The general utility of a waterproof, sealable storage bag is obvious. I have no problems with the beverage bag as a supplement to the cup. As a replacement, I just don’t see it. That’s why I asked if soldiers still carried the canteen cup. The beverage bag in the Canadian meal is superior in that it has a simple gusset at the bottom enabling it to be freestanding when filled.
That’s probably correct. When I buy MREs, I make a point of buying the freshest available and they’re always right around the three year mark. If I wanted to save money and roll a few more dice, I’m sure older ones are out there.
Aah, so todays troops stay warmer without the risk of CO1 poisoning. Lucky dogs.
Oh well, the price of progress I suppose. ������
Still, if the mre heaters haven’t changed in the last 20 years they can still make mre … erm, rapidly expanding gasses device since bombs were expressly and uniformly forbidden in my day and now I have the security alphabet watching me for using that word (well for this week anyway…hi agent Smith)
The space heater arctic (SHA) is still in use by Arctic and Mountain units to heat the 10-man arctic tents. Here’s a nice video of the fun. https://youtu.be/-wWjpZbi6V8?t=511
Well the heater units are still diesel powered.
Something like an overgrown cab heater basically.
The Gen+ HVAC units though are more like an electric furnace/heat pump
I’ve made a few 20+ hour train trips over the last few years, and MREs came in very handy. I bought single ones military surplus on eBay, but I’m going to get a friend in the reserves to get me two cases just to have for emergency use.
I had a cooler, but knew that I would be having a serious need for hot food eventually, and they don’t let you use the microwave in the overpriced snack car. So the flameless heater was great. Only fill to the line, but slosh it back and forth to make sure the heated is saturated. I was able to put in two packets and got both heated. Yes, it’s producing hydrogen gas, but not enough to be any danger on a train - I still prepped my food in the restroom so nobody would freak out.
What Menu #1 really needs is the jalapeno cheese spread and a double amount of hot sauce. The “Cheese Filled Snack Food” are just Combos. The MRE is edible, and tastier the farther you are from real food. As is the case with most lightweight rations, really.
We generally keep a case or two of rations around as part of the earthquake kit. The Lemon Pepper Tuna one is stashed in the SUV for emergencies.
Oh, man, that and its pork sibling… maybe the positive side, and then rather from the command’s side, was that these menu items helped put you in the mood to not mind dealing death.
That’s something else that I didn’t see on that list. I think whether the cheese is jalapeno or not is random.
Sometimes I’ve even seen chocolate peanut butter.
Btw for those wondering or assuming , the jalapeno cheese isn’t remotely spicy.
Oh man, the cookie, coated, chocolate flavored, dos were da bomb!
The Bar, Oatmeal was a literal colonic cleansing bomb as I recall, once you used your etool to smash it down into bits of oatmeal gravel you could fit in your mouth and chew. Or I guess you could have used it as an improvised projectile against the enemy, it was so hard.
MREs get around the problem of needing a forking eating utensil by not offering anything with the needed texture or consistency. Most of the meals have the appearance of being pre-chewed by weasels for the consumer’s convenience.
So go buy a bunch of plastic sporks at the grocery store and include them. No big deal. Or get yourself a titanium one off of eBay.
If you really want to do everyone a solid, so to speak, include a couple of bran tablets in every meal. MREs are like any American Involvement overseas - no exit strategy.
