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The AP posted a story this afternoon on the new hot coffee units from Natick:

Making Coffee on Front Lines Gets Easier By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press Writer

Read it here: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SOLDIERS_JOE?

I'm confused

mw509 wrote:I'm confused

Sorry, link doesn't work anymore, try this one instead:
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1- ... 806799.php

Mmmmm...FRH-heated instant coffee!

I voted "yes" but I must say that 6 cents is a lot for that little plastic bag. I figure when you buy in bulk like the military you could get it down under a nickel...

Sounds like they're talking about the used-to-be-new Hot Beverage Bag. I've eaten a few MREs that had those included and they seem neat but there's one drawback in my opinion...

It seems like you have the choice of either a hot entree or hot water. If you use the single FRH to heat up your entree, how will you use it heat up the Hot Beverage Bag? I always rip the top off the FRH to get the hot entree out. I suppose if you don't rip off the top, you might be able to take out the hot entree and use whatever heat is left in the FRH to heat water...but is that really how it's intended to work?

kman wrote: It seems like you have the choice of either a hot entree or hot water. If you use the single FRH to heat up your entree, how will you use it heat up the Hot Beverage Bag? I always rip the top off the FRH to get the hot entree out. I suppose if you don't rip off the top, you might be able to take out the hot entree and use whatever heat is left in the FRH to heat water...but is that really how it's intended to work?

Perhaps they assume that the entree will often be warmed by other means - a plug-in electric heater (discussed in a different thread), for example, or an engine block.

I say just throw in two FRHs and be done with it. If you're not in a place that has electric heaters or an engine block, you're stuck chosing one or the other - hot coffee or hot chow.

What about an Esbit System, KMan. Cheap, and reliable with the use of this thing called a "canteen cup". I really wish the Natick guys would DX that tasters choice crap, and go back to old packs of G.I. coffee, like they had in MCI's, and Mres, up till around early '90s. Heck, the Canucks use something similar to the tasters choice, but it's one heck of a lot stronger. I believe its packed with caffeine. Caffeine is Good!, for the heart and soul, and brain function.

Sure thing, DangerousDave. Esbit, trioxane, or the new fuel gel works great along with a canteen cup for heating up water either for heating an entree or for coffee. As long as you have a place that's nice and ventilated where you can have an open flame, that stuff works great. Does anyone know if trioxane or fuel gel are still standard issue items in the US military? I know they are in the UK, Germany, France, etc. because that's how they're expected to heat their rations.