If you are going to The Basic School, or will be spending time in the field as a Marine Officer  the single best way to improve your experience is to purchase a JetBoil and some Mountain House meals immediately.  

If you're like us, and have a crippling addiction to caffeine, then this review is for you.    Listen up.

​If there is one group of people that could benefit from quality coffee at any time and any place, it's Marine Officers.   Being a Marine Officer means going to sleep last and waking up first.  Your sleep is not the priority.   And while the best way to stay energized is to get a good night's sleep, that option is not always possible.   Which brings us to the AeroPress.    
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The AeroPress makes a damn good cup of coffee that can be tailored to your personal taste, depending on how strong you want it.   You simply put in ground coffee beans, hot water, let it sit for a minute or two (brewing time depends on how you like your coffee), flip it over, and press the coffee through the filter into your mug.    

Five minutes on youtube will give you all the knowledge you need to make a great cup of coffee and you can stop wasting money on burnt sewer water at Starbucks.  

Why do we like this piece of gear for Marine Officers?

A few reasons:

1) It makes a fantastic cup of coffee.  Plain and simple, it works really well and delivers a strong result.   In addition, it takes about ten seconds to clean.

2) It's cheap.  For  30 bucks, you have all the tools you need to make a coffeeshop-quality cup of joe (provided the beans you buy aren't trash).  

3)  The AeroPress    is portable.   While me mostly use it to make our daily coffee at home, it really shines in the field.   The AeroPress   is basically unbreakable, weighs nothing, and can easily be packed into the small nylon bag it comes with.   This makes it ideal for Marines at TBS (The Basic School) or in the fleet.  Bring it to  FEX and suddenly the field doesn't suck as much.   

4) It's made in the USA.  We like that.

Our take?  The AeroPress really delivers, and for 30 bucks you can make great coffee at home or in the field.  That sounds like a pretty good piece of gear for Marines, especially those at TBS .