Yes most of the reviews maybe correct, and based on opinion they are pretty close to the real thing, (10 yrs in the army). They are good for backpacking they use very little water unlike the dehydrated ones you buy in retail store and when h2o is limited (pgw1 vet) they do. So stop your crying, and enjoy.

You're right- Civilian Versions! For people who have never tasted a REAL MRE! I miss the 'goodies' that came in the real ones- the Jalepeno Cheese sauce, the DURABLE plastic spoon, the chocolate drink powder, and my favorite, the hockey-puck cookie. What happened to those? And the clear plastic? The real ones DO have the contents printed on the outside. That's how you know which ones to stay away from, like the egg & cheese omlet-"Constipation" we called them. That's how Peptobismo makes money- suckers who eat those egg ones. Trust me, their BAD! ANyway, these are not at all like the originals. They don't taste good.The old ones did. You're not fooling anybody who has already had the real thing. \m/ >.< \m/ ROCK ON!!!!!

After having these on the shelf for year, I decided to try one. Wanted to see if it was edible, how to work the heater, how much food was actually in it, etc. I'd say the 12 meals are enough for one person to survive on for a week. You'd still lose a lot of weight, though. The calorie content of each meal is very low. The food itself was okay. For the money, you'd really be better off constructing emergency rations yourself, with a can of soup, some Ramen noodles, and beef jerky. These MRE's are basically okay to put a couple in a bug-out-bag or keep a few in your car. But if you're hoping to ride out a several week crisis, these ain't the way to go.

what is this, these arnt even what was shown.I feel ripped off,you can put about 20 of these together from wall mart for about 20$. DO NOT ORDER UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE DISSAPOINTED!

I bought a case of these a while back, and while the food was good, the amount you get is far from being worth what you pay. The content is about half of what you would get in a mil MRE and you are paying almost the same. In a pinch these would do but for a bit more you can get the mil ones on eBay

I ordered twelve - yes, twelve - cases of these. What a huge waste of my money! Although the image fairly represents the contents, these are no more than an entree and heater, with a few trinkets to fill them out. There is no tobasco, no toiletry, no side items unless you count the crackers, and so on. In fact, if you analyze the amount of calories, it would take a grown man doing physical labor about 4-6 of these just to survive for a day. That's half a case for ONE PERSON for ONE DAY. An absolute waste of money.

I bought the exact same MRE's from CTD, and being a civy they tasted better than NOT having food at all! I could eat these everyday and be happy to be alive. I have tasted worse, and you wouldn't want to know what worse is...

These are great! Maybe the package content has changed since some of the older reviews have been written, but the two cases I have purchased have been very close to the description given. The only differences have been that my breakfast bars have been cinnamon flavored (but tasty), not fruit, and most of mine have had peanut butter(surprisingly good for something in a package) instead of jelly with the crackers. The chemical heaters work great sometimes and so so others, and are messy as the heating powder does get all over the food bag, but I've found it just as easy to heat the food using an esbit stove and personal mess kit. Overall, these are great for what they are. If you want a different type of cracker, spoon, matches or some tobasco, go to the store and put your own kit together, it's not that hard. If you want to get a couple of cases of ready to go meal packs with all the essentials so you can throw a few in your pack or car, give these a try and remember you're not buying gourmet takeout for the trail.

take it from a guy who has consumed a few MRE's, the best in quality are the military & Shure-pak brand. If you can't find the cash for ebay mil MRE's the next best is Shure-pak. They are made by the contractor's of the military type for the public. We handed out truckload's of them durring Ike and we found they were of exelent quality as MRE's go. That's just my opinion..

There is not very much food in these things! And the cheap little spoon they give you is worthless. The heaters do don’t work and the get chemicals all over the food packet! I have found mislabel food boxes as well. Be Ware! They should be giving these out to the homeless or something, Not selling them! I will be asking for my money back

As a former Marine, I'm used to eating M.R.E's in the field. I got out a few years ago and since I've been using these things for all my camping/hiking trips. Yeah, they're not the same, but seriously. Who really gives a dang??? They do what they're advertised to do, KEEP YOU ALIVE. In the mountains there's not that much in the way of choices for food, most stuff needs to be kept cool and these survive pretty much anywhere. Want the real thing? Go enlist... In the mean time, if you need Tabasco THAT bad... buy some, but if you're going on a good trip and you need to pack light. Consider these things, they do the job and keep the load down.

these m.r.e. are not the real thing and shouldnt be that high of a price.its a rip off so think before u buy this.army m.r.e have more food in them and do not cost as much as this,you will starve on these.

