New Zealand Family Try U.S MILITARY MRES For The First Time (THINGS GOT CRAZY) 

As a retired Marine; I had to laugh when Nadine asked “I wonder what sort of bowl they put it in?”. The reason for the long spoon is because you eat the main course right out of the pouch. You can mix the sports drink powder in your canteen or in your metal canteen cup that the canteen sits in. You would use the metal canteen cup to mix up the hot chocolate. I always liked the vegetarian MREs because the “meat” in them is usually the worst part. Also funny you thought the toilet paper was tissues or napkins. Great video as usual.

As a Marine, I can tell you that Chill Mac is the holy grail of MREs! Some salt and the little bottle of Tabasco and boom gourmet meal!

I love the way you patiently explain everything in the Modern Defense Armory box directly in front of your son (who is the same age as my boy), he hears none of it, then loudly asks questions you had just finished clearly answering (exactly as my son would do). Some human traits universal : )

Hey guys! I've the unique distinction of having been a Veteran who lived off these things for a while AND I serviced the company that made every meal you had in the video. You would be amazed at the process that goes into designing, testing, and manufacturing these things. I would ALWAYS schedule my visits around lunchtime. I would calibrate all of their weighing systems, so I spent quite a bit of time in their full laboratory. The Lab Manager, Lori, would always "force" me to try all that they were working on. Their quality controls were AMAZING. Each ingredient in these meals are measured down to a tolerance of 0.01 gram. The company that makes these, AmeriQual Foods, holds itself to exacting standards that are truly remarkable.

MRE’s can be ate warm or cold. Personally during my 12 years in The Marine Corps mostly ate them cold unless I was physically cold (a rare thing), or I needed a little personal pick me up when feeling down or worn out. The biggest thing to add to any MRE to make them taste better is the addition of hot sauce. When I was in, they usually had a small bottle of Tabasco sauce in the package. Most grunts (infantrymen) also had some crazy concoctions they would make like “grunt pudding”. Grunt pudding is where you take the cocoa powder, coffee creamer, and sugar, mix it together with just a little water, and eat. If you want a different flavor, you would add instant coffee. Oh and the light house tissues is toilet paper.

We were without power and water for almost 4 weeks after Hurricane Katrina and were given MRE's and bottled water from the National Guard (for which we were extremely thankful!). When you have no way of obtaining food and no way of cooking, they are a life saver. We ended up sharing each meal because they have so many calories and are so filling that none of us could eat one in its entirety. No, they don't taste as good as "normal food", but they weren't the worst thing I've ever tasted and definitely sustained us. 😊

Hello my NZ family!!! A question was raised during this video about the candy within the MRE's. Certain MRE meals have Skittles or M&M's. I swear it is like a serious negotiation, a bidding war if you will. if you have one of the sought-after candy items to offer, you can get your favorite MRE meal.

Former Army Infantry here from 90s. My favorites were either Beef Stew or Tuna w/ Noodles. Empty that entire packet of Tabasco in there and you're golden. Heck I'm actually craving them now...

💯 this proves once you get America on your side there's no stopping you. Honorary American family

I think what makes our NZ family so worth coming back to again and again, is their enthusiasm, energy, ad sense of fun. I don't get the impression that you are just putting on an act, and even when you don't like something you are not afraid to say so. Good vid. as always. Kudos.

Many MREs included a mini bottle of Tabasco sauce to flavor the food. Many Christmas trees were decorated with mini Tabasco bottles as makeshift ornaments! Fun fact!

Yes for episode 2 plz! Loved it! As a former soldier myself it was very entertaining!! 😂 Yes, soldiers do trade for the flavors they like, however that is sometimes restricted in basic training- also in basic training, in my company at least, the candies were confiscated. Hoping we get 20k likes for a part 2!!

Semper Fi New Zealand from a 37 year career Marine!👍🏽🇺🇸

Lady Veteran here, MRE’s have improved significantly since I served in the late 80’s! Always fun for the kids to try and enjoy.

In the 90's we had a little bottle tabasco sauce in our MRE's, can't imagine them without it. Semper Fi !

I laughed at the gum. I think the gum is caffeinated (which tends to produce a bowel movement for some people) but also keeps you more alert. I can imagine all of them after this video. 😂

My father and mother (Rip) served. my father was watching this with me and he loved it.

