Camping MRE Packs: Meals Ready to Eat

If you do a lot of camping, fishing, hiking, and adventure-seeking outdoors, you might be one of the thousands who takes along MRE packs. A soldier carries an MRE - Meal, Ready to Eat - and it's often much more than a meal. An MRE can feature food, bath tissue, matches, and other helpful things. When you purchase one - even wholesale - it can cost seven or eight bucks but, when you pack it yourself, you can save quite a bit of money. An MRE, issued by the government, is wrapped in heavy plastic so that it's waterproof. Your homemade versions will be, too.

Most any food you use in your MRE is already packaged in a manner fit for travel. You don't necessarily have to vacuum-pack the MRE but, for some people, it's better to do that, so the pack is less bulky, and so certain foods might last longer. If you're going to vacuum-pack the MRE you can use bags made for use with the machine. Otherwise, use a zipper-lock bag that's at least larger than a sandwich bag.

There are many foods that are ready to eat and appropriate for packing your MRE. Anything that can be eaten out of the package, or by using water to prepare it, is suitable. Some suggestions include Ramen noodles or other noodles, rice, crackers, cookies, tuna, sardines, beef and cheese sticks, dried fruit, and instant potatoes. You can purchase small packs of things, like crackers or cookies, or you can take them from large packages and wrap them, or vacuum-pack them. When purchasing something that has to be opened from a can, it's helpful to buy the kind that has a pull tab, rather than a type requiring a can opener. However, if you generally carry a can opener with you it can save money, occasionally, if you purchase cans needing an opener.

As you pack each MRE, decide if it will be a one-serving or a day's supply. Pack accordingly. For a single meal, pack a protein source, like tuna or sardines, a side dish, like potatoes or rice, and a dried fruit or candy as dessert. For a snack later, crackers or a beef stick are great. Make each combination slightly different so you don't grow tired of the same meals.

In addition to the foods, some things worth packing include a few matches, wrapped in a piece of sandpaper as a striker, several squares of bath tissue, folded small, a powdered drink packet or juice box, and/or a piece of floss.

Neatly pack everything in the chosen type of bag and zip, squeezing as much air out as possible, or vacuum-pack it. If you vacuum-pack, poke a pinhole in things like noodles and rice. Take several of the packs with you each time you go hiking or camping. You'll find them lightweight, easy to carry, and simple to put together.