Since asking what people pack gets into everything under the sun I will answer as to food. Drink mix for nasty tasting water and a quick carb and electrolyte boost. Dry chicken noodle soup with vacuum sealed crushed crackers (light weight). Chocolate dip (granola) bars. Ritz bits. 1KG Peanut butter (calories and protein). Salt (taste), Sugar (taste/carbs), coffee (bowels), Ketchup packets (taste), Quinoa (protein, light weight) and a few other convenient foods. While not all that nutritious I feel that being on the go and not having to start a fire to eat is important. I heard MRE can bung you up and some taste poorly.

I included some MRE's in my pack. They are light. I haven't tried them yet so I have no opinion on them. I also have Mountain House 72 hr kits as well.

Joy I have never eaten a bad MRE (or IMP in the infantry). When you are cold, tired and hungry you are damn glad to have them. But. They are heavy, expensive, bulky and yes they eventually bung you up. You need three per day per person. The way i read your post it sounds like you are hoping to get by on one per day? That's not enough calories going back into your system. You will be tired, cold, sweating, hot, scared, running, hiding... you get the picture. In a situation as stressful as a bug out you will have to be as kind to your body and spirit as possible. That means when you eat and drink that nourishment has to include the things you like. I make my own MRE's and they are... fantastic. My crew eats the hell out of them. I would suggest you google 'MRE contents' if you haven't already for ideas on all the little things that can go in a home made ration pack. But for main meals you might look at a few different #10 cans of Mountain House. Divide meal portions into Ziploc FREEZER bags, add hot water and you're eating pretty good. And trust me on this; unless the hounds are right on your heels, there is always a few precious moments for a brew up.

Joy,

I was recently at Crown Surplus in Cowtown. They have a few bins with MRE's, not sure what the price was per meal pack, as I was not shopping for rats(rations) that day. Best bet if you plan to carry them, is to buy a few and eat them. Every item in the pack.

I have eaten IMP's (Individual Meal Packs) the rats for the CF, MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) the rats for US, as well as German and French rats. IMP's give you the most food per day and IMHO the best tasting food. But it is heavy. A soldier rarely carries more than 24 hours of food at any one time. one meal was carried in the webbing, buttpack. And two more meals were carried on the exterior packs of your rucksack. Due to the weight, Canadian soldier would strip their meals and chuck everything they would not carry. This would be put in a box for others in the section or platoon to share. One nice item in IMP's is the pouch of fruit/apple sauce/fruit salad. It is packed in light syrop like a can of fruit, not freeze-dried. So, tasty but heavy. The only poor experience I have had with IMP's is when they are stored and are exposed to multiple freeze/thaw cycles. Beans and weiners that have been through this are edible but not palatable. If you were starving, you would eat them but otherwise you chose to go hungry. What sucks is when you get the same meals choice for multiple meals per day for multiple days. Not the end of the world, but impairs morale. And yes, I believe your "bunged-up" comment warrants comment. These meals are called hard rations, because they are hard on your body. They are easy to issue, but that doesn't mean they are easy to the Gastro-Intestinal Tract. They are high in sodium to give them a long shelf life.

MRE's taste great if you have been eating IMP's for a few weeks, just for a change. The best added item is the mini-bottles of Tabasco Sauce 1/8th of an ounce. If you have Scottish blood, you may enjoy the Oatmeal Cookie/Biscuit. It takes 20 minutes and a big bottle of water to get down, lol.

The German & French meals are lighter than either MRE's or IMp's because they only get two meals per day not three. These meals do however have great canned cheese, crackers and dark chocolate. Our wine rations were skimmed by higher, so I cannot comment on the red wine that is suppose to accompany the French rats.

As other have suggested, build your own meals.

Cheers,

Mountainman.

I've had the Scotich oatmeal cookie and found it was better in a 1/2 cup of boiling water with a bit of brown sugar...I know I cheat. 😈

thanks for all the comments and concerns. I didn't mean that I would go on only 1 MRE a day, just that I wouldn't sit to have it all at once. I don't expect there will be wolves at my heels so much as the desire to get home to a warm bed and to protect it from intruders. I was wondering about the weight of the MRE's. I will go to the only place around here that I know carries them to check them out, before buying any on the internet. I will also check out the Mountain House ones as I've read about them too.

I bought a few MRE's at Crown Surplus a few weeks ago for a friend who just HAD to have some. They were $18 a piece. And that is complete robbery. I wish I could find them cheaper. I'd buy a bunch. Why not?

www.mealkitsupply.com

I have had these before and they taste excellent , as well as being fresh , and they are priced okay.... By albertan standards anyways.....

http://www.costco.ca/Self-heating-Meals-Ready-to-eat-MRE-8-pack.product.10337530.html?catalogId=11201&keyword=mre&langId=-24&storeId=10302
You will see that this is an 8 pack. The link for the week long one is http://www.costco.ca/.product.10365825.html?cm_sp=RichRelevance-_-itempageVerticalRight-_-BrandTopSellers&cm_vc=itempageVerticalRight|BrandTopSellers These are sometimes available in-store and they actually taste quite good.

Morningcoffee,
Thank you for the link. I'll definitely take a look.

we bought our's at costco but I have yet to try one... I do have the opportunity now that it's hunting season. I will add that to my preps: determine if I can eat an mre and enjoy it 🙂

Does Costco ship to your home or to a store to pick up? If at home, how much is the shipping?

we ordered a case...
I didn't notices them at the store at the time but I wasn't really looking.
When we ordered the mountain house pack, we added the mre's as well.

The ones from meal kit supply have free shipping , and they are the same brand as costcos , thier warehouse is in vancouver. Not gonna get much better than that.