During Hurricane Katrina in ‘05, we were given several MREs to eat and the American Red Cross came with Meals-on-wheels. We were out of power and water for a few weeks and the MREs weren’t so bad… lol. We managed. Praying for those that were impacted by Hurricane Ian! Much ❤ to y’all from South Mississippi!!

You’re reaction to the skittle was amazing! Yes each different MRE always comes with the same sides so after eating them for a bit you remember which entree comes with what sides. When I was at basic our drill sergeants would actually take away any candy we got in our MREs and would eat it in front of us

I think you assumed the entrees were like starters, however in America we call mains entrees. So the 3 MREs you ate first were also mains. Love watching you experience new things. It's so great how adventurous your children are.

The way the package heats up is from water reacting with powdered magnesium metal, mixed with iron and table salt inside the pouch. It’s an exothermic reaction, which is a type of reaction that generates heat.

HI NZ fam... Over the 20 years I was in the service, I can tell you that all joking aside, Sam was absolutely correct. I was a Navy corpsman assigned most of the time with my Marines. Those MRE's are designed for massive calorie replacement and electrolyte replacement. They are not produced to be like Atlanta's cooking 🙂 I can tell you that sitting in a dirt hole after a long hard day patrolling or maneuvering, nothing is more welcomed than shoving a spaghetti MRE into the heater and eating that. It is like a gourmet dinner at that point!!! The other little pack in the bag with the gum was toilet paper. That is how much you get...lol YOu have to save it after a few meals to really have the appropriate amount in the field if you don't have an actual outhouse. Anyway, fantastic video and glad you finally got to try them!!!

There are civilian versions of MRE's available from some of the survivalist and emergency supply websites. I have one months supply of them on hand just in case of some natural disaster(or man-made disaster). Those and a decent water filtration system can keep us safe during long-term problems. Love your video's and keep them coming!

As a US Navy veteran, ,I am glad that you all enjoyed these and yes, salt does always help the tomato based meals. I give you 100 thumbs up!

My husband and I often watch your videos together and really enjoy them, so thank you for sharing. With that said, my husband, being retired Army, wants to share a few bits of info here as well. [ Hubby:.. MREs are a balanced meal designed to provide nourishment for continuous outdoor activity such as combat operations when a traditional eating environment isn’t available. Because the items in each meal are designed to compliment each other nutritionally, it’s better to eat some of each item instead of all of one item and save the rest for later if you can’t eat the entire MRE. Also, it is a good idea to use those heaters outside, considering they do emit gasses that force oxygen out of the are you are in and can be harmful. Please be safe with those. Thank you for sharing your experience. 🇺🇸

It's widely agreed upon that the chili Mac is one of the best mre's. Great video as usual fam!

FLORIDA MAN HERE! For future reference, have either milk or bread handy to counter the effects of hot sauce. Water won't do it, because the oils that cause the heat won't mix with the water. Bread or milk will absorb the oils, and lessen the intensity.

The average calorie count of an MRE is around 1250 calories. Some of them naturally have higher and some lower, but generally they hover around 1000 calories each. For while, while I was in the Army, MRE's came with a small bottle of hot sauce. Those became a form of currency used to trade for better MREs.

When I was in the US Army, we'd always joke around with each other that MRE stood for Might Resemble Edible. I preferred eating them cold. Yes, we did have our favorites and we did trade with each other. What you got was whatever came out of the box of MRE's. The hot sauce packet is most likely Tabasco. The MRE's when I was in the US Army came with small bottles of Tabasco. BTW- You did get one of my favorites. The Cheese Tortellini in Tomato Sauce.

I like how kind people are in new zeiland are so kind and so unentitled. This mentality is something we deal with in tne US and the humility of these people's is fantastic.

Ha! It's so much fun watching you folks...as I procrastinate since my wife thinks I'm out mowing the lawn. It's nice to see a family enjoying themselves and their time together in a fun wholesome manner. Thank you!

