Has anyone used MREs on the AT? Someone who told me he hiked the AT last year said he drop shipped himself MREs for the entire trail. Seems a bit expensive to me. Do MREs offer any advantage?
_Thatguy_MREs vs Other Food
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#1
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#2
Downside--heavy and expensive. Plusside--chocked full of calories (fat) and don't have to be cooked. I like to eat them but not carry them.
_bowlegs_
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#3
MRE's are really heavy! On my 2009 AT hike I prepared over 40 drop boxes with food including Mountain House freeze dried dinners. This was big mistake. There are a few spots a mail drop of food might come in handy, but you can find plenty of food along the way. In Harpers Ferry I sent my stove home and ate just cold food the rest of the way and did not miss hot food. Save the hot food eating for trail towns and lighten your load by getting rid of the stove and looking for fuel along the way.
I plan on hiking from Springer to Harpers this year for kicks and not taking a stove.
_NedtheFed_
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#4
I still use mail drops a lot even though I'm in the minority. Most hikers buy their food in towns and a convenience stores along the way. As NedtheFed mentioned there is also plenty of places where you can get a hot meal when passing through towns. You will need a stove and hot food during the colder months and also if you are a coffee drinker. Checkout AT resupply info on www.whiteblaze.net there is a lot of good advice in that document.
_Old Goat_
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#5
Hi Thatguy,
I hiked the entire AT in 2009 with maildropped MREs. If I do the AT again, I’ll do it totally with MREs again. Just way too convenient and can’t beat the cost per calorie and variety. I bought them by the case (with heaters) from MREDepot and paid about 5-6 bucks a piece. Don’t hesitate to call and ask for free shipping. I ordered two separate shipments and they agreed to ship both for free.
Some people are dead set against MREs and I’ll never try to convince them otherwise … hike your own hike!!
Enjoy the day,
Bison
_Bison_
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#6
I ate a lot of MREs when I worked for the forest service. We were required to keep at least one in our line packs and served as a fall back food on wild fires. Like any food if you eat enough of it you become sick of it, and this holds true for MREs. They are also very heavy and bulky, but are loaded with calories and can be very rewarding at the end of a hard day and contain ample food to last a couple days. I would suggest sending one with each mail drop. My personal favorite is the beef stew and the chicken breast meals usually have M&Ms or Skittles! Avoid the omlet MRE it is disgusting and has made me sick.
_Goat Boy_
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#7
I have eaten more than my share of mre's while I was in military and would never choose them over regular or even trail food. I would even spend the money to buy my own food but that was rare. Not saying I will feel the same about trail food after our thru-hike. That being said I did try one a friend of mine gave me last year and I can say it was better than the ones I ate 16 years ago but still not good enough to eat for 6 months straight. MRE's are heavy up, almost 2lb each,3 per day and take up a lot of space. they provide 3600 calories. You probably can find dehydrated food thats much lighter with the same calories.
Now if your set on MRE’s I’d say go with the cold weather mre’s. Each pack weighs around 2.75lb but one pack is for one full day and gives you 4500 calories. The down side is the 2 main meals in it are freeze dried and need to boil water for them(thus the lower weight). In my opinion they taste better than the regular ones also. I’d imagine you can buy them just like the regular ones so I’d say order a pack of each see which you like the best.
_Tony_
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#9
Bear in mind that there is a HUGE difference between military MRE's and those available to civilians. All of the civilian MRE's I've seen weigh in at roughly 1,200 calories or less.
Although you may be able to find some somewhere, my understanding is that it is illegal to sell military MRE’s to civilians.
_LexingtonNC_