Back in the good old days, we would unpack our C rations and stack the cans in a OD wool sock so they wouldn’t rattle, made them easy to store in the main cargo compartment. Accessories went into the middle pocket of the ALICE large. Yes, I am that old!

@MrLynch-ei4dc

Жыл бұрын

I had the ALICE large sack when I was with the 307th ENG. Airborne and yes...our MREs were in the dark brown bags. 🤣🤣🤣

@davidparmly8828

Жыл бұрын

Gritty - if you're ever hurting for material, maybe an episode with a couple of people from "back in the day" comparing the Ranger School experience. Do a Teams interview or something. Might be helpful and fun!

@franky2shoes660

Жыл бұрын

Up in Canada we used the large Alice ruck until the 90s...we would field strip our IMPs (our version of MREs)and pack them the same way, albeit no cans.

@henrygill5550

Жыл бұрын

David Parmly - Hear! Hear! - Brother. We stripped out C, stack the cans in OD wool socks and tie them to the outside of our Alice rucks. Many of us carried bulk rice in plastic bags inside another OD sock, along with an onion, a couple of potatoes and Tabasco sauce to stretch the field meals whenever possible. SOP was to always have 2-3 cans of either Vienna Sausages or Sardines in your ruck as emergency/Iron Rations - only consumed in emergencies (i.e., no resupply). Not 5-star Michelin, but acceptable.

@davidparmly8828

Жыл бұрын

@@henrygill5550 We sound so freaking old to these pups, I am sure. I tell people my Ranger Class carried Brown Bess muskets in the TVD. Nope, never put C-Socks on the outside of the ruck but had them against the inside walls to you just needed to grab the top of the sock and pull it up and out in the dark. What's for dinner? Sock Surprise!

Former Recon here, the calories in those things were so high we would average out 1.5 MREs each a day (depending on terrain & weather) with adding 3 days for failed extraction and strip ours down much like you did. 2 week Ops wouldn't leave much wiggle room in weight if we packed 3/day as directed by MLOs. We stripped EVERYTHING for weight without compromising integrity and hit MWA with brass & bang, gun parts and equipment. The joke was 'we could be fat and throwing rocks or we could be fed and returning fire' lol. Great insight into the not so public side of mission prep, brother 👊

@ToysRUsKid_Critter

Жыл бұрын

And shit concrete blocks for weeks …former Airborne Sapper here brother ☺️🤙

@HDSME

Жыл бұрын

@@ToysRUsKid_Critter a marine told me they add stuff so you don't have go to the bath room after eating hundreds I'd have noticed I all ways get constipated

@isaachousley325

Жыл бұрын

Trying to pack 2 weeks of food in a single rucksack is simply failed planning on account of the leadership, nothing else

@NoleMercy

Жыл бұрын

@@isaachousley325 lol that's the business model of the military 😂😂😂😂

@isaachousley325

Жыл бұрын

@@NoleMercy yep, way too familiar with that business model.

When I was a Marine Rifleman, 1977-1981, we were still issued C-Rats, C-Rations. We did the same breaking the contents down to save weight and space. We also supplemented our C-Rats with Beef Jerky, Beef Sticks, and Cheese Sticks, etc.. From the PX prior going out in field. We called it "Pogey Bait". P. S. This is a good site.

@dave-d-grunt

Жыл бұрын

In Okinawa 74-77 we’d also add ramen to our packs.

@christopherblare6414

Жыл бұрын

2015 junk food from the px was still pogey bait.

I would've kept the raisins to mix with the pretzels as an MRE version of salty/sweet Trail Mix (or GORP) since they didn't include the bag of peanuts. You could pour them both in the drink mix pouch.

@markcollins2666

Жыл бұрын

The thing about raisins is that they contain the same amount of sugar as a full sized grape. So if you can picture that measly bag of raisins, that would be a nice little pile of grapes! If it were me, I'd keep them, their weight and bulk is minimal.

@davidparmly8828

Жыл бұрын

@@markcollins2666 100% agree. carb:weight ratio is very high!

@Mortlupo

Жыл бұрын

@@markcollins2666 Stick them in a front pouch.

