M.R.E. part one & two
I am experimenting on an empty stomach. When I opened the package I noticed the inside was lined. I am assuming that it is to hold water to put one of those chemical heaters in, but the package does not tell you this. There is an assumption also that you have water and a cup for the juice, coffee and hot chocolate as well as a bowl for oatmeal. I guess you could eat it right out of the package, if you had to. If that is the case, I would use the bread pouch to pour the oatmeal in. There is enough coffee for two cups. This is a breakfast and lunch set (what is a soldier supposed to do with his lunch while eating breakfast?)

The oatmeal is not bad-very rich. I made it with hot water.
The coffee is not great, but what do you expect with instant? I am spoiled with fresh brewed Tim Horton coffee. The whitener needed to be stirred twice before it would settle in. Jim said his cup was ok. He said you could tell it was instant, but if you were on the front lines and needed your fix, it would punch the ticket.
He bread turns out to be a mini flat loaf and the bread is a sweetbread. I don’t like marmalade but the two packets where plenty (a little on the runny side) and it was a different taste. The hot chocolate is rich and hits the spot. Not bad for instant chocolate. I am starting to feel almost full. I don’t know if this is meant to be eaten in one sitting or two. I still have the main course to go and a cup of “juice” some gum and a candy.

If I was in a survival situation I may have burned up a lot of calories building a shelter or gathering wood or hauling water. Since I am not, I do not need as many calories. Since I am doing this research for my book as well as my blogs I get to write this off as a tax deduction (I am doing this during tax season!). If I was in a group of others and we all have these meals I would save some of the goodies for trade or as something to play cards for. Another reason why I am doing this research is to figure out the best way to keep me fed during the flu pandemic. My girlfriend works for Public health so she will be on the front lines working if and when it happens (most likely when and the answer to when could be as soon as this fall)(I will be holing up in my house for about 3 months when the first wave hits. I don’t know what I will do if a second wave or a third wave comes). The problem will not be so much as so many people dead, but the massive amount that will be sick and the rest of use trying to tend to them. That is what is going to make the economy come to a standstill.

As a side note, Jim just said the coffee must be high test because he feels he has more energy, like when he drinks too much coffee. That is good if you need to stay awake.

I can eat a lot. When I am by myself I can get by on very little. I think I could get by on just this one package of food for one day if I was stuck inside the house and could not go anywhere.

They thought of everything! I did not notice till I looked in the bottom and found a toothpick. The inside of the bag has a reflective surface. If you opened it up completely and had bright sunshine, you would have yourself a little solar stove. If you had several of them taped together, you would have a bigger solar stove.

I just cooked up the beans and wieners. I would suggest having a knife ready to cut the pouch. It is HOT! I used about half the salt and pepper. Again since I was thinking in survival mode, I licked the plate and the inside of the pouch. I would hoard the salt and pepper for when I am making soup or some other dish. If I were in full survival mode I would have carefully cut the pouches so I could use the reflective surfaces for solar heating. Some of the beans could have been made into a paste to act like glue till something better came along. The raspberry drink crystals are sweet. It is better than just plain water and I am sure there must be extra vitamins in the mix. It reminds me of using Jello to make a drink when a person is sick. Now comes dessert. The pineapple I found to be very sweet. It was nice to have "fresh” fruit with the meal and it would add needed bulk to a well-rounded meal. The gum is still fresh. It is a nice way to get saliva going in the mouth if you are low on water. It is also a way of brushing your teeth with out brushing your teeth. I was disappointed that the hand wipe lost most of its moisture. The matches still work.

Part two.

Happy Earthday! It is the 22nd and I started my day helping with the cleanup effort on the banks of the Thames River. I had Breakfast and a snack so I am not starting on an empty stomach, but this time I did a few hours of labour.

So far the matches still work in this pack, the coffee is the same as the fresher one but the whitener has clumped up a bit and then went to normal. I have not detected any difference between the 2005 and 2002. The drink crystals are pear flavoured. The small candy is different and it is raspberry jam this time. I am about to try the cereal. It is more of a crunchie Granola with coconut If I knew what it was, I would have eaten it plain or mixed with the pineapple bits. I read somewhere on the net that there is a recipe book of ways to use MRE’s in a more mixed fashion. I could have hoarded my extra whitener and sugar but I am adding it to the hot chocolate. I did save half my salt and pepper from yesterday so I have a complete serving of salt and pepper that could be used in some other food. It is amazing how just a little salt and pepper can change a bland meal into something great to eat. Imagine eating a potatoe without salt or pepper. See what I mean? The hot chocolate had to be stirred more than the fresher one yesterday. It still tastes great. I noticed a different company made the main course. I saw more pieces of meat in smaller cuts. I think I like the taste of this batch more than I did the fresher batch. Did the people making the packs charge more and the government switched to save money? Who knows? One other note- the spoon is smaller than I use at home. I am forced to take smaller bites and chew my food more. You get fuller faster that way. The bread feels, looks and tastes the same. How they do it is beyond me. Jam I can see lasting for decades if it was properly sealed. Same with powdered coffee and chocolate.
I have a hard time understanding that the bread I am eating was made over 4 years ago. Simply amazing! All I have left to consume is the candy, the gum, the pineapple and the drink. The pineapple does not look or taste as fresh as yesterday’s batch, but another company made it so that may explain the different taste. If some wise guy managed to get access to a lot of these fruit pouches, I think he could easily get them to ferment and make alcohol. Cards anyone? Want to bet your fruit pouch? The hand wipe was fine in this pack. The candy tastes good (butterscotch-yum). The gum is still good and the pear drink-well… not so great, but better than plain water.

