Its amazing how far you have come on this channel. I remember subscribing since the first video was uploaded about the beef stew. It's cool to see the Old vs the modern ration compared.
The new cold weather ration or MCW (Meal, Cold Weather) is just that. A ration. It's technically not a MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) since it requires preperation.
I was in the USAF from 04/86 to 12/90. My favorite desserts were chocolate covered fudge brownie, orange nut cake, and cherry nut cake. I remember the dehydrated fruit. I went to Osan AB, ROK, and a seargent in my ate 6 dehydrated fruit bar and a canteen of water. They expanded in his stomach. We had to take him to the base hospital to get his stomach pumped.
@@thomascreary990 really? Then I guess all my friends that served in Vietnam, plus my Father were wrong, they weren't called MRE,S however C-rations are the same thing, you even used to get a 2 or 4 ct, pack of cigarettes
Such an interesting video, comparing the two similar main dishes, from 40 years ago, to todays equivalent, great idea. The stew from the old MRE looked really small compared to the new MRE. I wonder what the caloric difference was in them? Looks like the new one would have twice the calories, if not more. I appreciate your military stories, and the pictures were a welcomed addition. I always look forward to your videos, so informative, and entertaining, God bless.
It's cause it was a cwM (cold weather meal) and i know its bigger then normal mre because you need more calories in the cold. it could even be double the size of a regular mre! just a fyi!
I'll tell you what. Those tabasco sauce mini bottles were liquid gold in Desert Storm. They weren't in every MRE, so sometimes you were lucky. Sometimes you weren't.
I love the stories your tell during your MRE eating adventures. Your time spent in Beirut is always interesting to hear about. I hope you didn't have to experience or lose friends during the bombing of the marine corps barracks around that time. Thank you for your service Me Ancient, and happy 4th of July!
Thankfully, I didn't lose friends in either the Embassy bombing or the barracks bombing. Some were hurt, but nobody from my unit died in either bombings. TFW
Wonderful to see our favorite MRE taste testers back in action! Fortunately, no air leaks in the old MRE so we got a good look at times past. I think we will all agree that field rations have improved exponentially. A plus with the freeze-dried mains is that they will last much longer in storage. You may lose the cake but the main dish will still be good for decades.
Strictly speaking this wasn't a apples to apples comparison (being pedantic video still entertaining). The white cold weather meal and tan long range patrol meals (same thing just in different coloured packets) are not MREs since they can not be eaten without being prepared; these were specially developed for specialized units that operate by themselves for week or longer. The MRE presents the problem that it still to heavy to say carry a couple of days worth of meals and they are not suited for extreme climates where high tier units often find themselves in like snow, high in mountains or tropics where the MREs either freeze or burst but since they mostly operate undetected they have the luxury of taking more time to prepare meals and they do not depend on morale boosting items like a half decent desert. So in the 90's they developed these meals for these purposes where the main has added fibre and calories and then specially freeze dried and then the sides like desert and crackers are taken out to make the meal lighter and smaller. The current Beef stew MRE (menu 9) got vanilla pound cake, peanut butter, grain snack bread, fruit disks, lemon-lime drink. But you right about keeping longer and new technology. Newest stuff that will probably be used in the coming years are vacuum microwaved sonic compressed meals, where they take 25% to 75% of the moisture out of food items and compress them into bars without overcooking the meal by vacuum boiling the food at 60F. So you get a bar of say cheesecake or spicy chicken meat which does not resemble an actual meal but you get all the micronutrients, fibre and calories of a good homecooked meal in something the size of a candy bar that can be eaten on the move without preparation and just chased with some water.
This video was truly awesome. it was cool to see the old style MREs compared to the new style ones prepared for today’s day. Man I got to give you credit for eating that 40 year old mre like a champ and was cool to see how edible and put together it still was. Good video I Enjoyed this one, cheers🤝
Great to see you back!! Ahh yes…. The familiar tongue tingle of rancid nuts in the cherry cake. Love the comparison between the two different eras of MREs. That dehydrated fruit from the brown bag is the bomb. Thanks for sharing and a happy 4th to you and your family
Had a great 4th. Tks for the good comments. It's good to be back. Another one recorded and I'll be working on the editing over the next few days. TFW, Matt!
When I was a Marine in the field I was always hungry. That Mountain House meal would have been a savior. The old brown package MRE is what I got. I ate it but did not like it much.
The one thing I missed about the c ration peanut butter was you always had a fuel source to heat everything up. Lol First generation MREs we're just plain nasty.
Hell brother, I remember those Beef Stew MRE's in the dark brown, right along Dehydrated Beef and Pork patties and the dreaded Hot Dogs with Beans that even racoons wouldn't eat.
