1982 Food Packet, Survival, General Purpose Review
Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2021 4:28 pm
I went to an Army Surplus store one afternoon and found this laying on the shelf for $20. It's a Food Packet, Survival, General Purpose that appears to have been manufactured in September 1982 based on the "9 82" stamp on the case (I'm not certain if that's the production date or inspection date, but my best guess suggests it's the former.) Let's take a look!
On the top, it had a P38 can opener taped to it. But oddly enough, it also had another type of can opener (I'm not actually sure what it's called but I've seen it included with other rations) that you could use to pry open the container with. It's hard to notice, but on the first picture, you'll see metal piece sticking out on the right side of the container and that's where you can open it. I opted to open it from the top using the P38 can opener because I wanted to do minimal damage to it, and because I was fortunate enough to have glasses available for the coffee and the soup. Here's a look at the labeling on the back of the P38 can opener followed by the P38 itself. Upon opening it from the top, we are presented with a type IV granola cereal bar. There are two of them. Following the two granola cereal bars, there were two type I corn flake bars and the coffee neatly tucked on the side of the container. Below the two corn flake bars were the chicken flavored soup/gravy base and the sugar, respectively. Here is everything presented on the tray. A closeup of the bars. Here is the chicken soup prior to adding water.
On the top, it had a P38 can opener taped to it. But oddly enough, it also had another type of can opener (I'm not actually sure what it's called but I've seen it included with other rations) that you could use to pry open the container with. It's hard to notice, but on the first picture, you'll see metal piece sticking out on the right side of the container and that's where you can open it. I opted to open it from the top using the P38 can opener because I wanted to do minimal damage to it, and because I was fortunate enough to have glasses available for the coffee and the soup. Here's a look at the labeling on the back of the P38 can opener followed by the P38 itself. Upon opening it from the top, we are presented with a type IV granola cereal bar. There are two of them. Following the two granola cereal bars, there were two type I corn flake bars and the coffee neatly tucked on the side of the container. Below the two corn flake bars were the chicken flavored soup/gravy base and the sugar, respectively. Here is everything presented on the tray. A closeup of the bars. Here is the chicken soup prior to adding water.