Mre

[xs11jack]

I acquired a military MRE and opened the outer pouch. On all the items inside was a four digit number beginning with 92. Is that the year it was made?? And if so, how long are these things good for?
Jack

[Love Life]

They are good until they smell bad when you open them.

I believe the official shelf life is 5 years.

[Boerrancher]

The military keeps them for 5 years as Love Life stated, but they will last forever if the packets are undamaged. The best way to tell is if the individual food packet is all swollen then it is no good, or if you open it and it smells like something dead. I can't say smells bad because after eating as many of them as I have over the years even a new one smells bad to me. I have some stored that date back to the 80's and they are still as good as they were when they were produced.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Combat Diver]

What color was the outer plastic bag? Early 80s- late 90s had a dark brown color. Later generation is tan colored.


CD

[dbosman]

Shelf life of government packaged food can be interesting. When the civil defense shelters around here were emptied in the 1970's the sealed water cans were half empty. The cracker tins were just fine and dandy though. They tasted like flavorful matzo - if you can wrap your mind around the idea of matzo with flavor. The hard candy was given to kids all over town for Halloween. Thousands of pounds of hard candy. Some of the heavy lifting equipment stayed in place until two years ago.

[edler7]

Lots of MRE info here

http://www.mreinfo.com/us/mre/mre-date-codes.html

[xs11jack]

The outside pouch is light tan, nearly all the printing on outside is gone. The meal is a porkchop in Jamica sauce, apple sauce, vegtable cracker, pound cake, tiny packets of coffee, powdered creamer, book of matches, a tiny little bottle of tabasco sauce, cheese spread, two little chicolets of gum a napkin, wetwipe, a pouch to heat the main course in and a plastic spoon. Yum!!! None of the pouches inside have been opened. Between the wife and and me, we are saying I'll try it if you try it-first, No, You try it first, No...
Jack

[Edubya]

Man up Jack! You have to show that when it gets down to surviving that you are "the man". You are going to use those for a a survival kit, aren't you? You will not die from eating those things, I've eaten them from WWII and that was back in the '60's.

EW

[Superfly]

i will take the pound cake and the cheese spread and the vegitable cracker UMM UMM good stuff

[Boz330]

Man up Jack! You have to show that when it gets down to surviving that you are "the man". You are going to use those for a a survival kit, aren't you? You will not die from eating those things, I've eaten them from WWII and that was back in the '60's.

EW

I ate some from the same year I was born when I was in in 66 to 68. I believe they were K-rations not even C-rations. LRPR were the best. Freeze dried and actually tasted pretty good and very light to carry. I didn't think the MREs were too bad but then I never had to live on them. They sure as hell beat C-rations.

Bob

Bob

[Edubya]

I ate some from the same year I was born when I was in in 66 to 68. I believe they were K-rations not even C-rations. LRPR were the best. Freeze dried and actually tasted pretty good and very light to carry. I didn't think the MREs were too bad but then I never had to live on them. They sure as hell beat C-rations.
Bob


I don't remember whether ours were C or K rations. I was a young airman deployed to maintain our recon aircraft flying over the Mid-East during the six day war (what was that '67 or '68). I don't even remember what base we were at. I think that it was Insurlik, Turkey. We were in tents and not associated with the Turks or anybody else. I remember that it was very flat and the wind was kicking butt. I thought that it was going to be just a practice alert and did not properly prepare for deployment. I had to wash and dry clothes every day when off duty. A lot of surprises then taught me a lot about being prepared!

EW

[Combat Diver]

Hint on how to eat the main meal. Do not tear were the cuts are or you'll get your hands messy. Cut along the top horizontal instead and you'll have a larger wider opening. The are also better heated before eating. Use the heater where there is good ventilation.

Grow up on C rats, few LRPS and 3 decades of MREs in my gut...................
one from Astan last year
http://i48.servimg.com/u/f48/16/48/54/01/mre_th10.jpg (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=686&u=16485401)
Meatloaf with gravy
http://i48.servimg.com/u/f48/16/48/54/01/mre_me10.jpg (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=690&u=16485401)


CD

[Love Life]

If you can find the cold weather (white wrapper) MRE those are the best for long life. It is all dry foods for extreme cold weather so they don't freeze. If they are not puffed up then you should be good to go. As Joe said though I tend to think they all stink.