I really enjoyed your photos and the stories behind them, fascinating. I'm amazed at how normal people in a warzone can go about their daily lives so bravely. It's disgusting that what happened in Beirut is happening NOW in 2023 in EUROPE. Really enjoyed the comparison to the 1983 MRE you had in the core to the modern day one. The old one you used to have looked like some good food, of course the new one is going to be better after 40 years of experimentation and improvements. I wonder if the calorie count on both MRE's are similar. Keep em coming, I'm watching
I'm shocked the FD fruit tasted ok. Sure didn't look like it was supposed to. The old PB seems superior to new and not surprising it was that good. Liked the pics and story about Beirut. No surprise the FD stew was better. Even if the old stew was edible, the FD one surely would be better. Great old/new comparison!! Excellent review!
I absolutely love the personalized Me Ancient mess tray!! I also love your original mess tray, so this comparison video is the perfect format for using both of them!
I bought some 90's MRE'S cases.that were sold out of the commissary out at Edwards A.F.B. for my emergency preparedness closet while living in the southern California high desert. I went through some in the mid 2010's and they were delicious with not one bad side effect. They were stored at a constant basement temperature so I felt confident they would be edible.
as an iranian who fights against islamic terrorist regime for freedom i love your story about israel we love them they are trully good people we fight beside them for freedom and help for cleaning the terrorism from middle east we as people of iran and beside of other iranians who also love them also say god bless them also god bless true patriots of america i know one day soon all of our countrys will be free again god bless king reza pahlavi god bless america and israel 💙
thanks for showing the cool pictures, very interesting to see and great descriptions! i also liked how you used your trays for the food like an actual meal and clear glasses so we could see everything well. and again, great descriptions! 👍i’ll be back to view more
Hello again! It’s great to see another video and the oldies are my favourites! It was interesting to see those photos. I was 14 in 1983 and the war in Beirut was always on the TV, it’s actually the first war that I remember being really aware of. It’s hard to believe that it was 40 years ago! As always, best wishes from Scotland to you and yours 😊
Well that's a trip down memory lane. I was stationed in West Germany back in the 80's and even though our Canadian rations were way better, some bean counter (that probably never went out into the field), decided it was cheaper to stock US MRE's for the brigade. Luckily as I was in a Tank Regiment, we took a lot of our own food out in the field. As well as getting fresh rations almost daily, we rarely had to open the case of MRE's we kept under the main gun as per SOP's. Our own rations had both peanut butter and honey in tubes, that was great to stick in your top pockets for snacking on. I remember the cookies in the MRE's, that we used to call "John Wayne," cookies. It was two chocolate cookies with some kind of wax paper in between, supposedly so you could get them apart but that never happened. They were made, if I remember correctly, in Fort Wayne Indiana but we called them "John Wayne," cookies because you had to be tough just to eat them let alone get them apart. We joked about sticking them on the outside of the tank to add to the armor. 😂😂🤣🤣
When I was in 5th grade in the early 2000s a girls dad who was in the navy seals back in the 80s came in and gave us his 80s MREs. I got a pork meal MRE, nastiest thing I’ve ever seen, my mom told me not to eat it. A friend snorted these m&ms that were basically dust in his MRE. My favorite current meal is the beef brisket. Hope to hear more stories from Beirut.
If it was the pork Pattie that was dehydrated, I loved that one. I usually didn't put quite enough water in the packet so it would crunch just a bit when I reached the middle of the Pattie. Good stuff. TFW
I was enlisted in USMC 1977-86. I remember eating C-rats that were very old. I also remember Marine barracks bombing in Lebanon. They should never have put an offensive force (Marine infantry) into that position. Anyway, Semper Fi brother.
USAF, 1st MRE was in basic (Dec 86) was the dehydrated beef patty. Not allowed to add water, had to give up gum and snacks... Later (was in a tactical radar unit) we got the MRE's during field exercises. Adding the Cocoa powder to the coffee made it a treat! Ended up liking the beef and pork patty ones the best!!
My father was a Jarhead. He fought in the Vietnam War. 3/3 Marines at Dong Ha, Camp Carroll, The Rockpile etc. I love USMC history and would like to see more of your photos from the middle east. Semper Fi!
Wow...were you there when the Marine Barracks was bombed? I was 13 years old then (1983). Always wanted to join the Marines, but unfortunately I have birth defects that made that an impossibility (cleft palate and 70% hearing loss among some other physical issues. So I wouldn't necessarily hear orders on a battlefield or potentially be understood on a battlefield..) Loved the pictures and memories from that time that you shared.
