Chem heaters are fun too.
So there I was... First field exercise of TBS, and we were instructed that we had to bring one element of the sleeping system with us. Most of us packed the green bag, as it was supposed to be 40-something out. Go to sleep after a day of fighting the Centralians on multiple fronts.
Wake up about 0300 to the sharp, piercing screams of a 6 year old girl (or the biggest, most jacked Lt in my platoon). It seems that in order to lighten his load, he opted for the bivvy bag vice an actual sleeping bag. As it started to get colder (and we were all asleep, so he couldn't ask us if we had anything that could help him stay warm), he comes upon the brilliant idea of using MRE heaters to help him stay warm. He rat fucks a couple of MRE's, gets the heaters, pours in water, and puts one on his chest and one down by his feet. Works great, until... The now boiling water pours out of one all down his chest.
I gave him my poncho liner and went back to sleep.
Of course, you probably meant MRE bombs...
So, here is a question - how long do they really last?
I can't imagine two Gulf Coast summers has done them much good, but its still cooler than the sand box - just been on the shelf a little while. Phrog?
I had always heard 5-7 years, and if I remember correctly there's some inspection stamp on the box saying when they "expire".
Here's a page with some good gouge on the shelf life (the company advertises 5 years +/- apparently). If you scroll down, it's got a table that lists shelf life based on storage temperature that was tested at the Army's NATIC Labs...
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