About to test German EPA, US MRE, UK ORP and French RCIR

[Demolition_Man]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here. It will probably be a bit lengthy so for those who like it short, here's the tl;dr: 15 years after my service time in the Bundeswehr I got curious if and how EPA has changed and how other rations compare, so I bought a couple of the big four. You may now skip to the photos.

So, why am I here? Out of a recent discussion with colleagues about my Bundeswehr time 15 years ago I got curious how and if the (in-)famous German Einmannpackung has evolved/improved/changed over time.I decided to get me one to find out. But why settle only for EPA alone? Back then I had tried original US MREs too, so why not include them as well. Weren't the French rations always praised? And how are the British doing? Never tried both, so I added them too. Plan set. Get a recent EPA, MRE, RCIR and ORP.

But here's the challenge: I was nit-picky about the menus even back then and don't want to spend much money for a simple test. Why would I test food I knew I wouldn't like to eat? Budget-wise I set a limit of 15€ per ration, 10€ for a MRE. Plan set, rules set. Time to find out about the menus!

EPA

As this was my very reason it was obviously my start. Uh-hu...no more Roman numbers...woops, types up to 12! Oh, that requires research. With Wikipedia being out-dated, I wrote an email directly to the Verpflegungsamt of the Bundeswehr which is in charge for EPA production and development. They replied writing that new types are currently in development but didn't name the current or past menu contents. And pointed out that EPAs are not sold to civilians. Yeah, thanks.
So, the professional sellers on ebay must have a more detailed description. Ok, new menu types sound interesting...wait what? "Menu changes with production year" Oh great. Another obstacle. And no reliable one-source information to be found exactly what changed and when, only mysterious photos of EPA boxes with "BV1-2013" and "BV1-2015-MHD 04/2019". Riddle after riddle. Ultimately I settled on a "Typ 5", which sounded the most pleasant. Easier said than done, remember my price limit. Prices on ebay are...ridiculous. Seriously ridiculously overpriced. Luckily there's also ebay kleinanzeigen, sort of ebay craigs list for local sells in Germany. Found a seller, and excluding shipping I paid 10€ for it. In the meantime I digged deeper and thanks to reviewer videos, other seller's information and resident users Housil and Eistee posts here on these forums I was able to finally find out all the differences and the different types of menu for the 2013 and 2015 EPAs. I wrote a (German) overview for myself but if you guys are interested I am happy to share it. My former lack of information is most telling for my wished for type 5. What sounded like the most pleasant to me was switched to the vegetarian type with the 2015 version. Luckily I avoided that! Knowing the differences were quite extensive I decided to get one or two 2015 EPAs as well and was lucky again, scoring a type 3 and 4 for a price of 11€ each. Finally able to start my test! Recently EPAs of types 22 and 25 started to show on ebay but no seller was able to tell me the contents. The story of EPA evolvement continues...

From my impression of the new contents I can only applaud the Bundeswehr for adding a great variety of snacks to be eaten during short march breaks or on the go. Especially the 2015 boxes are packed to the limit, weighing roughly 2,1kg! The 2013 box weighs 1,9kg for comparison. However I still miss pepper sachets and instant soup. In this Bundeswehr video the chief developer of EPA talks about the future adding of beef jerky to EPA, which sounds brilliant and logical to me, making me wonder why they didn't do this way earlier.

MRE

Way easier to find reliable information about the current menus. Settled to buy a menu 7, got a deal for 4, 7 and 8 with 2020 inspection date for 8€ each excluding shipping. Fair price, great deal.

I had tested MREs out of curiosity shortly after my Bundeswehr time and found the great choice of main entrees and the desserts most excellent compared to EPA. Guess that holds true for the current ones as well from what I've seen in reviews so far.

RCIR

Ah, the famous much-appraised French RCIR. Again, not so easy to find actual reliable information about the menus, again changes depending on production year. Stroke of luck, found a seller who sold RCIR produced March 2018, with menu choices I like, for 10€ each. What a bargain! Really looking forward to try these.

Fresh out of the factory mes amis!

ORP

Pfew, should I really...I mean, it's British food for crying out loud. Seems like their menus are subject to frequent changes each production year, so finding a pleasing menu type to test was the hardest for the British combat ration. These two have a 2017 production date and I settled on the least-distracting menu compromise. And at a price of 13€ per item another good deal.

Mission accomplished! The big four ready to be consumed and compared. I might post find my findings here too. I could start with the boxes already. But it might not end with those. Thanks to watching many other nation's ration reviews I got curious to maybe expand my scope a bit. Spain and Italy look pretty interesting, and since I saw commercial Austrian soup cans included in the Estonian ones they caught my attention too. We'll see...

[SNiiP3R]

Great post, thank you for sharing.

I have new EPA’s on the way to me, with 2020 expiration dates. I did not see all the menus yet, but I can tell you already that the new Typ 1,4 and 5 will no longer include Dessert creme, Muesli and the fruitmix. Instead they have added Beef Jerky? Seems like the Bundeswehr is cutting down expenses or making rations lighter. Here is the new menu sheet,

[carlosflar]

Nice post! But why stop with the French and English

[Demolition_Man]

@SNiiP3R Well look at that! They added instant soup and beef jerky! Getting rid of the travel lunch packs is a bit sad though. Thanks for posting.

@carlosflar As I wrote at the end of my post I might not stop there, and I mentioned Spain.

[carlosflar]

[*]No muesly and nocreme? what do you get for breackfast and dessert then?

[housil]

Seems like the Bundeswehr is cutting down expenses or making rations lighter.

...or they have realized, not every soldier has extra water/time/situation in the fields to stir water/powder for a "meal"?

[*]No muesly and nocreme? what do you get for breackfast and dessert then?

Rye bread with spread - continental breakfast

[housil]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here.

Welcome at forums - enjoy your stay.
Willkommen im Forum und viel Spaß bei uns.

[carlosflar]

Rye bread with spread - continental breakfast

Ouch

[SNiiP3R]

Personally, adding muesli to an EPA never made any sense to me. Especially, when each EPA already comes with the rye bread, bread spread, 2x meat spreads, 2x jams. That's more than enough food to start your morning. However, getting rid of desert I think was a mistake. Also, it seems that they got rid of the energy bar by Orifo. I do not see that item on the menu anymore.

[Demolition_Man]

Danke schön Housil. Nice old Iltis you got there.

The energy bars weren't part of the former types 1,4 and 5 either, so maybe they are found in 2 and 3? Here's a leaflet from the BV1-2015 EPAs type 1-5 (wet or heavyweight).