Rule of thumb:
Smells like catfood=good
Smells like a fermented skunk=not good.

[horsesoldier]

Wow I finally found somebody with the same knife I have!

[bakrzdzn]

I have a few left from the 90 s but none of mine came with a knife like that. Lol. Only had one that could not be eaten in the cases I bought. Since I don't eat them every day, I found them to be mostly good to eat. Plus if a service member can eat it, so can I.

[shooter2]

The only food that does not spoil is honey.

I ate WWII rations on Guam in 1957 and '58. Some were OK, some not so good. That said, in the Philippines they eat Baludts which are rotten duck eggs. To each his own.

[Ed Barrett]

In the 1960's I used to like the job of changing the ration packets on the life rafts and life boats. The water wasn't useful but the all metal knives and hard candy we always kept. They also had fishing line hooks, the hooks were awfully big, if a fish could get it in his mouth I would be wary about getting it in the boat with me. I came across some of the candy packets 20 years later and they tasted as good as new. The dye marker packets and and shark repellent we could never find a use for. The food was dark green cans packed during WW II, we ate too well on the ship to try any more than once, but the cigarettes were still good.

[41 mag fan]

Ate those nasty MRE's back in the '80's. About 3 days of them and you was guaranteed not to sh*t for a week.
Back then chicken ala king and the ham was the best.

[Para82]

Ate plenty of C- Rations and LRRP rations the first time I was in the Army. Re enlisted in 87 and ate the MREs. I liked some of the C rations like the pound cake,fruit cocktail,pears and the cheese and peanut butter. If you were hungry enough it all would do.
Para82

[xs11jack]

I sure wish mine came with that nifty knife, I have wanted one of those for ages. Tomorrow we are going to get real aventurous and try the pound cake. Maybe then we will nibble on the porkchop with the Jamica sauce, whatever that is, her first! But she says I am the Vet here and I should, as edubya says "Manup". Or is that Throwup??? If ya'll get my next post from the emergency room, it's all YOUR fault!!
Jack

[square butte]

Don't forget the John Wayne chocolate bars in the shape of a hocky puck and twice as hard. You could melt them after about 5 minutes under a blow torch.

[Silver Eagle]

MRE = 3 lies in one!

[Combat Diver]

MRE's - Meals Rejected by Ethopians. All kidding aside, we had to stop them from trying to eat the heaters! Knife is a EK M3 double edged and still razor sharp, ordered it right after 1/5th SF moved from Bragg to Campbell in 86'. Its been around the world several times.


CD

[Love Life]

The best way to eat a main meal is to trade it to your buddy for cheese filled pretzels, crackers, and peanut butter.

Recently (last 5 years) more and more of those crappy vegetarian MREs are showing up. The got rid of turkey ala king.

Nothing makes you feel better than getting your DOS and two of the MREs are cheese and veggie omelet and penne pasta with vegetarian sausage...

[429421Cowboy]

The pumpkin pound cake is pretty good actually, flavor wise. Texture wise it is about like dirt, but they are not bad. As with most MRE staples, the texture will be the funky part! I agree with the statment that if it smells like catfood it's probably ok, that seems to be what all of the main courses resemble. I like the crackers of bread with the cheese sauce, if you get lucky you get the cheese and bacon sauce!
Not sure if the old story about the meals is true, that the foods were made to bind you up, the gum is keep you *ahem* regular, but either way i still avoid the gum!

Hey 1992 was a good year, come to think of it, thats when i was born! lol

[Love Life]

Nothing like your first head call after coming back from the field.

Rainbow trout love the plain cheese sauce. True story. Personally the only cheese I like is the bacon cheese. Getting wheat snack bread in a MRE makes me want to fight my friends for no reason. The veggie crackers are decent. I survived almost a month only eating the crackers, snack bread, pound cake and snacks from MREs supplemented by some snickers bars and dry ramens I had stashed away. I lost a bunch of weight and was kind of pale, but hey, some things you just have to do.

I remember the days upon days of getting nothing but MREs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner along with the occasional times we had to go to 2 a day. I really dislike MREs which is why I rarely take them hiking. For hiking I take a huge jar of peanut butter.