My conclusions:
1) Survival in a cooped place would lead to boredom and there would come a time where you just would not feel like eating anything. Voila- get an MRE to get you through that time.
2) I feel full and I feel fine. I can not see much if any difference between an MRE made last year and one made 4 years ago. That proves they have this system down pat.
3) I like the variety an MRE gives. I also think I could stretch one meal out to an entire day if I had too.
4) If you where with others I think they would barter the candies and gum or maybe other parts of the meal or use it like money to bet with.
5) With two of the packs open I now have 2 long spoons I could use like drumsticks. I told you boredom would take over.
6) Reusing the packaging to make solar stoves keeps you busy doing something and it will save you fuel.
7) MRE’s have a small place in any survival strategy but they are extremely expensive. I would be better off getting canned goods and reusing the cans.
8) I believe the claims I have heard of MRE’s being eaten after ten years with little loss of flavour and nutrient value.

Michael J. Kaer, Owner of www.2bitpixel.com and www.mikesworms.com

The Perfect Storm

Some people saw the movie about a captain taking his boat out in weather that turns hellish quickly due to several factors reinforcing each other to make the perfect storm. I can relate the premise of that movie to what is happening now in and in the near future.

Back in 1995 and even earlier, people were talking about Y2K. A lot of money was thrown at the problem and a lot of hard work went into making it a non-event. Remember in 1998-99 companies sprang up, ready to supply you with MRE's and emergency power equipment plus an assortment of dry and canned foods + water. The people buying that stuff considered the price paid to be a form of insurance, one you could resell or at least eat. Earlier than that, in the 70's, it was gas shortages. We have survived plagues and pandemics in the past and we will do so again. We got a nasty shock with 9-11. We got a wake-up call when we had the major power black out. Next was E.W.E.'s (Extreme Weather Events)during christmas holidays and hurricanes like Katrina wiping out New Orleans, not to mention the year of Peak OIL (2005). Lets add to this mix scientific evidence, the poles are melting and the global warming is getting hotter and the hole in the ozone is getting larger.

Can you see the "Perfect Storm" brewing? The U.S. is overspending on the war in Iraq to the point some people think the States are bankrupt. There has been a major world shift from U.S. dollars to Euro's. What does that mean? Lets say a small terrorist attack on certain Oil producing countries makes Gas prices go up even higher. Add to that limited production means limited supplies = Crime waves. Add a record number of extreme floods, hurricanes, tornados and fires. Now add a possible outbreak of a deadly strain of flu = people not going anywhere and barricadeing themselves in = a stalled U.S. economy. If the U.S. dollar falls, so does the loonie and since the entire world is in each other's back pockets, a possible world economy colapse. The deadly flu does not even have to hit for this scene to play out.

A lot of good starts on alternative fuel sources and hybrid cars will be scrapped, with no one to buy the product. In some cases the rich will be getting richer and the poor will be busy getting dead. By rich , I mean actual goods, animals or land. Money will not be worth anything untill a new money system restarts. What happens when you can't pay police and firefighters and other emergency people? They quit or you work out a deal to provide food and shelter to the workers and their families in exchange for their services. The barter system will be the only way of getting goods untill money is UNIVERSALLY introduced. Can you say "One world currency"? Personally I would put forth the idea of a money system based on hemp since it is a plant that grows everywhere mankind can survive(except maybe the extreme north, but with the poles melting, who knows)

I have thought this out many different ways and most of them are bad. Some are worse than others. The smallest of things could spark it. When that happens the U.S. will officially or unofficially try to invade Canada. Either gangs of roving thugs looking for food will force themselves across our border or The U.S. will try a land grab. That could mean the end of Canada as we know it or we could throw some nukes at them and get pummeled back. They can distroy a lot of land and the people on it with conventional weapons. They need our land and minerals and water, and may use that time period of chaos to grab (steal) it. That is one of the bad scenarios. There are worse. The pandemic could hit while all this other stuff is happening and catch everyone with their pants down. That means a lot of dead people. I don't have to like it, but that is some interpretations I have of current affairs under the shrub, I mean Bush administration. The ball is in his court and George and Dick are fumbling it.

Please don't flame me too hard, I am only the messenger, telling the possible truth as I see it. Michael J. Kaer

I am putting this on all my blogs at once since this information is so important. Look at the Archives for the rest of the information I was referring to.

Why be prepared?