These MRE's are terrible. they taste horrible, and there is no variety to them. If I had to survive on these things, I would kill myself.

F.Y.I. These are great M.R.E.s They really are. But just a heads up. They are not the military issued type. They have the main meal a side dish and maybe an extra. Maybe. These popped up due to Katrina. Trust me I was there. The full M.R.E. s are a little more expensive yet just like the ones I lived off of in basic for a bit. And you get alot more. Just an F.Y.I. not knocking these.

Excellent price, tastes ok, a little cheesy (not the taste but the quality) for MRE's but if the SHTF and your hungry, it'll do the trick. Leave a few in the kitchen, basement, and the truck. Just in case.

Why the decaf coffee? Coffee can save your life? No they aren't the C-rats. Or MRE's we had. Ever have the LRRP version? I miss all the little goodies that came with the miltary stuff. Why doesn't the manufactures just make up MRE's kind of like Mil stuff? I'd pay for it. I worked for the government for years and we were always issued military MRE's from GSA? When in the Nam we were getting C-rats from Korean war with cigarettes in them. I'd trade a whole Ham and beans (Mf R's) meal for one can of pound cake. And these MRE's do taste nastier than Mil MRE's.

I'm a loong time CTD buyer and used to good stuff at (usually) great prices, but the price for these MRE's seemed too low, even for CTD. Then I noticed the reason: It looks like there's no sides/desserts with these meals -- entrees only. G.I. MRE's have 1,000-1,500 calories per meal; so 2 a day is plenty, unless you're humping some tough bush. These meals are still great for emergencies , etc.; though I do not agree with their term "complete meal" you might be let down by them being a bit skimpy. I'm really not ripping on the item here, just passing along my .02 cents.

I have to agree with Nikonboy, they don't claim to be millitary MRE's but they are just fine. I have eaten them many times on backpacking trips and they do their job just fine. And for those of you who just can't live without your precious Tabasco sauce, there is a place called a supermarket where you can buy whol bottles of the stuff, so quit whining.

Folks, consider the criticism of these MRE's carefully. Complaints state "Not the same as" "Not even close" "Not the MRE's I was used to". HELLO... Anyone paying attention? NOWHERE does CTD say that these MRE's are the "same as" military MRE's. So why the big deal? You want military MRE's? Want to re-up? As one commenter said "These are not GI Issue MREs, the original meals are marked US Property and cannot be sold to the public. These meals are a commercial version with lots of flavor and nutrition and the closest to military rations available anywhere. " Ok, not the same as military. BUT.... *These meals will KEEP YOU ALIVE (I don't need tabasco to survive) *They require minimal storage requirements (to get a 5 year life expectancy keep MRE's below 75 degrees.. & lower is better). *They require no (boiling) water as freeze dried or dehydrated meals do. And if no water is available in your survival situation? MRE's to the rescue. No heating required, so you can eat them right out of the pouch.. something else you can't do with Mountain House (or other) freeze dried or dehydrated foods or rations. But lighten up on the MRE bashing.. They are not claiming to be mil spec & if a civi needs a "MEAL READY TO EAT" during a hurricane, blizzard stranding or evac... what's lighter & as ready to eat? I say even civi MRE's are 5 bullets! but then again I don't need tabasco or great taste to keep me alive

as a disabled outdoors man i do appreciate this product. i know some people will disagree , but i do give credit where credit is do. i was stranded for 2 days in the woods and i am a diabetic. your product saved my life. so i always keep a few handy i know they work for what i need for me and the family

So many complaints about how these are not Mil MRE's. If people would read a little it does say that they are not Mil MRE's. For camping, hiking or for emergencies they are great to have. They are still a little high on the price but they are so much cheaper here then any other place that I have priced them.