I was serving on the ASW frigate USS Ainsworth doing "Naval Gunfire Support" in 1983. Sad about the city, earlier it had been known as "The Paris Of The Mideast". We were the last Navy ship that had escorted tours in the city. We never fired our gun in anger, but could hear arty fire back in the hills. Three days after we left, the ship that replaced us was able to do some shooting.
We had coordinates of the mobile launch sites from where we received rocket fire. It took hours to get permission to order artillery to fire back. By then, the mobile launchers were hauled to the next place and return fire wasn't worth it. Quite frustrating and one of the main reasons I determined to get out after my 4 years.
My uncle would tell me about all the C rations the Marines were sitting on when they transitioned to MRE'S. He said he ate good. Snacking on C Rations. Sadly he passed two years ago. I sure do miss him and his stories. Great video as always.
That kind of surprises me, that the powdered milk was soured. As powdered milk usually will not go bad. However, powdered milk has always had an off flavor compared to regular milk. But it usually just taste like watered down 1% milk.
Your first MRE (84) were the same ones Canadians got on NATO exercise in Germany. I never minded the MRE's at all. We used to eat the mains right out of the bag. I loved the pouches of cheddar cheese. In the late 70's we also had cans in the rations and again (just like the peanut butter) you could get cheddar cheese in a can.
Beef Stew is ol' reliable. Not very exciting but no surprises, always easy to eat. Curious why you didn't pick up the normal version of the new one though. They're very common. Only real difference is they wont be freeze dried and the stew part is more like the old version but big chunks of beef and more broth.
I will stick to the Mountain House these days brother. I don't remember what menu MRE it was, but my favorite was the chicken with rice. Only for the brownie and the jalapeno cheese packet. I'd mix the cheese with the chicken rice and save the crackers.
That freeze dried fruit was gold out in the field! That was most likely fruit cocktail!!! We would save them for the Recon and the Dragon gunners they would trade their Sex Cookies for the freeze dried fruit!
That fruit mix didn't age well. They were like candy when fresh. I remember the old MRE coffee was basically Sanka. I always added the chocolate mix to it to make mocha. The cherry nut cake was good. It was doughy in texture, but tasted really good. Old MRE beef stew was good, but the new one looks a lot more appetizing. I wouldn't trying the new MRE at all. It looks better. The one thing about the old MRE was that you didn't have to let it sit. You could eat it cold. There were many times when we didn't have time to heat and hydrate food.
None of these compare with the old c-rations in can. The closest equivalent was beef and potatoes or as it was called beef n' shrapnel!. Doesn't sound like much but you cook up some Ramon first, dump in the ol' beef n' shrapnel, with a touch of Tabasco sauce, and you got some good eats!😋
I did not finish watching the video yet before I wrote this comment....cold weather mres are sawdust w/ flavor added. The dark brown packaged beef stew was one of the best meal...except it doesnt really have anything else...if I remember correctly it has peanut butter for the crackers....I dont really like mre peanut butter.
As a former Army Ranger in the late 80s through the 90s we always had large brown spoons in our MREs. I do remember the pound cake and cookie bars in 80s MREs they were very good. I never added water to my mixed fruit other fruits that came with the meals. But I did like the spaghetti and frankfurter meals back in the day.😂
Gotta agree about Mountain House, we have their emergency food after comparing other brands. It's worth the extra cost for nutrition and flavor since prolonged need for rations can be demoralizing and flavorful food can keep you going.
May sound funny, but I love eating mre's. I always thought the tissue was crap but sometimes I just sit down and have a meal to myself when the family is gone. 2 of my kids weren't born till after I retired, and sometimes I feel bad that they don't know much about my military service. But all my kids love space ice cream. It just melts in your mouth without having to be cold. When we go off-roading, we often take some type of mre. The bx has some selections but they don't taste as good as the old mre's.
I was shocked that the old mre did not come with Tabasco.. I still have quite a few.. beef stew was second or third favorite.. Chicken ala king was number one.. beanie weenies as well.. trick with the crackers is to lick the cracker and put salt on em.. them peanut butter and fruit cup on top.. I've never had a modern mre.. SFMF
Despite what soldiers and Marines have been saying for years, MREs do not have an age old shelf life. The old ones we ate back in the 90s had an ACTUAL shelf life of 5-10 years. The older ones were less.
The beef stew MRE heated up mixed with the cheese packet and crushed crackers and Tabasco sauce was THE BEST MRE meal going… That one might’ve been traded with some $$ changing hands 😂
Gonna have to look up mountain house and see what I can find. Have a few different prepper foods brands in the closet, but haven't tried a mountain house yet.
MRE I use to get had a heater that you added water to so you could have a warm meal. also came with water purification tabs, gum, crackers and the usual main course and dessert. I use to buy them for $5 a piece off a man that was in the army reserves back in the 90s. Great for hunting.