@Sketch_Sesh

Жыл бұрын

He kept the skittles over the raisins 😂

Back in 2009, I literally had 2 cases of MREs stripped down in my large ruck when I was in West Africa for 2 weeks. The post-military benefit is I can pack for a 2-week vacation with a small carry-on-sized bag with room to spare! And some people don't think there's any life benefit for military service! :D

I knew about condensing some of your MRE items, but the trash tightly rolled and going into the beverage bag was a damn good idea. A buddy told me to try putting the coffee powder in the peanut butter, if you got it, for a different taste and it wasn't too shabby. Cheers, Gritty!

@GrittySoldier

Жыл бұрын

Creamer makes EVERY main meal better also!

@davidparmly8828

Жыл бұрын

At the Boy Scout High Adventure bases (Philmont and Northern Tier,) we learned to compact our trash into as small a space as possible using materials the food came in, to pack it until we got to a camp with trash handling capacity. Our boys got competitive about who could compact the trash into the smallest configuration. Amazing how much can be compressed into a small Ritz cracker box!

@GillD03

Жыл бұрын

creamer+cocoa beverage powder= icing for pound cake

I love the mention of using the heater for a morale booster because a warm meal or a little mini suana to boost your morale can absolutely make all the difference between ringing that bell or not but you'd definitely have to be careful because warming yourself up with steam is like pissing your bed because your house is cold, it'll work at first but then after long enough you'll be worse off than you were before because now you're soaked. Gotta make sure you have some kind of wool blanket or woobie liner.

As a soldier from the C-rat/Initial MRE days i found this very interesting and smart. I remember we used to get classes prior to winter on how to deal with the cold while stationed at cold weather units. I feel classes like this video is a great way to teach the troops on how to save space and weight in there rucks. Back in the day we didn't even have classes on how to pack anything.

@jamesfuria3939

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, I was in the army during the "transition". As a grunt we had a supply room with thousands of cases of c-rations. I was on a field training exercise when a medical unit set up next to our area and had MRE's. I was kind of pissed that us grunts got them last.

@Tmarc7665

Жыл бұрын

C rations were the bomb way back when. Nowadays, mre’s are leaps and bounds above c rations. People who say differently, never had to eat c rations 😁

@stretchman490

3 ай бұрын

@@Tmarc7665I STILL REMEMBER THE FRUITCAKE. USAF 81-86, and 3 years overseas. Our Sgt swore they were left over from WW2.

@Tmarc7665

3 ай бұрын

@@stretchman490 I remember eating c-rations the first time in basic training at Lackland. I looked at the date on the box, and it said 1949. That’s what I remember

Dude, I'm over 40, Scottish and have never served, but if I was a 25 year old young male American, I would follow your videos and complete Ranger school. If people fail, they should have watched your stuff and be fitter. Massive respect to you mate. It's tough, being a tough bastard🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💪

@GrittySoldier

Жыл бұрын

👊

I'd definitely keep the beverage powder, especially if it's an electolite one. For me, having something to drink with flavor helps out a ton. Start an ammo can or something for the contents that are "trash", others might actually like that stuff or need a pack of matches.

@gadget19k76

Жыл бұрын

Was going to mention that as well, you want to look at what else the different items may provide aside from just calories because a lot of the items are fortified with vitamins, minerals, and in the case of beverage powders electrolytes.

I was at CST this summer and id use the mre heaters to warm me up during the night or whenever we were in the super cold tents. Using it helped alot.

@GrittySoldier

Жыл бұрын

Heater can come in clutch sometimes man

Great video! In my SFAS class we carried 6 MREs at all time in our rucks however we were not allowed to field strip or poke holes in our MREs so it bulky and heavy! The cadre would check too!

@robertw4230

Жыл бұрын

Yes , Intact MREs definitely give flotation to the ruck for water crossings if needed .

@MrSwccguy

Жыл бұрын

Poke a pin size hole and let the air out, you really can't tell

@OldNavajoTricks

Жыл бұрын

@@robertw4230 echelon logic at its finest :-D Do NOT break your vacsealed packs as you may rely on them to float :-D

@Theire1

Жыл бұрын

@@OldNavajoTricks In case of a water landing you may be used as a floatation device .

