Steven Thomas (born ), known online as Steve1989MREInfo, is an American

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

and

military history Military history is the study of War, armed conflict in the Human history, history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to Politics, local and international relationship ...

commentator, best known for his YouTube video content in which he unboxes and eats

military rations Military rations, operational rations, or military provisions are goods issued to sustain the needs of military Military personnel, personnel. As their name suggests, military rations have historically been, and often still are, subject to ratio ...

Early and personal life

Thomas's interest in military rations began as a youth in 1997 when his uncle purchased a case of Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) rations from a

surplus store A surplus store or disposals store is a business that sells items and goods that are used, purchased but unused, or past their use by date, and are no longer needed due to excess supply, decommissioning, or obsolescence. The surplus sold is often ...

. The first ration Thomas ate from the case was a ham slice meal manufactured in 1993, which he ate cold because he did not know how to use the included flameless ration heater. Outside of YouTube, Thomas works as a landscaper in

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Located along Interstate 4, I-4 east of Tampa and southwest of Orlando, Florida, Orlando, it is the List of municipalities in Florida, most populous city in Polk County. As of the 2020 ...

. Despite his interest in military rations, Thomas is not a military veteran.

Internet career

Thomas began his YouTube channel in November 2015. He first gained notoriety in January 2016 for a video in which he ate 61-year-old

peanut butter Peanut butter is a food Paste (food), paste or Spread (food), spread made from Grinding (abrasive cutting), ground, dry roasting, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, ...

from a

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

-era C-ration. Later that year, a video review of Thomas eating

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

-era

hardtack Hardtack (or hard tack) is a type of dense Cracker (food), cracker made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. Hardtack is inexpensive and long-lasting. It is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyage ...

from 1863 went viral. Thomas has reviewed both vintage and contemporary rations of several armed forces from around the world, including those from the American,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, Ukrainian,

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, South Korean and Chinese militaries. He has reviewed a variety of military chocolate, including the American

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

-era D-ration and Tropical Bar. Thomas also reviews and smokes the

cigarettes A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the oppo ...

included in rations, the oldest being a 123-year-old cigarette dating to 1897. Because many of the rations Thomas opens are extremely rare, he has stated that he will only open and review a ration once he has obtained a duplicate that will remain unopened in a private collection. Thomas' video voice-overs have gained traction within his subscriber community for their calm delivery, and signature catch-phrases such as "nice hiss" (referring to the sound sometimes made when opening

hermetically sealed A hermetic seal is any type of sealing that makes a given object airtight (preventing the passage of air, oxygen, or other gases). The term originally applied to airtight glass containers but, as technology advanced, it applied to a larger ca ...

ration packages) and "Let's get this out onto a tray. Nice!" (referencing laying out the ration items onto a table, before hard-cutting to them neatly arranged on a

mess kit A mess kit is a collection of silverware and cookware designed for use by military personnel for food and military rations. They may also be used during camping and Backpacking (wilderness), backpacking. There are many varieties of mess kits th ...

). He almost always ends his videos with the catchphrase, "This is Steve1989. I... hope you liked the video, and I'll be coming back at you with something new... or old. Alright, cool. See ya."

Complications

Despite eating rations that are well beyond the recommended

shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a s ...

specified by manufacturers, Thomas has reported that he rarely becomes ill from eating them. As of 2023, he is only known to have become ill from two rations—a Ukrainian ration in 2015 (before his YouTube channel began), for which he was hospitalized for ''E. coli''; and a Chinese PLA Type 13 ration in 2019, which he harshly criticized while reviewing—both of which were only one year old and in-date when he ate them. He has described a

cheese spread Cheese spread is a soft spread (food), spreadable cheese or processed cheese product. Various additional ingredients are sometimes used, such as multiple cheeses, fruits, vegetables and meats, and many types of cheese spreads exist. Pasteurized p ...

from a 1985 MRE as "the grossest thing I've ever tasted, because it literally felt like fire. And bitterness." Thomas took a brief hiatus in mid-2020 after injuring tendons in his right arm, according to his pinned YouTube comment in the comments section of his then-most-recent video. He made the video as soon as the brace was removed from his arm.

References

External links

* {{Portalbar, Biography 1989 births Living people American YouTube vloggers YouTube channels launched in 2015 People from Lakeland, Florida YouTubers from Florida Military food

Early and personal life

Internet career

Complications

See also

References

External links