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DIY MREs.....a tutorial...by Big_Saw on February 24, 2009

Table of Contents

License:   Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Intro:   DIY MREs.....a tutorial... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 1:   Shopping List... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 2:   Menu Preparation... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

step 3:   Packaging.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

step 4:   And Viola! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-MREsa-tutorial/

License:   Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa)

Intro:  DIY MREs.....a tutorial...I'm gonna be showing you a way to store meals at a fraction of the cost of commercial or even surplus MRE cost....

Your average MRE will run you between 5 and 8 bucks....My MREs cost under 3 dollars each, and are customized to my taste....

step 1: Shopping List...***Step 1...gather your fixins....anything that can be eaten either raw or cooked, using ONLY water...nothing requiring refrigeration or milk, butter, etc...

*packaged snack crackers....PB on wheat, cheezy, etc., etc...*bagged/canned tuna, chicken, spam, sardines....whatever meat you prefer....*packaged instant rice and potatoes...*instant drink mixes...coffee, crystal light, whatever.....*tea bags....*bullion cubes.....*ramen noodles...*single servings of salt, pepper, sweetener, or whatever your taste....*granola/cereal bars...*candy bars...*instant oatmeal packets....*dried fruit...yadah, yaddah, yaddah....

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-MREsa-tutorial/

step 2: Menu Preparation...***Step 2.....Dig through your stockpile and arrange the types of meals you want to package...remember to diversify if you don't want the same, boring meal every timeyou crack one open...

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-MREsa-tutorial/

step 3: Packaging....***Step 3...Break out the vacu-suck and shrink-wrap your goodies into nice li'l packs....rinse and repeat....*NOTE...don't forget to pierce your packs of rice, potatoes,noodles, and crackers w/a thumbtack or something, or they'll bloat under vacuum and cause your MREs to be bulky....piercing won't harm the contents, as you'redelivering them to a vacuum state, and contamination is not a factor........

step 4: And Viola!Choose your foods wisely and you should end up w/a 3-5 yr. shelf life, when properly stored. The line of DIY MREs pictured(18) cost me about 2 hrs and $60 to make(including vac bag rolls)....compare that to a sh*tty tasting, $7 per commercial MRE with a comparable shelf-life, and you figure the savings....

BTW...I also pack a couple of multi-vitamins with each meal to guard against deficiency...

You can view a bunch more survival and preparation info at an online community I belong to...

Survivalismforums.com

Thanks for checking out my first "Instructable."

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-MREsa-tutorial/

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Comments50 comments Add Comment view all 71 comments

 jbird1981or says:  Jun 16, 2009. 7:21 PM  REPLYI like the list, nice, cheap, and balanced. The only thing I can say, is..... Don't skimp on the protein or carbs. That will kill you. Quite literally if you have to liveoff of these things for awhile. Fats.... They don't hurt, but they don't do as much as the carbs and proteins, thats for sure.

 lcaulley says:  Feb 5, 2010. 6:57 AM  REPLYYour body does need fat for nerve function and in a survival situation take advantage of any opportunity to eat it.  There have been people who starvedby only eating wild game that contained very little, if any, fat.  It's called rabbit fever.  If you are preparing long term storage foods now, try doing a searchfor home canned butter and even bacon.  I never thought it possible, but people are having good success rates.

Having a supply of food on hand is especially important in these recession/depression times.  If you have a month supply of food it will give you a buffer ifan emergency happens, you get snowed in, hurricane, or lose your job.  You have to be willing to save yourself....

Good luck

 Rectifier says:  Apr 2, 2010. 2:06 PM  REPLY"Canned butter" is a bit iffy as it is low acid and not pressure-canned. I would personally go with clarified butter as it is almost indestructible (puresaturated fat). Ramen noodles are actually a good call as they are loaded with palm oil - a saturated fat that keeps very well and is very resistantagainst rancidity.

Yes, saturated fats are very important to survival and not contained in significant amounts in most small game and birds. Seeing how small game isthe easiest to come by in a survival situation, preserving high-fat foods is your best bet, as is knowing how to render and preserve fats from the fattyanimals you may kill (bear etc)

Do not discount fats - in addition to their long-term nutritional necessity, they provide massive amounts of energy to fuel your muscles and help keepyou warm in survival situations. 

