MRE's

[poorflyfan]

Hi all, So I'm beginning to get into multiday hiking, gearing up an such. I'v enjoyed trying some of the recipes posted on weekend camping trips with the kids. However, I was wondering about just taking MRE's on a trip. Thoughts?

Boyd

[Troutdog 59]

I hiked with an AF Capt a couple of times and MREs were his go to meal. They are actually pretty tasty (had the bean and bacon one myself), but are pretty heavy with all the packaging, heat packs, snacks, etc. I would think if you broke them down they would be fine, but then again, I like the freeze dried meals others hate so maybe I'm not a good source for this one .

[DonDeadman]

I've discovered MREs have a few pros and cons to their use in backpacking:

Pro:
Good source of high-calorie food.
Some are actually pretty good
Well-rounded meals (usually).
Included heaters can remove need for stoves/cookware

Cons:
* Heavy
* Lots of packaging, which means lots of trash...and because of fire restrictions, that means you have to carry it all out...and it's bulky.
* To put it bluntly, they sit in you like a rock. And personally, constipation is tops in miserable feelings for me...especially when walking many miles.

For an overnight trip, I'd certainly take them. But for a multiple-day trip, I'd suggest more freeze-dried foods in ziplock baggies. They compact much better.

But to each his own, right?

[poorflyfan]

Apprecaite the pro's/con's Don. Never thought about the confounds of constipation - which I've experienced with em - on the trip.

[dave54]

They are designed to have a near infinite shelf life while being stored in sub zero to 180 degree conditions at all elevations. The trade off is to get that kind of stability mean using only the kinds of ingredients that ...uhhh... kinda stick with you, and have more packaging than food (there's a reason for all the multiple layers of thick impermeable plastic).

So pick out the ingredients you like and repackage in waxed paper or similar.