MRE Review: MCW (Meal, Cold Weather) Menu 11 Scrambled Eggs and Bacon

[@gschultz9]

I've gotten most of my MREs from eBay. I did get a case of commercial ones from Meal Kit Supply, and a few others at a nearby military surplus store. The MCWs and the French RCIR were sent to me to review by subscribers.

[@engineflight101]

I get so hungry anytime I watch one of these.

[@rosaperegrine4556]

SAME!

[@raddydaddy69]

Same, even if it's a meal with components I normally don't like to eat, I'm like 'but if I was in an emergency situation, shit would probably taste real good'

[@RyanDow4]

I enjoy how in depth your reviews are. You are good with adjectives, in a sense that I am able to get a clear idea of what you are tasting through your explanations. Well done, as always :)

[@jerrysullivan113]

Older RCWs were a two pack, 24 hour ration. "Ration,Cold Weather"... with breakfast, dinner and mid-day snacks... as I recall, about 3000KCAL per man/day. Not at all bad if plenty of water was available..

[@laytonfranco967]

Sorry to be off topic but does anybody know a tool to get back into an Instagram account..? I stupidly lost my login password. I love any tricks you can offer me.

[@carsonadrien8121]

@Layton Franco Instablaster :)

[@laytonfranco967]

@Carson Adrien Thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and Im in the hacking process now. Takes quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.

[@laytonfranco967]

@Carson Adrien It worked and I now got access to my account again. I am so happy! Thanks so much, you saved my account !

[@carsonadrien8121]

@Layton Franco you are welcome =)

[@bigbear4228]

I am addicted to these MRE videos, you are very detailed. Thank you for that!

[@gschultz9]

You know what, that brings up a good point. I have seen two different types of Hot Beverage Bags. One of them is this loud, crinkly one and the other is a little quieter when being used.

[@ShinigamiMoon]

Wow, I've been watching these one after another and all I can say is thank you so much. I don't know how I got from Buzzfeed to Astronaut food to here, but I'm glad it happened haha

[@gschultz9]

Thank you for saying so. I appreciate the feedback.

[@pepsitate8019]

This was packaged 5 minutes away from were I live.

[@gschultz9]

+Bob Jones Cool!

[@gschultz9]

Yes. This was actually a bit tough to finish because I don't really like oatmeal much (added a little sugar) and the eggs and bacon were quite salty tasting.

[@romanbernal4751]

Your reviews are really thorough and comprehensive. Thank you.

[@bordone]

back in 2003 my Gunny at the time had given me one of the older cold rations that was meant to sustain you for the whole day. He had a few and didnt want them so he handed them out to us. Those things were HUGE and had some weight to them. They had everything you could think of in them but allot of it was freeze dried. Some of the smaller 'snack" items were ready to eat though. He showed us how to reconstitute them and they were pretty good but super fattening due to the high calorie count.

[@gschultz9]

I think the oldest one I ate completely was eight years old. I did the videos about the 26-year-old MRE, but didn't eat all of that one. I'd definitely recommend trying to find the freshest ones you can get your hands on--it's worth paying a little more for the peace of mind of knowing they're newer.

[@indyracingnut]

Quick tip from what us guys do out in the field. We take the bag that the MRE comes in, fold it almost inside out, rolling the sides of it to form a bowl, and then we reconstitute the meals in THAT. Makes it a LOT easier to eat out of and when we're done, we just roll it back up to normal & use it for the trash. We also do this in the absence of any hot beverage bags. Oh yeah, and I used to carry about a dozen plastic straws (which weigh nothing) w/ me so I could drink straight from any bag

[@Lolaandcassidyadventures]

Ordered a few cases of these today. They are hard to find!

[@AdmiralPreparedness]

I volunteered to eat only MRE's for 21 days. Wish me luck. Natick Group is doing another study and they accepted me as a civilian volunteer.

[@tonypham7181]

LL6869 he obviously died from constipation

[@juliuscaesar810]

Hope you’re doing okay *:)*

[@gschultz9]

I agree. It probably would be a lot easier and lighter to just give soldiers a bunch of powders or tubes of paste (and in some cases that might not be a bad idea), but for something that they might need to eat for an extended period of time it might not go over so well.

[@gschultz9]

I have thought of it. I have something planned, but have to figure out all the details.

[@gschultz9]

It does seem like a lot to me too (that's why I specifically mentioned it). I understand the reason behind putting freeze dried food in an MCW, but then a soldier needs to provide a pretty good amount of unfrozen water AND a heat source. I suppose the water isn't being "wasted" because you end up ingesting it all, but it still has to be provided in the first place.

