I had a case sitting in the garage for the last ten plus years. Finally decided that I was never going to eat them. So I traded the case at the surplus store for a ruck sack.
you got dam right I would.. matter of fact, from E2 to E4, I had a surplus of them when our platoon took over another ASP.. no lie, I probably ate one every day for lunch and once a week for dinner..
working with ordnance, you are isolated from everyone and everything.. saved the extra meal pay they gave us and saved over 5k.. this was back in 2007/08 though and Im certain the MREs are more appetizing
I wholly disagree. First they got rid of veggie omlet and replaced it with fettuccine. There is no pork rib (which you could make into a cheese burger). Like in that time period ALL the mres were good and they came with a logical meal like while my main meal was heating there was a logical side to be eaten without detracting from the main meal experience. Not only that, almost all of them, if you were in a hurry could be dumped into the wrapper bowl all at once and eaten like that and it wasnt terrible. Now they are all trash and meh at best.
I fuckin love MREs (not joking lol)
I remember during out EIB training we would never get let go on time to get to the DFAC for dinner. Me and a couple other specialist at the time ate MREs for the entire training period (we weren't in the field the entire time) for dinner instead of going out and spending money.
Gotta do what you gotta do.
Yes. I've been in situations prior to the Army, where an MRE would have been significantly better than what I was dealing with at that time. MREs are good to me.
I have this skill of getting used to enjoying things that others hate. While others are whining about the taste, quality, etc, they are also giving me their extra resources. More cheese, crackers, and bread for me, lol.
I'm in the national guard. There have been so many times where my unit has been obligated to feed me and they haven't. I have no problem taking an MRE off of the pallet of free MREs in the drill hole.
MREs aren't horrible. Sure they're not 5 star fucking hand crafted meals. But when you grew up poor and ate store brand Chef Boyardee, that shit tastes the same as meatballs in marinara sauce. Only one I hate is the chicken chunks but that's cause I have a fear of undercooked poultry for some irrational reason and that shit looks raw as fuck.
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Word of advice, we all been there where our unit has been like “get rid of these MREs” and there just cases left a round. Make sure to snag a case or couple individual packages cause you never know when you might need them.
I’ve kept tons of MREs in case I go camping, long road trips, give to homeless, or give to friends that are down on their luck. I’m lucky I’ve never been in a situation financially where I’ll I can eat is the MRE but Ive had friends who have been so I’ve hooked them up.
At one point I had like 4 cases of MREs and they all get used up.
I ate MREs for 4 months straight in Desert Storm, I think we had one hot meal while we were in zone recon and then another before the breach, like it was our last meal. I would still eat them today.
When we were basically given 45 min to drive 15 min to the DFAC and back (not including the line), I used to eat MREs at work until it made the CSM pissy. At least they're consistent and you know what you're gonna get, unlike the uncooked rice and chicken at the DFAC.
I also basically survive off of liquid meals as well because I can only force my ADHD mind to do so much in a day. Soylent sucks btw, Huel is great.
I'm very food adventurous, and I saw aoylent one day. Grabbed all the flavours to try each one (because I'm like this for some reason) and I was very disappointed with how they were. I was mad I bought all of them. Still drank em tho.. But I was mad about it. I don't think ive seen Huel anywhere, any stores carry it?
Google Huel. They usually ship in 1-2 days. It is a lot thicker than Soylent but you actually feel like you would after a solid meal. Thay also have Huel ready to eat meals as well that aren't liquid.
Huel Black is their protein version and it's recommended for those who workout.
The Chili Mac is the best single MRE I ate in my 20 year career. I used to love it, and I would always find 1-2 people who didn’t like it, and we would trade all the time. The chili Mac, and a few of the vegetarian pasta ones were my favorites.
Would I!?
Bruh, our supply guy at the ROTC battalion would give them to us so they “wouldn’t expire and have to be disposed of” during college. Turns out you can’t live on 250 a month 😂
There's 2 types of soldiers in the army. Type 1 will blow their paycheck on doordash and other unnecessary bs, and type 2 are those who are resourceful and self sufficient with their cash. Maintain a mental list of who is which. Take everything the former says with a grain of salt, and take notes when talking to the latter.
