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Category: Equipment

  • Mixing Spaghetti Noodles with MRE Menu 20, Italian Sausage with Pepper and Onions in Marinara Sauce

    brown plastic bag for mre menu 20

    In the waning days of December, I wanted to have spaghetti, but I didn’t have any sauce on-hand to a make it. So, I thought to open one of the Italian-themed MREs in the B Case (packed 3/22 with 3/25 inspection date) that I opened recently to mix with some noodles that I had in the cabinet. Here’s Menu 20: Italian Sausage with Pepper and Onions in Marinara Sauce.

    brown plastic bag for mre menu 20 next to a smaller clear plastic bag with mre food contents

    After opening the outer protective bag, all of the contents are tightly wrapped in a thinner plastic bag.

    individual plastic bags of food and accessories in mre

    The contents of the MRE included the following going clockwise from the upper left:

    • Italian Sausage with Peppers and Onions in Marinara Sauce
    • Cardboard entree info card/sleeve
    • Trail Mix, Recovery with Beef Jerky
    • Spoon
    • Accessory Pack
    • Beverage Base Orange Type III
    • Water-activated heater
    • Hot beverage drink pouch
    • Cheese Spread
    • Crackers
    • Dry Roasted Peanuts
    • Cranberries (Osmotic)
    mre accessory packets of coffee, sugar, tp, and other items

    The accessory pack included these items clockwise from the upper left:

    • Bill’s Brew Freeze Dried Coffee
    • Zero Calorie Sweetner
    • TP
    • Sugar
    • Iodized Salt
    • Chewing Gum
    • Moist Towelette
    • Creamer, Non-Dairy
    box of spaghetti noodles

    For dinner that night, I cooked a small pot of Barilla Whole Grain Spaghetti noodles for 7 minutes.

    bowl of italian sausage in sauce

    Then, I poured out the Italian sausage entree into a large bowl and microwaved it for 60 seconds.

    bowl of italian sausage in sauce with noodles

    And added the cooked noodles and some crushed red pepper to make it spicier (after tasting the sauce first).

    To supplement my meal, I ate the trail mix before thinking to take a picture of it. It was my first time having this particular kind of “recovery” trail mix in an MRE. It contained almonds, beef jerky chunks, and cranberries. It tasted good, but also a little interesting, perhaps due to the mixing of salty and sweet flavors.

    In the field, you can crush up your crackers and add them to the Italian sausage. For that matter, you can add the cheese spread, too. Since I had noodles and I wanted spaghetti, I went that direction instead of using only what was in the MRE. That’s the thing about enjoying MREs–you can mix-and-match them with what you have on-hand and what you find in between different menu pouches.

  • Blue Blocking Orange Glasses for Indoor and Outdoor Use

    2 pairs of orange colored glasses

    A long while back, Y suggested that I wear blue-blocking orange colored glasses in the hours leading to bedtime to help me avoid being woken by the blue light coming from my computer display, television, overhead lights, and smartphone. I can report that donning orange colored glasses a couple of hours before sleep (and taking with 1.5mg of melatonin and 700mg of magnesium glycinate about an hour before bed) helps me fall asleep much more quickly than I used to before wearing the glasses every evening.

    As I began developing presbyopia or age-related impairment of my eyes to focus on nearby objects, I upgraded from the pair of glasses on the left to the ones on the right to accommodate my reading glasses as shown below.

    reading glasses nested inside a pair of blue blocking orange glasses

    I repurposed my original pair of orange glasses to wear when I go out for walks at night with Y. I noticed that the bright lights of cars could sometimes trigger a migraine. Wearing these glasses reduces the intensity of on-coming car’s headlights on newer vehicles, which as others have noted, seem to be far brighter than halogen lights on older cars and trucks.

    To illustrate how well these glasses cut out blue light, you can see the blue Prospect Park West Holy Pita restaurant sign turn to an orange-white color through the orange lens below.

    the orange glasses' lens turns a blue sign orangish white

  • Christmas Breakfast with MRE Menu 17: Pork Sausage Patty, Maple Flavored

    mre plastic bag with contents inside.

