What Makes an 'Emergency Ration' & Alternatives?

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Can't say enough good things about MRE's. I keep a case of them in the back of my pickup (tonneau-covered bed). I like them because you get a full, balanced meal w/o having to worry about spoilage or space. And the flameless heaters are great too--even though I find that the Texas summer sun heats them up w/o any help. And the cheese in them is more like Cheese Whiz than the real deal...

If space is vital, you can order the entrees separately from Cheaper Than Dirt. You can also get the full MRE packages & even the large ones to feed multiple persons (for those romantic dinners, you know...;) )

As for emergency rations, the bars are OK, but there are better options. I'd opt for trail mix, nuts, or dried, unsalted jerky (turkey jerky is great) rather than the manufactured stuff.

Keep the emergency rations for the direst emergencies, but keep the MRE's for the "ordinary" emergencies.... :D
 
Just my $.02:

The lifeboat rations are intended to be a last resort. They are designed to need little water to digest(IOW, they are low in protein). IMHO, their main advantage is that they have a 5 year shelf life in temperatures up to 150 degrees F(like your trunk in summer).

MRE's are handy, but their shelf life is drastically reduced by heat.
http://www.shopallenbeys.com/mreshelflife.html
http://www.longlifefood.com/mre.html#Shelflife
http://www.mreinfo.com/mre-longevity.html
The Government frowns on non-veteran civilian purchases of GI MREs.
http://www.mreinfo.com/mre-ebay-govt.html
Many "MREs" available to civlians are repackaged components, I don't know how this affects the shelf life.
http://www.mreinfo.com/buying-mres.html
 
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