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-MREsa-tutorial/

 monster_kat says:  Feb 22, 2010. 11:32 AM  REPLYI live on the Gulf Coast and have to prepare ahead of hurricane season every year (not to mention anything else comin' down the road) This is great info...Thanks!!!BTW...any suggestions for pet mre's? I got a big puppy who gets pretty cranky if he don't get his chow!! I've thought about vac-packing dry food but I'm notsure if maybe it would keep better in the commercial packaging. Any advice?

 lcaulley says:  Feb 5, 2010. 7:23 AM  REPLYI think this a great 'ible!   I've made some of these for camping too.  Here's another idea...  Make a separate package (don't want chemicals near your food),and put matches, fire tinder (vaseline soaked cottonballs are good), into a separate vacuum package.  That way it stays dry in case of rain, flood, etc... Dipping match heads in hot wax will seal them so they'll light when you need them.  Steel wool and a 9 volt will start a fire in a hurry too.  Just some ideas topass along to those of us hoping to make it through hard times....

Keep your chin up Big_Saw and realize it'll be the haters that don't make it through what's coming and then we won't have to listen to them anymore!  :)

ps - my kids say that uncooked Ramon noodles taste like popcorn! 

 sarge89or says:  Feb 14, 2010. 9:00 PM  REPLYI assume you mean the so called liberals and progressives.  I agree they will not make and good riddance.  :-)

 burntbob says:  Feb 5, 2010. 8:17 AM  REPLYNice and practical and can be tailored to individual taste,diet,allergies etc...The iron oxide pocket warmers that are very cheap and readily available andmake no flame & need no additonal water or chemicals to work  might serve as a warming device if placed against a foil wrapped packet,around a single wallmetal cup or small can if you wrapped some insulating material around it. Won't ever boil anything but just something warmer feels good when you're chilledand need every bit of comfort and warmth you can get... Best of all they last for hours so could be tucked in a boot or jacket after, and if you can seal themtightly in a zip lock and press/suck out the air you can supposedly stop the reaction and activate them again for a while later....

 teslafan100 says:  Jan 17, 2010. 10:34 AM  REPLYThat's cool. :)

 biker_trash_1340 says:  Dec 25, 2009. 3:22 AM  REPLYNice job. a lot of good info here, and look like good / filling meals

 papabob56 says:  May 29, 2009. 8:48 PM  REPLYGood Info... I use the Tilla vac packer to seal up my meals, thats some tough plastic. The posters that are knocking you, about having to add the water aremissing the point. You've assembled easy to use (ration) food stores in convenient packages. The big bonus thats being missed, is that if required, you canhand these packages out to neighbors in dire need during in an emergency. I'm in the process of doing the thing and I stumbled across your instructable, Igot a couple good ideas from your posting. Thanks

 Big_Saw says:  May 31, 2009. 9:15 AM  REPLYGood attitude, and I'm glad to see more and more folks who "get it"......for the longest time I thought I was gonna be one of a very few "Omega Men" ifthe fecal matter ever did well and truly hit the atmospheric impeller......

 EleriK says:  Oct 29, 2009. 6:28 AM  REPLYThe thing is, this kind of stuff is good to know and have even if things never fall apart. Look at the people using it for bike trips, almost everything youlearn for survivalism is either fun or good stuff to know when camping or saving money on fixing things, and so on.

 Raakti says:  Oct 18, 2009. 10:20 AM  REPLYThis is a wonderful idea. I can't even find actual MRE's around here anymore.... TIME TO START STOCKPILING FOR THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!

 twiggness says:  Aug 27, 2009. 10:47 PM  REPLYwell the main reason of mres high price is the calorie content. but that still doesn't make up for the fact that every time i open one up my cracker, ravioli,burritos, and spaghetti always taste horrible

 MysteriousDragon says:  Aug 26, 2009. 1:39 PM  REPLYCan the shelf Life be better if you use a certain vacuum sealer?

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-MREsa-tutorial/

 chilbert007 says:  Jun 27, 2009. 11:28 PM  REPLYI really enjoyed reading this one and plan on employing your instructable in my own survival preparation. Thanks for submitting this.

 jbird1981or says:  Jun 16, 2009. 7:32 PM  REPLYKeep in mind, water is necessary. Not just for the food (you can do it without water), but for survival. You can go longer without food than you can withoutwater.

 jbird1981or says:  Jun 16, 2009. 7:25 PM  REPLYIf you don't have a vacuum shrink-wrapper, yo can use ziplock bags and use your lungs. Not quiet as good, but useful in a pinch.

 jbird1981or says:  Jun 16, 2009. 7:23 PM  REPLYAll I can say is...... Water water water. Take it from a Marine. Water is the single most important thing you can have in a situation outside of the normalroutes. In this case, you'll need alot of it to eat. In addition to what you'll need to drink to stay alive.

