norge wrote: ↑Wed Dec 30, 2020 4:28 pm
nice
how was the stay alert gum?
i think the beef jerky sticks are made of compressed jerky bits just like the jack links bars. okay for eating but crumbles fast up.
cheers ken.
Stay Alert gum was just like the candy, Hot Tamales. A lot of cinnamon flavour and with a bit of a sting, unfortunately not a fan as it nearly started becoming painfull to chew on.. granted I did take two at once. Would much have preferred the mint versions.
Unfortunately I am quite unsure why the attachments seem to appear again at the bottom, I tried taking the attachments out and re-adding them but it does not seem to have solved the issue. If anyone has any idea how to fix it, please let me know
A fairly substantial breakfast, at least in my opinion. I usually tend to go with a very light breakfast, so I have a feeling this will be quite filling.
Unfortunately, as is usual with cold and/or old tortillas, they broke in half. Not a worry, just makes things a bit more messy and hard to eat. Everything smelled and looked OK, Mocha dessert bar gave off a heavy chocolate-y smell, tortillas smelled like.. tortillas, and the First Strike Bar smelled quite sweet. Lime drink was a bit tart but not overly so, infact quite sweet. Though the sweetest drink was the Iced tea, very sweet and a bit of herbal tea came through. They all seemed to mix quite well, even if the picture may not truly show it. Iced tea was quick to dissolve and the lemon-lime mix was mixed in the bag, first I filled it up, shook it around then poured it out into a glass, then poured some of that driink mix back in and shook it around properly.
Zapplesauce held up very well, very light color and absolutely no discoloration, tasted like apple sauce but perhaps a bit more tangy and sweet than usual apple sauce. Writing this up I definitely feel the maltodextrine wake me up a bit, a very nice way to wake up in the morning, for sure!
The trail mix, Mocha dessert bar and First Strike bar. After pouring out the trail mix, I noticed a few.. odd looking bits in it, though I suspect it may be dried fruits or similiar. Though I decided be cautious and not eat too much of it, it tasted like your regular trail mix coming out of MREs, dried fruit bits were quite a bit more chewy than what I remember from previous tries though. Not salted as far as I can tell, not great, not terrible.
Mocha dessert bar was very chocolate heavy, a bit dry but not quite as dehydrating as the last meal. A fairly heavy snack, very good flavour. Not much beyond chocolate and possibly coffee taste and smell, definitely a nice snack on the go, though I have a feeling a warm coffee would compliment it better than the lemon-lime drink, though. Coffee is the one thing missing from this ration I would have loved to see added in, though as it is made to be on the go, I can understand that getting warm water and preparing coffee might not be the best choice to add in though.
First Strike Bar was quite tasty as well, a bit tart but sweet, tartness I can only assume comes from the cranberry. Could not quite taste the strawberry, but it was definitely sweet. Some bits were crunchy, but overall it was more a taffy consistency, much like the first one I tried. Not bad, but nothing life changing. Definitely a nice snack to have on the go, just as the first one. Not quite as heavy as the Mocha dessert bar, no particular flavours you need to stop to truly enjoy the full extent of. I broke it off into smaller pieces and had no trouble chewing it down, it was a quite nice break from the more soft textures of the rest, which didn't require much, if any chewing, at all.
White chicken chunks, nothing smelled nor seemed off. Just a smell and taste of.. white chicken meat. Nothing to write home about, but it should give some much needed protein, in a fairly mess free way.. not counting the liquid at the very bottom of the package.
Decided to try it on the tortillas, first with just some Tabasco. Definitely felt like the Tabasco was a lot hotter than usual, and not quite as vinegar-y, still nothing to write home about, but it did provide some more flavour to the chicken chunks. Quite good! After just having it with the Tabasco, I decided to add in some fat free mayo, though it did not add much flavour. Just a bit of tartness, and it helped cool down the heat from the Tabasco a bit. Usually quite fond of hot food, so I can have it either way. Just wish they'd have kept the small tabasco bottles instead of a retort pouch, no doubt it would last longer if one only wants to use a small amount, but it would probably also have made it far easier to control how much you put on. I ran out of tortilla bread before the chicken, so I decided to just add some salt and tabasco and eat the remainder straight out of the pouch, which was quite nice. A good boost of protein, at least in my opinion, in a easy and quick to eat meal.
