It’s been awhile since I talked about this, so I thought I’d do a repost for those of you who may not have seen this yet.
Last weekend I decided to make another batch of my home made MREs. The items I use are a vacuum sealer and some of the foodsaver bags, and whatever it is you want to put in for food.
In some of my other batches I’ve really gone all out and put a lot of extra stuff in them such as plastic spoons, matches, toilet paper and other items to make it similar to a military MRE.
In today’s MREs I just put in whatever food I wanted and a couple sheets of paper towels. Here’s what I put in it today:
- Ramen Noodle soup
- Two coffee packs
- A couple pieces of hard candy
- Salmon packet
- Flavored oatmeal packet
- Beef Jerky
- Candy bar
Some people will figure out exactly how many calories will go into their MRE, but I don’t get that technical. I know that when I’m out hiking I tend to eat more due to the extra work, so I throw in enough food for a meal and a snack. Two of these would be enough to last me for a day.
I also make sure that the stuff I put in there will last awhile. Don’t put in food with a short shelf life like bread or boiled eggs or something like that.
Keep in mind that real MREs are designed for troops in combat and have a much longer shelf life than the ones I make at home. They are high in calories and are good for years if you just want to leave them in your pantry. If you want the real deal check out some of the links on the left and see if they have any for sale.
You’re only limited by your imagination as to what you can put in them. Have some ideas of what might go good in a home made MRE?
Sound off below!
-Jarhead Survivor
31 comments
Yeh, I make home made “LRRP” rats. freez dry, with lotsa “poggie bait” . Its a great idea. One of the thing I “found” allong the way, the M-191o/1917 condement can . The perfect way to carry coffee ,sugar and salt. Freez dry and” shelf stable” foods give the home mades a much longer life.
I don’t care what anybody says, ya gotta have coffee, Ray. I’ll look into one of those cans.
Some years back, there used to be some aluminum German ‘butter’ dishes that sealed up pretty well too. About 4″ in diameter x 1″ tall, they are pretty ‘ant proof’ containers. Have a plastic interior lining.
I just went on-line and they are still available for sale – worth looking at.
Fine feature Jarhead:
I go way back to “C” rations. It was fun opening all those cans. I still carry a P-38 can opener on my key chain.
The current threat trend line indicates a major incident just before or following the election
Be aware and prepare!
“Terrorist Attack On America/”
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No offense , but there are more holes in that scenario than swiss cheese . Manpower needed to do that for one . I would caution everybody about falling into the speculative doom scenario stories portrayed as if they are fact . Its negative and defeating , creating needless anxiety . Leave the senario stories to TV writers and novelists . just sayin
Not slamming the link Yoda , thank you for sharing , but I dont think nationwide martial law is either feasible or enforceable , they dont have the manpower needed to accomplish that , then you throw in an armed population that perhaps will have an objection to it ……….I will use Phoenix as an example again ….you know how spread out in square miles that city is , it has 4 million people , and thats just 1 city in this country ……look at the manpower and logistics needed for that place alone . It just isn’t there , its like Putin ordering nationwide marshal law for Russia ….good luck .
In your blog I think “counterterrorism” team leader is the correct term you want to use. My daughter’s father-in-law is an lead interrogator & counterterrorism team leader for one of the alphabet agencies & is on the front line as a Lt. Colonel & may disagree with some of your assertions.
As T.R. said, nationwide marshall law would be logistically impossible, there simply isn’t enough manpower to make it work. Maybe use a different dream ….
especially when they start dropping in number from patriot resistance groups and drug cartel members .
In what way is it not possible…for sits and gigs lets assume a nation wide military force of 500k of order following folk. Hit the bigs like LA NY CHICAGO DALLAS etc. Thats all it would take few thou in each city. Sure ud have uprisings but they would be squashed, specially cuz of the gun laws. Then eventually move into the rual areas which wood be the real fight. But lets not forget the massive drone force out there. Think about it…its very plausible
Its also plausible , that all the nations that dont like our government very much ( china , Russia , etc . ) could decide at that time to send ” advisors ” and equipment to help the rebs along . If we can do it ……others can as well , especially when we insist on tying up troops on foreign soil away from the homeland . We also have a free flow border with Mexico , yes some will be intercepted but much will get past . Its also plausible that some agents are already here , both foreign agents and terrorists cells because of the lax border . If all out rebellion starts , it would not surprise me if other nations intervened against the current junta and put military pressure on it abroad ……thus tying up forces needed to oppress our people .
True or…they could work with the troops to supress us. Troops overseas dont matter, thats what homeland security is for. 1.6 billion rounds of ammo is in their possession and the manpower is growing. Sure now its not plausible, but take away food and welfare etc and people will go nuts. Good folks will beg for military help. Anything to get them fed and protected from the madness. Gotta remember most folk are sheep and to the point unable/unwilling to fight. So uv got a fed, paid, and resourced military vs weak, hungry, mainly untrained gen pop. True they cant take the whole country, but then again they really dont need to, just the parts that matter
Thanks for the tips, that sounds like a good weekend project.
