Aloha,

I am thinking of stocking up on some emergency supplies.  I seen some emergency food buckets at costco a few months ago went back recent to pick some up and found out they don't have them anymore. I am thinking of getting some MRE's  doing a quick search of Hawaii MRE i stumbled upon this company Six Eagles Hawaii.

Has anyone have any experiences with this company?

Aloha,

I am thinking of stocking up on some emergency supplies.  I seen some emergency food buckets at costco a few months ago went back recent to pick some up and found out they don't have them anymore. I am thinking of getting some MRE's  doing a quick search of Hawaii MRE i stumbled upon this company Six Eagles Hawaii.

Has anyone have any experiences with this company?

Only suggestion on MREs is check the date. The "expiration" date on MREs is base on optimum storage. They don't last as long when keep in the wrong conditions. I have no experience with this company.

Never dealt with that company before, though IMO the costco meals in the bucket is a scam. Each meal is around 140 calories and in order to maintain a 2000 calorie intake you need roughly 16 to 18 meals a day. That bucket in turn becomes really only a 3 day supply for a family of four. If you lurk around here you'll see myself and others suggesting that for Hawaii you should have at least a two week food and water supply on hand.

BTW how much do they charge per case?

http://www.sixeagleshawaii.com/

It says $87 per single case and little less if you buy a couple.   Not sure about them though.  The military style MRE outer shell material is way stronger looking then this six eagles.   Don't know were to get the fresh military mre's locally.  I bought some from military HQ 10 years ago last time I checked last year they had some off brand civilian ones that look similar to the six eagles.

Six Eagles is good.  The guy will even deliver to your door no charge. 

The Costco buckets is the last last Last thing I would "eat" once ran out of everything.  Blech.  But hopefully would have traded it off for something more palatable by then.  Would rather rope up a pig, feed it the stuff, then eat the pig later.

Just call Six Eagles.

I have bought from Six Eagles several times, great company.  I even wrote a Yelp review http://www.yelp.com/biz/six-eagles-hawaii-honolulu#hrid:L7PRzoyBm9LPnmHiI--1vQ/src:self
 
They are the only ones I bother getting MRE's from locally.  Regarding Costco buckets, guess they decided not to carry them this year hurricane season, no surprise there..   I bought one, tried all the "meals" they aren't bad.  Some I actually enjoyed, so I invested in a few more merely to have variety.  Yes, they are very low calorie foods, but much healthier (low sodium, low fat) than freeze dried foods.  They would definitely need supplementation to get the needed calories though.  They said 100 servings per bucket, not per MEAL.  Big difference, and yeah it's kinda deceiving.

Has anyone bought from Six Eagle Hawaii recently?? I was curious how the food tastes and their ability to be stored.

 

MRE's 

I will look into a dehydrator but I will also see about buying military MRE's since I am lead to believe that their packaging may be superior than the commercial versions.

 

Only reason I don't like MREs is because its more of a calorie dense food than a nutritious one, which is why I prefer dehydrating my own meals, vacuum sealing, and storing. You'd be surprised what you can dehydrate, and it would be far healthier than an MRE.

That being said, if you are just trying to pick some up, check out the local surplus and see if they have the government issued ones. They were quite common in milsurp stores in the mainland, but I'm not sure about the ones here. If you have friends in the military, maybe they can find one that 'fell off a truck' somewhere, though it would be quite hard with all the budget cuts. Last resort would be to order the online, but they will be extremely expensive.

My brother in Minnesota can purchase some, and the boat freight is not that bad. I will do the dehydrator, but I do like the idea of the pouch warming capability for on the move situations. I figured it would be good to have food of the "last resort" on-hand for real difficult situations.

I have been buying MRE's from SixEagles for years. Always fresh. You can't beat MRE's in an emergency situation. Hot chow can lift your spirits. I would rather have hot food if I should have to go to a shelter or go to the high ground and watch the waves roll in. But I wouldn't rely solely on MRE's. The money can be used more wisely on can goods and other food stuffs.

 

I am already looking for a dehydrator, but I will also put some MRE's on-hand too in case of a hard bug out is needed.