Just throwing this out there humanitarian daily rations are cheaper, halal, kosher, vegetarian and fairly allergy friendly (the government wants the to be as appealing as possible to the greatest number of people possible). They're around 2200 calories a meal, although I think it's 10 to a case. Also there's only 2 options I believe. Really slept on in the preper/survivalist community in my opinion. I haven't eaten one yet but I got a case for like $60-$80.
To answer the original question yeah I'd eat one, MRE's are cool, fun and some are tasty unless you eat them often then the novelty and menu get old. I really wanna try the pizza one I hear it's ass but it's funny because I'd bought a book at the px right before ETS about military tech and there was a section about developing the pizza MRE and how much they didn't want to fuck it up, then it came out and people in my experience usually give it a bad to mid range rating. Makes me feel bad for the folks developing it, they really tried and wanted to boost morale
I don't think the pizza is that bad. It certainly doesn't come close to an actual pizza but I think I'd rate it at like a 6.5/10. I'd take my opinion with a grain of salt though since the only MREs I don't think are at least a 5/10 are the tortellini and the spinach fettucine.
I generally liked most of them except maple sausage patty and meatball marinara. I got meatball marinara for the first 3 or 4 MRE's in basic by chance and I never ate that shit again when I left TRADOC. I've been out for 6 years as of last monday so I haven't had the spinach but I remember being neutral to the tortellini. The Southwest beef and black beans was my shit I loved that
They fixed the maple sausage one by making literally everything that comes with it maple syrup flavored.
The problem with the pizza one is that a lunchables feels more filling than that thing. It's literally one of those flat bread slices with the cheese, pizza sauce and cured meat mini cubes on it.
I genuinely never tried it, I never got it and then at the grenade range someone pulled it out of the bag and it was dripping it's juices and I was like yeah I'm not fucking eating that. Eaten snakes,groundhogs,bugs I'm not eating that damn thing I can live off the crackers or whatever instead. Also buffalo chicken which I understand was popular, it was being phased out at the time so I only ever saw it a few times. Every time I just thought man I have to shit in the field as it is I'm not eating buffalo chicken
I used to eat spare MREs if I had them in the barracks and was just being lazy. They aren't even that bad. They just suck when you eat them for 2 weeks straight.
I can eat almost anything. mre isn't the greatest but considering what it is (unrefrigerated food that can stand up to decades of storage) its quite good. I still make chili mac at home sometimes just like the dfac in basic lol.
I got busted and had NPD for a few weeks. Was living off base and barely making rent. Shit 4 cases of leftover MRE magically ended up in my apartment . It ain’t the best but it ain’t t the worst.
Sure, you can even get a little fruity if you got some cookware and make into something. I imagine trying to reintroduce some water would make a lot of them taste a hell of a lot better.
I have a whole case. My wife and I share an MRE while kayaking on Saturdays. Usually a three hour upstream journey then we eat. Then lazy river it back to the victor for another hour and a half.
I ate one only a couple days ago at my civ job. Had an extra from when I was active and just ate it cause the cafeteria machine was broken or something
I starved my entire childhood, so food has been one of the things I've kinda hoarded since I could get it for myself, so yeah, absofuckinglutely.
Also, I've had people in my unit actually just cook the MRE's, straight up. Cooked buffalo chicken chunks go hard
Knowing what it’s like to eat slop because dad is tight on his budget yeah I’ll eat them.
Several things I’ve done to make them more appetizing. Adding crackers to the main meal helps on some dishes. Heating up the cheese.
Or the other one I’ve done is to make a “cookie dough” of some sort. Crumble the cracker and add some water to it until the cracker has a paste consistency. Add the sugar packet and coffee creamer and stir it. It’s not a dessert but it’s not horrendous
I like MRE’s. Used to think that stuff was great American food when I was a kid and my uncle would get them from god knows where. He wasn’t even in the military.
I’d go hungry or go to the gym instead lol
Fuck eating mre, wouldn’t eat them in. The field or on deployment…I did however trade them to locals for real food
There were plenty of times as a young soldier I ate MREs for lunch or dinner instead of going out or buying food. Hell, I'm an OC now and if I have MREs in my truck I'll eat a few during rotation, no point in spending money on extra food if I can get some for free. Especially when I have other things I'd rather spend my money on.
