I just got back from our Costco in Bham, AL and they have reduced their cases of A-Pack MRE’s (12 to a case) to $19.97 for an entire case!
If you remember, they are about $56 on MREdepot’s site with our fantastic discount that Steven has given us, and Costco had started selling them at the same price about 3 months or less ago, then it was reported by one of our AL guys that the price had dropped to $39 (I think it was) at Costco the other day so I went by today and they were $19.97 per case!!! I bought 10 and I left 15 there….didn’t see any more anywhere in the store. I consider it a steal considering the first inspection date was in 2009. I’m still going to be buying from Steve, just using these to ‘pad’ what I already have in my stash.
Check out your own Costco for these same closeout (I assume they won’t be carrying them anymore) prices.
I went to the new site & searched for MRE in both comments and in diaries & came up with a big ZERO entries….I know that’s not accurate, but without a lot of searching I didn’t see a reasonable place to put this info so they’ll just have to find this info over here unless someone here bothers to post it over there for them. I’ve got tons of stuff to get done this afternoon so I’ll check later tonight or tomorrow to see where to put the info there, if no one else has bothered either.
nothing comes up when i search “mre” or “meal ready eat” on costco.com. maybe i’ll have to make the trip to b’ham it’s only 2 hours. i guess 180 cases would feed a family of 4 180 days.
Never saw them in the Deleware Costcos…..Guess they were only in the “Hurricane States” from what I can gather.
Never saw them in California.
Too bad.
I would have made a deal to liquidate them at that price.
So what can we make of this retail experiment ?
That even people in Hurricane states don’t prepare for themselves, and expect a FEMA hand-out if TSHTF ?
What is in them?
Meals Ready to Eat.
Similar to US Military rations, but less calories.
Floridian Doc — 09 December 2006, 18:32
There are 12 meals 2 each of six “flavors”. The ones my husband and I ate had over 3000 calories in them per meal - including poptart, peanut butter spread, raisins, cookies, drink mix, entree, crackers etc. One ‘meal’ was enough to spread out over the entire day, if you aren’t busy chopping wood and laying brick or moving pianos! In other words, there’s enough calories to sustain you while doing average work during the day. You get 6 menus per box (2 of each as I said) and and I might get one set of menus in my cases, while someone else might get another set of menus — you can’t really specify what you want to get, you just take pot luck — but it’s good food!
You can make purchases through MREdepot.com and get 21% off their retail price if you type in the word fluwikie in the promo code box as you check out — that’s 21% off ANYthing on their website, thanks to the hard work of FullyPreppedInSoCal here a couple of months ago.
Do these come with heaters?
I’m in FL and will check out Costco tommorow. I’m not a member but it I have a friend who is and could probably bribe them with a case or two of MREs.
Yes they have heaters
Are they actually called MREs? And where in the store did you find them? This might be worth a trip to Orlando…hummmm
Alas-not only is there NOT a Costco nearby,(I don’t even know where one is!) but I plan to SIP with a Gulf War Vetran who said he’d never wanted to see another MRE ever again in his life (actually, his language was rather more colorful but being a public forum…)
He gave us some to try-the kids were curious(and so was I!) and they were not too bad, they’d certainly keep you alive. Of course these were the military ones and this was ten years ago-I don’t know how different the Costco ones would be. It seemed like there were two kinds-one was a meal like chili mac/spheggehti/”chicken a’la king” and then there seemed to be a seperate “accessory” pac that had seasonings/ (I loved the little tiny Tobasco bottles cookie/crackers/instant coffee (Nescafe?/ a Tang like mix/ sugar/creamer. Don’t remember any poptarts. I would certainly get some at that price if I could.
Despite My FILs tirade, DH and I used to keep some in our cars in case of Emergencys, especially back when we were driving long distances in the winter. Never had to use the MREs but did go through lots of Poptarts and Granola bars on those trips.
I found some at my costco today but the best used by date is 2009. Are they any good past that date?
