Amazon.com First Strike Rations

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Treesuit
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Amazon.com First Strike Rations

Post by Treesuit » Wed Nov 16, 2022 12:39 am

Hey guys haven’t posted a food review in a long time and figured I would do a post on something I stumbled upon by accident while shopping on Amazon. Seems to me you can buy a First Strike Ration(s) for an unbelievable decent price with shipping. I tried two FSR’s through a particular vendor just to see how each experience would be, and I was surprised, somewhat, by each episode.

So, here’s the background. One day I was trying to search around for first strike bars as an alternative back up meal or snack. Went to Amazon.com and tried looking around but nothing panned out but as I scrolled down one particular page I noticed an ad for real FSR’s. I thought that couldn’t be possible outside on eBay, so I purchased one for $20.00 USD and S/H was about $6.95. Had in my hands in about two days (seller was out of FL, and shipped via USPS Priority mail). When I got it out of the box it was nearly identical to my other FSR’s I have in my collection (2012-2020).

The first one was a Menu #3 which said on the outer package “Honey BBQ Beef Sandwich” and "Chicken Chunks” and that was it! The company was SOPAKCO, INC and it was a clear bag with a stamped logo on front and nothing else. So, the first bag I tore into and laid everything out, first problem was some of the contents up top looked they were haphazardly just thrown in there while the rest of meal was expertly and neatly packaged. When I mean haphazardly, I mean the crackers looked like half the package was smashed and the desert mocha bar looked bent into two parts. Nonetheless, I just assumed it was packaging error and broke everything down in parts to consume for my road trip. Then the second encounter happened three weeks later.

The second order I received was through the same vendor on Amazon and like the first one was in my hands in record time. This time it too was a Menu #3 but said “Honey BBQ Chicken Sandwich” and “Tuna Pouch”….ummm…huh? Still made by SPOPAKCO, INC but maybe the same contents, I thought. Nope, not this time. This second one was again like the first one I had where the contents at the top of the bag looked somebody had just randomly thrown stuff in them. The tuna pouch was jammed into the center and luckily didn’t explode, crackers were in a big wadded up ball, and the mocha drink pouch, was crumpled up and found in the bottom of the bag. Everything else was nice and neatly packaged in there like somebody took some time to do it right. I thought, this couldn’t happen twice. Perhaps, a quality control oversight?

Ok, so here are my thoughts on these FSR’s. These look like a civilian version from SOPAKCO, Inc that they probably put out on the market. Everything is done right, right down to the last detail and the food items. The meal and the contents are really fresh, I’ve included photos of my first one which was a 2022 item and the contents were 2022 dated as well. The price is pretty good for buying one off Amazon with the S/H, so if you’re in the market for one do check it out. I was really surprised on these two. The only two things that I couldn’t figure out we’re the above mentioned snack items just jammed into there and then shipped and the difference in the menu items which didn’t seem to match up with the menu items put out by Natick Labs. So, I’m not sure what had happened, if anyone would like to do a supplemental review and post it here we can compare notes for the good of the forum. Thanks!
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steve1989
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Re: Amazon.com First Strike Rations

Post by steve1989 » Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:37 am

Hey Treesuit,

I got some may 2022 FSRs that were clumsily packed with tight vacuum seals and bent sandwiches with moisture stabilizer imbalances. Dry and wet spots on the bites. Oil leaked cheddar bacon soups. Less menu variation and duplicates all over. Cost cutting? Is the FSR getting replaced by the CCAR any time soon? Makes me wonder. Might just be an off-batch.

M R Eedy
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Re: Amazon.com First Strike Rations

Post by M R Eedy » Mon Nov 21, 2022 11:17 am

Imho the first strike ration was a very sub quality ration I hope the ccar will be an upgrade

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