[@AKJJSIM]

I was LRS in AK when 6ID was there. We used the old ones, we called them Arctic Rats. They were two packages with a big rubber band holding them together and that was one days rations. We definitely preferred these to MRE's. Lots of carbs but you needed it humping 60 pound rucks on snowshoes and trying to stay warm when stationary. Hot water wasn't a problem every man carried a back packer stove and fuel.

[@gschultz9]

I just saw this conversation. Thank you for your concern (if that's what it is). Yes, I did take a bit of a "chance" with the milkshakes, but I believe that they were being extremely careful with the recall and did a mass recall of thousands of milkshakes when only a small number were actually potentially affected. It's still taking a chance, but it's a small chance. I never drank more than a little bit of those shakes. The beef patty was freeze-dried so I wasn't to concerned about that one.

[@gschultz9]

I love msspy's videos. Especially the MRE ones. It would indeed be nice to see more from that channel.

[@gschultz9]

I do have a few extra ones from when I either didn't make the beverage mix or re-used a bag here and there. Never know when they'll come in handy (like when you have an MRE that doesn't include one!).

[@gschultz9]

Same here. That's why I definitely wanted to make a full video, for people like me and you who had seen MCWs and were curious about them, but couldn't find anything of substance about them.

[@gschultz9]

Yeah, it would be interesting to see one of those older ones. That's cool that your Gunny gave it to you so you could check it out.

[@gschultz9]

I did not know that the eggs should be drained, but after having them I can see that that makes perfect sense. I thought I'd just use less water next time, but hadn't even thought of simply draining the excess water off.

[@gschultz9]

MREs are sensitive to heat, and the cooler it is stored the longer it will last. I'm not sure if freeze-dried food is as sensitive to heat. I'd think that these would compare pretty well with the commercial brands, but haven't tried them much myself so I'm not sure.

[@johnr001]

Absolutely fantastic reviews as always. Are the American mres made by the same company as the British ones?

[@nunyabiznez4408]

I like how he does the first person consumption.

[@joshuaambresh7829]

Haha!!!

[@Doomsdaygirl8186]

I really enjoy your videos i like how you sample everything and tell us what its like.

[@gryfonclaw]

If I may ask, what was the calorie count for the eggs and bacon? Great videos so far!

[@gschultz9]

I'm dure you could. But remember, the entrees in this one were freeze-dried. Eight years isn't all that old for freeze-dried stuff. I'm always careful with the older stuff and watch out for the warning signs that something has gone bad.

[@Bill23799]

wow...I have never seen an Arctic ration before. I bet the pkg was much lighter in weight than an MRE. You left out the best thing.......the Tabasco!!!!! I would put some on the eggs...the oat meal...the fig bar.......I draw the line at the nuts and raisins. I wonder what the freezing point of Tabasco is since it is vinegar based? If my teeny bottle was frozen i would put it in my armpit on first opening the MCW

[@gschultz9]

A very general number is around ten dollars. You can find them cheaper and you can find them for more than that. It's tough to price genuine MREs because they're not supposed to be sold commercially, so sellers charge whatever they think people looking for them are willing to spend on them. It's generally cheaper to buy them by the case if you plan on buying a lot.

[@gschultz9]

Thank you, and I'll do my best.

[@XaurianQueen]

They have some pretty nice camping freeze dried meals nowadays. You have to make sure they cook long enough though.

[@hrdknox2000]

I had some of the RCWs (Ration, Cold Weather). I got them off ebay. They came two of them taped together. One was breakfast and the other was some sort of lunch/dinner type of meal. The ones I had were probably made in the mid to late 1980s or early nineties and were still good in the early 2000s. They contained some of the items I liked better in the old MREs, like the choc. nut brownies and the oatmeal bars, which were like a brick of sugary oatmeal product. LOVED'em. :) Also have had MCWs &

[@WanderingKit]

It seems more like two meals than one but it makes sense. You need more calories in such environments.

[@megmarioify]

Yea a standard field ration in Norway is 3200Kcal (3 meals) but you also got a arctic one whitch is 5400Kcal I think

[@gschultz9]

Actually, I used hot water to reconstitute it so it was still pretty hot when I ate it.

[@indyracingnut]

And yes, they give us fuel tabs, but most of the time, we use a machine that does that for us. It's kind of like a power generator, but it provides hot water to us 24/7 when we need it.

