Digital Commonwealth's Stock Photos of Military Rations

[parafireboy]

Very cool Steve, thanks for sharing! There's definitely some pics of some items I've never heard of before.

[steve1989]

To Hardtack: Hah! Good point and I hadn't thought of that! When you put it that way, it is kinda creepy, huh? heheh
That's sounds like a neat course in nutrition, I would have actually payed attention in school if they showed stuff like this!
Hmm a good picture for your dining room would be the 2 soldiers sitting down eating chow on the trays that Norton mentioned or maybe one of the stock photos of the nutcakes - boy those are making me hungry as I type this. Wish they still made those.



To Parafireboy: I'm glad you enjoyed them, man! There were certainly a ton of pictures I hadn't ever seen until I found these - I think the most fascinating are the pictures of the absolute first prototype MRE's from the mid-70's. They even tried that metal tin instead of the outer pouch we have all come to know and love..!

[Hardtack]

Ok I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I got to the Bi-Fi Foreign Technology Shelf Stable Sandwich!! I think the compressed spinach and the green peas bars might go on my wall! Its hard to choose.

[cavguy]

Excellent find! Believe it or not, I remember the metal traypacks from the company Vanee foods (most of them tasted, well, not so good!)

[noderaser]

I'm glad they got away from the dehydrated bars... Freeze-dried foods are important for the arctic rations or other situations where you need to protect from freezing, but the wet-pack entrees are much more appetizing, and easier to prepare. You don't have the "problem" of deciding whether or not to eat one dry, and packing extra water in the desert can be counter-productive. Interesting to see the development of today's meals, and the incorporation of commercial technologies and products. Now, if they could only come up with a system that's less messy; I always seem to have lots of grime left over after opening and eating out of the retort pouches. Perhaps including a plate/bowl/tray in the packaging could help, if you packed the items inside of it, there wouldn't be any additional bulk and negligible weight.

[steve1989]

To Hardtack: I laughed at that one too! I mean, what the heck were they thinking?! hahah You know, the compressed spinach and the green pea bars really did have quite the aesthetic quality to them, huh? It is unique to say the least! Certainly a conversation piece when you have company over. "Hey, what's that?" - "Oh, no worries, those are just some compressed spinach bars from 1976." - heheh! honestly, i find these photos to have a strange calming effect.
I am going to be going back through them very soon here to get the dates of when they were taken (if provided some did not), and whatever other minimal info provided. Just wanted to get them out to look at for everyone first.

To cavguy: Thanks, man! Ooooh man - you actually had to eat Vanee Foods T-packs! My condolences! I wonder if many are left nowadays! I still would love to try a T-Ration dessert one day! I would pay someone some $ for a Coffee Cake T pack! heheh


To noderaser: I agree with you - the practical use of those dehydrated food bars are limited. I had some Rafco Freeze Dried RCW's back in 2010, and I had a Chicken Ala King one and actually ate 2 of the 4 bars dry like the one posing solder did W/ the beef stew bars in this thread - and I can say it was almost dangerous because if you took too big a bite, it felt like you could choke to death on one - plus when it blimped out in my stomach it gave me cramps. Also, the 2 I actually -rehydrated, it was sorta difficult breaking up the bars and getting water to all parts of it. I also had a Chicken & Rice Bars/Slices and it is on a thread here called RCW Dating: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4266&start=30
That one I used extra hot water and let it settle for longer than usual after breaking the bars up meticulously and it was then finally A-OK!

I find the thermostabilized packed MRE's to be a mixed-bag. Some entrees are questionable to my palate and some others I agree - they taste better.. but that may also be because when I eat an MRE.. I am always really hungry! And as Kman says: Because everything tastes good when you're hungry! the part of being easier to prepare is without question - and the ease of use in the field is usually more important than what tastes better. Heck, if I had to say what is the most efficient combat Ration, I would pick the First Strike Ration for it's ease of prep, portability, how quick it is to eat, and the caffeinated gum doesn't hurt.

I live in Florida, and when i go out on camping trips, I know how important it is to have ample water - and when I am having to lug back to a home-base of sorts just to re-up on water it can be difficult. So the retort pouches are hands down more efficient in any of current deployment environments. There is the issue like you mention of having the grimy leftover retort pouches - there is wasted food - calories that could have been consumed but it is usually more trouble than it's worth scooping in that pouch over-and-over just to get that last little morsel.
I think you are right on the money, if there was a variation of sorts where the food was in a container that still kept fresh like Thermo-stabilized retort pouches and were easy to transport - it would be pretty neat! I think there was one thing in this thread that was a prototype similar to what you are describing. Lemme check - Yep here we go - Thermostabilized meal trays. That is the closest thing here that I could compare to what you may be wondering if it could be more efficient! I wonder what happened to the Thermostabilized Meal Trays and why they never took off?



Thanks so much for your comments, guys! Its fun chatting about these forgotten photos!

[noderaser]

I think you are right on the money, if there was a variation of sorts where the food was in a container that still kept fresh like Thermo-stabilized retort pouches and were easy to transport - it would be pretty neat! I think there was one thing in this thread that was a prototype similar to what you are describing. Lemme check - Yep here we go - Thermostabilized meal trays. That is the closest thing here that I could compare to what you may be wondering if it could be more efficient! I wonder what happened to the Thermostabilized Meal Trays and why they never took off?

I don't think it even has to be that complicated; I'm just envisioning a simple plastic or paper tray/plate that they could pack the items inside before being sealed in the outer bag. Not only would it provide you something to eat out of, it could keep the more fragile items (pop tarts, crackers, etc) from being damaged. In some of the pictures you've posted here, there's a cardboard tube or wrap around the items but inside the outer packaging--was it the old LRRPs? Take that a step further and you have a functional item for the consumer as well as a packaging product to help things stay together.

Did you add the "film frame" for effect, or are they really on the site like that?

[steve1989]

Hey Noderaser,

You know - that would be a really neat option for even a Civilian MRE producer to include on their MRE's/Rations to create a more unique and desirable feature - but if the Govt. adopted that idea I think it would be very well received by the troops using them! And not only that, after eating you could have more tinder for a fire - or just simply more trash to pack but it would be worth it, and it would certainly be a nice change/option from eating in retort pouches all the time!

The cardboard tube/wrap around the entrees is a cushion of sorts for older LRP entrees - I think it kept the vacuum sealed pouches from getting punctured with a pinhole. I have handled them before, actually I might have a picture of one out of a 1977 Chicken Stew I ate earlier this year (The vacuum seal was perfect - but the dried dairy product somehow went bad over the years and that thing made me sick..! I have 3 pics of me eating it too but I will spare you - will have to do a review in Other Rations Thread to keep the categories appropriate).


As for the film frame - that was how I found these pictures, pretty neat huh? I have not altered any of the photos just posted em' as I found them.

[noderaser]

As for the film frame - that was how I found these pictures, pretty neat huh? I have not altered any of the photos just posted em' as I found them.

Actually, I think it's a bit cheesy This isn't instagram, we're not trying to make the pictures look worse on purpose.

[steve1989]

Well, I understand it's not instagram - and as mentioned before, these pictures were like that when I found them. They were developed by Kodak and it is Kodak Safety Film. That is a development banner around each photo.

What am I supposed to do? Crop each and every photo? That would have taken many unnecessary hours to do and that time can be utilized in more efficient ways.