Thank you everyone for the heads up. I stopped by my local Costco today. They had 7 cases left. I found them just down a row of the grocery food items. While I was there I flipped the box over and read the ingredients. I did notice that the juice tubes contain aspartame. For my personal preference I will just toss those out. I did purchase 1 case. I somehow don’t think the rest are going out the door in a hurry as I remembered looking at them there back in October. Yes, mine also has a best by date of 11/09. I am going to explore the contents of the case tomorrow. Yes, it was $19.97 per case.
The MRE case was all I bought today. I didn’t think the box was much of an attention getter but at the checkout everybody around me was looking at that one case in my cart.
I guess I’ll be going for a look see at Costco tomorrow. :)
Since most Costco’s are arranged the same, could you tell me in what area I should look? Thanks all
I remember an episode of 60min or something like that on the making of MRE’s. The use by date is a suggestion for best flavor and texture. They still would provide full calories and be safe to consume for a while after that. Personally, if I have not used mine by close to that time I will donate them to a food shelter and restock.
Floridian Doc, The MREs were on the same aisle with the rice here. Hope you are able to find some.
Ok seriously guys, the “survival kits” that are on the website there and at others are laughable at best and dangerously overrated at worst. After doing some extensive research and having been trained from the US Army, I can safely say that in the same amount of space ( an ALICE Pack ) I ahve enough food, medical supplies, water purification ( 2 diff methods) weapon ammo ( in case i need extra) and other gear that I feel I would need, for a group of 4 to last for a week and be well fed. I did this and it cost me a total of $65.00. I am very sad at the emergency kits out there, they are gonna kill alot of people who are at least trying.
EveryoneWorksTogether Would you be more specific in what you’ve packed? Type of food, quantity, medical supplies, method of water purification… Thanks
EveryoneWorksTogether yes, please do elaborate on your comments. Thanks
I have 30 MRE packs broken down IE actual dinner, crackers and spread everything else is not needed, I have a combat medical supply w/surgical kit (good enough to perform basic surgery:) ) I have 3 bottles of water purification tablets, a small bottle of iodine (SP?) I have clothing ( winter gear, in PNW) I also have a emergency radio/tv tuner ( hand cranked wieghs like a LB seriously its freakin awesome. I also have emergency flares, basic sewing equip, I also carrya secondary “Pharmacy” basic anti virals, bactirials (SP?) and tylenol etc. Mind u this is all fitted in a Rucksack, it weighs a good 85 lbs. I also carry a geiger counter/radio isotope counter. I have a basic combat survival knife, a skinning knife, and TADA BOOKS! On basic survival for the area im in. (Something EVERYONE FOREGETS) LOL
BTW, The checkout woman at costco once told me that any item in the store that has a price that ends in a 7, is a closeout item. This means that whatever inventory they have is it and it is priced at a substantial discount. I purchased several giant 15 million candlepower flashlights at this price as well($19.97)and that is when I had this conversation with the person who worked there.
Can someone please post the Costco Item Number for the MRE’S? Thanks
Couldn’t find an item # on any of my boxes, but my receipt has the number 131771 with the description of “12CT Meals”.
No luck at the costco in the houston area. they even tried to look it up in the computer, nothing there.
Have a great day.
.
No MREs in Eastern Washington state
Debbie in Alabama my receipt number is the same as yours. I am in the Atlanta metro. Like was mentioned before…I think this is a close out item. What ever store has them is selling them out with no restock.
naomi? — 12 December 2006, 01:30 DOn’t you LOVE those 15,000,000 candlepowr lights!!!???
I have 2 of them and honestly, they’re as bright as the 20 lightbulbs I have here and there in my living room! They definitely put out the light! If you have a situation where you’re caring for someone & need to make sure you’ve cleaned a wound well, or that you’re reading the thermometer correctly, etc., it’s the perfect thing to make a room as bright as if the power were on.
It would also light up the shoulder of a road if you broke down — you could place it so it shown on you and your tire while you tried to change the tire if you had to & it would help other drivers see what was happening long before they usually see you with their own headlights & allow them time to move to the other lane!