[DLCTEX]

Our church's food bank ministry received a load of MREs from the food bank. Not a lot of takers. I noticed all had been opened and taped back. Reason was the cigarettes were removed before they were dispersed. Can you say PC? They are out of date but still edible. I'm good in case of doomsday.

[Combat Diver]

MRE's never had cigarettes. Probably taking all the goodies out. C-rats did have cigarettes during VietNam IIRC but post they were removed. They very few times I had C's in the Army they didn't have any.

CD

[Jeffrey]

Not sure if the old story about the meals is true, that the foods were made to bind you up, the gum is keep you *ahem* regular, but either way i still avoid the gum!


The gun isn't chicklits, it's feen-a mint! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrGT9MAHb30

[Edubya]

Our church's food bank ministry received a load of MREs from the food bank. Not a lot of takers. I noticed all had been opened and taped back. Reason was the cigarettes were removed before they were dispersed. Can you say PC? They are out of date but still edible. I'm good in case of doomsday.
I remember those cigarettes, they were three pack of Chesterfield or some other off the wall brand. I'd trade them for Lucky Strikes to anybody that had LS. LS were much shorter and therefore they thought that they were getting the better deal. I hated those that came in the MRE rations.

EW

[TreeKiller]

I don't remember whether ours were C or K rations. I was a young airman deployed to maintain our recon aircraft flying over the Mid-East during the six day war (what was that '67 or '68). I don't even remember what base we were at. I think that it was Insurlik, Turkey. We were in tents and not associated with the Turks or anybody else. I remember that it was very flat and the wind was kicking butt. I thought that it was going to be just a practice alert and did not properly prepare for deployment. I had to wash and dry clothes every day when off duty. A lot of surprises then taught me a lot about being prepared!

EW

If you were at Insurlik you should of had a barracks to stay in. I was there from Nov 67 to Feb 69. Ti ts a joint American and Turkish Base.

[Lloyd Smale]

back in 74 we found some on the ship i was on that were from ww2 and they tasted just fine. cigerettes were a bit stale though

[P.K.]

IIRC the one the OP mentioned was one of the "new" meal options started in the late '90's. I still miss the morning routine of the Omlet w/ham. Heat it up and squirt the cheese spread in. Mmmm good!

Love Life mentioned the best test, and have yet to have it fail. Although if you overheat Tuna with Noodles and it explodes the smell can linger forever, just ask the medic that thought using the vehicle mounted heater (gas fired, puts out about the same as a big propane blower for a shop) to warm his up. Forgot about it and bleeeah!

As for shelf life, when I was in basic, I had some that had an expiration date of pre-Grenada. Pork and Beans IIRC, so besides dating me it was say 12-15 years after the production date.

[Boz330]

Those cigarettes that I saw were so dry that they burned like a fuze when you tried to draw on them. You had to be careful not to burn your fingers on the first inhale.

Bob

[popper]

Yup, got to clean the meat refer on board in the 60's. Had boxes labelled in the 40's. Scrape the freezer burn off and cook. Division got beer & steaks free for cookouts. Yes, we carried beer also. Veggies and milk were hard to come by. Spam 'C' was terrible.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

Wow I finally found somebody with the same knife I have!

I was wondering what that knife is , where it came from if either of you know


updated

I asked without reading further , got the answer EK M3 double edged

thanks

[DxieLandMan]

We used to trade a guy in my sqaud all the time. Whenever we got the tuna with noodles, we'd trade it to him. That was his favorite. More power to him. Had a few of these too. had to add very hot water to them but they were not bad at all.63274

[Combat Diver]

Winter rats arent' that bad. Main meal is a LRP ie freeze dried meal that you have to add hot water. One thing to do is add the water, close and put in cargo pocket and go skiing for couple hours. Your body temp will warm it up and agiate it. Anyone remember T-rats?


CD

[Chili]

Ate those nasty MRE's back in the '80's. About 3 days of them and you was guaranteed not to sh*t for a week.
Back then chicken ala king and the ham was the best.

I was never partial to the chicken ala king, but that ham slice was delicious! How about that ham & chicken loaf?