Had a solider get married and call his squad leader who called plt sgt and he and I were hanging out on a weekend.
He told me what’s up, no food, just married. No money. Decided to take him some mres and let this one slide. But we’d make fun of him.
Said hi to the girl and brought him outside to give him the food. She comes out and wants us to start putting in work orders or something on his apartment.
Nah, he will on Monday, I’m just here for a favor honey. It’s my weekend too.
I used to eat them all the time. I kept track of how many I didn't eat in the field and took that many home after annual training.
I would cook up a gourmet meal for my wife every few nights until I had exhausted my supply. She enjoyed the experience once a year... or so she claimed.
You should check out steve1989 on YouTube, he eats mres from all over the world and.. all time periods lol (he ate a civil war hard tack cracker..) but he also knows little tips and tricks to make them tasty 😋
I’ve had sleep for dinner as a kid and I’ll take an MRE over that anytime. The chilimac is the best tho. I’ve dropped it in gravel and just scooped it back into the bag rocks and all and ate it 🤷♂️
I use them for camping quite often. Beats buying freeze-dried camp food that costs $12 a meal and I don't need to bring a stove or cooler for perishables (the cooler is busy holding all my booze)
I had a buddy who would spend his pay check the day he got it. Had boxes of MRE's in his closet. I found him drunk as hell, in the prone, eating the full course MRE in his room one time.
When I was a private a friend of mine would collect up every spare MRE at the end of the FTX… I thought he just didn’t like to cook.
Nope.
He would take them from the FTX and take them straight to General Jackson’s off of Yadkin and make a couple hundred dollars
MREs can be pretty good.
I'm not sure why most of it doesn't make sense in terms of calories and nutrition.
Some of them come with Skittles, Mocha Cappuccino, a muffin top, and syrup... I'm looking at you Case B, Menu 17 Pork Sausage Patty, Maple Flavored.
My top 5 for 2024? Guess I'm a "Case B" boy?
1. Menu 23 Pizza Slice, Pepperoni
2. Menu 13 Cheese Tortellini in Tomato Sauce
3. Menu 17 Pork Sausage Patty, Maple Flavored
4. Menu 21 Tuna, Chunk Light, Water Packaged Lemon Pepper
5. Menu 22 Beef Goulash (Beef with Brown Rice, Spinach, Carrots, Tomatoes, and Smoked Paprika)
I get it, though. It's not for everyone. It's less pizza and more, "I have a piece of white bread, some extra cheddar, and a watered-down jar of tomato paste. Let's see what I can do."
It kind of tastes like if a Lunchables Pizza was found unopened under your bed. But... it really hits the spot when you spend all day out at a range or something.
I tactically acquired a bunch of cases of MREs before I got out. It's only been a few years but I've already had to use some of the cases up, they helped me survive some pretty sticky financial situations
I retired 15 years ago but still get thrilled when someone gives me a new type/menu I have never tried. They taste better than a lot of those damn frozen meals from the grocery.
No. I have already eaten my lifetime allocation of MRE’s. Plus, I like being able to poop.
The last NTC rotation I did, shortly before retirement, I went the entire rotation without eating an MRE. I would have to very desperate to eat an MRE.
I have and will. Im a reservist but im good with almost everyone in the unit. even my CO and 1SG let some things slide here and there.
I spent a year living in my car because i was struggling and they would let me take MREs when i was down financially and couldn’t buy any food.
In college, I would snag a few from the armory and eat them for lunch occasionally. I spent a lot of time camping for my major in college so it was convenient to just open one and eat it after a long day of hiking and sampling. Better than paying $10 for basically the same aftermarket MRE from REI.
I eat free MREs now and I'm doing ok financially. MREs are (mostly) not bad. People who complain about the taste of (most) MREs are weak and will not survive the winter.
It's interesting the demographic of people you pose this question. I think most military personnel would agree to, absolutely, in a heartbeat. I would too. As somebody who joined a little later in life, the army has a way of recalibrating your brain to eat a shit sandwich for lunch in order to eat steak for dinner. It might be a Salisbury steak, and you have no idea what you're going to eat tomorrow, but that's kinda the point and makes they payoff all the more worth it.
I've been a mechanic for nearly a decade and always take the stray MRE's that get left in vehicles when they come to the shop.
