How to find the hidden gems without paying high shipping

[BlackDogBob]

Guys, I see a lot of recent posts asking how to find or where to buy international rations here in the states. I must admit that one of those threads asking the very same questions was started by me about 8 weeks ago. Lol. In the last few weeks, I have managed to jump into this hobby with both feet and have managed to acquire a rather large collection in a very short time. I debated wether to share this or not as a small selfish part of me said, "self, if you tell them, they will find them before you". Lol. But the collector/enthusiast in me won the argument, so here is the post. In just 2 short month, I have acquired 31 Canadian IMPs (6 from 11, 23 from 13, and 5 from 14), 3 UK 24 hour rations, 6 Russian rations, 2 UN HDRs, 5 LRPs, 2 halal MREs, 1 RCW A&B, 1 German ration, 2 Lithuanian MREs, and a rather nasty 1990 dehydrated pork patty mre (and those were my favorite when I was in the Corps). And this week I have 4 packages coming that include some really cool items and a total of 11 more rations! The question is how? Other than shipping charges, I have only spent $348.00 U.S. On my collection.

Here is how I have been able to find the gems. First, I am the type to share. When I find a good deal, I offer trades and have found that the folks on this site are SUPER helpful and great traders. Knock on wood, I haven't been burned yet. And I must add that I really don't expect I ever will. I put the word out to some of my friends who are veterans or are still serving and the response was out of this world. One guy said, "bro, I always knew you were crazy, but hey, if you want MREs I will get you some". He is coming home from deployment in July and has already traded for some pretty cool stuff over there including Australian rations. Another friend of mine (veteran) was going to the Machine Gun shoot at Knob Creek. He said he would keep an eye out and he was able to score me my first internationals ( 5 Russian and 3 Canadian). Second big find came from a guy at a gun show this weekend, 28 Canadian IMPs still within date for a total of $125 ($45 for the two full cases and $35 for the case missing 2). Stumbled across a German ration at a military surplus store in Missouri. Got it for $12. Best by date on most the contents was February 2016. Everything else I got was thru trades or eBay. I have found several surplus stores near military bases that have them. I won't go into a long list here, but if you are near San Diego or 29 Palms, ha might just want to check out some local surplus stores. Like, um, in the next few days cause they don't have a lot of them.

What is the point of all this you ask? If you are serious about collecting, collect. eBay is a great source, and the outdoor shop in the UK has some pretty good prices also. But the whole thing about collecting is to trade with fellow collectors, search for the hidden treasures, and meet some great folks. I own and manage 4 companies. Two of them are rather large and very stressful. I spend a lot of my free time here in the site looking through old posts and reviews. When traveling to another city, I google all the surplus stores in the area. If they have something, I pay with a credit card, then pick it up while in that town. Collecting and eating various military rations has become the zen to my stressful day. Lol

Anyway, just wanted to get that out there. Big shout out to KMAN for all he has done getting this site up. To the guys I have traded with, you know who you are, thank you SO much for the great trades. In closing I will say this, I am starting to amass a number of items from foriegn rations that have not been opened. If you want to try some, pm me. If I have them to spare, I will send them.

And the big reveal? Ok. I searched the Internet for various people within foriegn militaries, specifically in supply or logistics. I then sent them an email explaining that I am looking for international rations for a comparison review video series and would they help me out. So far, 3 have responded. Ironically enough, they can get them sent to embassies here in the States thru diplomatic mail. Contacting the embassies is a dead end. But, if you do your research and reach out to the guys and gals in uniform in their own country directly, you have a much better chance of success. Who should you contact? Well now, what fun would it be if I gave you all the information. Begin your treasure hunt. Figure out what you want from what countries, then reach out to them. But I will leave you with a clue, the Australian, French, and Spanish militaries have some cool guys working in logistics. Just saying!

No go fourth good sirs and madams. Find those hidden gems! And if you find some extras, give me a jingle and we can make some trades.

[kman]

Awesome post, Bob. I like your strategy of being a vendor at local gun shows and scouring all the vendors there BEFORE the show opens. Get to know who has access to hard-to-find rations and make sure they know who you are.

[BlackDogBob]

Awesome post, Bob. I like your strategy of being a vendor at local gun shows and scouring all the vendors there BEFORE the show opens. Get to know who has access to hard-to-find rations and make sure they know who you are.

I will admit it does help .

[parafireboy]

Great tips BlackDogBob, thanks!

[BlackDogBob]

Yesterday afternoon I stopped into a surplus store and picked up 5 LRPs still within inspection date for $12 each! The owner said he had some old stuff in storage and would get back to me. He called me last night and said he has 2 MREs from the 80s and 2 CRats from the 60s. He says the CRats are not good. But will take $40 for all 4 items! Yep. Picking them up today after the gunshow. All I want from the CRats is the accessory packs. Let's hope they are still in good shape. After watching Steves video, I can't wait to smoke some 50+ year old cigarettes. Lol

[sourwes]

Nice find BlackDogBob, you really know how to root out the deals. You really are the "American Pickers" of rations! Lol... Congrats..only thing I picked up this wk was a 3pk of HDRs, a case of 4/17 insp MREs for $50 shipped and that 6pk of IRPs

[BlackDogBob]

Sourwes, that's still quite a bit and you got some pretty good prices on them. I am fortunate that my job takes me all over the country. And doing a gunshow or a Prepper show every weekend I get to know the surplus vendors pretty well.

Plus, I love trading. Lol. Speaking of which, if you want to trade some stuff, let me know.

[BlackDogBob]

Well, that was a total bust. Lol. The two MREs looked like they had been shredded and the two CRats looked like they had been stored in a flooded dirt basement. Lol. Oh well. The only problem is that I spent most the evening last night watching Steves videos of how great the smokes were from the CRats. Haha. Now I have to find some.

At least I have the LRPs.

Oh well. There are more places to search tomorrow and more hidden gems to locate.

[kwiklot]

Im not gonna lie rations from other countries is what gets my goat. French rations have been the best from what i remember, so yeah eating them would be what i like. I dont know about eating a 60 year old c rat but i will watch the hell out of a video someone makes of them doing it for "science" lol

[BlackDogBob]

Im not gonna lie rations from other countries is what gets my goat. French rations have been the best from what i remember, so yeah eating them would be what i like. I dont know about eating a 60 year old c rat but i will watch the hell out of a video someone makes of them doing it for "science" lol

Brother, I completely agree. I was searching for videos on bushcraft/survival and found one where some guy in Russia was comparing Russian rations to I think Norwegian. I was like, hmmmm, international rations? Then that weekend a student brought some internationals as his chow to a three day survival course we were hosting in Virginia. He let me try the Russian one and I was hooked. The night the class ended I was completely exhausted but had to look into them. Found one of Gundogs videos and the next thing I knew 2 hours had gone by. Lol. At that point, I was hooked!ehats funny is that after eating so many different rations, I have found that the Russian is the one I liked the least. Super hooked on the IMPs. But man, the Norwegian Arctic is where it's at brother.