International rations talk here!

Post by **kman** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 9:01 am

Thanks for the link, DangerousDave - but I can't seem to get it to work. It might just be my network - is it working for anyone else? Looks like an interesting site, though (I can hit the top page).

cogsinister · Post by **cogsinister** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:20 am

Hello everyone,

I thought for my 1st forum post i would put some links to pics of some of the rations i recently bought off ebay here in the uk...

First off i got 10x 24 hour british ORP's for £5 each including delivery.....they were all the same menu (beans and sausage and pork cassarole with treacle pud as dessert) and were very tasty indeed...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v16/c ... 739250.jpg

Then i won an auction for a box of 12 US MRE's ( case B) for £50 these were quite local to me so i picked them up myself...i liked the beef encheladas and the pasta dishes best...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v16/c ... G_0014.jpg

Then today, my latest auction win arrived, 75 UK pouches, as used in the 24 hour ration packs.....the mix is made up of Steak and veg with potatos, pork casarole, bacon and beans and as desserts...rice pudding and a few fruit puddings and custard....price, £75 including next day delivery.....( they are very heavy)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v16/c ... G_0172.jpg

I now have loads of great meals but without all the other stuff that comes in the 24 hour packs ( i still have loads of bars of britsh army chocolate ) so i am quite pleased with my purchase.

Post by **kman** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:38 pm

Hi cogsinister - welcome to the forums!

Thanks for the pics of the stuff you just bought. It's funny - I picked up a case of ORPs from ebay a while back and they were the exact same menu as what you described.

I'm envious of those 75 UK pouches - if shipping wasn't so outrageous between the UK and US, I'd try to buy some off of you. Those things are pretty hard to find over here.

cogsinister · Post by **cogsinister** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:56 pm

kman wrote:Hi cogsinister - welcome to the forums!

Thanks for the pics of the stuff you just bought. It's funny - I picked up a case of ORPs from ebay a while back and they were the exact same menu as what you described.

I'm envious of those 75 UK pouches - if shipping wasn't so outrageous between the UK and US, I'd try to buy some off of you. Those things are pretty hard to find over here.

Thanks for the welcome kman....

The UK pouch meals are fantastic....my dinner tonight consisted of steak and veg with potatos, followed by rice pudding, it was de-lish !!

The wieght of the boxes allmost broke my back when i took them off the delivery man, so post to the US would cost an absolute fortune.....

I find the pouches are great for me...a man who hates cooking, and loves the taste of good old British army comfort food.....and this forum is a great place for me to interact with oter ration pack loving people

DangerousDave · Post by **DangerousDave** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 3:15 pm

I just tryed ordering 8 from Surplusandoutdoors again. They balked at first, about food items getting thru US customs. Then they got back with me and said fastest shipping would be 200 Pounds. Slower was 186 Pounds. They did'nt make clear if that was shipping cost, or total cost, which included 81 Pounds for 8 ratpacks(6 selected+2 they pick). Either way, just too darned much. I thought Fedex or UPS might be less, but appears not.

cogsinister · Post by **cogsinister** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:10 pm

DangerousDave wrote:I just tryed ordering 8 from Surplusandoutdoors again. They balked at first, about food items getting thru US customs. Then they got back with me and said fastest shipping would be 200 Pounds. Slower was 186 Pounds. They did'nt make clear if that was shipping cost, or total cost, which included 81 Pounds for 8 ratpacks(6 selected+2 they pick). Either way, just too darned much. I thought Fedex or UPS might be less, but appears not.

£200 !!! god that's scary !!!

*faints*

DangerousDave · Post by **DangerousDave** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:59 pm

Why is shipping so bloody expensive from Great Britain? It's not being shipped from Mars. I've ordered a couple things from Germany before, and a successful order of ratpacks from Surplusandoutdoors, a couple years ago. Was'nt that insane on shipping costs then. Whats your opinion Cogsinister?

cogsinister · Post by **cogsinister** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 5:23 am

DangerousDave wrote:Why is shipping so bloody expensive from Great Britain? It's not being shipped from Mars. I've ordered a couple things from Germany before, and a successful order of ratpacks from Surplusandoutdoors, a couple years ago. Was'nt that insane on shipping costs then. Whats your opinion Cogsinister?

I think the main method of shipping from the uk to the us for small companys that don't do a lot of transatlantic trade would be the uk post office owned Parcelforce worldwide, and the prices of this service is well known as being very very expensive, but it is easy to use...easier than say UPS or the other carrier where they may need to open some form of account, it is easier for these guys just to take your order round to the local post office and pay parcelforce rates......

I was amazed how light a case of 12 mre's was in comparison to a 10 box of UK 24 hour ration packs......the uk box was so heavy i staggered into the kitchen with it....the 12 case of mre's was as light as a feather in compasison.......

And don't forget this is rip-off Britain......

Post by **kman** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 12:01 pm

I know what you mean about the weight of the difference cases. When I picked up that case of British rations, I thought they must have been sealed in lead.

But the more I thought about it...a single British ration is design to be a whole day's meal - so 10 rations = 10 days. But MREs are designed to be a single meal - so at 3 meals a day, one case of MREs (12) = 4 days.

So stack up 2.5 cases of MREs and compare that to a case of British rations and I think you'll have similar weights.

cogsinister · Post by **cogsinister** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 11:19 am

One thing i have noticed about the batch of UK ration pouches i just bought is the makers info....i had assumed that all the UK pouches were made by Westlers foods,in there mil rations guise....as seen here..

http://www.militaryrations.co.uk/

But the ration pouches i have are all made by HL foods...part of the giant Premier foods company....i can't find a website for HL...but the postal addy is this..

Hl Foods Ltd
Bridge Road
Long Sutton
Spalding
PE12 9EQ

The Treacle puddings i have left over from the 24 hour packs bear the code WFL (westlers foods ltd) whereas my pouches...breakfasts main meals and desserts bought in the mixed pack of 75 from a seller on ebay uk all contain the code HL for HL foods....

I diden't look if the pouches i had with the 10 24 hour ration packs were WFL or HL....but the pork cassarole looks and tastes the same....

Just some info there for you UK ration fans....

International rations talk here!

My first post on this forum.....

British 24HR packs

Re: British 24HR packs

Why

Re: Why