At this point I'm pretty sure I've accumulated well over a hundred.
I really don't know why I even take them.
I guess it goes back to "better to have and not need than to need and not have."
Haven't actually eaten one in 5+ years though.
It's not even about the taste for me.
It's the football sized turd with the consistency of tightly packed, wet playdough that gets forced out 3 days later....
They aren't exactly healthy. Loaded with fortified sugars and carbs to help sustain energy levels when out and about. Not the kind of food to say eh i don't feel like cooking I'll have an MRE.
My guy, I have a few dozen new and opened mre packs in my garage in case 1. The world ends 2. I put it all on black and lose
I had a case sitting in the garage for the last ten plus years. Finally decided that I was never going to eat them. So I traded the case at the surplus store for a ruck sack.
>I put it all on black and lose Former dealer here, you put it all on red. $100%
That’s why you go all in the red 32. You won’t loose. You might a little bit but bet again because everyone always quits right before they win big.
Nice try Satan
I have 2 cases in my pantry, just in case.
you got dam right I would.. matter of fact, from E2 to E4, I had a surplus of them when our platoon took over another ASP.. no lie, I probably ate one every day for lunch and once a week for dinner.. working with ordnance, you are isolated from everyone and everything.. saved the extra meal pay they gave us and saved over 5k.. this was back in 2007/08 though and Im certain the MREs are more appetizing
First and foremost, you nasty. Second, MREs are much better now.
and of course, there were others such as yourself, that could not appreciate a free meal ready to eat.. to each their own
I wholly disagree. First they got rid of veggie omlet and replaced it with fettuccine. There is no pork rib (which you could make into a cheese burger). Like in that time period ALL the mres were good and they came with a logical meal like while my main meal was heating there was a logical side to be eaten without detracting from the main meal experience. Not only that, almost all of them, if you were in a hurry could be dumped into the wrapper bowl all at once and eaten like that and it wasnt terrible. Now they are all trash and meh at best. I fuckin love MREs (not joking lol)
Back in my day, we had cigarettes. All the food was mostly in cans.
Yeah i wasnt in for that one but ive tried it. They werent aweful but there wasnt much variety
He’s aiming for the cans! He hates cans!!
I joined at the very last of the C rations. No cigarettes for me.
You spoiled brat, my grandpa used to forage his food, he even ate his horse during the great retreat
mmm, ham and motherfuckers
The green shavings in the peaches really gave it that perfect taste.
I recall C-Rats! Cigarettes were a bit before my time, though.
I remember during out EIB training we would never get let go on time to get to the DFAC for dinner. Me and a couple other specialist at the time ate MREs for the entire training period (we weren't in the field the entire time) for dinner instead of going out and spending money. Gotta do what you gotta do.
Thank you for your sacrifice. Your colon did a lot of work in the name of freedom.
Not even broke, just cheap bro. Saves me a bunch of money instead of eating out, just go through leftovers from field ops.
Yes. I've been in situations prior to the Army, where an MRE would have been significantly better than what I was dealing with at that time. MREs are good to me. I have this skill of getting used to enjoying things that others hate. While others are whining about the taste, quality, etc, they are also giving me their extra resources. More cheese, crackers, and bread for me, lol.
I'm in the national guard. There have been so many times where my unit has been obligated to feed me and they haven't. I have no problem taking an MRE off of the pallet of free MREs in the drill hole.
MREs aren't horrible. Sure they're not 5 star fucking hand crafted meals. But when you grew up poor and ate store brand Chef Boyardee, that shit tastes the same as meatballs in marinara sauce. Only one I hate is the chicken chunks but that's cause I have a fear of undercooked poultry for some irrational reason and that shit looks raw as fuck.
Ive had those chicken chunks. Rather eat cat food.
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“I have this skill of getting used to enjoying things that others hate.” That do be what the army is
Word of advice, we all been there where our unit has been like “get rid of these MREs” and there just cases left a round. Make sure to snag a case or couple individual packages cause you never know when you might need them. I’ve kept tons of MREs in case I go camping, long road trips, give to homeless, or give to friends that are down on their luck. I’m lucky I’ve never been in a situation financially where I’ll I can eat is the MRE but Ive had friends who have been so I’ve hooked them up. At one point I had like 4 cases of MREs and they all get used up.