As all military personel know this is the civi version yes but when it comes down to a do or die situation like stroms, hurricanes, tornados, ect. you know these could save your butt if the SHTF I have been down range as well and have had plenty of Mil MREs I colect those matches and tabasco sauce, but we also know it is illeagal to resale or whole sale Mil MREs. But for an emegancey kit incase mother nature wants to make life hell it will keep you and your family going until help is avalible we all saw what happened with Katrina just give the guys cedit for trying to make life a bit easier for those that camp hike or want to perpare for the worse.

Suppliers of genuine MREs are Sopakco, Wornick, and Ameriqual. I think CTD used to carry Sopakco (and if they didn't, I wish they would). Military MREs cannot be sold to the public under regs by the Directorate of Subsistence, Operational Rations, Defense Logistic Agency. But the three to five DoD suppliers (above) all have civilian versions. Yeah, they are a little bit different, and I'd be surprised if anyone included Tobasco, since the military contracts suck up the entire supply of mini-bottles. But you can get it, or 100-packs of some other brands.

Not even close to the army ones I ate dont wast your get the real thing.

Everyone knows, Military issued MREs were made a big no no for civilian commercial marketing. So someone had the idea of making the Civilian MRE.....its just not the same. i want my lil bottle of tabasco. Mil MREs had more substance to them. I guess the civi ones are good for, well just that CIVILIANS!!

Definitely not the MRE's I was used to. Military MRE's come with much higher quality stuff such as matches with a coat on the outside to make them water resistant in the rain, not a free pack from your local Hess station. The condiments such as forks, spoons, and knives did not bend when attempting to eat with them and I AM MISSING MY TABASCO SAUCE. Definitely cheapest of the civi version, but the civi version of an MRE is crap.

you know, if you read the description, it says that these are not US military MREs. Real MREs cannt be sold to the public. these are a commercial brand

These are fake the matches are supposed to be green the package not clear(khaki), no little hot sauce fake crackers no cheese, nacho cheese, peanut butter, or jelly, john wayne TP, and only the main meal, youre better off buying canned food

if it is not in the the brown bag dont pay more than $2.50 a meal, if you do it is at your owne loss. real mre have heaters and quality condements packs and spoons, not free stuff they stole from taco bell to seal in a clear plastic bag with one actual real component from a real mre.

REAL MREs have two boxes inside (one entree and one desert), high-density crackers (not the comercial crumbs), peanut butter or cheese spread, TP, and a plethora of other condiments that you will NOT find in these "civillian" cases/meals. Buy REAL MREs at gun shows for less. SFC Randy Baker, US Army

If you want MREs for your vehicle or pack, this is it. I have purchased these EXACT same packs from our local supply place at nearly twice the price. This is the best deal I could find anywhere, and the shelf life is better than most.

Yes, the lowest prices for MREs on the web are here at CTD. Unfortunately, they're still too expensive! I have considerable stocks of dried and freeze dried foods, and pound for pound they cost about one third of what you get buying MREs. But for the underinformed or the just plain preparer, these meals will keep you from feeling too hungry in an emergency.

You think a MRE would taste bad, but these are pretty good. Great for camping or just to have around in case of an emergency. If you are hiking, these are great because they don't take up to much room. The heaters included will heat the food up in a hurry. Don't get me wrong it's no gourmet meal, but it satisfies the hunger and nutrition you need. Meals come individually sealed. You can't find them any cheaper than the Dirt!

I have shopped around for along time, and so far, Cheaper Than Dirt has the cheapest prices for cases of MRE's anywhere. Definately a great buy for anyone who goes camping, hunting, or hiking alot, and needs a real good meal out on the go. Also a great item to have on hand in case of emergencies, such as Hurricane Katrina. These have an excellent shelf life if kept in a cool, dry area, and out of any sunlight, like a closet. I highly recommend these as a survival food item as each MRE has it's own heater which requires very little water to activate!!! This is a major plus for those times of need, especially if water resources are at a minimum where strict rationing is needed.