 JohnMichael says:  May 10, 2009. 8:42 PM  REPLYThat is a pretty cool idea. I think it would be useful if I ever actually take that bicycle road trip. It could save on space, cost, and weight. btw; do you bychance know what they use in the military MREs in the heat packs?

 hammerhead says:  Jun 1, 2009. 10:47 PM  REPLYThe MRE heater relies on a chemical process to generate heat. See link for more info.

http://www.mreinfo.com/us/mre/frh.html

 JohnMichael says:  Jun 2, 2009. 10:41 AM  REPLYYes, I know it is a chemical reaction. I was asking what chemicals are used. According to the article it is a combination of iron, magnesium, andsodium. Any chemistry people out there able to calculate what the proportions should be?

 Big_Saw says:  May 31, 2009. 9:16 AM  REPLYI'm not sure how the MRE heaters work, but I do know that fire can be mastered pretty easily with practice and the right tools...... :p

 JohnMichael says:  Jun 1, 2009. 9:23 AM  REPLYTrue. However, fire is not always desirable on a boat trip.

 Tangalor says:  Jun 1, 2009. 11:29 AM  REPLYAnd, which vacuum sealer did you use for this, foodsaver, Deni, Rival, etc..?

 Tangalor says:  Jun 1, 2009. 11:16 AM  REPLYI like this idea, and plan on implementing this post-haste. In regards to the vacu-sealer doohicky... those can be expensive. There are several instructableson how to make your own, or improvise air compressors/ bike pumps to do this. I'd still love to get a vacuum sealer, and plan to one day, but until then, Iguess I'll have to make do with what I've got. :)

 missouri_granny says:  May 31, 2009. 2:32 PM  REPLYHey, this is a cool idea. And I see a lot of commentors complain because water isn't included but if you are hungry, this packet would be a gourmet meal!Thanks for the neat idea.

 cammel8 says:  Feb 26, 2009. 10:57 AM  REPLYThis is really nice. Everybody that is crying that it is not a MRE becasue it doenst have a FRH (Flameless Ration Heater) is wrong... not all MREs come withone.Most military MREs do but not all. As a side note you could buy FRHs made by Zesto-Therm (the company that makes them for the military) and putthem in if that is what you so desire. There are alot of camping sites out there that you can order a case of 12 FRHs from for like 10 bucks. I know an FRH ismade of food grade iron, magnesium, and sodium but im not sure on the amounts or mixures but all it is is an exothermic reaction to the water. If someoneknows how to make one using these products maybe they could post it as an instructable. I also seen someone say "this isnt an MRE, as it requires cookingor hydration, all you have done is vaccum packed a bunch o food. this instructable should be called how to make a bag full of food." that is incorrect as well.The ionly thing it looks like you would need to make any of these MREs that Big_Saw made would be water. Wich ironically is all you need for a militaryMRE. Ill tell you what, if I was Stranded and hungry somewhere amd found one of these I wouldnt say Awww dang i dont have a heater i cant eat this. BigSaw....Very nice job.

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-MREsa-tutorial/

 chuckr44 says:  Feb 27, 2009. 9:54 AM  REPLYMy son tells me about one kid who brings in Ramen noodles to junior high school to eat them raw ON PURPOSE. Then he chugs down the salt packet.

 kill-a-watt says:  May 17, 2009. 6:21 PM  REPLYI keep a pack in the pack for just this purpose. It's cheap, lightweight, and edible "raw" As someone else pointed out, the noodles are fried. Trycrushing up a pack, opening it up, and pour it in a bowl. Then take the salt packet and sprinkle just a bit on top. Not bad. (not great but not bad)

 chuckr44 says:  May 18, 2009. 4:52 AM  REPLYI've seen one brand of noodles which says "air dried", so they are not all fried before packaging.

 RoBear613 says:  May 17, 2009. 9:17 AM  REPLYRamen Noodles aren't raw. They are fried. The boiling and bullion make them soup. I've heard the Chinese also use them as crumbles in somerecipes. "Chugging down" the salt (bullion) packet though sounds a little much.

 cammel8 says:  Feb 27, 2009. 10:36 PM  REPLYI don't know that that would be very tasty at all, but I do know when I was younger I would just run hot tap water and put the noodles in it and let it sitthen put in the powder. You let them sit for long enough and they come out just like they would if you cooked them. Might not be steaming hot butthey are hot enough to be enjoyable.

 Big_Saw says:  Feb 24, 2009. 2:39 PM  REPLYFor chrissake, people, it's a friggin food pack, akay...let's go ahead and pick the sh*t apart for the stupedest reasons....look up your own nutritional values, ifyou're so worried about it, and MRE stands for Meals Ready for Everything, in the DIY world.... Get a friggin' clue.....find something good to say or shove it...BTW....I get my mini-tobascos at minimus.biz.