I joined the US Army the day after thanksgiving, 1990, went to basic training Ft. Benning GA and got a beef stew MRE in the field. To my surprize, i found a HUGE horsefly in my beef stew unit (made in 1986) ..... i didn't eat the fly........ but did eat everything else. the tobasco was rancid. i never thought much about MRE's untill the early 2000's they started to get better exponentially after that.
In 83 when I hit the fleet we were issued the old mess kits and spoon, forks and knife. They told us it didn’t matter if we didn’t turn them back in. I think I still have the mess kit and I have the canteen cup WWI issue and the cup was WWII issue. Don’t know what happened to the knife fork and spoon.
Try eating one of those per day for eight months in Desert Shield/ Storm. I tried the new mre in 2011 when my boys were in the Iraq war. I really think the old recipes were tastier.
Lebanon was also primarily a christian nation... it was after we left that the muslim hoards killed off ran off or forced converted the christian population
Its amazing how far you have come on this channel. I remember subscribing since the first video was uploaded about the beef stew. It's cool to see the Old vs the modern ration compared.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. TFW
Loved the history part, always great to watch ya with the mre reviews...
More a comin'. TFW
I was in the Corps from 64 to 68. I actually liked C-rations. Scrambled eggs and ham was my favorite.
hello Me Ancient! good to see you back again. i love the videos!
try to upload more over the summer as i would love to watch more.
Tks, and I have already recorded another video. Editing for release this weekend, hopefully. TFW
The new cold weather ration or MCW (Meal, Cold Weather) is just that. A ration. It's technically not a MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) since it requires preperation.
Why is “Shopping Center” in English? Same thing w/ the G hospital.
you shake the fruit drink to mix and add the cocoa to the coffee to make an army moccachino.....
I was in the USAF from 04/86 to 12/90. My favorite desserts were chocolate covered fudge brownie, orange nut cake, and cherry nut cake. I remember the dehydrated fruit. I went to Osan AB, ROK, and a seargent in my ate 6 dehydrated fruit bar and a canteen of water. They expanded in his stomach. We had to take him to the base hospital to get his stomach pumped.
Ouch!!! TFW, John (Wanamaker, really?)
@MeAncient Yes, but I'm not related, unfortunately
@@johnwanamaker84 Thank you for your service.
From S.korea 🇰🇷
Beef stew I'm in...can't go wrong with the mountain house stuff man! 🎉
Great test!
Mountain House is the best, for sure. TFW, Eltenda!
Growing up in the 60s and 70s, I have eaten my share of MRE'S, considering my father served 31 years in the Navy/Army, love all your videos
That is awesome! What were your favorites, Kirk? TFW
@@MeAncient I liked the meat patties with gravy and the Beef stew ones
They didn't have MRE'S THE 60S OR 70S THEY DIDN'T COME AROUND TILL THE 80S
@@thomascreary990 really? Then I guess all my friends that served in Vietnam, plus my Father were wrong, they weren't called MRE,S however C-rations are the same thing, you even used to get a 2 or 4 ct, pack of cigarettes
@@kirkfeatherstone6944 c rations no MRE'S
Such an interesting video, comparing the two similar main dishes, from 40 years ago, to todays equivalent, great idea. The stew from the old MRE looked really small compared to the new MRE. I wonder what the caloric difference was in them? Looks like the new one would have twice the calories, if not more. I appreciate your military stories, and the pictures were a welcomed addition. I always look forward to your videos, so informative, and entertaining, God bless.
It's cause it was a cwM (cold weather meal) and i know its bigger then normal mre because you need more calories in the cold. it could even be double the size of a regular mre! just a fyi!
I'll tell you what. Those tabasco sauce mini bottles were liquid gold in Desert Storm. They weren't in every MRE, so sometimes you were lucky. Sometimes you weren't.
Always makes my day when I see a new video from you and these long videos are a particular treat, thank you! And a belated happy Father's Day to you.
Steven, thank you for that and TFW
I love the stories your tell during your MRE eating adventures. Your time spent in Beirut is always interesting to hear about. I hope you didn't have to experience or lose friends during the bombing of the marine corps barracks around that time. Thank you for your service Me Ancient, and happy 4th of July!
Thankfully, I didn't lose friends in either the Embassy bombing or the barracks bombing. Some were hurt, but nobody from my unit died in either bombings. TFW
Comparing an MCW with a standard MRE is a bit odd since the MCW is usually freeze dried as opposed to retort pouches.
Wonderful to see our favorite MRE taste testers back in action! Fortunately, no air leaks in the old MRE so we got a good look at times past. I think we will all agree that field rations have improved exponentially. A plus with the freeze-dried mains is that they will last much longer in storage. You may lose the cake but the main dish will still be good for decades.
