issue 01
January 2018
NL4S Your Adventure Start Here
Are Self-Heating Meals The Same As MREs?
Are Self-Heating Meals The Same As MREs? If you're into camping and the great outdoors, or you're simply a hobbyist looking into new experiences, you may have come across a peculiar term; self-heating meals. It sounds fairly straightforward. They're meals that heat themselves. Unfortunately, most people don't know any more than that. If they did, they'd know that these are some of the best ways to get important nutrition while out in the wilderness.
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Self-Heating Meals and MREs
Some self-heating meals are also called MREs, or Meals Ready to Eat. You may have heard that term used alongside other military terms, and there's a good reason for that. MREs were originally designed for soldiers out in the field. There's a long history of the development, such as how it was the successor to the original ration style, which involved several large cans. The cans could easily puncture, and they were heavy. So the military needed something better.
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MREs were designed from LRP rations that had been produced for special forces. Long Range Patrol rations were vacuumed sealed and dehydrated. Unfortunately, the technology was expensive. Eventually, the technology got better, and MREs were created.
What's The Difference Between MREs and Self-Heating Meals?
Since both terms are used interchangeably, does that mean there's no difference? Not at all! Most MREs contain an entire meal; an entree, twoÂ
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sides, drink, dessert, and small spice packets, and all the calories you need for the day. The various meals are prepared in different ways depending on which meal it is and what company makes the product.Â
Some meals only require water. Others come with an extra heater that can be used to cook. Self-heating meals are exactly that. They're food packets designed to cook on their own. This does make them lighter, though it also limits the number of meals available. After all, they can only use food that can actually be self-heating!
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