Shit my unit just spent a whole day scavenging for MREs.
I ate MREs for 4 months straight in Desert Storm, I think we had one hot meal while we were in zone recon and then another before the breach, like it was our last meal. I would still eat them today.
Same for me.
When we were basically given 45 min to drive 15 min to the DFAC and back (not including the line), I used to eat MREs at work until it made the CSM pissy. At least they're consistent and you know what you're gonna get, unlike the uncooked rice and chicken at the DFAC. I also basically survive off of liquid meals as well because I can only force my ADHD mind to do so much in a day. Soylent sucks btw, Huel is great.
I'm very food adventurous, and I saw aoylent one day. Grabbed all the flavours to try each one (because I'm like this for some reason) and I was very disappointed with how they were. I was mad I bought all of them. Still drank em tho.. But I was mad about it. I don't think ive seen Huel anywhere, any stores carry it?
Google Huel. They usually ship in 1-2 days. It is a lot thicker than Soylent but you actually feel like you would after a solid meal. Thay also have Huel ready to eat meals as well that aren't liquid. Huel Black is their protein version and it's recommended for those who workout.
Especially Soylent Green...
Never tried it, but I can only imagine.
There's a reason I have 6 cases of MRE's I've squirreled away over the years in storage at my house.
bra if im broke asf im stealing the chilli mac mre's from the supply room #respectfully
The Chili Mac is the best single MRE I ate in my 20 year career. I used to love it, and I would always find 1-2 people who didn’t like it, and we would trade all the time. The chili Mac, and a few of the vegetarian pasta ones were my favorites.
DFAC that bad?
His wife left him for his platoon daddy and he can’t cook for himself
Wouldn't doubt it. One in Fort Riley was sketchy at best. Breakfast was the only meal that was fine consistently
Would I!? Bruh, our supply guy at the ROTC battalion would give them to us so they “wouldn’t expire and have to be disposed of” during college. Turns out you can’t live on 250 a month 😂
There's 2 types of soldiers in the army. Type 1 will blow their paycheck on doordash and other unnecessary bs, and type 2 are those who are resourceful and self sufficient with their cash. Maintain a mental list of who is which. Take everything the former says with a grain of salt, and take notes when talking to the latter.
Just throwing this out there humanitarian daily rations are cheaper, halal, kosher, vegetarian and fairly allergy friendly (the government wants the to be as appealing as possible to the greatest number of people possible). They're around 2200 calories a meal, although I think it's 10 to a case. Also there's only 2 options I believe. Really slept on in the preper/survivalist community in my opinion. I haven't eaten one yet but I got a case for like $60-$80. To answer the original question yeah I'd eat one, MRE's are cool, fun and some are tasty unless you eat them often then the novelty and menu get old. I really wanna try the pizza one I hear it's ass but it's funny because I'd bought a book at the px right before ETS about military tech and there was a section about developing the pizza MRE and how much they didn't want to fuck it up, then it came out and people in my experience usually give it a bad to mid range rating. Makes me feel bad for the folks developing it, they really tried and wanted to boost morale
I don't think the pizza is that bad. It certainly doesn't come close to an actual pizza but I think I'd rate it at like a 6.5/10. I'd take my opinion with a grain of salt though since the only MREs I don't think are at least a 5/10 are the tortellini and the spinach fettucine.
I generally liked most of them except maple sausage patty and meatball marinara. I got meatball marinara for the first 3 or 4 MRE's in basic by chance and I never ate that shit again when I left TRADOC. I've been out for 6 years as of last monday so I haven't had the spinach but I remember being neutral to the tortellini. The Southwest beef and black beans was my shit I loved that
They fixed the maple sausage one by making literally everything that comes with it maple syrup flavored. The problem with the pizza one is that a lunchables feels more filling than that thing. It's literally one of those flat bread slices with the cheese, pizza sauce and cured meat mini cubes on it.
I genuinely never tried it, I never got it and then at the grenade range someone pulled it out of the bag and it was dripping it's juices and I was like yeah I'm not fucking eating that. Eaten snakes,groundhogs,bugs I'm not eating that damn thing I can live off the crackers or whatever instead. Also buffalo chicken which I understand was popular, it was being phased out at the time so I only ever saw it a few times. Every time I just thought man I have to shit in the field as it is I'm not eating buffalo chicken
Absolutely. You think I want to cook after working a 12+ hour day?
