Sampling of BOB Food

You probably don't want to carry around a quart of canned peaches, beets and pickles in your BOB but you want some food in there, what do you take.

We hit the local wally world and picked up a sampling of light weight freeze dried camping food. I didn't get the beef macaroni because i hate it in real life.

Ok, I just tried the MH Freeze Dried Scrambled Eggs and Bacon.
Followed the instruction to the letter.

My opinion. Meh.
I will eat it, it's not great eats
(i guess i like farm fresh eggs and bacon from my own piggies)

Nice that it wasn't salty.
eggs tasted like store bought eggs.
Nice smoky flavor from bacon (and added smoke flavoring)
Texture not to my liking. too 'crumbly'

cost 4.88 per serving from Wally World food grown and canned at home way cheaper

Family Opinions :

Me: Well, it will do in a pinch. (and those comments above)
Wife: Oh that smells terrible, but tastes a little bit better, but i'm only eating it after the chickens have stopped laying, after we have turned them into soup and broth, and after we have no more animal protein.
Boy (teenager that eats everything): I'd put it in my backpack but not going to eat it all the time.
Daughter: It has the texture of a marshmellow but doesnt taste very good. At least it was real bacon and not those soy bits for salad.
Dog: Nom Nom slurp slurp Woof Woof (she started carrying bowl around maybe she wanted more than the couple of forkfulls she got)


Next Culinary MisAdventure:
MH Freeze Dried Spaghetti and Meat Sauce.
(reserving the right to feed to chickens and make burgers if it's a bust)

 

We used to eat that stuff in the Bouscouts. It tasted like cit then Im guess nothing has changed.

 

Very simple solution for me. Meals Rejected by Ethiopians (civilian grade) are not only like by me but everyone will eat them and have. I got 2 cases. 1 for the van and split amongst the family. We have tried a large variety of Freeze Dried garbage. I would not even feed it to the dog on a mean day. My family would not eat it (I even tried doctoring the stuff up). Period. I will not name the company, but it left such a bad taste in our mouth (figuratively and literally) and the cost to benefit ratio was so low, freeze dried lost any consideration in my preps. Ever.

 

Yeah, that's why we are trying them. Seeing what the tribe likes/dislikes.

mind you this is emergency food. and not prep food supply. We've tried those calorie laden orange flavored sawdust bars, those will do in a pinch but I'd not want to eat them to too long. They look like bricks and sit in the belly just like it IMHO. Rather have a bunch of granola bars and hard candy though.

A sampling of MRE's is next after our Freeze Dried Experiment in Culinary Subpar Excellence.

So far, it's just the mylar wrapped can hardly get the foil wrapper off to eat them energy sawdust bars that we have added to vehicles and BOBs.

 

We use MRE's for emergency situations and keep 3 days worth in our BOBs.Not the best I'm sure, but the best I've found so far.

 

Some good, some bad

We eat Mountain House for a quick dinner now and again. The Beef Stroganof is nice, and we have found the Mexcican beef (in the wrapper) series) to be excellent for adding to mashed potatoes or rice for a cheap, fast dinner. Unlike many of the MH menu items, the 'wraps' items have plenty of spice - a welcome change.

Even the Army says eating MRE for more than 14 days is not good for you as they lack balanced nutrition and are high in fats/salt.

I guess it comes down to - if you plan on eating in your 5th wheel RV, canned goods make more sense - if you have to hump your food any distance in a ruck, the Freeze dried might be the better choice.

We keep a mix of all at home, you never no what you will wind up facing, we thought it best if we kept enough to allow ourselves a choice...

 

I use both MH and MREs as camping/emergency food. The MH scrambled eggs are alright, best is the type with peppers added.
The Beef Stroganoff is my favorite, Chicken Teryaki is good, as is the Beef Stew. I like the ChiliMac too.
Had a Sweet&Sour Chicken and Rice flavor that I did NOT like though. Too tangy, too many conflicting flavors battling for supremacy.
The Freeze Dried Ice Cream - THAT is weird! Tastes like ice cream, but the texture is that f the marshmallow bits from Lucky Charms cereal, and the temp is off-putting. Edible though.

 

Arguendo - the weight of freeze dried as compared to say an MRE is significantly different. However, one must have sufficient water for cooking the freeze dried foods as well as for drinking. You could conceivably argue that with a decent lightweight filtration device, you can get all the water you need. Filtering water takes time, filters get clogged, some filtration devices can break, and carrying filtered, bottled water nullifies the issue of weight savings. I've killed the filtration issue and need for cooking water with MREs, and forward osmosis filtration pouches (for potentially chemically contaminated water, and I toss a few Gatorade single serve packs in the pack to add electrolytes after filtration), along with lightweight steel water bottles (for boiling water in after it has been chemically purified), purification tablets, and a small straw filter (to drink the boiled and chemically purified water). Net weight savings is huge, and the only thing I am worried about water-wise is getting enough to drink. All the items are compact, light weight, and if I opt to cold camp (no fire) to reduce my family's signature, I have multiple options to get drinkable water. Toss in a few hand and foot warmer pouches to combat excess cold, and you do not require fire or smoke that may give away your position. The MREs can be eaten cold, right out of the pouches, as you are walking, so that too is advantageous. Additionally the caloric value (energy to weight ratio) of an MRE is exceptionally high (~1200 calories from a single MRE). Dehydrated meals, not so much (MH Beef Stroganoff has a grand total of 620 calories for one 2 serving pouch, their highest calorie meal is their Mac & Cheese at 940 calories for a 2 serving pouch). Big difference. When you are bugging out and carrying a pack, you are burning a lot of calories you normally do not burn.

