Mountain House vs. MREs

[clindsayrun]

MRE's are heavy. Mountain House is stupid expensive, and if you put a long day in most of the portion sizes will dissapoint.

Pack your own food. It'll be way cheaper, WAY more nutritious, and you won't be shortchanged on portions. It will also be less bulky so it'll pack easier and things can tuck into all the nooks. Also, with some items if you shoot a deer and are packing out early you can bury/scatter or burn some food without crying about the money, worrying about the impact on the wilderness, or leaving trash in the wilderness. Rifle, ammo, binos, tarp/shelter, pack, clothes/rain gear, food, one pot to cook and eat out of, a light weight iso-butane stove, cup and a spoon.

Bring top ramen and instant mashed potato flakes for dinners (portion the flakes out in sandwich baggies). Eat the ramen then make mashed potatos in the left over broth. Throw in a few foil wrapped pouches of tuna for extra protein. Eat pop tarts or something for breakfast. Bring a couple of real oranges for snacks/desert. Throw in a few protein/muli grain bars like Zone Perfect and some Skittles for fast absorbing calories that won't melt or get smashed. A flavored drink or chocolate is nice in the evening. If you're putting in serious mileage or you expect it to be cold aim for 3500 calories per day.

I feel like I eat better, injest more calories, carry out less trash, and do it at 1/3 the cost of those living off of Mountain House for a week.

[briancorneal]

MRE's are heavy. Mountain House is stupid expensive, and if you put a long day in most of the portion sizes will dissapoint.

Pack your own food. It'll be way cheaper, WAY more nutritious, and you won't be shortchanged on portions. It will also be less bulky so it'll pack easier and things can tuck into all the nooks. Also, with some items if you shoot a deer and are packing out early you can bury/scatter or burn some food without crying about the money, worrying about the impact on the wilderness, or leaving trash in the wilderness. Rifle, ammo, binos, tarp/shelter, pack, clothes/rain gear, food, one pot to cook and eat out of, a light weight iso-butane stove, cup and a spoon.

Bring top ramen and instant mashed potato flakes for dinners (portion the flakes out in sandwich baggies). Eat the ramen then make mashed potatos in the left over broth. Throw in a few foil wrapped pouches of tuna for extra protein. Eat pop tarts or something for breakfast. Bring a couple of real oranges for snacks/desert. Throw in a few protein/muli grain bars like Zone Perfect and some Skittles for fast absorbing calories that won't melt or get smashed. A flavored drink or chocolate is nice in the evening. If you're putting in serious mileage or you expect it to be cold aim for 3500 calories per day.

I feel like I eat better, injest more calories, carry out less trash, and do it at 1/3 the cost of those living off of Mountain House for a week.

I'm sure there's another thread that covers this, but what does your menu look like for a week's worth of food?  I'm curious.

[deerslyr]

MRE's are heavy. Mountain House is stupid expensive, and if you put a long day in most of the portion sizes will dissapoint.

Pack your own food. It'll be way cheaper, WAY more nutritious, and you won't be shortchanged on portions. It will also be less bulky so it'll pack easier and things can tuck into all the nooks. Also, with some items if you shoot a deer and are packing out early you can bury/scatter or burn some food without crying about the money, worrying about the impact on the wilderness, or leaving trash in the wilderness. Rifle, ammo, binos, tarp/shelter, pack, clothes/rain gear, food, one pot to cook and eat out of, a light weight iso-butane stove, cup and a spoon.

Bring top ramen and instant mashed potato flakes for dinners (portion the flakes out in sandwich baggies). Eat the ramen then make mashed potatos in the left over broth. Throw in a few foil wrapped pouches of tuna for extra protein. Eat pop tarts or something for breakfast. Bring a couple of real oranges for snacks/desert. Throw in a few protein/muli grain bars like Zone Perfect and some Skittles for fast absorbing calories that won't melt or get smashed. A flavored drink or chocolate is nice in the evening. If you're putting in serious mileage or you expect it to be cold aim for 3500 calories per day.

I feel like I eat better, injest more calories, carry out less trash, and do it at 1/3 the cost of those living off of Mountain House for a week.

I'm sure there's another thread that covers this, but what does your menu look like for a week's worth of food?  I'm curious.

Im still waiting for a reply on that thread for a week long nutritious meal plan that doesnt need a cooking system or mre's   

[kentrek]

any body needing ideas on food should  check out andrew skurkas web site and see what he eats..
he pretty much out does anybody on earth and still does mtn house......so no need to wory about not having enough cals with his meal plan

[fireweed]

Not even a contest. Mountain House.