Freeze Dried MREs are the bomb, for sure. Good to be back, Jack. TFW, my friend.
Strictly speaking this wasn't a apples to apples comparison (being pedantic video still entertaining).
The white cold weather meal and tan long range patrol meals (same thing just in different coloured packets) are not MREs since they can not be eaten without being prepared; these were specially developed for specialized units that operate by themselves for week or longer. The MRE presents the problem that it still to heavy to say carry a couple of days worth of meals and they are not suited for extreme climates where high tier units often find themselves in like snow, high in mountains or tropics where the MREs either freeze or burst but since they mostly operate undetected they have the luxury of taking more time to prepare meals and they do not depend on morale boosting items like a half decent desert.
So in the 90's they developed these meals for these purposes where the main has added fibre and calories and then specially freeze dried and then the sides like desert and crackers are taken out to make the meal lighter and smaller.
The current Beef stew MRE (menu 9) got vanilla pound cake, peanut butter, grain snack bread, fruit disks, lemon-lime drink.
But you right about keeping longer and new technology. Newest stuff that will probably be used in the coming years are vacuum microwaved sonic compressed meals, where they take 25% to 75% of the moisture out of food items and compress them into bars without overcooking the meal by vacuum boiling the food at 60F. So you get a bar of say cheesecake or spicy chicken meat which does not resemble an actual meal but you get all the micronutrients, fibre and calories of a good homecooked meal in something the size of a candy bar that can be eaten on the move without preparation and just chased with some water.
This video was truly awesome. it was cool to see the old style MREs compared to the new style ones prepared for today’s day. Man I got to give you credit for eating that 40 year old mre like a champ and was cool to see how edible and put together it still was. Good video I Enjoyed this one, cheers🤝
Glad you enjoyed it! More coming soon. TFW!
Great to see you back!! Ahh yes…. The familiar tongue tingle of rancid nuts in the cherry cake. Love the comparison between the two different eras of MREs. That dehydrated fruit from the brown bag is the bomb. Thanks for sharing and a happy 4th to you and your family
Had a great 4th. Tks for the good comments. It's good to be back. Another one recorded and I'll be working on the editing over the next few days. TFW, Matt!
When I was a Marine in the field I was always hungry. That Mountain House meal would have been a savior. The old brown package MRE is what I got. I ate it but did not like it much.
Steve, I was hungry a lot as well. TFW
Been waiting to get another Mre video from meacient. Hope everything is good for you and you’re family. And greetings from Ga my friend.
More to come! Good to see you, from Ga!
That peanut butter will look the same on the way out!🤣😂
The one thing I missed about the c ration peanut butter was you always had a fuel source to heat everything up. Lol
First generation MREs we're just plain nasty.
Good heat source, for sure. TFW
Hell brother, I remember those Beef Stew MRE's in the dark brown, right along Dehydrated Beef and Pork patties and the dreaded Hot Dogs with Beans that even racoons wouldn't eat.
The hot dogs, ham slice, and the vomit omelette were considered WMD in my book! Some of the nastiest stuff on the planet!
I really enjoyed your photos and the stories behind them, fascinating. I'm amazed at how normal people in a warzone can go about their daily lives so bravely. It's disgusting that what happened in Beirut is happening NOW in 2023 in EUROPE. Really enjoyed the comparison to the 1983 MRE you had in the core to the modern day one. The old one you used to have looked like some good food, of course the new one is going to be better after 40 years of experimentation and improvements. I wonder if the calorie count on both MRE's are similar. Keep em coming, I'm watching
More to come soon. It is sad what's going on in the West nowadays. We are committing suicide on so many fronts. TFW
Thank you for your service my dad did 22 years in army. In two wars. I can remember those meals . Thank you God bless you
I'm shocked the FD fruit tasted ok. Sure didn't look like it was supposed to. The old PB seems superior to new and not surprising it was that good. Liked the pics and story about Beirut. No surprise the FD stew was better. Even if the old stew was edible, the FD one surely would be better. Great old/new comparison!! Excellent review!
Tks for the comment, 'Jerms.' TFW
Has Me Ancient ever gotten sick from eating something from an old MRE yet?? I swear some times he risks it all taking a bite of these... lol!
Never been sick, yet....... TFW
I absolutely love the personalized Me Ancient mess tray!! I also love your original mess tray, so this comparison video is the perfect format for using both of them!
I bought some 90's MRE'S cases.that were sold out of the commissary out at Edwards A.F.B. for my emergency preparedness closet while living in the southern California high desert. I went through some in the mid 2010's and they were delicious with not one bad side effect. They were stored at a constant basement temperature so I felt confident they would be edible.