Atlanta is right on the eat straight from the pouch. When I was in the Army, we would get jalapeño cheese occasionally and always Tabasco sauce in our meals. The jalapeño cheese was definitely a bargaining chip that some people would trade multiple meals for 1 pouch. The addition of skittles is a recent thing, the classic was a mini Hershey bar. I enjoyed mixing my crackers, hot sauce, and cheese in with the main course to usually cover the lack of flavor. Thank you for such appreciation and respect for the US military. You guys rock

Nadine and Sam, you should watch the “adult” version of MRE tasting with a couple of our special forces guys. Its listed under wine and rations. It’s absolutely hilarious 😂

as a 20 year retired Marine, I can tell you , we doctored them up left and right. Tabasco sauce, cheese spread, salt and crackers. The spaghetti we always added crackers cheese and tabasco. The beef stew I added Pace Picante sauce (which I carried in my pack) and crackers. You always hung onto the condiment packets. It was you got your meal randomly and traded for what you want. They have gotten much better. YOU can heat more than one and the cheat way was to keep the packets OUTSIDE the heater pack, on either side and back onto the sleeve. Great job you guys. keep them going. best regards form Texas

One trick we use to make some of the pasta meals better is to take the crackers (if you get them) and crush them to sprinkle into the entree. It ads texture and makes it feel more substantial. The more you mix parts of your MRE the better it tastes and the faster you can eat it

Both my parents were in the AirForce when I was young. I've eaten many MRE's over the years. They've been getting better over the years, and there are actually several now that are really good. We take them when camping and hiking on weekend trips these days. Thanks for the love you all show to the military, it's appreciated.

I love the effort y'all put into these videos, Keep it up!!!

You have just done something VERY FEW typical American families have ever done. Nice one. You learn a lot about why we should be so grateful for so many things and people, whom we may never know or know about…when you eat an MRE. Enjoy your sense of curiosity and gratitude. Keep it up. You are blessed.

Watching you guys figure out how to heat up the entrees brought a smile to my face. So many memories from my training in the Army. The original MREs which used to be called C-RATS, C-rations, from WWII to the modern day MREs the quality, variety, and taste have greatly improved. The reason there’s not a lot of salt is due to lots of salt causes dehydration and usually when out in the field you sweat enough, weather depending, so you don’t want to loose anything extra. MREs are made by a private company that’s contracted with the government to make them. There are videos about it that are pretty awesome. Also there are military surplus stores that sell things are issued to military personnel but these stores sell to the public including MREs.

As a former military member of the us I find it refreshing you find so much joy in our country. That thought is fading here. Something weird is going on here. You have a lovely family. Be well.

Central florida. Just ate MRE’S 5 days in a row due to hurricane IAN. They are pretty good when you are hungry and you don’t have power or running water.

Served in the Army for 6 years. Love watching your videos. Lighthouse paper that comes in the MRE = toilet paper. Most soldiers will "field strip" an MRE and take it out of the bag, remove the heater, take the main course and snacks and pack them away, that way you can fit more in your pack. Most of the time you just tear a pouch open and eat it cold. The one most people go for is spaghetti and meat sauce or ravioli as it typically comes with wild berry skittles. I've seen soldiers in the field pay $20 just for the skittles.

It's not so much about tasting good it's more about keeping you alive with the right nutritions

you can go to the internet and order your favorite mre by the case. back in the day like 1975 in boot camp we had C rations we used a p38 can opener these rations where from 1945 the fudge brownie was hard as a rock. Ah memories.

I just got 2 boxes of MRE's due to Hurricane Ian it was a blessing due to losing everything in my refrigerator they have many locations around Fort Myers thank god for our armed forces standing out in the hot sun in full uniform handing out food and water

Former Army infantryman here from the 90's, My favorite was the pork with rice in bbq sauce. Add the apple sauce and cherry beverage powder that came with it, stir it all together and BOOM, sweet and sour pork!

LOVE seeing 3 of you, at least, wearing USMC T-shirts. Be careful everybody's favorite RU-vid family. MREs will "bind you up" if you know what I mean. IF you don't none of you will be pooping for DAYS if you eat multiple MREs in succession. LOL!!!! Pinto stew with ham is the BEST!!

I was in the Air Force but my favorite US Marine slogan is “Marines don’t die they go to hell to regroup”!!

When I was in the Army in the early 90's, we had to heat our meals on the engine blocks of our Humvees or use a camp stove if we wanted it hot. Then they came out with the MRE heater bags and it was a God send. I always liked the spaghetti and when it came with M&M's.