    Yesterday, I wanted to enjoy an MRE meal for breakfast, so I dug into Menu 17: Pork Sausage Patty, Maple Flavored. It comes from a B case (menus 13-24) with an inspection date of 3/25 and a good Time and Temperature Indicator (TTI) sticker.

    cardboard case of mres, bound with plastic straps, on floor

    Each case has twelve meals tightly packed in its dense cardboard box. A case weighs about 20 pounds.

    open cardboard case of mres, 6 mres shown.
    12 mres on the floor with their cardboard case in the background

    This case included these menu options:

    • Menu 13: Cheese Tortellini in Tomato Sauce
    • Menu 14: Mexican Style Rice and Bean Bowl
    • Menu 15: Mexican Chicken
    • Menu 16: Chicken Burrito Bowl
    • Menu 17: Pork Sausage Patty, Maple Flavor
    • Menu 18: Beef Ravioli in Mat Sauce
    • Menu 19: Beef Patty, Jalapeno Pepper Jack
    • Menu 20: Italian Sausage with Pepper and Onions in Marinara Sauce
    • Menu 21: Tuna, Chunk, Light Water Packed, Lemon Pepper
    • Menu 22: Beef Goulash
    • Menu 23: Pizza Slice, Pepperoni
    • Menu 24: Southwest Style Beef and Black Beans
    mre plastic bag open with inner bag of contents next to it

    Opening the outer heavy-duty bag, reveals a more tightly packed thin plastic bag containing the MRE’s contents.

    mre contents spread out, an assortment of pouches and bags with different food items inside

    From the upper left to right, this MRE includes:

    • Water-activated heater bag
    • Mountain House Dehydrated Granola with Milk and Blueberries
    • Pork sausage patty
    • Hash brown potatoes with bacon, peppers, and onions
    • Table syrup
    • Entree and side nutrition info card (can be used as insulating sleeve, paper for writing, sending as a postcard–I have done this before, or kindling for fire)
    • Grape flavored carbohydrate electrolyte beverage powder in drinking pouch
    • Hot beverage bag (for coffee)
    • Dry roasted Peanuts
    • Maple muffin top
    • Accessory pack
    • Spoon
    mre accessory kit spread out

    The accessory pack included clockwise from the bottom left: chewing gum, instant coffee, TP, salt, zero calorie sweetener (dextrose and sucralose), sugar, non-dairy creamer, and moist towelette.

    muffin top, pork patty, and hashbrowns on a white ceramic plate with plastic spoon

    For breakfast, I prepared the patty, hash browns, and muffin top using the microwave. I warmed the patty and hash browns for 45 seconds, then added the muffin top, and microwaved for 15 more seconds. In general, I find MREs taste better by combining the individual elements in it. In this case, I would have a spoonful of patty, hash browns, and muffin together, which I thought was quite flavorful and enjoyable. For some folks, adding the syrup would improve the meal, but I don’t need the extra calories. Regardless, I recommend it.

    I saved the granola for breakfast on another day, and I had the peanuts for dessert with cookies at dinner later that night. I’ll save the other parts for consuming or using another day.

  • Gerber Multi-Plier 400 Compact Sport Is Another Handy EDC Tool

    Gerber Multi-Plier 400 Compact Sport with all tools unfolded

    In addition to my Swiss Army Explorer knife, I carry this Gerber Multi-Plier 400 Compact Sport multitool in my EDC. While some of its component tools overlap with the Explorer, its pliers and different size in-line Phillips screwdriver have come in handy on more than one occasion. My friend Perry introduced me to this Made in USA Gerber tool back in the early 2000s when he was using his to work on his computer. Soon thereafter, I picked one up for my tool kit.

    Gerber Multi-Plier 400 Compact Sport, closed
    Gerber Multi-Plier 400 Compact Sport, closed
    Gerber Multi-Plier 400 Compact Sport, pliers extended
    Gerber Multi-Plier 400 Compact Sport, pliers extended and handles open
    Gerber Multi-Plier 400 Compact Sport, flat head screwdrivers, can opener, and scissors opened
    Gerber Multi-Plier 400 Compact Sport, knife, Phillips screwdriver, and flathead screwdriver opened
    Gerber Multi-Plier 400 Compact Sport, inline Phillips screwdriver extended and pliers retracted

  • Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Explorer Still Part of My EDC

    Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Explorer, top layers closed

    My dad gave me this Explorer model Victorinox Swiss Army knife when I was 16 or so. I know that it was manufactured before 1991, because it doesn’t have the updated hook.

    While it’s neat accessory feature is the magnifying glass–for inspecting small things or helping start a fire when the sun is out, the part that I’ve used the most is the in-line Phillips screwdriver in the top layer tools. Unlike models with the back-side Phillips, the in-line screwdriver works in so many more situations. In particular, I can’t count how many computers I’ve worked on with this knife’s screwdriver–removing cases, installing components, etc. It has held up remarkably well over the years despite how often I’ve used it. However, it does need a proper cleaning.

    Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Explorer, top layers opened
    Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Explorer, bottom layers opened
    Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Explorer, bottom layers closed