Self Heating Meals for Storing

[Nightwalker]

Im looking for recommendations on self-heating meals. Im making a pack for emergencies (power-outages, floods etc.) no doubt I'd also keep one in my pack for emergencies. I've never bought one of these meals but at the moment the points that concern me when looking for self-heating meals are:

- Shelf-Life (2+ years would be great)
- Size/Nutritional value
- Price

I would appreciate recommendations from those who have used these types of meals in the past. Im sure some of these products are more effective than others. If they turn out not worth-while I might get some MOD rations. Thanks in advance,

Some examples:
http://www.hotpackmeals.co.uk/
http://www.heatermeals.co.uk/
http://www.hotcan.com/

 

[SimonM]

Personally I find them very expensive! Wayfarer hot meal kits come in at £4.99 per meal! Thats £2 more than the standard boil in the bag they market. If you really want this type of food get some MoD rat packs - your local surplus store should be able to do them for about £4 each. At that price you could buy a Swedish Army Trangia + fuel and still be able to afford more food for the same budget!

Alternatively, why not stockpile "ordinary" supermarket food in your cupboards?

Buy an extra few tins and / or packets every time you go shopping and you will soon have a decent supply. If you rotate your stock, you should always be prepared. Don't forget the water as well!

Hope that helps,

Simon

 

[gilly0802]

yuo can get "self heating" bags for the MOD meals. they are basically a plastic bag with a sachet/packet type thing in it. all you have to do is to add some water (abput 35-50ml) and the packet reacts with the water and heats the meal.

personally i find them great whilst on stag and i want something hot without having to break out the hexi!!

 

[rik_uk3]

Simon has it right. I have a good supply of rat packs and carry about 3 months supply of tinned and dried food at home. Every time you go shopping just add a couple of extra cans/packets to your trolley, soon your cupboards will be full to bursting

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

Any dried foods eg pasta or tinned tuna etc and the MREs are tasty.

Nutritionally it may be better to de-hydrate your own food with a dehydrater. Some posts on the forum about that stuff.

Nick

 

[SimonM]

yuo can get "self heating" bags for the MOD meals. they are basically a plastic bag with a sachet/packet type thing in it. all you have to do is to add some water (abput 35-50ml) and the packet reacts with the water and heats the meal.

They are US MRE heaters - cost £6 for 12 and as you say are handy to have. You can get them from S O F Chester.

http://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/military/select.asp

I carry a couple in my "winter box" that lives in the boot of the car, along with a trangia and other bits and bobs!

 

[Nightwalker]

Cheers for the recommendations guys. Unfortunately I've got a really small place at the moment, 1 cuboard for food atm and thats not enough I suppose I could keep a few extra tins in the attic! I'll look into that US Rat pack heater idea.

Found something that looks good value; a 'HeaterMeals' product, just £3.19
http://www.openhouseproductsshop.com/shopexd.asp?id=188 - Looks like you might have to buy a minimum of 6 though. I think if your talking around £3 for a meal that heats itself aswell thats good value, my only concern is that listing dosent tell you how much food your getting.

 

[Nightwalker]

http://www.heatermeals.co.uk/movies/Movies/Heater Meals Demo_WM_MOVIE_TRAILER_MEDIUM.wmv

 

[rik_uk3]

But if you have space to store the self heating meals, you must have the space for a few tins of all day breakfast, corned beef, beans, spuds etc and this would be a much cheaper opttion

 

[Nightwalker]

But if you have space to store the self heating meals, you must have the space for a few tins of all day breakfast, corned beef, beans, spuds etc and this would be a much cheaper opttion

I was planning on keeping the self-heating meals in pre-existing sacks I have. Regards cans; for reliability and flexibility in a emergency situation I didnt want to rely on external equipment/fuel for heating the food. When evacuated from the house in a emergency I dont want to find myself with a lovely all day breakfast in a can and no can-opener! Nah cans are good for preserving food well, I'll probably have a couple of cans & a couple of self-heating meals in this emergency pack.

 

[Nightwalker]

Ok, so I never got round to buying any but with a few trips coming up this summer I would like to try a few!....

They are US MRE heaters - cost £6 for 12 and as you say are handy to have. You can get them from S O F Chester.

http://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/military/select.asp

I carry a couple in my "winter box" that lives in the boot of the car, along with a trangia and other bits and bobs!

These look nice and cheap, so these MRE Heaters can be used to heat the standard MOD rations bought from your local army surplus? I've only had rations once when I was a young lad

 

[Nightwalker]

I was just about to place an order with 'Soldier of Fortune' but then I noticed their checkout was not SSL secured, the page displayed a 'VeriSign verified' logo but the page did not hold any certificate or verification. This is the same page that will transmit your credit-card details, its a game of chance not knowing whether the final 'proceed' button will then initiate the SSL encryption, so far it just looks like its going to transmit card details in plain-text across the internet! :yikes: I might be a paranoid-geek but its kept me safe so far!... Anyone shopped with them?.. any problems? They wont be receiving my payment online that's for sure.

 

[andy_e]

To be honest, you'd probably be fine ordering over an unsecured link but it is strange that they do have the proper certificate for doing it properly and haven't. Maybe you should drop them a line and suggest they ask their web people to sort it out as they will no doubt be losing orders.

BTW being a little on the geeky side myself I checked the site and the credit card details are sent over an insecure link, i.e. the next page would not be secured either.

 

[Nightwalker]

To be honest, you'd probably be fine ordering over an unsecured link but it is strange that they do have the proper certificate for doing it properly and haven't. Maybe you should drop them a line and suggest they ask their web people to sort it out as they will no doubt be losing orders.

Already done that

BTW being a little on the geeky side myself I checked the site and the credit card details are sent over an insecure link, i.e. the next page would not be secured either.

Im completely shocked, Those details sent across the internet in plain-text is not an option!.. anyone with a bit of know how and freely avaliable software could sniff that data straight off the net. diabolical tbh.