Steve1989MREInfo

Steven Andrew Thomas, (born in April 1989), known online as Steve1989MREInfo, Steve MRE or Steve1989, is an American YouTuber and military ration commentator, best known for his YouTube video content, which mainly consists of videos of Thomas unboxing and taste-testing old, obscure, or foreign military field rations.[1][2]

Steve1989MREInfo
Born
Steven Andrew Thomas

April 1989 (age 31)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesSteve1989
OccupationLandscaper[1]
Known for
  • "Let's get this out onto a tray... Nice."
  • "Nice hiss."
  • "I'll be coming back at you with something new or old."
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2015–present
Genre
Subscribers1.79 million
Total views285.36 million
NetworkNone
100,000 subscribers 2016
1,000,000 subscribers 2018
Updated: 2 February 2021

Early life

Thomas's interest in military rations began in 1997 when his uncle purchased a case of US rations from an Army Navy Store. 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 heating device.[3]

Internet career

Thomas began his YouTube channel in November 2015 and first gained notoriety in January 2016 for a video in which he ate 61-year-old peanut butter from a Korean War-era Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE).[4][5][6] Later that year, a video review of Thomas eating American Civil War-era hardtack from 1863 went viral.[7] Thomas has opened, eaten and reviewed a variety of military chocolate, including the notorious World War II-era D ration bar and Tropical Bar, both manufactured by the Hershey Company.[8][9] Prior to 1975 several U.S. military rations contained cigarettes, and Thomas does smoke and review the cigarettes in older rations, with the oldest cigarette smoked being a cigarette dating to 1897, making it 123 years old when it was smoked.[10] He has reviewed rations from the British Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Navy, Russian Special Forces and both vintage and contemporary rations from a wide variety of armed forces from all over the world.[11][12][13]

Thomas took a brief hiatus in the middle of 2020 due to injuring tendons in his right arm, according to his pinned YouTube comment in the comment section of his video, "1993 US MRE Smoked Frankfurters Review Vintage Meal Ready to Eat Tasting Test". As soon as the brace was removed from his arm, he made the video.

Despite eating rations that are well beyond the recommended shelf life specified by Natick Laboratories and other manufacturers, Thomas has reported that he rarely becomes ill, though he did contract E. coli and had to be hospitalized in 2015, ironically from a ration that was actually within its shelf life.[3] Thomas described a cheese spread from a 1987 MRE as "the grossest thing I've ever tasted, because it literally felt like fire. And bitterness."[1]

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.[3]

His video voice-overs have gained traction within his subscriber community for their calm delivery, and signature catch-phrases such as "nice hiss" (when opening a can or pouch resulting in air evacuation), 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 arrayed on a military-style food tray.

Despite his dedication to military rations, Thomas has not served in the military.[1]

See also
  • List of YouTube personalities

References
  1. Molly Fitzpatrick (17 March 2017). "Why Millions of People Watch This YouTuber Eat 50-Year-Old Rations". GQ. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  2. Anna Dubenko and Michelle L. Dozois (3 March 2017). "13 Great Stories That Have Nothing to Do With Politics". New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  3. Sonia van Gilder Cooke (3 February 2017). "I eat vintage military rations". Financial Times. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  4. Wyatt Marshall (24 January 2016). "This Dude Ate the Oldest Peanut Butter Ever". VICE. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  5. Claire Lomas (22 January 2016). "Watch YouTuber eat 61-year-old Korean War-era ration pack". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  6. Eric Limer (21 January 2016). "What It's Like to Eat a 60-Year-Old Military Ration". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  7. Charley Lanyon (24 February 2017). "I Can't Stop Watching This Guy Eat Decades-Old Army Rations". VICE. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  8. Charley Lanyon (4 January 2019). "This is what the Army's nasty 'emergency chocolate bars' tasted like". We Are the Mighty. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  9. Perry Chiaramonte (5 May 2017). "K-Rations meet Fear Factor: Online groups sample, review MREs from WWII to present day". Fox News. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  10. Sarah Sicard (16 May 2017). Task and Purpose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiUgyJdZYsg&t=23m25s. Retrieved 30 July 2019. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. Steve Ricker (8 February 2017). "Join me in the delight of watching a very polite man eat 70-year-old military food". The Verge. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  12. Ella Morton (2 May 2016). "The Combat Ration Collectors Who Eat Decades-Old Military Meals". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  13. Bryan Menegus (7 July 2016). "Russian Special Forces Rations Include Brain Pâté, Among Other Things". Gizmodo. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
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