2019 First Strike Ration Menu #5 - Contents and Review

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rareauldmealtimes
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2019 First Strike Ration Menu #5 - Contents and Review

Post by rareauldmealtimes » Tue Jul 14, 2020 2:07 pm

I had a really busy day doing some work around the house and haven't had a lot of time for a video review so i decided to really test out a 2019 First Strike Ration Menu #5 by using it as my sole source of calories for the day. Here's a super brief review and content listing.



Contents:

Image
Mains:
1 - 3.5oz - Filled French Toast Shelf-Stable
1 - 4.5oz - StarKist "Tuna Creations" - Lemon Pepper Tuna
1 - 3.5oz - Sandwich, Shelf Stable, Honey Barbecued Chicken

Snacks / Toppings:
1 - 1.82oz - Chocolate Chip Toaster Pastry
1 - .8oz - Cran-Raspberry Flavor - First Strike - Nutritious Energy Bar
1 - .95oz - Teriyaki Beef Stick
1 - 2.01oz - Toasted Corn Nuggets
1 - 4.5oz - Cinnamon Applesauce
1 - 1.38oz - Crackers
1 - 2.3oz - Nut Raisin Mix
1 - 1oz - Peanut Butter
1 - 1oz - Fat-Free Mayonnaise
1 - 2.1oz - Mixed Berry Energy Gel

Drinks:

1 - 2.5oz - Chocolate Protein Drink Powder
1 - 1.7oz - Beverage Base Powder Tropical Punch

Accessories:
1 - .32oz - Challenge Cool Mints Plus with caffeine
1 - Pkg - Gum (Two Pieces)
3 - Moist Towelette "Latex Free"
1 - 4g - Iodized Salt
1 - Book of Matches
1 - Lighthouse Toilet Paper
1 - Spoon
1- Trash Bag

Breakfast:

Filled French Toast,
Nut Raisin Mix,
Chocolate Chip Toaster Pastry,
Water

Out of all the Bridgeford sandwich type items, this filled french toast was the best I've had thus far. But calling it "filled" was for sure a stretch, it was pleasant overall and generally tasted like french toast with syrup. The chocolate chip toaster pastry was barely holding itself together from being shuffled inside a heavy bag of items. It's tasted just like a chocolate fudge "pop tart" and was very enjoyable and a great item to get you to eat even if your not usually a breakfast type of person. The nut raisin mix was to be blunt. Crap. It was essentially peanut dust with a few 1/2 pieces, an almond or two, a few chocolate candy coated discs and with only about 10 raisins. Very disappointing, I probably just got a crappy pack. Even more of a disappointment... NO COFFEE but I could understand that the ration's scope of use would be that it is in situation where heating up water isn't possible for a nice hot cup of coffee.

Lunch:

Tuna w/ Fat Free Mayonnaise
Crackers
Peanut Butter
Beverage Base Tropical

Tuna is never a wowfactor main for me but as far as US Ration meals go, this one is going to feel the lightest and "healthiest" to you most likely. The mayonnaise is a bit thin but adds a good bit of fat and flavor. I served the tuna on 1/2 of the crackers and it was pretty solid. Crackers and peanut butter are always a good combination but one complaint I always have with the current generation of US crackers is they are so crumbly! The older brown bag crackers were far superior to these things. The tropical beverage base is always bursting of "un-discernible fruit flavor" but is very good and refreshing. Especially when I was working outside on a day nearing 100f.

Dinner:

Sandwich Honey Barbecued Chicken,
Toasted Corn Nuggets,
Cinnamon Applesauce,
Chocolate Protein Drink Powder

Don't get your hopes up on that Honey BBQ Chicken sandwich.... it tastes like processed, cheap and poor quality everything. Nothing is good about this sandwich other than the bread is really sweet and its easy to eat. Just leaves you really feeling like you ate garbage. My first thought was this is like cheap gas station food. Now to the good: The Toasted Corn Nuggets are probably my favorite side items of US rations, they taste like wholesome salty tortilla chips. They are fantastic. Also, the Cinnamon Applesauce is always super pleasant and is convenient to eat out of the package. The Chocolate Protein Powder tastes like a rich chocolate milk style drink but is really difficult to get to fully dissolve.

Snacks
The Cran-Raspberry First Strike bar is fantastic! It's tangy and has an almost taffy consistency. Very Tasty! Would buy these things in store if I could.
The Teriyaki Beef Stick is just a small piece of super processed and cased cured meat. Eh, I could of done without. It's like a "slim jim" sorta.
The Mixed Berry Energy gel was a real surprise to me. It has a very strong flavor of berry, with the consistency of a thin jelly. It has an obvious amount of matlodextrin that gives it a sort of powdery, chalky taste. Very good overall!
The only thing I didn't try was the Caffeine mints. I'll try and update this review once I try them.

Overall:
A ration with a ton of food that easily satisfies someone doing a good amount of physical activity throughout the day. Other than the disappointing honey BBQ chicken sandwich and the Nut Raisin Mix I would say I enjoyed it. This thing kept me going all day with energy and not feeling bogged down with what I'd imagine a 3 MRE meals in a day would do plus the weight reduction would be very nice to not have to haul around!

Hope you enjoyed the review. See ya next time!


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Kays1968
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Re: 2019 First Strike Ration Menu #5 - Contents and Review

Post by Kays1968 » Tue Jul 14, 2020 7:49 pm

Nice review. I really like the way you broke it all down. You didn't like the nut raisin mix, I wonder if you got a bad mix. I agree that this mix is usually pretty bland, and I would love to see more salt in the US nut mixes, but I think that the nut raisin mix with the m&m's has just the right amount of sweetness to let it pass. I had one today with my lunch (from a recent M.O.R.E. purchase) and it had a nice amount of almonds and walnuts... not too many peanuts.

Honestly, though, I don't buy the FSR's anymore. They just seem like an overpriced visit to a gas station/mini-mart. Or a reflection of my already-overflowing extras box. All of the components have a purpose, and I understand the reasoning behind the ration, but for me it's just a bunch of unrelated pocket snack items. I'll take my $$$ down to the local mini-mart, it's fresher.

Thank you for the review! Stay safe & sane.....

-Zed

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