[@gschultz9]

I was referring to the fact that it's a LOT different from the regular "Orange Beverage Powder" that is found in regular MREs.

[@gschultz9]

You can find MREs on eBay and Amazon (and commercial ones can be found pretty easily with a Google search), but MCWs are pretty hard to come by. I've only seen a couple for sale on eBay. Because of the relative rarity, if you DO find some you'll probably have to pay a hefty price for them.

[@Solaaris1]

I was watching this thinking, why dont they put an FRH and a bev bag in there, then you will always have at least warm water to make your meal? Hmm... Great review as always mate! You have me hooked on MRE's even from across the pond here in England!

[@teajace]

Hey man I just wanted to say I love the vids and the way you read and respond to comments!!! Keep up the great work! :D

[@gschultz9]

I have not, but should check that out. Thanks.

[@gschultz9]

That's probably why they're kind of hard to find. They probably don't have a very large production for something like this until they're really needed.

[@gschultz9]

I can't imagine that they are, but can't really say for sure since I've never had any British rations. There are three contractors that put U.S. MREs together.

[@ChannelSho]

Even if the tobasco sauce freezes, you could always dunk it in with your entree while it reconstitutes (I'm assuming that thing is clean enough).

[@michaelbenjmitchell1]

I believe these cold weather rations had to use a metal canteen cup full of water a heater stand and Trioxane fuel tabs to heat up the main rations (put water in the bag from the canteen set in the cup of hot water for a few minutes stir the contents then enjoy.) Then you used the same water from the canteen cup to make the oatmeal since it was already hot. The cocoa was pretty good but you should try the orange drink hot it is pretty good.

[@MrXboxgamer13]

I love your MRE review videos. I find MREs interesting and cool at the same time. Have you ever thought of doing an MRE give away?

[@DariusJohnIsaacDavis]

more like 1/5 but yea, thats quite a bit to carry but being made for arctic conditions, i assume there will be alot of ice to hand (depending on location). so i guess that was in mind when making the meals.

[@baileybrock1612]

where do u buy these at

[@gschultz9]

Excellent suggestion. Thanks!

[@dionstaples8294]

i have been watching your vids for about 3 weeks now and got my 1st mre last week i broke down and subbed! the mre i got was beef roast and vegies the entree wasnt bad-some of the side items were hit or miss!

[@gschultz9]

These are pretty hard to find (as far as I know). They sometimes show up on eBay, but because of the rarity can go for big bucks.

[@anatomycat98]

I find the timbre of your voice very soothing. So soothing, I bought some of these MREs. If you start selling drugs, I'm in trouble.

[@gschultz9]

Is that Chicken Pesto Pasta? I've neve had that one, but do have a couple and am planning on reviewing it eventually. I've heard good things about it, but since I've never had it I can't really say anything about what's good and/or bad about it. Enjoy!

[@araincs]

I wonder if the cold weather meals are designed with more calories to account for staying warm.

[@sergioblanco6321]

AREss no shit la

[@gschultz9]

I have to admit that I've never been able to get any of these. They seem to be pretty hard to find. Luckily a subscriber was generous enough to send a couple to me to review! But I don't really know of any good places to find MCWs. Every once in a while I'll see one on eBay, but they tend to go for a lot of money because of the rarity.

[@gschultz9]

They're rated at 3-5 years, but can last a lot longer if stored right. There's no exact length of time that they will stay edible and I guess that's why they settled on a "safe" estimate of 3-5 years.

[@thisisKB87]

I don't know why I watch these vids but I like them :D

[@gschultz9]

Wish I knew. Hopefully somebody else will have some advice. I know there are some issues with shipping (especially by air) the Flameless Ration Heaters, but I'm not sure of the actual legality of shipping MREs to specific countries.

[@gschultz9]

It is supposedly illegal to buy and sell genuine MREs (and other genuine military rations) commercially, but it's not usually a problem to get a couple of them here and there. The government seems more concerned with people selling pallets full of cases. I'd think that MCWs would be a bit easier to ship than MREs because they don't include Flameless Ration Heaters.

[@tymossvevo]

thanks for the reply. i try to read the date codes, just have a hard time telling if its from 1993, 2003, or 2013 when it starts with a 3

[@DarthSmirnoff]

Am I wrong in thinking 34 oz of water extra per meal is quite a bit to carry? I'm Canadian so I don't use oz's, but I think that would work out to about 1/4 of a gallon extra water you'd have to carry for each meal.

