MRES and mountain house shelf life

[xlionx]

well basically im having a problem with throwing so much money on food that has only 5 year shelf life.So how much should i buy for my retreat cache,im confident with my hunting gatherer skills so how much would i need to keep me on my feet?And is that 5 yr mark suggested and how much longer could i push it?

[uncleben03]

Store that stuff in a cool, dry place and they will last MUCH longer. The times you're seeing advertised are at room temperature. I keep all my stuff on the bare concrete floor (in packages, obviously) in my basement so it's probably a good 10 or 15 degrees below room temperature year round.

[lanahi]

There is absolutely no way to be able to say how much is "enough".
Even natives who hunted all the time went from feast to famine, and when you have competition from many other hunters for the available game, I would not get too overconfident.
Even if you are a good hunter gatherer and there is plenty to hunt or gather, you could still use supplies that arn't available in the wild, such as necessary salt, maybe flour or wheat, beans, etc. Even old mountain men did that.
I think MREs are an expensive and bulky way to stock food, not to even mention the short time they are good. If you have a lot of water at your retreat, I'd stock up with #10 cans of dehydrated or freeze dried foods that can last 20 years or more. If not, I'd store canned foods packed in water to cut down a little on the drinking water you need.
If you have a retreat where you can leave some of your stores, I would stock the food in metal or glass so that rodents can't get into them. They can eat through to the MREs.
In other threads there are places listed where you can calculate food needed for a year or months, but it varies too from one person to another...they're are just suggestions, but you would probably be doing a lot of hard physical work, so you will need a lot of calories to keep going.

[EdD270]

MRE's will not last as long as freeze dried foods, but they do last more than five years IF stored properly away from light, heat, moisture and vermin. Vermin will knaw on the packages and get into the food, heat greatly shortens shelf life, especially if there are wide swings in temperature, and freezing might (slim chance but need to be aware) tear open packages or cause seam failure.
Mountain House, and some other brands, freeze dried foods will last 30 years or more if stored away from heat and moisture, which rusts the cans. The pouches will not last quite as long, and are, like MRE's, subject to vermin knawing into them. Freezing temps is not a problem as there is no moisture in them. MH and other brands can be purchased in bulk #10 cans or in the pouches online from various outlets, for example Emergency Essentials at www.beprepared.com.

[Still here.]

I keep a food pantry / war chest. I never touch this food it is for my family if we have to close up and bug in. I am spent some time while grocery shopping and took the time to look at a bunch of foods and their respected expiration dates. You would really be surprised to find how long things stay good at room temperature. Most things will stay good for about 1.5 to 2 years. This would include most canned vegetables, beans, fruits in syrup, canned soups like Campbell chunky soups can last for the same amount of time I know a few of you will agree that these alone taste thousands of times better than most MRE and dehydrated food supplies. They are the foods that you an your family eat everyday at the dinner table. Canned meats are even better. SPAM, Vienna Sausages, Canned chili, Canned hash, deviled ham, etc lat about 1.5 to 2yrs, But check this out, Canned fish.....Canned Tuna, canned Salmon, Sardines, Fish steaks and hearing all last 3-5yrs!!! These are all great to be mixed with your rice and bean supplies for a high carb and protein meal. Most canned foods are the size for one or two servings so you do not have to worry about a large can or bag going bad before you can eat it. Plus most if not all canned foods you can buy are already cooked and can be eaten directly from the can without having to be heated.

But all the MRE and dehydrated food lovers will be the first to say that "Their Packaged meals last 30 blah blah yrs. Great How many of you have lived in the same home for more than 20yrs?? What I am trying to say is who wants to store and eat something prepared in 1980? I am not saying that the meals that they are selling today were made in 1980 I am saying that if you had food that lasted 30yrs and you waited 20-25yrs to eat it, that would be not such a great thing. Technology has gotten better and we have made food taste better and last longer. Ten years from now it will be leaps and bound better than what you can buy today.

So this is how I do it, I keep a detailed inventory of all the food in my "Survival pantry" The exp dates included. As the exp dates come near I cycle them into my active kitchen pantry consuming them during "peace time" I fully replace any and all food I remove and keeping a fresh storage. If you have the money, ability, means, and storage you can effectively store and survive on the food you normally eat day to day for 2-4-5yrs. If the STHTF and more than 5yrs is needed to start establishing a more normal food / garden / public food services etc... than the dehydrated food guys will be laughing at me. But just take a second to add up the cost of what a family of three or four would cost on MRE's and dehydrated foods for 5 to 10 years. Plus you can never touch that food until the SHTF. My way you can indefinitely cycle your food supplies to fresh, and tasty food you normally eat.

I hope this helps.

Thanks
Still here.

[joes]

Originally Posted by xlionx

well basically im having a problem with throwing so much money on food that has only 5 year shelf life.So how much should i buy for my retreat cache,im confident with my hunting gatherer skills so how much would i need to keep me on my feet?And is that 5 yr mark suggested and how much longer could i push it?