I love ‘em! Can you tell?
I’m sorry some of you couldn’t find the MRE’s - yep, I speak from experience when I say they taste good! We ate 2 of ours (the same ones that Costco had are the ones we’re buying from MREdepot.com at a 21% discount using the word fluwikie as our discount code) and they were very filling and flavorful. A bug-out-bag with these in it would do a great job of keeping someone stranded from starving. Little packets of salt are probably the most important versatile ingredient in case the flavor isn’t exactly what you were expecting! My spaghetti meal tasted better than ChefBoyRD meals and my husband enjoyed his chicken pot pie one! :-)
with the mre’s if they are “real mil spec” you only need to eat one or two max unless you are working you a$$ off or you will put on some pounds. also if they come with the heaters you can use them to as hand warmers after you heat up the meal by dumping out almost all the water and put in your coat inside pocket, it stays hot for hours that way, but puts off an odd smell.
I’m-workin’-on-it
Thanks for the report on the taste test. Since you gave them a good report I will be more willing to buy more. :)
Good! You can’t miss with them and like Kychas just said, they’ll fill you up! Unless you’re doing major extreme physical effort, one or at most 2 a day will keep you well fed! The hand warmer idea is great too!
The other day when I was at Costco they had 8 cases of these MRE’s. I bought one that day. Today I went to Costco again. They had 2 cases left. I bought them. Now they are out.
My hubby came home with six boxes yesterday from the costco in orlando. Amazing what thrills me these days.
No matter where you are buying them from…..
I opened up the case to check them out and they do seem to be “just the ticket”. :) I am satified that I bought them.
wonder if we wrote the powers that be at Costco & asked them to carry MRE’s again if they would do so at a lower price? Otherwise MREdopot is our spot forever!!!! Yea!
I still am so thankful that FPISC got that deal for us — It’s just such a blessing for thousands of people!!!!!
Will the mredepot deal (21% of for FW) continue into next year or does it end on Dec. 31?
The deal at mredepot.com is ongoing, at first it was only going to be till the end of the year, but later FPISC posted that the deal would continue indefinitely.
Didn’t find any mres, but found this on the aisle with rice and beans. Costco price for the bucket is $110. http://www.foodforhealthint.com/products.php?cat=7
Have not seen any of this in the Deleware COSTCO’s. I doubt if you see any more MRE’s after the $19.97 sale is over. Sounds like they were trying to move them out due to lack of interest.
Visited the local Costco today in Clearwater, FL. They have the box of 12 MRe’s for $19.97.
I spoke with an employee, and she told me that they had been approx. $50.00. I asked if they would get more in. She said that there would probably be a new shipment in April/May (in time for hurricane preps), but they would likely be $50.00 again.
How long can they be stored?
Surfer -
check out this:
http://soundpolitics.com/PopeCostcoLawsuit.pdf
and:
The short story is they marketed it as 3 month, 1 person food supply, and it came out to 455 calories a day. As long as you know what you are getting for the money it might not be bad, although probably expensive, but it certainly isn’t an all-in-one solution.
Nopower, the one being sold now for $19.97 is not the bucket mentioned in the lawsuit. This comes in a box of 12 “Ready Meals” under the company A Pack. Just bought 2 — checked out nutrition and price and it’s a good deal. Wouldn’t recommend under a normal circumstance, but in an emergency, it will do with other supplies.
Floridian Doc -
Surfer was talking about the 255 serving bucket, not the MREs.
I sent a friend with a Costco card to look for them and she came back and said they were sold out at the local store (West Palm Beach area). I agree that buying buying them as a sole source of food wouldn’t be too wise but they should be a nice addition to a already balanced prep plan.
On the Fence, the ones I purhcased on Friday are good until Nov. 2009.
How do they compare to the military MREs? Doesn’t the UN also have a type of MRE?
Not in the Harrisburg, PA Costco system ‘not something that we carry at this location’-k
I check last night and Colorado stores are apparently not selling the MREs either. They have the buckets though.