Like silenus said, the civilian versions tend to have very little variety. Typically a case of 12 meals will have 2 each of six different entrees and the rest of the ‘meal’ consists of the same items … a big cookie, a big pack of crackers, and a big sugary drink.
In the real military versions there are 12 completely different meals … 12 different entrees, each with different side dishes, desserts, and drink mixes.
If you want to really know what the troops are eating you have to get the real military MREs.
They are so much better now than they were 20 years ago. The US military brass began soliciting soldier’s preferences and asked for ideas for new entree items many moons ago, as opposed to just foisting whatever they decided on you like I got when I was in. They would just pull up in a deuce and a half and throw you your MRE. What they tossed you was what you got.
Tempting entree choices that I experienced were Dehydrated Pork Patty (with bone chips!), a meal that required you to reconstitute your dried patty in your canteen cup with hot water in it. Flavorless dreck. Chicken Ala King was bad too.
I traded oodles of cigarettes in the field for everyone else’s cheese and crackers and pouches of peanut butter and jelly.
Which reminds me of my father’s “gays in the military” joke (he died in 1982 so it was way before DADT). I’ll spare the full joke but the punchline is a gay Marine asking “Oooh, is it better than fresh?”
They’re quite tasty, as a novelty. I bought a case back when some friends and I were going out to play airsoft a lot. While everyone else was making runs for burgers or whatever, we just kept on playing soldier. Not sure I’d care to survive on them for an extended period of time though.
Well, they really weren’t designed for extended use. Just field deployments until regular food service could be established. Living on them for any length of time is a violation of the 8th Amendment.
Well to be fair their not too bad considering what they’re used for. The few I’ve had to have due to exercises and such weren’t that bad but its not something I would eat everyday if I had the choice. Most of the time it depends on what kind you get like the breakfast ones the main meal isn’t that great but it comes with the best sides, where as the chili mac or beef stew have a good main meal the side dishes were just okayish. I don’t see the need to stock up on them especially when you consider they aren’t that cheap when you buy them unless you go hunting for a good deal.
A properly processed Chili Mac is gas warfare, and that can really be effective against crowds, whereas a battle muffin can only hit one person at a time.
My experience with them started in the 1990s, and they were decent even then. As has been mentioned upthread, the trick is to get the real military surplus ones and not the cheapass civilian knockoffs.
They’re absolutely stellar for backpack camping and (as mentioned above) extended Airsoft matches.