Mountain House and Saratoga has a shelf life of 25 years.....Buying food is an investment and you can rotate your stock...I eat at least 1 mre and a Mountain House,Saratoga meal a week...You have to eat anyway and it is a good way to get used to so called survival food..

[lanahi]

Actually the cans you buy in the grocery store could also last a very long time beyond their expiration dates. As long as the can isn't dented or swollen, it is still good though somewhat deteriorated in highest quality after a few years. The higher acid fruits especially will taste like the can after a while.
I keep everything together but buy two cans for every one I use up, so I'm constantly increasing the supply of foods I already eat. I have just a few #10 cans of dehydrated or freeze dried foods, such as freeze dried butter, eggs, hamburger, sour cream, etc., that would be difficult to keep otherwise if utilities went down indefinitely.

[Jendeere]

Originally Posted by lanahi

Actually the cans you buy in the grocery store could also last a very long time beyond their expiration dates. As long as the can isn't dented or swollen, it is still good though somewhat deteriorated in highest quality after a few years.

A couple weeks back one of the kids made a campbell's chunky soup for a snack. As I was taking the trash out I saw the empty can on the top and the expiration was 2006! I am pretty careful about throwing out expired stuff so I don't know how that one snuck in there!

[Mortimer]

Sounds like you need to go camping more often. Perfect excuse to eat up MRE's and other preps to keep your supply rotated!

MRE's can last much longer than 5 years, especially if kept cool. The main entrees and dry servings (bread, crackers) stay fresh longest, side items like the cheese and applesauce will go bad faster.

Most canned goods also last much, much longer than the "best by" dates listed on the cans. That date is more of a gauge of freshness and taste quality than of nutritional value or spoilage.

[tadbitangelny]

I agree with some of the others we don't store MRE's to me it seems like a waste of money. We buy canned foods from the grocery store that have the date 2012 or 2013 on them and we use them when we need and rotate newer ones into the "store". We also buy Provident Pantry dehydrated foods that have a 25 year shelf life and we can our own foods.

[xlionx]

Thannk you i didnt realize that mountain house had such a long shelf life.And lanahi thanx for the mind check i forget that you can be to confident in this game.

[Jendeere]

Originally Posted by xlionx

Thannk you i didnt realize that mountain house had such a long shelf life.And lanahi thanx for the mind check i forget that you can be to confident in this game.

Just wanted to clarify: There are 2 types of packaging for the mountain house foods, the pouches (7+year life) and the #10 cans (30+ years). HTH

[sierra skier]

MRE's have a shelf life that can last well over 10 years if stored properly. Even after extended storage they may still be edible and nutritious, just not as tasty as if they were fresher.

This chart shows a 130 month shelf life when stored @ 60*.

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/preparedness...2097_146742276

[lanahi]

Originally Posted by xlionx

Thannk you i didnt realize that mountain house had such a long shelf life.And lanahi thanx for the mind check i forget that you can be to confident in this game.

I would consider the meat from hunting and fishing a bonus, and it's likely you could extend your stores because of them. But I would hate to depend on it for my life for the reasons others gave. After things have quieted down and there is less competition for game, the game that survived can start to regain some numbers but it might take a while. Up until then, we have wild plant foods, our gardens and field crops, any livestock we might have, and our stored preps to help us survive. They all will be valuable.

[MikeK]

Freeze dried and dehydrated foods can keep for decades if kept away from heat and moisture. MREs have shorter lives though.

You can also package your own beans and grains in mylar with O2 absorbers for a lot less money than the overpriced freeze dried foods. Dehydrated foods are a less expensive alternative also.

As for how much to buy, remember that you won't be the only one hunting if the SHTF. Not only will hunting become an extremely dangerous thing, but that game populations could easily be decimated. I'd buy enough storage food to keep you alive if hunting wasn't a safe option, and consider any game animals you got as a bonus.

[JC Refuge]

Ahem ... you guys who enter our giveaway thread looking for freebies -- BIG gifts in some cases -- from a paying sponsor of this forum that you love ... and then you recommend buying the products we sell from someone else??? Boy.

[chipmunk]

I think of MRE's as mobile food and dont have a place for them in my plan yet. They are very expensive compared to other storage items too. I would only buy them if I had no other options for food on the go.

[MikeK]

Originally Posted by chipmunk

I think of MRE's as mobile food and dont have a place for them in my plan yet. They are very expensive compared to other storage items too. I would only buy them if I had no other options for food on the go.

I get MREs almost for free, and they still don't have a place in my food plan either! LOL

Well, I do keep some of the crackers and peanut butter in my BOB, so I guess that's not entirely true.

[perduepro]

Check out http://dehydrate2store.com/

Properly dehydrated foods last 30 + years!

Buy a GOOD dehydrator, I bought an Excalibur, it paid for itself within 1 year.

Dehydrated food also does not take up alot of shelf space. It compacts down to tiny morsels and bounces back to it's original size when hydrated back with water

Why waste money on canned goods that last 1-2 years ?

[IceDemon]

Hormel canned foods are supposed to be good forever as long as there is no damage to the cans.
http://www.hormelfoods.com/faqs.aspx#can3