Food Packet, Survival, ST-4 1956 DoP Full Review!

[steve1989]

I found a somewhat rusted and rough looking ST-4 for a good price recently and decided to share it with the folks here.
This was still pretty fresh for having a 1956 DoP. The Jelly bars are actually soft and chewy for once and I have had about 12 of em' so far in my life and they are always varying from hard to tooth break rock hard.
The tea & coffee were hard, flat, and oxidized. Not good drink but good for display.

Hey, do you guys think these Iodine Water Purification Tablets are still effective to purify water?

I'm tempted to try them out. Looks like you get 10 or so in this bottle that is coated in wax.

Tried the gum, still soft and much better than gum made with all the junky sweeteners nowadays.

Vitamin tabs turned to liquid.. no thanks!

Ate a sugar cube for fun. I always love these things, I shouldn't ever eat them.. I'll bet if I put those Domino sugar cubes in my glass case at one of the antique shows I set up at, I could get $3-5 a piece for em at least. People love to pay good money for old food! I know, because I pay good money for old food!

This ration would be great if you needed to conserve water too. Look at these items, only the tea and coffee are somewhat thirst provoking in this. It's a really efficient ration - and it's almost 100% edible still. The jelly bars are fantastic!





Food Packet, Survival, ST

For use in survival in tropical situations, the Food Packet, Survival, ST is designed to feed one man for three days or three men for one day. The packet is composed principally of starch jelly bars, high in caloric density and very stable when stored at high temperatures. The ration does not provoke thirst and will be beneficial even when consumed under conditions when water may be critically limited. It is for consumption only in emergencies. It is packed in a flat rectangular can with a can opener taped to the bottom.

This Food Packet, Survival, ST is no longer a standard A item and will remain in the inventory of military survival rations only until such time as the new standard all purpose item, the Food Packet, Survival, becomes available for its replacement.

Components of the ST food packet are:
Starch jelly bars Chewing gum
Instant coffee Sugar
Instant tea Survival instructions


Packets/case 24
Weight/case 37 pounds
Weight/packet 1.5 pounds
Cube/case .8 cubic feet
Cube/packet 45 cubic inches
Calories/packet 1750 approx.
Specification MIL-F-2409

[steve1989]

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[steve1989]

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[steve1989]

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[steve1989]

Here is a preview to one of my most exciting reviews. The ever elusive and collectable Sa-3 with the cigarettes! Here is my main stock photo and my very 1st effect pics!

[housil]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing. I like you tried that jelly

[rattattoo]

Bizarre... There is no way on gods green earth that I have ever had a 1956 ST–4... But those jelly bar packagings actually look awfully familiar.
I grew up in the 50s, so I wonder if they were actually available as some kind of a civilian product as well.
Anybody have a clue?

I know there was some other kind of the soft jelly-bar/product that was coated in granulated sugar. You got five or six flavors in a package for a nickel. One was licorice, one was cherry, I'm pretty sure there must've been lemon, and lime and maybe grape, and then I think there was a sort of white one that was possibly pineapple.... "Chucklets"...?? [yeah, I know that Chiclets are gum] "Chuckles" mebbe... ?

[dirtbag]

These?

http://www.oldtimecandy.com/walk-the-ca ... lices-bulk

[rattattoo]

Nope, Dirtbag. Ones I remember were rectangular.... about an inch and a half by one inch and about a quarter of an inch thick.
The more I think about them, the more I'm pretty sure they were called "Chuckles".
AND they were a completely separate product from the one that I remember in packaging like those in the ST-4 here...
Time and tide...

[rattattoo]

Found 'em....

Chuckles.jpg (14.07 KiB) Viewed 10208 times