That's the key.....storing them at a reasonable temperature. Mine have been in my garage for 40 years....some days 110 degrees, some -40. TFW
We called that old toilet paper John Wayne paper, it was rough and tough and didn't take crap off anyone😂😂
I like it! TFW
as an iranian who fights against islamic terrorist regime for freedom i love your story about israel we love them they are trully good people
we fight beside them for freedom and help for cleaning the terrorism from middle east we as people of iran and beside of other iranians who also love them also say god bless them also god bless true patriots of america i know one day soon all of our countrys will be free again god bless king reza pahlavi god bless america and israel 💙
Wow! Glad to have you aboard, sir! TFW
It's been too long!!!
Thanks for the video, and I hope you are well!!!
Yes, indeed, too long. Editing another one for this weekend, hopefully. TFW
I don't know if you're brave or just crazy!... LOL
Yes.....TFW!
thanks for showing the cool pictures, very interesting to see and great descriptions!
i also liked how you used your trays for the food like an actual meal and clear glasses so we could see everything well. and again, great descriptions! 👍i’ll be back to view more
Please continue showing pictures. Interesting to see what caught your lens.
More coming soon.......TFW
Hello again! It’s great to see another video and the oldies are my favourites!
It was interesting to see those photos. I was 14 in 1983 and the war in Beirut was always on the TV, it’s actually the first war that I remember being really aware of. It’s hard to believe that it was 40 years ago! As always, best wishes from Scotland to you and yours 😊
One of my fellow Marines married a girl from Scotland. She and my wife were fast friends back in 1983 - '84. TFW
I have 3 cans of peanut butter that was my father's from Nam dated 68. I am sure all 3 are fine.
They will be a metallic tasting, I believe. They will need a little stirring as well. TFW
Pictures were cool to see, always interesting to see how other countries live.
More pix and stories to come, stay tuned. TFW
Well that's a trip down memory lane. I was stationed in West Germany back in the 80's and even though our Canadian rations were way better, some bean counter (that probably never went out into the field), decided it was cheaper to stock US MRE's for the brigade. Luckily as I was in a Tank Regiment, we took a lot of our own food out in the field. As well as getting fresh rations almost daily, we rarely had to open the case of MRE's we kept under the main gun as per SOP's. Our own rations had both peanut butter and honey in tubes, that was great to stick in your top pockets for snacking on. I remember the cookies in the MRE's, that we used to call "John Wayne," cookies. It was two chocolate cookies with some kind of wax paper in between, supposedly so you could get them apart but that never happened. They were made, if I remember correctly, in Fort Wayne Indiana but we called them "John Wayne," cookies because you had to be tough just to eat them let alone get them apart. We joked about sticking them on the outside of the tank to add to the armor. 😂😂🤣🤣
Tks for adding story. I love hearing about other soldiers/airmen/sailors or Marine experiences. TFW
This is a great video, would like to see more like it 😂
More to come! TFW
a short white spoon and a long black spoon, we all know why it is so
I'm not responding to your comment. TFW
When I was in 5th grade in the early 2000s a girls dad who was in the navy seals back in the 80s came in and gave us his 80s MREs. I got a pork meal MRE, nastiest thing I’ve ever seen, my mom told me not to eat it. A friend snorted these m&ms that were basically dust in his MRE. My favorite current meal is the beef brisket. Hope to hear more stories from Beirut.
If it was the pork Pattie that was dehydrated, I loved that one. I usually didn't put quite enough water in the packet so it would crunch just a bit when I reached the middle of the Pattie. Good stuff. TFW
Loved the pics and stories me Ancient keep em coming
I''ll try and get one out a little sooner this time. TFW, Travis.
MRE's have come a long ways! My son is in the military and some of them are really good!
I'd love to get my hands on more European ones, for sure. I'd also like to find some Asian persuasion MREs. TFW
@@MeAncient He brought it back after being deployed, and trading with someone. I think it was from Poland, but It was really good quality!
You're so cool sir! Love from India!
I don't believe I've ever, in my 60 plus years, been called, 'Cool." I'm real sure about that but thank you and TFW!
Do you finish the meals off camera??
Yes I do. TFW
Thanks for your pictures. Chilling, thinking about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Well, pretty much everywhere.
Loved the story and the pics, Me Ancient..thanks for the video 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it. More coming soon with Beirut stories. TFW
@@MeAncient Looking forward to them 👍🏻
I was enlisted in USMC 1977-86. I remember eating C-rats that were very old. I also remember Marine barracks bombing in Lebanon. They should never have put an offensive force (Marine infantry) into that position. Anyway, Semper Fi brother.
USAF, 1st MRE was in basic (Dec 86) was the dehydrated beef patty. Not allowed to add water, had to give up gum and snacks...