I’d include a personal alcohol ‘wipey’ packet with each MRE if possible. Maybe a cut down straw with ‘firestarter’ (cotton with mixed petroleum jelly) too, something that kick starts a fire.
Good idea with the alcohol wipes. In some of my MRE’s I’ve really gone all out and put a bunch of stuff in them and been grateful for later on in the field. One of the handiest things I put in are the paper towels. They’re good for clean up, toilet paper, or tinder for a fire, depending on your current needs.
Anybody with allergies can tell ya that tissues dont cut it , paper towels in your pocket are a must .
yeh, what T.R. said.
I prefer the brown paper towels from the washroom, at work. if you use any white paper or cloth in the woods, make absolutely certain that you’re alone. a white “hankie” viewed through the brush, closely resembles the back end of a whitetail deer.
It’s like Ramen were made for the DIY MRE. I like a can of tuna in ours. Good protein and shelf life. Plus, you can always find a few uses for the can. Agree with the above comment about the John Wayne, never leave home without it.
Hey GA – I like tuna as well, although I usually go with the pouch instead of the can. I bought a John Wayne at my local Army/Navy store and was totally disgusted with it. I hadn’t even worked my way through one can and it was already bent. The ones that used to come with the C-Rats were the real deal. I’d take one and put it on my dog tags and use it over and over for months without it failing. I wish I could find one of the real ones again.
Tuna pouchs are the way to go. I also toss in a couple of mayonase and relish packets and make some tuna salad. Of course they do make the tuna pouchs with different flavors. And for the love of Pete…don’t forget the coffee.
Amen, Bro! Amen.
Jarhead, I grind all my elk, deer, antelope and moose meat and then jerk it except for some that I can in a pressure canner at 250 degrees for 90 minutes, as meatballs.
For the jerky, I use Morton’s Tender Quick, as directed, and a little pepper. Each stick of jerky (first pressed in a simple press) measures 1 3/4″ x 1/8″ x 5″ and weighs 1.2 ounces after dehydration. Before dehydration, each stick weighs 3.5 ounces. 4 sticks of jerky weighing 4.8 ounces represents about one pound of meat and provides about 51 grams of complete protein. A 154 pound (70 kilograms) man needs 70 grams of complete protein per day, at 1 gram/ kilogram of body weight.
4 sticks of jerky, as I’ve described, coupled with peanut butter, peanut butter to provide additional protein and essential fatty acids, is my basic per day ration.
Add a bottle of Vitamin C and flour and baking powder to make bannock, or frying pan bread and this kit is much better than the C rations of my tour of nearly 60 years ago.
I throw in other stuff, but this is the good stuff.
I enjoy your columns.
Semper Fi
C ration – that’s a great piece of information. If you’d ever like to write an article about how you make jerky I’d put it up here as a guest post. I think a lot of people would find it very useful. Contact me if you’re interested. (jarheadsurvivor@gmail.com)
There is a home made recipe for the D ration I got from another site if you want that also ?
Sure. Send it to me! Thanks.
for 1 meal ,
1- 240 g ( 8.4oz) can russian Sprats in oil =855 cal. , 36 g protein
1- lindt 70% dark chocolate bar = 600 cal. or a Payday bar .
1- packet water crackers or dried bread .
1- nuun brand hydration fizzy tablet ( these work great )
2 to 4 – hard candies
1- stick chewing gum
1- portion nuts
1- portion dried fruit
1- tooth pick
1-packet handy wipe
1- packet chewing tobacco
variations of this , but I find that the sprats are very filling and I usually have food left over ….not a bad thing .
while we are talking food and kits , one item that I ended up buying several sets of , is the German Army ( Bundeswehr )4 pc. utensil kit , these are IMHO a fantastic piece of equipment , a can/bottle opener/full size fork spoon and knife in one compact unit . These are german quality , heavy duty stuff , not cheap , easily bendable crap .
I find the can opener on my swiss army knife works very well.
The no-frills basic model (2 blade + can & bottle pener/srewdriver,
NO tweezers/touth pick) goes on sale periodicaly.
I have a few of these spread around in case I lose the better
one on my keychain.
Yeah , I had to use the one on my leatherman in a hotel a few times when I forgot to pack one .
Smart idea! I never would have thought to make my own MREs. I guess that’s why I’m reading this blog… I never stop learning. :)
Jarhead, you ALWAYS make room for coffee! I like it.
Your heat sealer sounded like a dirt bike – pretty funny. I have one & they are really great.
After watching your video , one tip don’t seal the small zip bag all the way, place a small strip of paper in the seal and when vacuumed it will vacuum at the same time.
mdknighthawk
Well done Jarhead!
Should the closet Muslim be reelected there will be a hammer and sickle flag flapping over the White House.
Right on Jarhead – WRITE ON!
“Government Grabbing Your Guns.”
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