63281


Winter rats arent' that bad. Main meal is a LRP ie freeze dried meal that you have to add hot water. One thing to do is add the water, close and put in cargo pocket and go skiing for couple hours. Your body temp will warm it up and agiate it. Anyone remember T-rats?


CD

T-Rats......I have mixed emotions about those!

[jaysouth]

Winter rats arent' that bad. Main meal is a LRP ie freeze dried meal that you have to add hot water. One thing to do is add the water, close and put in cargo pocket and go skiing for couple hours. Your body temp will warm it up and agiate it. Anyone remember T-rats?


CD

Diver, in VN, your group used to make up rations for their little people. In a plastic bag went instant rice, dried shrimp or squid and some spices. They added water and tucked the bag inside their shirt and carried for a couple of hours until body heat made it all come together. The bags were large enough to last a yard' food for the whole day. Cost was about 8 cents per day per troop

I was not in that fraternity, but I took the idea another step to make up meals for scouts for a lot less than the freeze dried meals sold in yuppie outdoor stores.

Once upon a time, I was a young tenderfoot in the 509th in Germany. One day there was a notice from the first shirt to identify any rations dated before Sept 49(this was 1965). We dutifuly took all the rations older than that cut off date to the mess hall for new rations be issued. We were reissued Feb 50 rations. The old rations were all emptied into a large vat. Eggs and flour were added to make mystery meat croquettes for lunch the next day.

[shdwlkr]

I have wondered about the MRE's and if i wanted to try one. Thanks to you guys I don't need too.
I remember the K and C rations and thinking of how they tasted and what you say the MRE's taste like I think I like the K and C rations better.

[gray wolf]

Ate plenty of them in the sixties, card bored box with smaller boxes inside.
Small brownish OD colored cans, Ham and Potatoes YUM*YUM
Pall Mall, Chesterfields, and Lucky strikes, Round tan colored tea crackers that would kill the enemy if you through one at them.
Sometimes they would through them back with a note that said,
"" keep this ****ttt on your side of the wire.""
Punch a hole in the can and sit it on an engine block to warm it up ( engine running **smile**)
The new grunts were never told about the hole in the can. They hated cleaning up the mess.
I still keep some of the dark brown MRE,s in the house for when we run out of food money
Don't eat the TP it's hard to digest.

[koehn,jim]

Ten years or so ago I bought 50 of the main entree, no extra packs. Got them for survival meals, they are still good but a little heavy on the salt.

[Love Life]

I have multiple cases of the tan wrapped ones and the cold weather ones. I call them names whenever I go in the garage and see them. They are kept around for two reason:

1) My pay is docked whenever issued them for the field
2) In case I fall on really, really, really, really, really, really, really hard times.

[P.K.]

Winter rats arent' that bad. Main meal is a LRP ie freeze dried meal that you have to add hot water. One thing to do is add the water, close and put in cargo pocket and go skiing for couple hours. Your body temp will warm it up and agiate it. Anyone remember T-rats?


CD

This is a trick question right????

Oh yes, T-rats....I was in a lovley garden spot, enjoying the -20 degree temps, thawing my 5th point after escorting a Civ. Affairs Det and translators around Kladanj. A tin of "sausage and eggs" was warming up in the immersion heater. Ahhh the memories...Meanwhile the REMF's, Fobbits and what not were eating in dining halls. Same $#!t diffrent theater.:mrgreen:

[dagger dog]

They beat the snot out of the missmeal cramps, if they don't crawl out of the package,and it'll make a turd, EAT 'EM !

[472x1B/A]

Well I'll be dipped. Not one single person answered the O P's first question. So I'll give it a try here. The 4 numbers you asked about starting with 92, are the National Stock Number classification number. This is more than likely the first 4 numbers of the stock number class. Sept. 30, 1974 our military changed from Federal Stock Numbers, 11 numbers to National Stock Numbers, 13 numbers. So ALL 'parts' ordering forms had to be changed too, not enough spaces on the forms for the 2 extra numbers.

IIRC my record for 1 work day filling these ******'s out was 287. We were on a truck fleet rebuild kick for our refueling shop. This was at Clark AB in 1988, total waste. And no we were NOT eating MRE'S, C-RAT'S, K-RATS, or T-RATS, just in a air conditioned mess hall.