Later (was in a tactical radar unit) we got the MRE's during field exercises. Adding the Cocoa powder to the coffee made it a treat! Ended up liking the beef and pork patty ones the best!!
Cannot go wrong with Mountain House! Getting more expensive though.
I wonder how long they last? TF, Lance
@@MeAncient I've had one that was 40 years old and you would swear it was brand new.
My father was a Jarhead. He fought in the Vietnam War. 3/3 Marines at Dong Ha, Camp Carroll, The Rockpile etc. I love USMC history and would like to see more of your photos from the middle east. Semper Fi!
When you opened the old one I was hoping for the Maple Nut Loaf, which was my favorite back then. Marines from 86-92. Semper Fi brother.
Saw part of this video on TikTok, so I had to come over to RUclips to search up the whole video from the original creator. Really enjoyed the video.
Wow...were you there when the Marine Barracks was bombed? I was 13 years old then (1983). Always wanted to join the Marines, but unfortunately I have birth defects that made that an impossibility (cleft palate and 70% hearing loss among some other physical issues. So I wouldn't necessarily hear orders on a battlefield or potentially be understood on a battlefield..)
Loved the pictures and memories from that time that you shared.
FLASHBACK--The first C-rat I ever ate was beef stew. It also had fruitcake, which was quite tasty too!
The crews at the 109th airlift wing, flying C-130s in the Arctic, carry 6000 calorie MREs for emergency rations in case they get stuck somewhere.
I was serving on the ASW frigate USS Ainsworth doing "Naval Gunfire Support" in 1983. Sad about the city, earlier it had been known as "The Paris Of The Mideast". We were the last Navy ship that had escorted tours in the city. We never fired our gun in anger, but could hear arty fire back in the hills. Three days after we left, the ship that replaced us was able to do some shooting.
We had coordinates of the mobile launch sites from where we received rocket fire. It took hours to get permission to order artillery to fire back. By then, the mobile launchers were hauled to the next place and return fire wasn't worth it. Quite frustrating and one of the main reasons I determined to get out after my 4 years.
My uncle would tell me about all the C rations the Marines were sitting on when they transitioned to MRE'S. He said he ate good. Snacking on C Rations. Sadly he passed two years ago. I sure do miss him and his stories. Great video as always.
I loved the C Rats, for sure. TFW, Roy!
Old brown bag, BBQ pork with rice, chicken and rice, and beef stew. All they were missing was vegetable crackers and jalapeno cheese.
How you thought drinking 40 y/o chocolate drink was wise just amazes me.
Great video!! Now don't laugh, but I actually liked the dehydrated beef patty...and the chocolate bar in the old MREs
That kind of surprises me, that the powdered milk was soured. As powdered milk usually will not go bad. However, powdered milk has always had an off flavor compared to regular milk. But it usually just taste like watered down 1% milk.
Love your Videos Ancient! Keep it up! Thank you for your service! God bless🙏🏼
Your first MRE (84) were the same ones Canadians got on NATO exercise in Germany. I never minded the MRE's at all. We used to eat the mains right out of the bag. I loved the pouches of cheddar cheese. In the late 70's we also had cans in the rations and again (just like the peanut butter) you could get cheddar cheese in a can.
Beef Stew is ol' reliable. Not very exciting but no surprises, always easy to eat. Curious why you didn't pick up the normal version of the new one though. They're very common. Only real difference is they wont be freeze dried and the stew part is more like the old version but big chunks of beef and more broth.
Worst part of most cold weather MREs is they are mostly oat based...making when you finally can shit, it is painful.
you should read Joel C Rosenbergs books. Very prophetic fiction , mostly centered on middle east..
I will stick to the Mountain House these days brother. I don't remember what menu MRE it was, but my favorite was the chicken with rice. Only for the brownie and the jalapeno cheese packet. I'd mix the cheese with the chicken rice and save the crackers.
That freeze dried fruit was gold out in the field! That was most likely fruit cocktail!!! We would save them for the Recon and the Dragon gunners they would trade their Sex Cookies for the freeze dried fruit!
That fruit mix didn't age well. They were like candy when fresh. I remember the old MRE coffee was basically Sanka. I always added the chocolate mix to it to make mocha. The cherry nut cake was good. It was doughy in texture, but tasted really good. Old MRE beef stew was good, but the new one looks a lot more appetizing. I wouldn't trying the new MRE at all. It looks better. The one thing about the old MRE was that you didn't have to let it sit. You could eat it cold. There were many times when we didn't have time to heat and hydrate food.