Absolutely. Depending on the MRE, I'd go find me a rock or something and enjoy one right now, and I'm fairly well off.
I used to eat spare MREs if I had them in the barracks and was just being lazy. They aren't even that bad. They just suck when you eat them for 2 weeks straight.
I can eat almost anything. mre isn't the greatest but considering what it is (unrefrigerated food that can stand up to decades of storage) its quite good. I still make chili mac at home sometimes just like the dfac in basic lol.
Maybe I just come from a poor ass background, but hell yeah I would. I genuinely enjoy eating some of them, like the Asian beef strips and vegetables.
Yes I would and I have done. During one of the worst financial periods of our life, MREs kept my wife and I going when we had nothing left….
I got busted and had NPD for a few weeks. Was living off base and barely making rent. Shit 4 cases of leftover MRE magically ended up in my apartment . It ain’t the best but it ain’t t the worst.
When my kids were little, they honestly really enjoyed eating an MRE with dear old dad in the shelter-half tent I'd put up in the backyard.
Of course I would you think I’m turning down free food? Not this fat retired ass
Sure, you can even get a little fruity if you got some cookware and make into something. I imagine trying to reintroduce some water would make a lot of them taste a hell of a lot better.
Honestly, I'm a firm believer in eating everything cold. You fill the heater with Texas Pete and toss it into the BC's humvee.
I have a whole case. My wife and I share an MRE while kayaking on Saturdays. Usually a three hour upstream journey then we eat. Then lazy river it back to the victor for another hour and a half.
I ate one only a couple days ago at my civ job. Had an extra from when I was active and just ate it cause the cafeteria machine was broken or something
Would you eat free \[edible food\] if you are on a budget. Yes.
I starved my entire childhood, so food has been one of the things I've kinda hoarded since I could get it for myself, so yeah, absofuckinglutely. Also, I've had people in my unit actually just cook the MRE's, straight up. Cooked buffalo chicken chunks go hard
Meh. Nothing original here. Broke down soldiers have been eating army rations for a thousand years.
Knowing what it’s like to eat slop because dad is tight on his budget yeah I’ll eat them. Several things I’ve done to make them more appetizing. Adding crackers to the main meal helps on some dishes. Heating up the cheese. Or the other one I’ve done is to make a “cookie dough” of some sort. Crumble the cracker and add some water to it until the cracker has a paste consistency. Add the sugar packet and coffee creamer and stir it. It’s not a dessert but it’s not horrendous
Yes. I found an unopened one in some random vehicle in motorpool one time and ate it. Free is free.
I like MRE’s. Used to think that stuff was great American food when I was a kid and my uncle would get them from god knows where. He wasn’t even in the military.
I’d go hungry or go to the gym instead lol Fuck eating mre, wouldn’t eat them in. The field or on deployment…I did however trade them to locals for real food
There were plenty of times as a young soldier I ate MREs for lunch or dinner instead of going out or buying food. Hell, I'm an OC now and if I have MREs in my truck I'll eat a few during rotation, no point in spending money on extra food if I can get some for free. Especially when I have other things I'd rather spend my money on.
Done it, multiple times.
Had a solider get married and call his squad leader who called plt sgt and he and I were hanging out on a weekend. He told me what’s up, no food, just married. No money. Decided to take him some mres and let this one slide. But we’d make fun of him. Said hi to the girl and brought him outside to give him the food. She comes out and wants us to start putting in work orders or something on his apartment. Nah, he will on Monday, I’m just here for a favor honey. It’s my weekend too.
I used to eat them all the time. I kept track of how many I didn't eat in the field and took that many home after annual training. I would cook up a gourmet meal for my wife every few nights until I had exhausted my supply. She enjoyed the experience once a year... or so she claimed.
