EPa Exploda-thon

[kman]

My EPa's didn't actually explode, but we already had a thread called "EPA leaking" (viewtopic.php?t=924) so I thought I'd jazz this one up.

I picked up a few cases of 2003 EPa a while back - Type IIs and Type IIIs. I tried a Type III and everything was fine. But I just recently did a trade with one of the forums members for a Type II ration. Before I sent the box, I took a quick peek inside and everything looked ok - but without completely unpacking it (and you know how painful it can be to repack an EPa just like you found it), I didn't catch that one of the Bierwurst containers had a leak in it.

Once I was told about the leaking, I checked all of the EPa in all the cases. I don't know what it is with the Type IIs but those took the worst beating. I'm still amazed at how they pack these things - they seem to just throw the parts in the box at random and shift them around until they can get the box closed. And since these are thin aluminum containers, they don't seem to stand up to rough handling.

Out of one case (6 EPa's) of Type IIs, I had six bad containers - 3 Bierwurst and 3 Leberwurst. Check out the pics:



The Bierwurst on the top and the Leberwurst on the bottom of the first pic don't look bad - but if you press down on the top, juice from the contents will start bubbling out of a tiny hole in the top of each.

But that Leberwurst in the second picture took the worst beating - you can even make out of the shape of the entree container that dug into it to break it open.

Oh well...good thing the Bierwurst and Leberwurst aren't my favorite EPa parts. And thanks to the member from the forums who warned me about the busted container - if I hadn't checked all my EPa's, there's no telling how bad the leaking/rotting/stinking would have progressed.

[housil]

Kman, first of all I´m sorry that you got in trouble with "our" EPa´s.

I´m a little bit confused about the "Leberwurst"-containers.



Usually the Bundeswehr never use civilain labeled containers. Not at all!
But this containers show not a "best before" on it, just a "manufactured at" like on military items.
I know this civilian labeled containers only from the mess hall, but never in an EPa.
I guess, somebody replaced the genuine EPa one´s...


I can imagine what happend, the container next to it (the up-side-down Fruchtsalat/Grießspeise on top of the bread can) pierced the cover.
Thats why the pate should be packed like this:

So it bend the bottom, but never pierce it.

(...) they seem to just throw the parts in the box at random and shift them around until they can get the box closed.

The EPa are packed in a special department of the Bundeswehr, not at a civilian company.
This ladies do 300.000 EPa´s a year:

Day by day, allways the same...


So all EPa´s are packed the same way, but not at random!

The pate-containers like this:


Rough handling shouldn´t be a problem, the containers are design for it. e.g. the entree´s need to be opend by knife, by hand is almost impossible...


I never had a pierced cover. Maybe extra rough handling while sending them overseas?!

[kman]

Interesting comment about the Leberwurst containers using commercial labels. It's strange because the Type IIs I have all have these commercial markings on the Leberwurst but none of the Type IIIs do.

There was a definite difference between the way the Type IIs were packed vs. the Type IIIs. The Type IIIs looked good - packed smartly - but the Type IIs were a little more scattered. But the odd thing is that all 12 of the Type IIs were packed the same way - so it's not like the guy I bought them from took everything out and then repacked it.

FYI, these EPa's probably came over here for the Katrina relief in 2003.

Housil, here's a question for you - I noted that the EPa boxes were placed in the case two different ways - in two cases, they were stacked vertically while in the other two case, they were stacked horizontally. All the busted containers came out of the cases that were stacked vertically. I restacked them horizontally. Which way do you usually see EPa's packaged?

As for your comment about the rough handling, I'm sure that could have happened anywhere along the route from Germany to Louisana to this guy's garage to my house. The cases were shipped to me individually so my guess (and based on the amount of food leakage/decay) is that it was the final FedEx trip to my house that damaged the containers.

And you're right about having to use a knife to open those entree containers! The first EPa I tried, I thought I could just lift open the cover and almost made a huge mess trying to force it open before I gave up and cut it.

[housil]

Housil, here's a question for you - I noted that the EPa boxes were placed in the case two different ways - in two cases, they were stacked vertically while in the other two case, they were stacked horizontally. All the busted containers came out of the cases that were stacked vertically. I restacked them horizontally. Which way do you usually see EPa's packaged?

Usually they came this way:





At my 2002 cases, they changed. They put "now" the crackers between the bread can and the jam, the pate in front of the entree´s

[kman]

Ok, that last picture looks just how my damaged case of Type IIs was packed - both in the way the EPa boxes went into the case (vertically) and in the way the parts were arranged inside the EPa.

In fact, the one Leberwurst that was so badly damaged was in the same place as that last small container in the lower right corner of your last picture. You can see how it could get shoved up into the entree container.

Oh well...not such a huge deal - damage is going to happen to things when they get shipped around so much. But it's great to see how they're supposed to be laid out inside.

[Stef]

Hi,
in almost all the EPA's I've opened till now, I've found a damaged/leaking item, generally the pâté or the jam can.
I don’t even want to imagine an EPA crate dropped from an helicopter !!

[Richard w.]

K-man- that is the "wurst" damage I've ever seen. (ha ha)

I checked all of my Type 3 EPA's because the case looked so bad when it was delivered. It was also from the Katrina relief.

All the chocolate bars were broken up, but the only thing leaking was one of the sour cherry jam containers. Big sticky mess.

Pity about that, because it is excellent stuff. I even tried to find some kind of sour cherry jam in the grocery store, but it seems that Americans only want sweet cherry preserves.