You are the politest people on earth. "Not ideal" is the nicest thing ever said about MREs.

I am a Vietnam Era Marine. We used to have C-Rats or C-rstions. These were canned meals. Later they introduced MRE . I have had MRE but favor CRats. We would heat the C Rat cans with small fire tablets over another can we made into a stove or a small piece of C4 . Marines traded for the meals they prefer and usually stayed away from the foods that caused the use of the bathroom often as the C Rations came with very small toilet paper. Marines would steal bottles of Tobasco from the Chow Hall and later in the MRE they just included tiny little Tobasco bottles. These meals are very high calorie meals, 5+ thousand calories due to the physical exertions involved in combat and training. Love your channel.

I grew up a Military Brat ( which means the child of a U.S. soldier), and I also briefly served in the Army National Guard, and the State Guard. Watching y'all with these MRE's was great! It took me back to when I was growing up, when my dad would come home from "the field", and brought home C-Rations (the predecessor of the MRE). I was always excited to see my dad again, but was equally excited to get C-Rations! 😊 We have a funny saying about MRE's in the military though. It technically stands for "Meal Ready to Eat". But those of us who have been in or around the military call it "Meal Refusing to Exit"! 😂😂😂😂 Because some of those meals can really "stop up your gut" (if you catch my drift lol). Also, the way the food heat pack works is, there's a sealed pack of activated charcoal in there. When you pour the water into the pack, the charcoal chemically reacts to the water. The reaction being heat. So that's how the heat packs work. 😊 And yes, those heat packs get extremely hot (I found out the hard way the 1st time I used one)! So please be careful when you use them! They will burn you! And the MRE's are kinda random. But certain meals have certain extras in them. Some come with candy (like Skittles, Hershey bars, etc.), and some don't. And there's all kinds of different "recipes" that you can find online to mix the different things in MRE's to make other things. Like, if you take creamer, peaches, sugar and crackers, and mix them together, you have an MRE Peach Cobbler (one of my uncles came up with that when he was in the Army in the '80's). 😊

I'm Air Force and I will tell you the Marines are a special branch. They are my brothers and sisters in the fight. We all have a place and in reality we never cross that line of respect. When they need air support we are there. They will tell you Specter is king.

I'm an Army brat. (Both parents in the military and I was born on an overseas base) I grew up eating MREs for fun lol. Its great to see you guys show so much love to our country

A lot of people don't realize that you can use the coffee grounds as a fire starter. Just pour the grounds under your kindling and use a match to light it. The instant coffee grounds light up easily and stay lit long enough to get the fire going well.

seeing someone from another country so excited to own a piece of our lifestyle is so awesome and entertaining

I just love watching all your videos showing appreciation for our country. Seriously, you guys are more patriotic than many of our own US citizens. It’s cool to see from “outsider” eyes, different experiences and foods associated with the US. Thank you for the wholesome content!

During my enlistment the 2 favorite meals were the Chicken a la King and the Beef Stew. We also had creative soldiers we called field chefs who could use the extras and a few ingredients to make meals out of the bits that always got left over.

Fun fact the owner of the Tabasco sauce company was a US Marine. They donate Tabasco sauce to every branch of the US Military. The reason is the blan taste of the food. Tabasco sauce adds flavor. Most military personnel use the Tabasco sauce.

When I was in the Army 89-93 the MRE's needed some work.... They didn't have the heating element bag to warm them up, we would stick them in the exhaust or manifold of our vehicles to warm them. We came up with a bunch of different ways to make some of these items taste better, like taking the crackers and smashing them up adding peanut butter, cocoa and the creamer packet together with a little water and mixing it up....made like a chocolate fudge concoction and tasted so good. Mostly we ate them cold as we didn't always have accuse to something to warm them up. Love your video's!

Maybe I shouldn't share this, but we're all family here.. lol. My father was a Food Scientist for the US Army Research and Development Compound in Natick, MA. That is where the MREs were developed for all branches of the US Military as well as NASA. They may not be gourmet, but were a vast improvement over the rations that were issued prior to the MREs.

Great video. I served in the Marines for 13 years and currently in the Army. MREs have come a long way since my first day as a young Marine back in the 90s. The bag used to be a dark brown and the "food" was dehydrated. My favorite back then was the ham slice meal. Today, chili Mac is my go to, especially if you get the jalapeño cheese and you mix it together. Again great video! I am always entertained watching your reactions.

