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Meal stash


Lawdog Dago Dom

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Thinking about getting some of those dehydrated or freeze-dried meals (or MREs) that have a good shelf life. On the job, in case you got stuck at an incident for many hours, guys used to keep cans of sardines and other non-perishables in the back seat.

 

Somebody who shares my address is less than thrilled to see sardine cans piling up in the basement.

 

So what are some good brands/suppliers of an emergency meal deal?

 

Thank you.

 

LDD

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When I was hunting and fishing more I kept a tool bag in the truck with Vienna sausage, kipper snacks, deviled spam, pork and beans and such. Back when I was backpacking Mountain House made the best freeze drieds, Backpacker's Pantry made some decent ones. You really just have to try them. Course I guess you don't want freeze drieds, have to have boiling water. Never et many MREs but was never real impressed (don't think ANYBODY is, but it's something to eat). If you get freeze drieds avoid lasagna like the plague. Don't think I'd feed it to my dogs.

Regards,

JHC

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My wife and I bought some of those dehydrated meals from Wise Foods out of Utah. They are very tasty and good for 25 years. I hope I never need them. 

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If you need something prepacked and ready to go I recommend buying various “MRE” packs from different companies and trying those. The old military ones were tolerable but there a bunch of companies making them now. Look up “MRE military meals” on Amazon. There are a bunch. Be careful buying mil-spec MREs online. Some of these shady bastages will sell out of date ones that they get at surplus auctions, which is why I would recommend commercial MREs. 
 

I found some years ago that came in a white pouch that were pretty good but I think they went out of business because I cannot find them any more. 
 

 

I would love to track down some auto correct technicians, tie them up and feed them out of date MREs then leave them there for a while to ponder their dumbassery...

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Canned goods are heavy. .... but you can cook them in the can if you vent the can first with a couple of holes.  If you don't vent the can you will lose most if the meal and have a hell of a mess to clean up when the can bursts explosively.  You can use an open fire or the exhaust manifold on a truck or car, but peel the labels off first.  Vienna sausages do not come off easily.

 

Keep all of your food stash cool and dry and pack it away with your cooking and eating utensils so they'll be handy.  One thing often overlooked in emergency packs is table salt.  Forget your blood pressure and use more salt than usual, especially if you are sweating heavily.

 

Last hint: pack about a 30 day supply of medications with your rations.  Rotate them about every other month.  and keep a supply of wet wipes, hearing aid batteries and other essentials. tp and paper towels, with them too.  This includes eye glasses and the like. And matches or lighters.

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Decades ago in my mountaineering days Mountain House was a good brand.  They are still in business.  I find that grocery stores have plenty of non-perishable food that needs little preparation.  This food is lower cost.  BTW, my late father could not eat Mountain House freeze-dried.  It gave him GI distress.  Try some before you buy a large quantity.  You may not like it.  MREs are too salty for me.  I am on a low-salt diet.

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1 hour ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Canned goods are heavy. .... but you can cook them in the can if you vent the can first with a couple of holes.  If you don't vent the can you will lose most if the meal and have a hell of a mess to clean up when the can bursts explosively.  You can use an open fire or the exhaust manifold on a truck or car, but peel the labels off first.  Vienna sausages do not come off easily.

Cans today have plastic liners. 
The plastic gets mixed in with you hot food. 
Guess how I know...

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1 hour ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

 

Last hint: pack about a 30 day supply of medications with your rations.  Rotate them about every other month.  and keep a supply of wet wipes, hearing aid batteries and other essentials. tp and paper towels, with them too.  This includes eye glasses and the like. And matches or lighters.

Excellent advice. 

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MREs are made for the specific high caloric needs of combat soldiers. They are packed with calories, salt and preservatives. Avoid military surplus.

There are a number of. “Survival” meals on the market today. They are not cheap in my opinion. Many of them require you to buy a large quantity. Try to find one that has sample packages. As mentioned, Mountain House is a good one. I have used theirs for camping. 
One consideration is whether or not you will need water to prepare the Mel. This is a requirement with most freeze dried types. If you won’t always have an available water source, freeze dried meals aren’t great.
The advantage of the MRE is that it does not require water. Nor did the old C rations. Too bad they don’t make them anymore.

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I just saw Mountain House meals for sale at Costco. A variety box had 14 meals, beef stroganoff, chicken and rice, lasagna, breakfast platter, oatmeal and berries for $70.

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5 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Cans today have plastic liners. 
The plastic gets mixed in with you hot food. 
Guess how I know...

Cans have plastic liners?  I did not know that.  I wonder what "genius" came up with that disasterous idea.

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It is to keep the acid in the food from reacting with the steel can.

 

If you've ever had a can of tomatoes eat through the can, or maybe a can of orange juice, then you know what I'm talking about.

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2 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Cans have plastic liners?  I did not know that.  I wonder what "genius" came up with that disasterous idea.

Yep...at least it doesn’t have PTFE or BPA any longer....they just use other acrylics and epoxies. 
 

 

There, doesn’t that give you more confidence?


 

I have no idea what BPA is. PTFE is Teflon. 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Yep...at least it doesn’t have PTFE or BPA any longer....they just use other acrylics and epoxies. 
 

 

There, doesn’t that give you more confidence?


 

I have no idea what BPA is. PTFE is Teflon. 

 

 

Lots more confidence..........on the ability for some corporate whiz kid to find another way to foist his company's product off on the public.

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