Petition for Sopacko to create a Civilian FSR?

[hannonmc]

I was looking at The Epicenter's website and trying to figure out how to contsrtuct one by hand, based on the contents list and the cost was rapidly growing. The power here would be buying in bulk or being the manufactuer.

Breakfast pastry - > Could either be a poptart (limited life) or MRE cinnamon bun ($2.36) / Filled French Toast ($1.29)
Pocket Sandwich (x2) - > $2.89 / per
Cheese or Peanutbutter - > $.50 - $.99 (or less via Treesuit! )
Cracker - > $.25 (as above)
ERGO? - > Gatorade or power drink package? Not quite the same...
First Strike Bar (x2) - > Some sort of power bar
Desesrt Bar - > Same as above, but smaller
CHO Applesauce - > No clue
Caffeine gum -> Several commercial possibilities
Nut Fruit Mix - > $.75
Beef Jerkey (x2) -> Exising MRE beef jerkey or commercial

If you decided on only 1 pocket sandwhich, then you would go this path:
Packet tuna / chicken
Tortillas - > $1.39
Packet Mayo
Hotsauce

Throw in an accessory pack of your choosing with spoon and ziplock bag. Vacuum pack it all together.

Now, I know some members have lots of MRE components laying around (Treesuit) who may be able to provide some of these. There are the MRE beef jerkey, drink mixes, etc...) Then fill in with the comercial products.

I don't have all costs figured in. This was just preliminary thoughts. A standard MRE is around $5. This would replace 3, so around $15. Not sure if you could independently build one under that cap. I'm sure a good # of members have a vaccum packer. It is a matter of getting just the right contents together.

Thoughts? Discussion?

[kman]

hannonmc, that's a good idea about pricing out your own FSRs through The Epicenter. I'd recommend you take it one step further and actually contact them to see if they'd be interested in putting something like this together for you. I noticed on their web page (linked above), they have their own custom-packed cases of Breakfast MREs. I haven't tried those MREs myself, but if there's enough interest, they might be willing to put something like this together. The owner, Bryan, is a nice guy and I'm sure would be happy to hear your suggestion.

[fdsman]

I was looking at The Epicenter's website and trying to figure out how to contsrtuct one by hand, based on the contents list and the cost was rapidly growing. The power here would be buying in bulk or being the manufactuer.

Breakfast pastry - > Could either be a poptart (limited life) or MRE cinnamon bun ($2.36) / Filled French Toast ($1.29)
Pocket Sandwich (x2) - > $2.89 / per
Cheese or Peanutbutter - > $.50 - $.99 (or less via Treesuit! )
Cracker - > $.25 (as above)
ERGO? - > Gatorade or power drink package? Not quite the same...
First Strike Bar (x2) - > Some sort of power bar
Desesrt Bar - > Same as above, but smaller
CHO Applesauce - > No clue
Caffeine gum -> Several commercial possibilities
Nut Fruit Mix - > $.75
Beef Jerkey (x2) -> Exising MRE beef jerkey or commercial

If you decided on only 1 pocket sandwhich, then you would go this path:
Packet tuna / chicken
Tortillas - > $1.39
Packet Mayo
Hotsauce

Throw in an accessory pack of your choosing with spoon and ziplock bag. Vacuum pack it all together.

Now, I know some members have lots of MRE components laying around (Treesuit) who may be able to provide some of these. There are the MRE beef jerkey, drink mixes, etc...) Then fill in with the comercial products.

I don't have all costs figured in. This was just preliminary thoughts. A standard MRE is around $5. This would replace 3, so around $15. Not sure if you could independently build one under that cap. I'm sure a good # of members have a vaccum packer. It is a matter of getting just the right contents together.

Thoughts? Discussion?

I like kman's idea of having the epic center putting these together.

A few things to note

the epic center does sell the ERGO drinks so we've got that covered really the only thing we're missing is the Zapple sauce. Also you can get the STAY ALERT gum on amazon. It's not cheap but if you really want it you can buy it by the commercial display package. Other than that all the ingredients are avaliable and should leave us with our own FSRs!

Also, doing a search for first strike ration brought up a blog post and someone has created a fictional label for the civilian version.



Assuming the epic center does make these and the original owner of the image doesn't mind we could go for some more authentic looking packaging.

I don't know about you guys but I like the cardboard and then plastic wrapped version of the FSR. Since the contents would be packed tight you don't have contents moving around nor a package that takes up nearly as much room.



If we could push to get that style of packaging, that would be great.

[hannonmc]

I took kman's suggestion and contact Bryan at The Epicenter.

Let's see what can come from this. Even a partial solution could be a win. Maybe like a build your own FSR kit. Add in your own gum/tuna/chicken. Something is better than nothing.