My girlfriend is getting fed up with me talking

about ways in which our society as we know it

could (rapidly) change. In my last post I talked

about E.W.E.'s (Extreme Weather Events). In past

posts on this and my other blogs (myhemp,

survival-list, moneyhowtogetsome, moneythebook,

xchangesnumber1 - all blogspot.com like this

one)I have talked about how peak oil is going to

drive gas prices too far up and more wars will be

faught over this resource. One thing I have not

addressed to well(so far) is the next pandemic. At

first people think-Avian Flu and they could possibly

be correct. It does not have to be Avian Flu, it

could be another type of flu. History has shown that

the entire regions where decimated by waves of

flu and plague with a certain regular cycle to them.

According to those cycles we should have had a

bad one last year or maybe this year. Now that

world-wide travel is easier to do, the spread will

be world-wide. Someone is going to hop a plane

to get out of a region that is struck by it, to get

away and in the meantime infects half the

passengers and crew. The crew and the other

passengers do not know they have it till they report

to work that they are ill in a few days. All those

people have spread to other points of the country

spreading the illness as they go. Since some

percentage of the population will be immune, they

may be carriers. If the United States or Canada

decided to close their border and patrol it A) the

cost would be huge, B) they would still not be able

to keep everyone out. We are simply too wide

open. This region of Ontario where I live has alot

of farms that import hired hands to pick crops and

such. One of the migrant workers may bring it in.

They are a multitude of ways for a flu bug to

spread.

So what do you do? Prepare as best you can!.

The Mormans have a standing policy of having a

year or more supply of everything they need. If they

shut themselves in for the few months to 18

months a bad pandemic could last, they would be

one group who would survive. The rest of us will be

lucky if we have more than a week's worth of food

and maybe a couple of bottles of water. EEEENK

( insert sound of buzzer), Guess what- you are out

of the game. In all the research I did for my book,

everyone said you need a gallon( 4 litres) of water

a day to drink, cook food, wash etc. That is per

person and more if you have babies or pregnent

mothers to look after. If you stayed indoors for 3

months or so, say 100 days that equals 100

gallons per person or 400 litres if I filled up every

jug and the tub and sink, I think I could just barely

make it.I would still need 3 months supply of meds,

vitimins and food. I have a 3 month supply of

vitamins and about that much or more in food, but

my prescription meds I can only get a month at a

time. Ok lets say you have 100 days worth of

water, food and what not, what are you going to do

with yourself for 3 months indoors? I will not be

anywhere close to my girlfriend since she will be a

frontline worker, if and when it breaks ( she works

for public health). I have a large library of tapes

and dvds I could go through. Lots of music

besides. I have music instruments to play, a

sewing machine to work on, silver wire and hemp

twine to make jewelry with, about 50 pounds of

bee's wax to make candles with and lots of books

and magazines as well as the internet and TV to

watch. I can do Tai Chi exersises to keep fit.

Great. Now what happens if the electricity or gas

shuts off because too many people running them

get too sick to work? Right now I have a couple of

small solar panels that could charge a battery long

enough to charge my laptop. I may still be able to

get online even if the power goes off, but it will not

be for long periods. I have enough propane to last

a few days if I used the grill in the garage to cook

my meals and heat water for coffee and tea. I

would use up any fuel for my camp stove, but I

could not be able to heat my house. It would mean

a cold winter covered in blankets and heavy

clothes. It would mean not being able to wash my

clothes. It would mean no shaving, who cares I am

not going outside anyway. It would mean I would

survive but just barely. I would have to have

enough cash in the house to pay for my meds and

phone them up to deliver them, putting the money

in my mailbox and getting them to put the package

in the mailbox also. I would have to get it with

gloves on and a face mask and spray the bag with

a bleach/water solution as well as the actual

bottles. Garbage would have to be stored

somehow. It is do-able for 3 months, but right now

it is not do-able for any longer time period.

Can you see why my girlfriend is calling me Mr.

Joyfull and Mr. Happy? This is enough to depress

almost anyone. Don't shoot the messenger,

instead plow that emotion into saving your own

butt. The Government at all levels will be too

overwhelmed all at once to help much. You must

help yourself. I hope you pass this on to a friend or

even an enemy ( if they work for public works or

the gas company) the more you do now , the

better off you will be later. Buy my book and read

it. Go to www.mjk.private-income.com

and get the book, "What Money Can't Buy". After

you do that and pass to all your list of people, then

do some of your own looking around on the net.

There are too many sites for me to list but they are

out they. Jusy google "prepared" or "avian flu" ,

something good will show up. Sorry this is so long,

but the information is good. USE IT!
Michael J. Kaer, owner of www.2bitpixel.com

I am busy writing a book about money and I am writing notes on the side for volume 2 of "What Money Can't Buy". The subtitle will be something like "What'cha goin ta do about it". This will be the positive side after all the negatives I laid out in the first book. I may go into a little more detail about what the negatives are just before I address them because some people may have not read the first book(what are you waiting for, go to www.mjk-private-income.com and get it now!)

I recently ordered some samples of MRE's and rations and such to test and put in the book as well as post the results here. I would like to know what experiences you have had with MRE's, Ration Bars and freeze dried foods or even companies that sell these items.

You can leave a comment to this blog that you are sure I will read.

Michael J. Kaer,owner of www.2bitpixel.com