Lived on MRE's on a Lookout.  Scary.  Nothing like rolling into a tent cold, wet and bloody in the middle of the night and having real food.

[dongill]

... The only good thing about mre's for me is you don't have to worry about taking a crap in the woods for a while.

LOL...that is great! I assume you are not talking about the included toilet paper? Tehehe

[Wild Bill]

Most MRE's make me yack. Veggie omelet makes me yack at the thought
Might have something to do with living off them in the 120+ degree heat though.

Yup.  There's something about MREs that flips a switch in your head when you get to the point where you have to eat them day after day, or when you crave them (like we did in Ranger School).  Once you go back to real food, it's pretty hard to enjoy an MRE again.  Changing the menus helps, but they're still MREs. 
They still have that "I am not going to decompose for 200 years because of the experimental chemical that is in this bag" smell to them....

Gotta admit, the "new" MRE's are a lot better..... But you are right.....   It would take a lot more than a week long hunt to make me eat a MRE

Notice some "do it yourself" stuff on here.... I am a big fan of cinnamon raisin bagels with peanut butter and bacon.... 3 a day with a some fruit and snack bars...... way more than enough cals.... Protein and the right cals to boot.....

WB

[deadwoodbuck]

mountain house by a mile...tasty, filling, nutritious, light, easy, great selection, fast, good deserts and main courses...no question

[300rum]

Not even close for me either.  MH can be had for under $5/entree (20% off at Fred Meyer) and it is miles ahead in taste and weight.

[LeeMajors]

Definitely voting no on the MREs.  Too heavy and too messy.  Though I really miss the freeze dried fruit that used to be in them.  But maybe I'm biased since I had them too much when I was in.

Mountainhouse come in resealable packs, so when you pack your garbage back up, you aren't making a mess in your pack (unless you think burying non-biodegradable stuff is ok... hope not)

It's also a lot lighter if you're using something like a jet boil.  the small 100g fuel can will last a week as the jet boil only take ~2 minutes to boil water.

They also have LOW SODIUM version available now.  I recommend packing a bottle of hot sauce though, the low sodium = low flavor, and hot sauces fixes that, and keeps you regular.

Do NOT take the Mountain House Lasagna.  The 'cheese' that's in there is a PITA to get off of your spoon.  Or, just take a few corn starch spoons and bury them when you're done.  Seriously, that cheese is no joke.

8 mountain houses, some oatmeal, beef jerkey, tea, and a bag of trail mix, kept me running for a week in some really rough territory.  I actually packed ~16 mountain houses in, but only used 8.

One more tip, if you bring whiskey or rum with you, bring some Lemonade flavored Mio.  1/2 squirt mio, half water, half whiskey = pretty good stuff

Edit:  1 last thing, as mentioned previously, you can buy them by the box at Costco, and save a lot of $$

[Jingles]

wow you guys make me feel bad with these 4 cases of MREs Guess I'll have to try the Mountain House when these are gone Price was right (free) and still have plenty of time before they expire

[Wild Bill]

wow you guys make me feel bad with these 4 cases of MREs Guess I'll have to try the Mountain House when these are gone Price was right (free) and still have plenty of time before they expire

Yep..... Forever
WB

[Pathfinder101]

wow you guys make me feel bad with these 4 cases of MREs Guess I'll have to try the Mountain House when these are gone Price was right (free) and still have plenty of time before they expire

Yep..... Forever
WB

Yeah, unless you are a vampire you won't be around when those things go bad...

[bare.hunter]

im gonna do the high buck this year so i was talking to my dad about packable foods so he grabed me  a mre its a new version of it. kinda nice but yes heavy has a can of ice tea and a hogy bun sandwich i would first off take the can of tea out. but im gonna exsperiment this summer with both. its not the old school brown heavy plastic its clear and acually looks like good food. and yes it is a military mre

old school is searats.Man them things pug you up.

[Marcoramius]

Do NOT take the Mountain House Lasagna.  The 'cheese' that's in there is a PITA to get off of your spoon.  Or, just take a few corn starch spoons and bury them when you're done.  Seriously, that cheese is no joke.

Haha!! I totally agree with the lasagna cheese being a PITA. Unfortunately, the lasagna is also pretty tasty so I usually just bring a couple of throw away plastic spoons just for them.