[@TubeSteakTaco]

I know this is an old video but it would be nice to see the fig bars after being left in the freezer over night. Wonder how they would compare.

[@VMXGroove]

Oh I see. I just wonder if how it is stored, can effect how quickly it can go bad. Also, how do these meals compare to the civilian meals like Food Insurance or Wise Company brands? Do the military grade products taste better?

[@thecman26]

VERY true, there is one auction on ebay, 3 of them and the bidding is at $41 + $9 shipping!

[@Judokasting]

This was very interesting..thanks for posting this.

[@tymossvevo]

just wondering, whats the oldest mre youve ever eaten? and have you ever seen sick from one? i am interested in getting some but i dont wanna get some that are too old.

[@BlueDragen25]

When you do these meals, after you are done with the video do you eat he rest of the meal?

[@TravAkira]

Question: How many MCWs are lost, annually when someone puts it down on the snow, steps away for a moment, and totally looses sight of the thing? :)

[@emp0rt]

Thanks for the upload. I think I've seen all your MRE vids. Are you familiar with msspy? I wonder if we can convince her to start uploading vids again.

[@hrdknox2000]

a modern day LRP (Long Range Patrol, pronounced "LuRP Ration") purchased from ebay as well. Good stuff and better than the MREs, but to my knowledge, out of production. On those eggs, did you drain them first before putting them on the tray? Mountain House advises in their instructions to drain before eating them. Either way, the eggs are still a little spongy. However, the taste is outstanding!

[@TheAluminumCat]

I was really looking forward to this video! Thanks for putting it up! :D

[@Pudginess]

After the video do you finish the meals or just the them away, I'm just wondering.

[@rushmixtape5]

this is some great editing! I love it!

[@tambaygurl26]

I was finally able to buy an MRE. Meal 23 to be exact. Went straight to your channel to see if u have a review of that. None though :( anything I should look out for or stay away from? Thanks!

[@TheOsokhan]

The momment i start watching your videos i cant stop it until it ends O.O

[@hell0philip]

Any insight as to why they haven't figured out how to add a bowl/plate to an MRE yet?

[@OutdoorAesthetics]

if anyone wants to try these for the freeze dried meals they are made in the same place as mountain house food. So it is the same thing just more compact.

[@dylanney43]

Hey this is probably way off topic of a question for an mre video but what did you do in the army?

[@MrFuji-gz2rx]

I have the LRP scrambled eggs and bacon waiting to be consumed. Can I expect the eggs to be similar to this? I'm sure I'll use less water than you did! :) Love your videos!!

[@gschultz9]

I would expect them to be quite similar. It would probably be very smart of you to indeed use a little less water than I did!

[@Mnemotron2010]

what's the taste of the green gum?.Like regular MRE gums?

[@addisonadams719]

is the gum a diffrent flavor than the standered MRE

[@Johnbryantrealestate]

Any tips on how to get them?

[@awsomehobbies]

There is a guy on ebay that sells them. 25 dollars for one, and 50 dollars for four different meals

[@othmanebelghali9383]

Seller name please ?

[@danielmcdermott7785]

You can buy them on mremountain.com ! It offers free shipping

[@Emz5002]

i dont really know anything about MREs or much about field survival, but wouldnt it be easier to have a powder akin to a protein shake, which contains a balance of fat, carbs and protein as well as vitamins and minerals, which you could just mix with hot or cold water. seems like it would be cheaper and save a whole lot of time. just a thought

[@MrSenorNoodles]

after the video ends do you finish the meal or toss them

[@successfulsurvival3879]

This looks "pretty" good. I'm thinking regular MRE is a bit more appetizing, but if you're in the snow, you'll probably be glad for anything warm(ish). Thanks...

[@gschultz9]

Thank you.

[@guafito]

i sometimes feel your making the video just for me :3 i like your vids! ^.^ very interesting MRE and MCW reviews

[@strocat25]

the eegs and bacon would be awesome with some of that tabasco on it.. love your videos keep up the good work

[@gschultz9]

That's actually kind of a neat thing to hear.

[@Chuck_Norris10]

ive been waiting so long for dis thnx

[@bobmiller970]

Have you ever tried mre star mre's??

[@TechnicallyVerified]

is it illegal to buy one of these of ebay then ship it to the UK ?

[@MrReynaldo20081]

where can i get mre or mcw where do u suggest that i can get it

[@mragnostic603]

isn't there some kind of heating element?

[@gschultz9]

Yes.

[@LVMABP]

nice video man but were can u buy one