Choosing the meal depends on the Unit you are with, some let you choose and other just pass them out and you get what you get. Each meal come with different things and depending what you have there are combinations you can do to make them better. Also each MRE is about 2 thousand calories since they are designed to be able to ration throughout the day

I’m retired from the US Military. I served in 3 different branches. The first time we got MRE’s was in weapons training in boot camp. We didn’t get any training on them. The Drill Instructor, said you have 5 minutes to eat. Not having a knife, it took us 5 minutes just to get it opened. The old dark brown one were hard to get open. For the most part we were just handed a MRE, then changed it with your buddy’s. As far as heating them up, we did a bunch of different things. Put them on the hood of your truck, or in the engine compartment. Any thing that gave off heat. They taste different heated vs not. You can become quite the cook, adding stuff from other guys that didn’t want from their meal. They had a cherry pound cake, that was delicious. I haven’t seen them since the 90’s. A bunch of guys get a little superstition with them. If you get Charmes hard candies, it’s bad luck to eat them. I always ate them, just not around the other guys. I will eat one from time to time. People think that’s weird. They did have some absolutely terrible ones. The egg omelette, frankfurters and tuna are noodles, were bad. The frankfurters came in a pack of 5. Everyone called it 5 fingers of death.

It was very nice of them to send crayons for dessert, lime green taste the best, dark green is pretty good too. PS don’t eat the gum.

MRE's came along after my time in the Marine Corps. We were issued C-rations. The main course came in a can and some of the boxes had a small stove and Sterno for heat. The explosive C4 could also be used instead of Sterno. A small folding can opener was also supplied. The most popular meal was beenie- weenies ( baked beans with slices of hot dogs). Great reaction guys!

When I was in the Air Force in the 70's our MRE'S WERE "C" Rations canned food and my favorite was the spaghetti and meatballs there was a snack/dessert that was known by the troops as "John Wayne bars" these were rumored to be John Wayne's favorite while filming the movie "The Green Berets: a must see film. I digress. The bar was toffee chocolate covered bar. Everyone would get a personal can opener called a "P 38" I still have mine. I love watching you guys .

Loved it! Navy ⚓️ Veteran asking for more please 👍🏼!

You usually get whatever is handed to you and YES there are ones who "fight" for the M&Ms out Skittles or the all time favorite JALAPEÑO CHEESE SPREAD... We usually use the hot chocolate to make an icing type of paste and find someone that has a pound cake...

As a military veteran I loved this video. From Nadine mentioning bowls, to wondering how one heats up the MREs, to thinking the towelettes were actually used to wipe your hands. 😂 I hoarded the tabasco packets and the peanut butter packets when I was in.

Fun fact: the chemicals in those MRE heater things actually form a crude battery. The water dissolves the battery acid, which causes the reaction to start and also shorts out the "battery", and the heat comes from the electricity. Some soldiers who've eaten a lot of these will tell you to put salt in the water to make the thing hotter; this works because salt water has a lower electrical resistance so more current can flow.

They do try to make MRE's tasty but of course they're limited because the fact it's in a pouch and needs to be shelf stable for years. And they do limit certain things like salt or spice, which is why they usually include salt and sometimes hot sauce in packets.

Everyone has their favorite MREs and would often trade. My favorite was the chili mac. I remember one that I hated, it was the cheese omelet. It was gross.

Just FYI, The pens sent by Ned are what we used to label (using stencils) our uniforms. I was in the US Navy but I am pretty sure that those same pens were used by other branches of the US military as well. Also, I saw you ask, in an earlier video, why young men here still volunteer to serve in our military. It certainly varies from person to person but many of us do in fact come from families who have a multi-generational tradition of military service. My father served in the US Marine Corps, multiple uncles served in the US Army and Navy. I served in the US Navy as a Non Commissioned Officer and my youngest brother was the first person in my family to serve as a Commissioned Officer (in the US Army). Also, I wanted to attend University but couldn't afford it, the US military provided me with financial support for University via the G.I. Bill. My Navy technical was directly related to the Degree Program that I wanted to study. Serving 4 years in the US Navy allowed me to earn 2 Bachelor's Degrees in Computer and Electrical Engineering.