Overall, I am quite fond of this ration, even though it doesn't really feel like a 24 hour ration when compared to other ones, such as the Danish, Swedish or Polish ones. Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, everything is made to be on the go, which I quite like, in comparison to the other 24 hour rations I have tried, where some can require quite a bit of prep work, where one needs to stop and actually sit down to prepare it. Though, in the field I can definitely see the up side of doing that, having to actually stop and take in the moment for a breather and to relax, at least if on a march or similiar. The only complaint I might have is that there should have been some kind of coffee drink, I am fairly sure Mocha drinks are in some menus, where one just mixes it in the bag.
This was my first First Strike Ration, and given the scarcity of these in Europe, at least from what I have seen, unfortunately most likely the last. I can't say I am disappointed by this ration at all, especially given how well it held up given it is close to 9 year olds, with most dates putting it in early 2011. I expected that I would have to skip out on the chicken and possibly some of the other components at the start of this review, but I was quite wrong. Unless the chicken gets me in a few hours, this tasted just as if it was packaged in 2019 or 2020. Possibly with the exception of the tortilla, but that is always finnicky. Eating it cold was no trouble, first time I have enjoyed a 24 hour meal in that way.
Most other 24 hour meals, as I mentioned, usually require quite a bit of prep work, either heating up with FRH heater packs, or adding hot water and letting sit. While this was indeed enjoyed from the comfort of my home, I can imagine not having a hot meal while in the field may be a bit unfortunate, I think the fact that most of the meals are made in snack style would help a lot with that fact. Nothing felt like it absolutely needed to be heated up, and can most likely be enjoyed luke warm after having it in your pockets for a few hours, I doubt heat would add anything and the fact it was cold did not detract anything from it. Flavours were quite inoffensive, which I believe helped with that part, as other rations, such as the Danish 24 hour, definitely would not feel right if eaten cold. If I have any complaint, it is that it may not have had quite as much protein as other rations in this type usually have, though I can only imagine far smarter people have figured out the requirements for a active soldier, and that they are all included in this one.
In closing, this is a ration I have been dying to try for a very long time now, and it did not disappoint. Everything in it was easy and quick to eat, had I been out and about, I would most likely have enjoyed the meals out of the pouches, as opposed to taking them out individually. It definitely gives a very nice energy boost, and offers quite a few different flavours, perhaps with the exception of the cinnamon and brown sugar toaster pastry, which I felt got a bit repetetive, though that may be on me for not dividing it up better. The aim of the FSR, as far as I have understood, is to have enough food for 24 hours in a combat situation, with quick, easy meals and snacks to fill you up thoroughly during a full day. Dividing up the snacks better, possibly having the Bridgford sandwich as a lunch and the chicken as a evening meal, definitely makes sense. Throw in some beef jerky snacks, Zapplesauce and other good bits to keep you going inbetween, I will definitely be buying more of these if I can find them, and would recommend them if you're out doing hiking or similiar stuff as a civilian. Obviously, these are made for soldiers, so I can only say it definitely fits the bill of being used in that manner, as well.
Many 24 hour rations do not pack nearly as much snack sized stuff as this, which should keep one going if one gets hungry, but has no time to sit down and prep a full meal, or just wants a quick pick me up. Just as the regular 24 menus, this is in my top 5 rations I have tried so far, American MREs haven't disappointed me yet, and I doubt they ever will.
With that, I would like to wish MREInfo, and anyone else reading this, a Happy new year! Heres to hoping 2021 won't be quite nearly as.. well, bad, as 2020 has been. Heres to another year of MREs and all the other fun stuff that a new year brings!