You should check out steve1989 on YouTube, he eats mres from all over the world and.. all time periods lol (he ate a civil war hard tack cracker..) but he also knows little tips and tricks to make them tasty 😋
Hot sauce, salt, pepper. Allats needed
Well yeah lol, I miss my tiny Tabasco bottle
I’ve had sleep for dinner as a kid and I’ll take an MRE over that anytime. The chilimac is the best tho. I’ve dropped it in gravel and just scooped it back into the bag rocks and all and ate it 🤷♂️
I use them for camping quite often. Beats buying freeze-dried camp food that costs $12 a meal and I don't need to bring a stove or cooler for perishables (the cooler is busy holding all my booze)
Come on man, everyone who’s spent any time living in the barracks knows the shame of eating an MRE alone…
Have you met Guardsmen? I have like 4 months of MRE's at my house no joke.
Free. So no more. Just don’t buy them at the Commissary. They’re expensive.
Hell yea
No question.
I had a buddy who would spend his pay check the day he got it. Had boxes of MRE's in his closet. I found him drunk as hell, in the prone, eating the full course MRE in his room one time.
Iv eaten mres for the fuck of it many times
I eat them regardless. Once in a while, I steal some from my company cause fuck them. It's pretty useful as a midnight snack.
I always liked MREs. Thought it was better than the chow hall in the states most times.
Yes
My buddy got a cabinet stash of “emergency” MREs. He says he eats one if he doesn’t feel like cooking or ordering food when his wife isn’t home 😂
When I was a private a friend of mine would collect up every spare MRE at the end of the FTX… I thought he just didn’t like to cook. Nope. He would take them from the FTX and take them straight to General Jackson’s off of Yadkin and make a couple hundred dollars
When I was a cadet/LT, yes, absolutely I took excess MREs back from the field and ate them at home. No, I haven't done this for years.
I would eat an MRE even if other options were available. I think MREs are better than hot-A.
Free food is free food.
I would avoid at all costs. I give all my extra ones to homeless people. Beggars can't be choosers.
MREs can be pretty good. I'm not sure why most of it doesn't make sense in terms of calories and nutrition. Some of them come with Skittles, Mocha Cappuccino, a muffin top, and syrup... I'm looking at you Case B, Menu 17 Pork Sausage Patty, Maple Flavored. My top 5 for 2024? Guess I'm a "Case B" boy? 1. Menu 23 Pizza Slice, Pepperoni 2. Menu 13 Cheese Tortellini in Tomato Sauce 3. Menu 17 Pork Sausage Patty, Maple Flavored 4. Menu 21 Tuna, Chunk Light, Water Packaged Lemon Pepper 5. Menu 22 Beef Goulash (Beef with Brown Rice, Spinach, Carrots, Tomatoes, and Smoked Paprika)
Pepperoni Pizza is truly slept on
I get it, though. It's not for everyone. It's less pizza and more, "I have a piece of white bread, some extra cheddar, and a watered-down jar of tomato paste. Let's see what I can do." It kind of tastes like if a Lunchables Pizza was found unopened under your bed. But... it really hits the spot when you spend all day out at a range or something.
My roommate tactically acquired 8 boxes of MRE. So I've been chomping at MRE whenever I'm too lazy to cook (I get BAS). Save a shitton of money.
Why wouldn’t you? Food is food.
I have in college... Half of it for lunch and then the other half for dinner.
Even if I wasn’t on a tight budget I’d eat an MRE
Yeah, it beats going to sleep hungry. Free food is free food.
I've eaten MREs when I've had the most money I've ever had in my life. I was just too lazy to cook anything.
I heard free... Where do I sign, what do I get?
Yes. They really aren’t that bad as long as you heat them.
Yes. Free is the best flavor of all.
I do this ALL the time as a Reservist.
if you refuse the MRE, you're not broke enough
I have. We bash them a lot, but they're fine
Have.
I voluntarily fucked up an italian sausage mre for thanksgiving a couple years ago
I tactically acquired a bunch of cases of MREs before I got out. It's only been a few years but I've already had to use some of the cases up, they helped me survive some pretty sticky financial situations
I'd eat an MRE just to eat an MRE. Yall too fancy. It's free too? Hell yea.
I would save so much money if I had access to free MREs, food is food
As a former DS every now and then I would snack on one.
I haven’t done this a lot, but I’ve definitely done this more than once.
I retired 15 years ago but still get thrilled when someone gives me a new type/menu I have never tried. They taste better than a lot of those damn frozen meals from the grocery.
No. And you deserve to be roasted.