Tabasco sauce.... chitlets gum is a WWII staple. The old C-Rations came with cigarettes, TP, and can openers. The meals come with a code on the bags, some have skittles some have other things, like coffee, it's all about trading. Usually they bags are tossed out, and you get what you get, then trade with others. Pasta based due to ease of freeze drying and carbs. You eat it straight out of the bag with the long spoon.

I served in the Army for 13 years and 3 deployments and I was the Quartermaster Supply Sergeant who ordered and handed out boxes and more boxes of MRE's. I really appreciate how Sam/Dad was trying to put himself in the mindset of a veteran to better understand the mentality mindset of a veteran in a warzone or field training exercise were we sacrifice everything we know and love to conduct affective war fighting missions, I truly respect that! Yes veterans eat them hot/cold. The heater packets have pouches of powdered Magnesium which has a chemical reaction when mixed with a little water and the gas that comes out is actually flammable as well, so you actually can make a little gas bomb out of the heater as well. The government is constantly working on trying to make the different MRE's better and better. Recently they actually came out with a pizza MRE I would love to try, because it took them like 50 years to perfect it. The only truly horrible MRE that has ever existed is the premade vegetarian omelet, its super disgusting. Many MRE's come with certain candies, cookies, pop-tarts, etc and those items become liquid currency for bartering trade. They say an unopened MRE can be stored safely for about 13 years, but a completely unopened box of a dozen MRE's could potentially last for 15-25 years. There are currently 24 different flavored MRE being used altogether. Another way to heat them up, other than the heater provided, would be to take the sealed packets and place them in a pot of boiling water. I always keep one MRE in the trunk of my vehicle and one in my 72 Hour Survival Bug Out Bag among other food items like a Mountain House dehydrated food pack as well.

They just hand them out, you don't choose. We sit and trade with each other and candy comes in some, not all. Love your videos

Being from a Military Family,and becoming a Spouse, Navy and Army. My children loved eating MREs and having Lawn picnics,the Pound cake is really yummy and some used to come with Snickers and pudding and other quite yummy things.I see yall received Skittles and Applesauce. We had fun doing eating them.Thank you for sharing with us. Glad yall enjoyed can't wait for more Videos.Love to all yall.🥰❤

If you put water in a pan and heat it till it boils, and then put the packets in the hot water, let sit for a while that’s one way to warm it up. When I was in the army, we would take her tin cup, filled with water and heat it up on stove. The stove have the capacity to warm the tent. The stove had three capabilities of putting out heat firewood or diesel. We had to add a carburetor for it, or gasoline.

Still got some MREs in the house. They have improved a lot since I joined the military in 1997. But still an acquired taste. But when you're hungry, you don't really care lol! The Tabasco sauce helps a lot

So cool! I love that you guys always want to experience more American things. I was never in the military but my best friend was in the Army. He said that mre’s weren’t that bad. Though he did say that th brownie that you got with some of them were awful. They called them track pads, as in they tasted like what they imagined a track pad of a tank would taste like. lol

As a military spouse & mother with children who have served in the military, I can tell you that MRE’s are also sold in the Commissary. We also have a military surplus store that is open to the public which also sells MRE’s. Some taste better than others!

I was in when the C-Rations were still being issued, i loved them along with the MRE

Some things to keep in mind about MRE's 1) One full MRE Packet (not just the Entree) is anywhere between 1,200 to 1,400 Calories 2) The Gum has an Anti-Constipation chemical added, since the Peanut Butter and Cheese packs can 'Block' a person up 3) The MRE Heaters can actually burn a person skin, if held too long, due to the chemical reaction between the Heater and the Water 4) Each year they put out 24 MRE's, with 2 to 3 changes to the Entree's from the previous year

Flavors and varieties of MREs come and go over the years. When I joined the Army in 2004 my first MRE in basic training was the chicken breast entre and came with wheat snack bread, cheese spread, a minestrone soup side, and spice pound cake. Not a bad first, to be honest lol. My three favorites were actually the beef ravioli, meatballs in marinara sauce, and the regular chili.