BTW, I did some quick and dirty math. Assuming products bought in bulk and doing some reasonable substitutions like Gatorade for the ERGO, Cliff Bars (full / mini) for the First Strike bars, etc... I came up with about $21.43 in just product cost. Add in slightly more for packaging / ziplock bag / spoon, and I would say that a custom built one would be about $25. I don't know about anyone else, but for $25, I would certainly buy one.

I know that some of my estimates were a bit high.

This was my breakdown for those that are interested:

Breakfast pastry - > Filled French Toast - > $1.29
Pocket Sandwich - > $2.89
Peanutbutter - > $.55
Cracker - > $.69
ERGO? - > Gatorade - > $1.50 (for 2)
First Strike Bar - > Cliff Bar 2 oz - > $2.22 (for 2)
Desesrt Bar - > Cliff Bar 1 oz - > $.66
CHO Applesauce - > Other pouch applesauce (for price comparison) - > $.75
Caffeine gum -> $1.17
Nut Fruit Mix - > $.75
Beef Jerkey -> Existing MRE beef jerkey or commercial - > $3.16 (for 2)
Packet tuna - > $3.12
Tortillas - > $1.15
Packet Mayo - > $.10
Hotsauce - > $.18
Accessory Pack - > $1.25

[fdsman]

I took kman's suggestion and contact Bryan at The Epicenter.

Let's see what can come from this. Even a partial solution could be a win. Maybe like a build your own FSR kit. Add in your own gum/tuna/chicken. Something is better than nothing.

BTW, I did some quick and dirty math. Assuming products bought in bulk and doing some reasonable substitutions like Gatorade for the ERGO, Cliff Bars (full / mini) for the First Strike bars, etc... I came up with about $21.43 in just product cost. Add in slightly more for packaging / ziplock bag / spoon, and I would say that a custom built one would be about $25. I don't know about anyone else, but for $25, I would certainly buy one.

I know that some of my estimates were a bit high.

This was my breakdown for those that are interested:

Breakfast pastry - > Filled French Toast - > $1.29
Pocket Sandwich - > $2.89
Peanutbutter - > $.55
Cracker - > $.69
ERGO? - > Gatorade - > $1.50 (for 2)
First Strike Bar - > Cliff Bar 2 oz - > $2.22 (for 2)
Desesrt Bar - > Cliff Bar 1 oz - > $.66
CHO Applesauce - > Other pouch applesauce (for price comparison) - > $.75
Caffeine gum -> $1.17
Nut Fruit Mix - > $.75
Beef Jerkey -> Existing MRE beef jerkey or commercial - > $3.16 (for 2)
Packet tuna - > $3.12
Tortillas - > $1.15
Packet Mayo - > $.10
Hotsauce - > $.18
Accessory Pack - > $1.25

Sounds good I suppose given that it's about $8.33 per meal.

[hannonmc]

Sounds good I suppose given that it's about $8.33 per meal.

Sounds reasonable to me. I still think they should be able to bring it in to about $20 based on bulk purchasing power and still turn a profit.

Still waiting to hear from them...

[Treesuit]

FDSman,

Hey this sounds like a great idea to experiment on. And I would also like to put my energy into this but suggest to you if you would like to make your own FSR packet, then I can help. I noticed in your first post that some things can be puchased cheap and there was also my screen in parentheses with a smiley face. Okay I get it, so if you would like to try and make a FSR totally on the cheap and see if we can actually do it, then great let me help.

Yes, it is true that I have parts and MRE's lying around from some of my adventures and, yes I sell stuff on the cheap as well. Other things like caffiene gum is cheap out here and original. The other parts of the FSR are standard MRE stuff like crackers, PB & J, spoon, A-packs, Etc. You get the idea. So why don't we collaborate and send stuff to you and see if we can put together a FSR then we might have some leverage with theepicenter.com in maybe getting FSR's from them. The only thing I don't have is a vaccum packer. If I had that I would do it myself and post the product but I don't so that's where you come in.

I took a look at your last list and saw that about 70% of the stuff listed can come from me, and would be free for this experiment. Other stuff would have to be bought by you, but at least we can control some of the costs. Can you take a look at the list and PM me. I think it can be done.

[hannonmc]

Treesuit,

It was actually me who started this insane line of thought.

PM has been sent...

[fdsman]

Treesuit,

It was actually me who started this insane line of thought.

PM has been sent...

Yes this is true, I'm not really one for putting together stuff myself.

[Treesuit]

Hannonmc,

Sorry, I guess I got confused. Pm received and reply sent back. I was looking over the list again and even with free stuff from me it's quite possible to have something similar although the carboard packing is the only thing I can see might be complex in either finding or making. That and a suitable label on the outside.