 RoBear613 says:  May 17, 2009. 9:26 AM  REPLYThanks for the minimus.biz link. I didn't know there was a retail outlet for mini packages.

 okoshima says:  Feb 26, 2009. 6:51 AM  REPLYmeals ready to eat....

 jasontimmer says:  Feb 25, 2009. 10:43 PM  REPLYDon't worry about the haters, man. You made a great instructable. I'm gonna make some too. Probably not hundreds of 'em, but enough for a fewcamping trips.

 mycroftxxx says:  Feb 25, 2009. 9:02 PM  REPLYUhm, Hi. Welcome to Instructables. Kibbitzing and criticizing design is what the comment section is for. Just let it wash over you and spend only as muchtime reading this stuff as it takes to find any useful suggestions. Most of this stuff is really aimed at other users who are going to have differentneeds/concerns than you. As for the community here, I might as well point out a couple things that are going to happen. One, in 1-3 months, someone isgoing to "steal" your idea and incorporate a bunch of other stuff into a vac-packed bugout meal. Second, in about 8.6 seconds, someone is going toreplicate the entire thing in off-colored K'nex blocks and post an instructable on _that_. Neither of these things can be avoided, so you might as well startlearning to live with them now. That said, I'm off to file a separate comment with my own kibbitzing/questions.

 nomifyle says:  Apr 2, 2009. 10:17 AM  REPLYOne suggestion, a substitute for the Ramon noodles would be Thai Kitchen instant rice noodle mix. Actually not unhealthy.

 nomifyle says:  Apr 2, 2009. 10:13 AM  REPLYThanks, this is a good idea. Really nice for BOBs. Not sure I would want to have one everyday for lunch in the meantime, but maybe. Definitely beats thecost of commercially made MREs. I'm saving this link to definitely try.

 Danish M1Garand says:  Mar 24, 2009. 3:44 PM  REPLYMRE= Meals Rejected by Everyone

That was a running joke in the services when I served.

MRE's now are truly ready to eat with little preparation but the first generation were rather like backpackers food. Everything needed reconstituted or cookedor both. The reason I see to dole these out in meals is for portion control. One pack is one meal for one adult. 21 pouches makes for one person for a week.People may have a tendency to eat all the "Good" stuff first and then have nothing but cheese crackers on the last day of the camping trip.

The grocery store around here all sell Seal A Meal and or foodsaver bags and machines.

I enjoyed the Instructable.

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-MREsa-tutorial/

 Pirate_Dani says:  Mar 8, 2009. 1:47 AM  REPLYthanks for this one. It pretty much answered my question

 okoshima says:  Feb 24, 2009. 2:36 PM  REPLYthis isnt an MRE, as it requires cooking or hydration, all you have done is vaccum packed a bunch o food. this instructable should be called how to make abag full of food.

 jasontimmer says:  Feb 25, 2009. 10:42 PM  REPLYOh bullshit. Some Military MRE's food items require heating or rehydration. Not only that, but everything he included could be eaten right out of thepackage if you had to. Go somewhere else if you're gonna hate.

 okoshima says:  Feb 26, 2009. 6:45 AM  REPLYwatch your mouth sweetheart, and go google what MRE means... Yes there are some military rations that require re heating or hydration, but theyare not MRE's Go somewhere else if your gonna use language like that

 Big_Saw says:  Feb 27, 2009. 9:22 PM  REPLYApparently, you've never had any real experience with mil-spec MREs, or you'd know that your statement is in error...

And, like I said, water and fire have been around for awhile...if you haven't mastered fire-making or water storage and collection...forget my little"MREs".....when my belly's full, and you're hoping McDonald's has survived the last disaster.....well....see if you can find something "ready-to-eat" that doesn't offend your sense of literal propriety....

'nuff said....I'm done with you.

 jasontimmer says:  Mar 2, 2009. 12:11 AM  REPLYOops, I got your message as a reply to mine, was wondering what the hell... good instructable.

 jasontimmer says:  Feb 27, 2009. 4:34 PM  REPLYI know what MRE means. I've eaten them. Hell, I was in the army. Just about EVERY MRE I've had needed reheating and/or rehydration. I don'tthink you've had too many of them. Like I said, you could eat them right out of the bag if you had to, so they are "ready to eat." You could also eatRamen noodles out of the bag if you had to.

 crazycommanche=US= says:  Mar 11, 2009. 4:17 PM  REPLYjust so u know u dont use fire to heat ur peals in the army as it will give away ur position u use chemical tablets that heat up the food...SOOHHH nice instructable btw everything in his are ready to eat they dont nead to be heated or anything like that

 alaskanbychoice says:  Feb 28, 2009. 8:20 AM  REPLYThanks for taking the time I like it.

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