quote:

Please explain to me how, while on a Recon patrol you were supposed to expend your limited amount of water and BUILD A FREAKING FIRE to heat the water.

Trioxane tablets.

Don't confuse C-Rations with Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI).

This thread has got me going to YouTube in a quest
to find the worst yet MRE (numerous contenders!).
Let's get this one out on the tray. The famous "Four Fingers of Death"!

I like the new MREs, the variety is pretty nice and it has more stuff that actually makes sense. For instance, back in Gulf War Sr. my buddy brought back cases of these that we ate and the strangest thing was spaghetti with meatballs in bbq sauce!

I have really enjoyed the Cold Weather MREs, they are made by Mountain House and you know they are a quality product. More expensive than regular MRES, 120-150 per case though, but they do have a lot longer shelf life.

Besides, there are new production(2023) MREs and they are getting fairly inexpensive, I just got a case A and a case B for 77.00 combined with free shipping. Definitely good for adding to my food storage for later needs.

My dad used to bring home those MRE in green cans back in late 70s. Spaghetti was my favorite. I remember he always carried those folding can opener in his wallet. He used them even with regular canned food when needed.

The new MREs really changed a lot.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
Got rid of the mini-glass bottle of Tabasco for weight.
Coffee was eliminated as most troops favor energy drinks over the dark stuff.

More proof that the past leadership of the .Mil side of the house was a bunch of assholes!


We used to carry a large bottle of Tabasco sauce in the cardboard hand grenade container in our butt-packs.
It made the Chicken a-la king just a little more tolerable.

I could go for a beef patty right about now.

I remember the hotdogs were the “5 fingers of death”…

I was active duty during the MCI->MRE timeframe. Too late for the cigarettes in the accessory packs, to early for the tabasco sauce mini bottles.

As I recall, the only canned entree I couldn't stomach was "Pork, Cooked, Sliced, with Juices".

My least favorite of the initial MRE's was the infamous "Frankfurters w/ Beans", the 4 fingers of death.

Everything else was if not exactly palatable, at least edible.

I even grew to like canned fruitcake.

I started out with the dark brown bag MRE’s (mid-90’s).  Omelet with ham and ham slice were my go to’s.  Chicken A La King and tuna casserole were some other favorites. The dark brown bags did not have the heaters in them, the heater came as a pack in the case (your drill instructor confiscated these).  To open these you need a Ka-Bar or a bayonet.  I am not kidding.  These were atrocious to open.  Then we went to the light brown bag MRE’s.  Many more vegetarian entrees.  Also, Jalapeño cheese was introduced.  Easy open packages.  You could pull them open by hand. 
 
These stuck around for a while.  Always two cases, A and B.  Last summer I saw the newest MRE.  Some different meals, two menu cases (A and B) but they had a half clear side.  Reminds me of the First Strike MRE’s (oh how I hated them).  A few years ago the Tabasco bottle went to a packet, but the bottle is back. 
 
Biggest complaint about the new MRE’s.  Heating them up. The older dark brown/light brown bag MRE’s were made so you could use the heater element in the bag, lean it against a rock, and heat up your main meal.  Can’t do that with these new ones. 
 
Don’t get me started with the old cold weather MRE’s (we got issued these one summer so supply could get rid of them, and I remember hearing my BN XO on comm saying “We need to get some food out here or we’re gonna have a mutiny” lol. 
 
Few pics of the newest case.

quote:

Originally posted by motor59:
My least favorite of the initial MRE's was the infamous "Frankfurters w/ Beans", the 4 fingers of death.

Huge, HUGE, 4 fingers of death fan here!

Yeah, I was gonna say I liked getting the nothotdogs. I also liked the variety of nut bars, track pads and road wheels as well.

The brown MRE spoons were much stronger and substantial than the white C-Rat spoons and made better insulators for field expedient antenna insulators. The MRE add water envelope heaters were pretty cool. I used to mail the main course inside its flat boxes with a short note written on the side like a post card to my family which was postage free when deployed.

My favorite entree is probably the chili mac. The MRE pears are pretty good I think. And the snack bread is decent. Maybe I'm crazy but I like first strike bars too.

We got our hands on some T rats on one field exercise, those were amazing

When in basic in 1984, they were phasing out c rations. Our first trip to the field 1/2 the company got C’s the rest of us MRE’s - the C’s had Korean War era pack dates!

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
Existing at the same time as C-Rations, during Vietnam, were LRRP meals. They were prior to the MRE meals. Each meal required water, preferably hot water. Please explain to me how, while on a Recon patrol you were supposed to expend your limited amount of water and BUILD A FREAKING FIRE to heat the water. There was no way in Hell that you could re-hydrate the beans in the chili.

Those LLRP's were my favorite, like the dehydrated mountain climbing food you get now. But yea, I had to eat a few dry and you're right, it was rough! Still prefer them over the C's. The good thing about the C's was that you can just eat 1 can at a time when on the move. Couldn't do that with the LRRPs. Then there is the patrol coffee, pour the instant coffee, sugar and creamer packets into your mouth dry, then chug it down with canteen water with that oh so delightful plastic fragrance.

Ahh, the good ol' days.

There were C Rats in the inventory well into the early 80’s.

Correct. I retired in 1985. My last assessment in WEST Germany ended November 1984 and we were still stocking and issuing C Rations on our tank battalion.

We used to eat C-Rats on fire crews back in the early 80s. I remember liking them much better than MREs.