This was fun :) they do get issued on field exercises (my husband is not a fan but admits they have all you need for a full hard days work), but they also sell them at the commissary. A fellow military wife friend is also a Troop Master for Boy Scouts and one time she bought a bunch of MREs for the boys to experience on one of their campouts 😊

As someone who has never been in the service the only thing I can compare eating an MRE to is after a several hour hike up a mountain in the rain and then sitting on top of the mountain, sweaty, tired and cold and pulling out a smushed day-old bologna sandwich from the bottom of my backpack and eating it but it tastes like the best bologna sandwich I've ever had in my life is what I imagine eating an MRE is like for many soldiers/marines. Taste buds completely change depending on environment, circumstances and level of exhaustion.

Back in the early eighties, when the Marine Corps, started the switch from C-rations to MREs our Sergeant Major gathered us Staff Non-Commissoned offers together to taste test the MREs. Give me a case of C-Rats and I'm happy. To this day I still carry the John Wayne, can opener, I got in boot camp the 1st time we had C-Rats 45 years ago. Needless to say we weren't impressed. I understand they've gotten better.

The trick with the heaters is after you fill them up, you fold the top of the heater over and place the heater (top first) back into the cardboard box it came in. This will heat the meal up better. If you leave the top open it tends to let a lot of the heat out and doesn’t heat up the meal as well

Retired Army guy, love your content, so not all situations grant you the time to warm them up or the space to pack the whole thing and a lot of Marines ( i'm sure Bruce W would agree ) spend time in those rough situations, eating cold is okay not the best but it will meet the need if you know what i mean. I like that state of mind, imagine you went out early in the morning, walked through a rough spot for half the day carrying/wearing 70+ pounds of gear maybe involved in some sort of combat and you get to sit down in some cover as a group and tear into that bag, it makes it a little better.

Hot tip: put a pinch of salt in to the heating bag to help it heat up faster. Also the light house towels are actually toilet paper (bog roll). If the gum pack is clear on both sides it is spearmint & if it is clear & red it is cinnamon.

I loved this video! It was so fun watching the surprise reactions you all had when eating the MREs. Would love watching more of them!

Great video. I'd like to see more of you trying the rest of the packages of MREs. It's pretty interesting to see what is inside of them.

you should try this recipe called: Army SOS Creamed Ground Beef Recipe This recipe for Army SOS Creamed Ground Beef is from Jaki-Lynn's Family Cookbook Project Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 cube beef bouillon 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 pinch ground black pepper 2 1/4 cups milk 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce Directions: Brown beef in a large skillet over medium high heat. Stir in flour, bouillon, salt and pepper. Saute all together for about 5 minutes or until flour is absorbed. Gradually stir in milk and Worcestershire sauce. Bring all to a simmer, stirring constantly. Cook until thickened, about 5 to 10 minutes. Serve over Egg Noodles.

Im a Navy brat, MRE's, C-Rations, Gov't cheese and crackers, Ive had em all. Still to this day I will eat Spagetti-O's right out of the can. Yummy! Its fun watching yall try these things. Reminds me of my childhood. I also have an older sister. We used to play this game in the kitchen after school. One person closes their eyes, the other person gets something from the fridge and puts it in the other's mouth and they have to guess what it is. There are 2 rules: No raw eggs. No rotten/spoiled food.

YAAAAAAAS! So glad you got to experience these! Wish it was me that could send them, but woot woot!!! In Army Basic Training, we barely had enough time to let them heat up so sometimes you just ate the gel as it was...that's why I loved the tuna one, it didn't need to be heated up!

Chili Mac was always my favorite, and yes the MREs were traded and if you got items in the MRE you didn't like you could usually find someone that liked it and trade it with them for something else. If i got one with skittles i would sometimes trade them and peanut butter for entire other MREs sometimes.

When you are completely worn out and bone tired as you all correctly pointed out it's perspective. Before MRE's it was dehydrated biscuits beef jerky etc. So when these were adopted by militaries it was a great improvement. Thx guys

I served in the US Army and retired in 1998. When I joined we were still eating the old C-Rations. Then the MRE's made their first appearance. Like my other brother in arms mentioned, when you are in the field in a fox hole, at the end of the day the rations were a gourment dinner.

The heater is a simple combination of powdered food grade iron and magnesium, salt, and water. When water is poured onto the included heater pad, the heater releases enough heat to warm-up the pre-cooked meal to 100+ degrees Fahrenheit in approximately 12 minutes.