question about food for my pack

[Wyndigo]

I'm wanting to add food to my GHB but since I live in Northern Michigan I was wondering how MRE's would hold up?
Would they freeze? Or would I be better off with freeze dried meals, like Mountain House?
I'll have a small stove in the pack along with several ways to build a fire if needed.

Thanks in advance

Alan aka Wyndigo

[kickstand]

Would MREs freeze? Probably, but honestly , I don't know. A lot would likely depend on how you store/pack them. I also don't know if freezing will hurt them.

Freeze dried is much much lighter, but that weight is traded for calories.

I have MREs in my pack, but am considering pulling them. I also have a couple of Dasani water bottles filled with oatmeal, which should be plenty to get me home .

[Cwi555]

They can freeze. Often when they do, the foil layer cracks which isn't good for shelf life. Neither is temps over 80f. They can survive over 100 but the hotter they get, the shorter their life. Freeze dried is a better choice imo supplemented with high caloric travel bars or sometimes chocolate and the like.

[W.Lynn]

Those familiar with the difference might choose snack bars that have carob rather than than chocolate if they're sensitive to caffeine or theobromine (get headaches or jitters, or their skin will break out.) The nutritional differences are there too, but while either can be good for anyone who isn't sensitive to them, chocolate has some oxalic acid that can inhibit mineral absorption. Other food options, other concerns - salt, proteins, B-vitamins, etc. Research is your friend, make sure you pack according to YOUR needs.

[unseenone]

The Pro-Pak is a good choice, but more pricey. I just have the regular Pak ones in Mountain House. Someone on here may be able to do better on pricing, I generally wait for 50% off sales on #10 cans, and pick up a couple at a time of the pouches or wait till they are on sale. Here is one place I've ordered from before. I've also picked them up at REI, Cabelas, etc.

IMO it is not practical for normal folks to try and keep current supplies on true MRE and Freeze Dried are light on calories. I figure for the pack, short term it will be fine, we could all probably stand to lose a pound or two anyway. Longer term as mentioned some supplemental stuff in your preps will be a good idea.

[Boston_Joe]

Has anyone had any experience with Heater Meals? The shelf life of their EX product is 5 years and they appear to be nutritionally better for most people than MREs.

https://heatermeals.com/shop/heatermeals-ex-assorted-entrees/

[IronWarriors3/354]

Has anyone had any experience with Heater Meals? The shelf life of their EX product is 5 years and they appear to be nutritionally better for most people than MREs.

https://heatermeals.com/shop/heaterm...orted-entrees/

Hmmm never seen those. Seem like they are a civilian version of an MRE basically. I would be interested if someone has experience with them also, and where they stand on space vs. MRE's

[Boston_Joe]

I submitted that question also asking what the weight of the individual meals is to them via their website. I'll post their reply when I get it.

A couple of drawbacks I see are that your packing the salt water used to power the heater and each meal comes in a box like a TV dinner. The box can be stripped away easily enough. I have zero experience with MREs so I don't know how the heaters work on those so that may be less of an issue than I think.

They also offer a "military" product that has a 1 year shelf life called Heater Meals Plus.

https://heatermeals.com/shop/category/heatermeals-plus-self-heating-meal-kits/

[IronWarriors3/354]

I submitted that question also asking what the weight of the individual meals is to them via their website. I'll post their reply when I get it.

A couple of drawbacks I see are that your packing the salt water used to power the heater and each meal comes in a box like a TV dinner. The box can be stripped away easily enough. I have zero experience with MREs so I don't know how the heaters work on those so that may be less of an issue than I think.

They also offer a "military" product that has a 1 year shelf life called Heater Meals Plus.
https://heatermeals.com/shop/categor...ing-meal-kits/

The heater in a MRE you just have to add water, or basically anything wet.

[W.Lynn]

IMO it is not practical for normal folks to try and keep current supplies on true MRE and Freeze Dried are light on calories.

Normal people? Where?

[unseenone]

I'd be a bit skeptical about their data, but who knows. According to their own web site, they are 50% larger than MRE, so for packs, it would be out. Their Heater Meal EX is the only one with a 5 year shelf life, the rest are 1-2 year. I'd probably rather eat 2 or more Mountain House meals as necessary personally unless something better pops up.

I found their specs here. https://heatermeals.com/the-facts/

For us it got to be, and continues to be a hassle to rotate canned supplies. As birds leave the nest, you need less worms. So we have more canned stuff than we'd eat in 5 years and that's not much. In the long run, replacing stuff with #10 with 30+ year shelf life makes sense, we can forget about it, and not worry.

[Cwi555]

For me and mine, go bags/BOB are treated differently than BOL/cache/home supplies. We consider them as most likely to be subjected to the harshest conditions. As such, they are rotated every year except for the go bars we make, which are every two months.

Temperature, shock, chemical, water, smoke, etc are all variations of potential shocks most other supplies won't normally be subjected to.

Given that, standing supplies and travel supplies should be two entirely different subjects.

[unseenone]

Here in Texas, the temperature in your vehicle could reach can reach 150-170F or more in the summer. So I agree with your statement.

[Wyndigo]

One of the reasons I'm thinking of using Mountain House is the long term usage dates on them, I know that with weather changes and so on that will be affected but I'll be sure to rotate them out.
I'm also going to add one or two to my "overnight/just in case" bag that is set up if I need to stay at a hotel or someone's house due to
weather.

Thanks again for all the replies

[eodmike]

MRE's will freeze. If frozen, it is easy to damage the packaging as previously mentioned. Also, the heaters that come with them might not work so well against a frozen entree...

MRE's are heavy, too. The weight adds up.

Personally, my GHB consists of foods that don't need preparation. Jerky, nut mixes, etc. My main objective is getting home so I don't want to waste time preparing food. If you are out overnight in the winter, a warm meal in a cold environment would be nice. I have fewer concerns during the FL winter than you do, though!

Either way, make sure and rotate this food often, as it will spoil quicker with the temperature extremes!