MREs HUH.

[j427x]

when i was a young boot we still had c-rations. some were dated 1979 but they were still edible. sometime in the mid-late-80s we started getting the 'new-fangled" MRE's --the first batches were god-awful. eat a MRE and dry-fart all day! by the time the first DS war deployment MRe's were somewhat improved. but i still thought the c's and k's were better. my last trip to the sand-box the MRE's seemed a bit improved. in most on my "grunt-work" --98% of the time we were in the field- so i ate a bunch of portable rations. to be honest i don't miss them much--lol

[sjohnson]

Doing some searching regarding Bill Mauldin's passing led me to the following link, great pictures, info and history of the WWII and later rations. Cool read, liberally sprinkled with Mauldin's cartoons to boot!

US Army Rations - World War II

[j427x]

yea our new ones aint got those stress releiving smokes. (i used to smoke) but that dont matter much to me. no "john wayne" bars we got the oorah/hoorah bars depends on which side you look at. Hard tack? nope. we got regular crackers and vegtable crackers. yep still got the disolvable coffee with sugar and cream to add in. and then the 2 lil chicklets of either mint/or cinamongun. occasionaly skittles, plain/peanut/peanutbutter m&m's, tootsie rolls. cobler. jam/peanut butter. a flavored drink mix, or dairy shake mix. lemon poppy seed/ spice pound cake, brownie, cookies. yep our "mre's" have definatly changed. and oh the variety of meals and combos. but regardless they still taste like shit and plug up rearend.

no smokes? that sucks. we were told the smokes was in there to win favor with those happy native tribals and war lords!

no wonder the natives are restless these days-- if they can't bum a smoke they start shooting!

[zteknik]

that was great sj!
by the time i got in the old rations were history and they started testing the mres on us in basic
remember the John Wayne bars?they still called them that back in the 80s-probably still do-i read somwhere how it got the name but forget where

[kernelkrink]

Just be grateful you don't have to eat the "next generation" dehydrated rations they're looking at.

BBC NEWS | Americas | US army food... just add urine

Urine as a rehydrating medium, even in an emergency, is not my idea of food.

[sjohnson]

Brown water treatment is nothing new. Urine is especially hard to purify, but it can be done.

Urine recovery is an engineering challenge: "Urine is so much dirtier than ordinary humidity," Carrasquillo explains. "It can corrode hardware and clog hoses." ECLSS uses a purification process called vapor compression distillation: urine is boiled until the water in it turns to steam. The steam—essentially clean water vapor except for some traces of ammonia and other gases—rises into a distillation chamber, leaving behind a concentrated brown soup of impurities and salts that Carrasquillo charitably calls "brine" (which is discarded). The steam is cooled and condenses back into liquid. This steam distillate is then mixed with the humidity condensate, and the water further purified to become potable. ECLSS can recover 100 percent of moisture in the air, and 85 percent of the water in urine, resulting in a net overall recovery efficiency of about 93 percent.

NASA - Sci-fi Life Support

Of course, I'm right with you kernel - osmotically filtered urine isn't my cup of tea - or chicken and rice!

[zteknik]

blech!!
ill stick with the pork patty any day!!

[recon]

MREdepot.com Home Page

MREInfo.com - Home

[bellson]

You guys are killing me!

In 1982, I was issued a case of C Rats that we dated 1955. They were the best C's I ever had.

I have been waiting for someone to bring up my gastronomical fav: LRPS. Vietnam era freeze dried garbage that would clog you up for a week. We were issued those as well. Actually, they taste fine, but after eating them the first day, you will get quite a case of abdominal cramps, followed exactly 6 hours later by a rectal explosion, the odor of which was enough to make you explosively vomit. We learned quickly to only eat two per day, not three. After a week or so, you could eat all you wanted. The only real benefit to the LRP Meals were that they did not weigh anything. You could sustain for two weeks without killing yourself. They were also relatively compact when disassembled into component form.

Just to add a nice finish to this culinary discussion, I made SOS this morning for my kids. 15 Minutes after I had served them, IT WAS ALL GONE!!! Little maggots ate it ALL! And I got NOTHING!

Recipe:
* 1 pound ground beef (Use the 80/20 stuff, lean does not have enough fat in it)
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cube beef bouillon
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 pinch ground black pepper
* 2 1/4 cups milk
* 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Brown beef in a large skillet over medium high heat. Stir in flour, bouillon, salt and pepper. Saute all together for about 5 minutes or until flour is absorbed. Gradually stir in milk and Worcestershire sauce. Bring all to a simmer, stirring constantly. Cook until thickened, about 5 to 10 minutes. Serve hot over toast, egg noodles, or mix with rice.

[sjohnson]

Sounds better than the chipped beef SOS mom used to feed us. And, we at it all up, too!

Another favorite, breakfast at supper time. My kids love that, it's a special treat!