I made a serious comparison between the two items. Eating 3 MREs a day you intake ~3600 calories. Eating 3 full pouches of freeze dried Mac & Cheese you intake ~2820 calories. A 200 pound person walking just 5 miles on a roadway at a moderate pace (3 MPH) on a temperate (neither hot nor cold) day consumes an extra 530 calories. My doctor and I calculated how many calories on average I burn just doing daily activities. My age, sex, weight, and activity level were all factored in. I burn 3580 calories a day just doing normal stuff. Tag in the extra 5 mile walk on a bug out at a moderate pace, it increases to 4177 calories. I would be consuming less calories (food wise) than I burn, even eating MREs 3 times a day! I would rather be consuming closer to what I would burn than way less than I need just being alive and walking. If I was completely sedentary, and just active around a camp site, I am consuming enough calories to maintain completely healthy bodily functions.

Just explaining my thought processes on these items. MREs are for bug out only. I consider the worst case scenario when prepping, and for anyone that is on foot, humping it with a pack headed to a safe place. I consider preparing a bug-out-bag part of overall preps. For "emergencies" when I have opted to bug in, the preps are different and still freeze dried do not have a place on my shelves. Caveat - freeze dried fruit is OK. However the cost to benefit ratio is low, and I have dehydrated, vacuum sealed pouches of fruit, and fruit leathers. IMO the dehydrated items are cheaper, can be made at home for a minimal overall cost, and I control the ingredients.

Additionally, I look at practicing home dehydration and preserving - not relying on freeze dried pre-made products as an insurance policy in and of itself. What do you eat when you run out of freeze dried and commercially canned foods? How do you preserve those foods you produce in a garden or harvest from trees and vines in the wild?

Just saying. YMMV, to each his own. For me, its is MRE.

 

We have a couple MREs and a few MH meals in each bag.

 

Well, look at it this way - most of us are carrying too many pounds now. So, during a two to three day bug out, consuming less calories than we burn is actually a good thing - get some of those pounds OFF. Forced dieting in a way. Going a bit hungry for a couple days won't hurt us.

Now, once at the BOL and working over the long haul - different situation. But that is not the scope of the OP.

 

have enough mre's for 3 in our BOBs for a week. this should be enough time for us to get to our BOL where our cache is.

 

When I go up north for any real time 2-3 weeks at a time, I lose anywhere from 12-15 lbs. Most is loss from the sugar intake from NOT having my cold soda! ( my bad) I went from a size 38 waist to a 40 when I returned! Up there I drink water and something added to give it a color and flavor...no sugar added just something other than well water flavoring...! Can't handlemost dry/dehydrated foods...MH or any others for the most part...Tried them several times: "BLEECCCH"! I'll stick with my cans...although much heavier, no need for water or much of anything else, save maybe some salt on occassion...I have a 12 tray dehydrator and have managed to do a bit of playing around...even got a new (better) vacuum sealer too....lot's of rolls of those bags...Now, IF I could ONLY find a farmer's market around close by!

 

Dragonfly, in my book, the best "farmers market" is your back yard garden.

 

I carry some Knorr rice and pasta packets, bullion cubes, water flavoring... plenty of water in the car and along the way and water in my camelback and a filter so i'm set to go... I do have MRE's but have a max distance of 15-20 miles to get to my BOL...

 

pemican, well cured bacon and jerky and fruit leathers
with a bag of my frybread mix that i add is water
got everything i need for lots of meals

 

I tried the Spaghetti with Meat sauce over the weekend.
Not so yummy.

noodle texture funny to my pallet. ditto for the sauce. Edible just don't like.

the freeze dried ice cream how ever, eaten like candy, well tasted like creamy neopolatian ice cream. but crunchy.

I think I'm going to stick to canned goods that we can ourselves.

As our BOL is here were the food, water, animals and garden are.

 

Very good points.

Excellent points. Here (AK) water isn't a problem. For a 1 or 2 day trip, we do a mix of all types -
Oatmeal or grits for breakfast. GORP for trail snak. A Freeze dry meal for lunch. And a 'stripped' MRE for dinner. I'm lucky I guess, I don't normally get the 'I'm really hungry" /growling gut until the 3rd for forth day. Then corned beef hash, SPAM and other high fat food is the deal maker.

The MRE items we carry are the meatloaf, sloppy joe, brisket or meatballs. Dry rice and/or tortillas. Fruit. Seems to work. Everybody has thier own tastes and likes - we have been looking at the First Strike ration sandwich for this summer. A bit more weight, but a lot more calories.

I only wish I had access to Canadian rations - they have some very good eats...

 

Where does one buy civilian grade MRE's? Are there multiple source? Are the MRE's all the same?

Thanks in advance!

 

I found the trick with the Mountain House meals was to reject the instructions and wing it. Pour about half of the recommended water in and let it rehydrate in the sealed pouch for a few minutes... the texture will be too dry but you'll have a better idea of how much more water you need to add. So add a bit more, mix it, close it back up for a few minutes... the instructions will give you soupy eggs if you follow them to the letter.

My big problem now is that I've been adjusting myself to a plan based diet, not because of any sense of moral obligation to animals, but because it's going to be a lot more sustainable for me. The unforeseen gotcha is that my BOB meals, every single one of them, have meat in them. If I had to bug out today, I'd eat them without hesitation. But I do believe after some point it will be harder for me to digest meat.

So on the long to-do list: retool BOB meals to be more vegetarian-friendly. I'm not vegan so I can handle eggs, dairy, and even fish (though fish is even a rare treat).

I suspect I will be formulating my own, rotating them out often as I'm not going to be able to approach the shelf life of a commercial product with my own prepared meals.

 

Multiple sources on the web. Price and quality seem to be the two major concerns. Try starting with Cheaper Than Dirt or just a quick search on your favorite search engine with MRE Case as the search text and you are golden. Good luck.