of the items in MRE's were very good, like the dehydrated fruit. Others, like the dehydrated pork patties, would get buried in a huge hole in the desert floor.

I am not sure if Meier or Kroger sell spam but I could buy spam at the best store in this area ,Remke
I reread your post and I think that you are saying that you close your eyes when you eat spam

[harry hood]

Do you know why authentic MREs aren't available? I can't find any plausible explanation online. The ones I've tried weren't bad at all considering the sorts of conditions they designed to survive, about like dinner on a airplane with larger portions.

[ray hampton]

Do you know why authentic MREs aren't available? I can't find any plausible explanation online. The ones I've tried weren't bad at all considering the sorts of conditions they designed to survive, about like dinner on a airplane with larger portions.

I do not remember if I ate MRI or not but the hard tack [crackers]which I did eat are hard enough to eat without breaking into small pieces

[John Pratt]

Do you know why authentic MREs aren't available? I can't find any plausible explanation online. The ones I've tried weren't bad at all considering the sorts of conditions they designed to survive, about like dinner on a airplane with larger portions.

I imagine the biggest reason for the restriction on the sale of "authentic" MREs is the MRE Heater which is considered a hazardous material.

(I don't know why since it is just some magnesium dust with some salt and a little iron dust. The addition of water just creates rust at a quick rate which in turn gives off a lot of heat.)

Another reason could be the opportunity for fraud/misappropriation of Govt materials. As with many things military, the civilian version is slightly different than the item soldiers receive. It definitely makes it easier to determine if the item was acquired through proper means. MRES are closely regulated within the Army (more so now than in years past) to cut down on them "disappearing". At a cost of around $8-$10 per complete packaged meal, it would not take long to add up to some real money. Even if a soldier is issued the meals and does not consume them, they are not allowed to sell them. Are there some out there? Sure. Are you going to find them readily available? Don't count on it.

[Brian Elfert]

I just checked the local Craigslist and found four people selling MREs. One guy was selling by the full case for $65. He had a picture of the case and it has NSN 8970-01-321-9153 on the case. Someone could probably tell us if that is the NSN number for real MREs or not.

[John Shuk]

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/c...aspx?a=1009715

Looks pretty good and they have other choices.

[Montgomery Scott]

I just back from my local army surplus store and they were selling real MRE's for $9/ea. It does say on the front "Commercial resale is unlawful" but the owner said, "it's a gray area". Perhaps it's in the definition of commercial resale.

According to wikipedia the label "Commercial resale is unlawful" is meaningless and there are no laws against reselling them http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal,_Ready-to-Eat