None of these compare with the old c-rations in can. The closest equivalent was beef and potatoes or as it was called beef n' shrapnel!. Doesn't sound like much but you cook up some Ramon first, dump in the ol' beef n' shrapnel, with a touch of Tabasco sauce, and you got some good eats!😋
The first MRE I got in BCT was the beef stew. It tasted okay, but looked like the contents of my kid brother's diaper. 😮
I did not finish watching the video yet before I wrote this comment....cold weather mres are sawdust w/ flavor added. The dark brown packaged beef stew was one of the best meal...except it doesnt really have anything else...if I remember correctly it has peanut butter for the crackers....I dont really like mre peanut butter.
As a former Army Ranger in the late 80s through the 90s we always had large brown spoons in our MREs. I do remember the pound cake and cookie bars in 80s MREs they were very good. I never added water to my mixed fruit other fruits that came with the meals. But I did like the spaghetti and frankfurter meals back in the day.😂
Dehydrated beef patty
Gotta agree about Mountain House, we have their emergency food after comparing other brands. It's worth the extra cost for nutrition and flavor since prolonged need for rations can be demoralizing and flavorful food can keep you going.
May sound funny, but I love eating mre's. I always thought the tissue was crap but sometimes I just sit down and have a meal to myself when the family is gone. 2 of my kids weren't born till after I retired, and sometimes I feel bad that they don't know much about my military service. But all my kids love space ice cream. It just melts in your mouth without having to be cold. When we go off-roading, we often take some type of mre. The bx has some selections but they don't taste as good as the old mre's.
As an Executive Chef who is a food sanitation certified instructor, please remember you can't see bacteria...
Me Ancient you know that C RAT peanut butter.. two cans of that and you would never need the TP for a week.
I was shocked that the old mre did not come with Tabasco.. I still have quite a few.. beef stew was second or third favorite.. Chicken ala king was number one.. beanie weenies as well.. trick with the crackers is to lick the cracker and put salt on em.. them peanut butter and fruit cup on top.. I've never had a modern mre.. SFMF
Despite what soldiers and Marines have been saying for years, MREs do not have an age old shelf life. The old ones we ate back in the 90s had an ACTUAL shelf life of 5-10 years. The older ones were less.
The beef stew MRE heated up mixed with the cheese packet and crushed crackers and Tabasco sauce was THE BEST MRE meal going… That one might’ve been traded with some $$ changing hands 😂
You know it! TFW, Blaine.
I expecred the old MRE to have a lucky strike Cigarette.. must have been a wives tale..
Gonna have to look up mountain house and see what I can find. Have a few different prepper foods brands in the closet, but haven't tried a mountain house yet.
I love the history in the pictures
More to come, Brian. TFW
Active Seabee here. Just stumbled on your video. Pleasantly surprised by your prayer before eating. God bless, my friend. Hoorah.
The stew was not heated properly. And cold weather mre have more calories. You should have known that. And cherry nut was my favorite.
Enjoyed the whole video and funny parts with stew definitely coulda glared it out hahaha 😅 oh man! Loved the photos and history about Bairut.
MRE I use to get had a heater that you added water to so you could have a warm meal. also came with water purification tabs, gum, crackers and the usual main course and dessert. I use to buy them for $5 a piece off a man that was in the army reserves back in the 90s. Great for hunting.
I love your stories & pictures !
Tks for that and TFW
I joined the US Army the day after thanksgiving, 1990, went to basic training Ft. Benning GA and got a beef stew MRE in the field. To my surprize, i found a HUGE horsefly in my beef stew unit (made in 1986) ..... i didn't eat the fly........ but did eat everything else. the tobasco was rancid. i never thought much about MRE's untill the early 2000's they started to get better exponentially after that.
Amazing guys! love your videos! :) I was missing you for tose 2-3 months :(
In 83 when I hit the fleet we were issued the old mess kits and spoon, forks and knife. They told us it didn’t matter if we didn’t turn them back in. I think I still have the mess kit and I have the canteen cup WWI issue and the cup was WWII issue. Don’t know what happened to the knife fork and spoon.
Those old crackers were the best... The old oatmeal cookie bar was fantastic too. I really wish I could find the cocoa beverage powder.
Try eating one of those per day for eight months in Desert Shield/ Storm. I tried the new mre in 2011 when my boys were in the Iraq war. I really think the old recipes were tastier.
Lebanon was also primarily a christian nation... it was after we left that the muslim hoards killed off ran off or forced converted the christian population
It's not gum in the mre, it's a laxative! Being in the military, you should know this!
I ate C-Rats when I was in the Air Force from '80 to '83. MREs came out after.
It’s 40 years old … no need saying a prayer Jesus walked away from the MRE
You could dig to china with those old MRE spoons, my dad saved a couple way back when and they still get used as camping cutlery to this day