I just registered tonight to reply to the MRE comments. All fair, and if you have any questions please visit our website at sixeagleshawaii.com where we are running an October only sale on MRE's.

Does Six eagles deliver to Big Island with those current sale prices?

.

Sorry guys, I am not the best at keeping up with the online chats/blogs. I read through this thread of comments and just as couple responses for what it is worth.

One thing I believe many do not realize is this is just a side business. We sold about 400 cases last year, total. We make about $7 a case and depending on how you look at the time I put into it, much less. So quick math $3000 in the year, gross profit. Bro, I cant even pay for my car payment with that money... Why do we do it, I really feel we help the community by bringing this item in. These past 2 ALMOST hurricanes that came through...I helped out the Gas Company, Fire, BWS, HECO, many individuals all until we sold out. And I feel good about that. We simply buy it at bulk price from the manufacturer, truck it to the west coast, freight forwarder brings it over the Pacific, I bring it to my garage, meet up with you and tack on $7. If you think you can do that for cheaper, I would honestly love to hear your ideas.

The packaging on our MRE is no thinner than the military version. I will say that the CLEAR plastic on our EVERSAFE version does give it a CHEAPER looking appearance but when you feel it, same thing. Our MREs are produced by the Wornick Company which is a military manufacturer of MREs and other packaged foods. Our MREs come off the same assembly line and I mean the same one, I saw it myself in Cincinnati, Ohio. With that comes the same expiration, same taste, same quality, etc. If you still don't believe me, open the 2 up and you will see the truth for yourself. Besides the cosmetic differences in the outer bag, same thing.

The most educating thing I learned about MREs while I was at Wornick is that MREs do have an expiration. That expiration depends on the temperature they are stored at. So I hear it once a day, about someone who bought a case or received a case from someone on military exercises. Well I have nothing against that, but consider that the storage facility at Schofield pushes out their oldest stock first. First in First Out. I know because I called them. I was told when the cases finally make it to the field from the warehouse they are about 5 years old. I have given the estimation of 6 years at 80 degrees which is the avg Hawaii temp so these cases that you may have received from a friend have about a year on it. 6 year life minus 5 years in the Schofield warehouse.  Of course, that is assuming that case came straight from the Schofield warehouse straight to your door and did not sit in storage somewhere else first. You will never know. This is why you are only buying time with MREs. Time is everything.

The comment posted by NEW GUY said they would not be doing business with us in the future, I have no idea what happened there, but you are more than welcome to call me and I will right any wrongs I may have inadvertently done to you during that sale. We have been around almost 10 years, and I simply bring them in and deliver them and try to keep things that simple. Many get confused when the cases give a 3 year expiration but that date is simply a default to shorter because no one knows how the purchaser will store their MREs. If you don't believe that, look at the Schofield warehouse that stores their MREs for 5 years. It is all in the temperature. www.sixeagleshawaii.com

Thanks for the discussion!

The most educating thing I learned about MREs while I was at Wornick is that MREs do have an expiration. That expiration depends on the temperature they are stored at. So I hear it once a day, about someone who bought a case or received a case from someone on military exercises. Well I have nothing against that, but consider that the storage facility at Schofield pushes out their oldest stock first. First in First Out. I know because I called them. I was told when the cases finally make it to the field from the warehouse they are about 5 years old. I have given the estimation of 6 years at 80 degrees which is the avg Hawaii temp so these cases that you may have received from a friend have about a year on it. 6 year life minus 5 years in the Schofield warehouse.  Of course, that is assuming that case came straight from the Schofield warehouse straight to your door and did not sit in storage somewhere else first. You will never know. This is why you are only buying time with MREs. Time is everything.

Newer non-freeze dried MREs are only rated to last about 3 years @ 80F, not 6 years. If you're in hotter parts of the island 2 years may be more realistic. Of course certain menus and packets age better than others so it's not completely uniform. They can last longer but I wouldn't count on it.

MREs are good if you want convenience and expect to be running around Red Dawn-style, but they're not the best food prep for a more realistic in-home situation. For most, wet-canned + dehydrated is more sensible. Cheaper, better selection, rotates easily with normal food supply, etc..

With a gas stove and decent assortment of canned food you can prepare delicious meals. MREs.. always taste like MREs.