“MRE heaters, basically, are heaters that make use of magnesium powder in order to heat food. These heaters do not require fire to work and are provided by military organizations and by other organizations that provide emergency relief with MRE packages or Meals Ready to Eat packages.
A reaction of oxidation-reduction is used by MRE heaters in order to heat food. The reaction is:
Mg + 2H20 → Mg(OH)2 + H2 + heat
Despite the primary purpose of MRE heaters being heating food, such heaters can do a lot of other things, too. For example:
1. MRE heaters can prepare delicious drinks
During those times when you crave coffee badly in the middle of a camping trip but do not feel like building a fire, an excellent MRE heater can come to your rescue. In order to have a delightful coffee within minutes, all you need to do is open your instant coffee, pour the coffee into a bottle made of plastic and seal the container with its lid. After that, put the sealed bottle inside your heater, followed by activating the heater using water. The same way, you can make other drinks, too.
2. MRE heaters are useful for building fire
As MRE heaters make use of magnesium powder in order to heat food, it is possible to use a little bit of powder to make a fire, using the power as tinder. Just make sure to avoid bringing the heater too close to the fire when using this tactic. Because doing that, may cause your food to burn or plastic to get lighted.
3. MRE heaters allow you to thaw frozen lines
During a freezing day, you may find yourself in a position where you are about to quick freeze. An MRE heater can help you avoid such roughness by thawing out the water line. To use your MRE heater for thawing, wrap it around the pipe, followed by activating it.
4. MRE heaters may be used for heating the body
Heat is required for many reasons, including treating injuries and relieving sore muscles. By nicely wrapping an MRE heater using cloth or towel, you can heat the parts of your body.
5. MRE heaters help make a toast
You can even make a toast using your heater. For that, you have to place a loaf of bread on the pad of the heater and then activate the heater. After one side becomes crisp, turn the bread to toast the opposite side.
Using MRE heaters for other purposes than heating packaged food is easy. You just require a bit of creative thinking and willingness to experiment.”