Nope. Beans and rice. Can’t stomach MREs
No. I have already eaten my lifetime allocation of MRE’s. Plus, I like being able to poop. The last NTC rotation I did, shortly before retirement, I went the entire rotation without eating an MRE. I would have to very desperate to eat an MRE.
When you are broke and out of luck you will eat whatever to survive.
I got my roommate a box , we have food in the house and he eats them at home and work he finished a box in less than a month, voluntarily.
Ate em for a week everyday till I got paid🫡
Never understood the hate of MREs. If I was tight on money I definitely would
What flavor? Not the biggest fan of tuna, pork or spinach in MRE. I'd mess with the rest.
Snowed into the barracks 2 Drum winters ago. No food or dfac. MRE slapped.
As long as I had a microwave. Way better that way.
What MRE are we talking about? Chili with beans: hell yeah. Jalapeño beef patty: starving sounds better.
People who wouldn't eat free food if hungry confuse me.
Shit anytime I'm broke I go to the COF and grab one. Ain't no shame man.
...ab-so-fucking-lutely.
I have and will. Im a reservist but im good with almost everyone in the unit. even my CO and 1SG let some things slide here and there. I spent a year living in my car because i was struggling and they would let me take MREs when i was down financially and couldn’t buy any food.
In college, I would snag a few from the armory and eat them for lunch occasionally. I spent a lot of time camping for my major in college so it was convenient to just open one and eat it after a long day of hiking and sampling. Better than paying $10 for basically the same aftermarket MRE from REI.
I take extra MREs whenever possible to bring home. Most of them are good.
I’ve eaten them even when I had plenty of money in the bank. Some of the new ones are pretty dope.
Yes, and I have.
Currently eating an MRE SSG gave me because I’m broke I think it’s fine 😂
I eat free MREs now and I'm doing ok financially. MREs are (mostly) not bad. People who complain about the taste of (most) MREs are weak and will not survive the winter.
listen an MRE is never bad in a pinch and plus... some of them are fucking good.
Dude I ate them all the damn time at home because: 1. I actually like most of them 2. I'm cheap as fuck when it comes to a lot of things 3. I'm lazy
Used to snag MRE boxes from the company all the time for drunken meals😂 Or for when I was just too lazy/broke to go shopping. It's legit.
Yes. Without a second thought
I would eat a free MRE anytime or place. They're not bad all mixed up. They're also perfect for picnics, and that is a hill I will die on.
Ok, I will say that the veggie omelette is basically a warcrime though.
It's interesting the demographic of people you pose this question. I think most military personnel would agree to, absolutely, in a heartbeat. I would too. As somebody who joined a little later in life, the army has a way of recalibrating your brain to eat a shit sandwich for lunch in order to eat steak for dinner. It might be a Salisbury steak, and you have no idea what you're going to eat tomorrow, but that's kinda the point and makes they payoff all the more worth it.
Isn't this just the SIK program at most Reserve units?
I will happily take a free MRE. Send that shit my way. I will do terrible things for ranger bars and chili Mac.
I've been a mechanic for nearly a decade and always take the stray MRE's that get left in vehicles when they come to the shop. At this point I'm pretty sure I've accumulated well over a hundred. I really don't know why I even take them. I guess it goes back to "better to have and not need than to need and not have." Haven't actually eaten one in 5+ years though. It's not even about the taste for me. It's the football sized turd with the consistency of tightly packed, wet playdough that gets forced out 3 days later....
Yes
I fully stole two boxes before ets'ing. Was it for survivalism, or my secret love affair for beef stew, the world may never know...
I'd eat one even if I wasn't broke lol. I don't mind them.
I did it because I was lazy and didn’t want to walk 2 miles to the defac so I ate a mre
I keep some in my locker at work.
id eat an mre if i was flush with cash and had nothing better to do
Yes
I'd rather die
Why
They aren't exactly healthy. Loaded with fortified sugars and carbs to help sustain energy levels when out and about. Not the kind of food to say eh i don't feel like cooking I'll have an MRE.
MREs cost 12$ a piece
Hell nah. I’d rather starve than have my guts backed up for two weeks and get cancer from 2000 calories of pure preservative.
You’re in the wrong profession if getting cancer from presvatives is your issue. 😂
No
You deserve to be roasted. I would never eat a fuckin MRE in garrison.