You know you are a grunt when a video about field stripping and MRE excites you

@GrittySoldier

Жыл бұрын

😂 glad to know we are on the same page

@kirknunya4291

Жыл бұрын

If you’re a grunt, this video is junk

It's more of a "just in case" or "last resort" option, but I still recommend grabbing the TP "napkins" that come with the MREs, at least a few. It takes a little more space, sure, but it saves your six when you get into a latrine or porta-john that's out of TP (or if you're really out in the sticks and you need to make a "cat hole" to do your business in). I get it, it's gross, but it saves you from starting to chaff and keeps some level of sanitation. If you aren't already using your ankle pocket for anything, you can keep about two in there. Don't be a dirty birdy, don't be "that guy".

The raisins go swell with the cookie, and peanut butter. The main bag is a great canteen water heater. It won't melt in a fire with water in it, and the MRE heater used to heat water gives an additional 1000 calories in hot water to drink. That will be a lot of help in the cold. You'll need less food. Keep a lot of MRE bags full of water in the fire put some hot water bags in your pockets, and even in the arctic you'll have your toes tapping while the enemy is freezing. Keep the toilet paper, and the matches. Keep a couple of packs of skittles or other candy. You'll never eat all those candies. If at all possible give the candy to kids you meet. Keep the drink mix for the salts, and electrolytes. One a day. Keep one meal carton for heating meals, and use the residual heat for water. Take all the heaters out of their bags, and use one bag to cook. Keep the rest of the heaters in a zip lock drink bag with the toilet paper to absorb any moisture that gets in the bag.

MREs are heavy. Field stripping them is definitely a good idea when you’re bringing them with you dismounted. Thanks for the video!

The first MRE had 2 meal options the dehydrated pork or beef patty A(we called them trackpad replacements) Dehydrated fruit. Peanut butter or cheese, salt packet, sugar packet, coffee powder, 5 sheet to, and spoon. No heat packets or tabs. You absolutely could not rehydrate the pork patty or chew it. You could only rehydrate the beef patty if you had a way to boil water. The fruit you could eat either solid or rehydrate in water (recommend eat solid as rehydrated it would be a tad slimy. Every now and then a cocoa powder pack would show up randomly. No field stripping necessary as until the next iteration came out with spaghetti, beef Mac, chili and the ill gotten egg n cheese, same accessories you lightened your carry by throwing the pork patty or egg packet. We added to the contents with a bottle of Tabasco so much that company made a (unauthorized) bottle holder that attached to our web belt. So next batches of MRE (meals rejected by Ethiopians) started containing small bottles of Tabasco and a few more entrees. The pork and beef patty disappeared and were replaced with pork bbq and beef goulash/stew, both not too bad but guaranteed heartburn

@Mortlupo

Жыл бұрын

Yep, dreaded getting the pork or Beef, it meant you weren't eating much that meal. Worst day ever was when two of your three MRE was dehydrated.

@jamessnyder1175

Жыл бұрын

Those were the day when it was cold in Germany out on Graf or Holensfeld with dehydrated pork or beef patties. I used to heat up water any way I could do you can break them down to eat. Terrible

@kirkstinson7316

Жыл бұрын

Used to rehydrate the beef patty and put it on the crackers with cheese spread and ketchup powder. Didn't taste TO horrible. I remember using the tobacco on everything!

@cottonhill6816

Жыл бұрын

@kirk stinson I did something similar. I would mash up the patty and mix in the ketchup powder then rehydrate the whole mess. It came out like a spread you could put on the crackers.

@co1950

Жыл бұрын

There was no good way to eat the pork patty. Add what ever you had to it. I think it was more of a texture thing than taste

In a wet, cold environ where it sucks the heat out of you, a warm meal is a massive morale booster.

Please take this as a compliment. Your room reminds me the one my grandpa had. He was in the Chilean Army, as well almost all my family. But that room, with the medals, the sword, and many pictures... Thanks for the memories. Greetings from Chile!!

They introduced MREs when I was in basic. I remember the Drill Sergeants eating em n saying they wouldn’t feed that shit to their dogs. Severe dehydration after eating them n doing grass drills. But they did improve. We were the crash test dummies for the MREs.

As a civilian, this was pretty cool to watch/learn about. Thanks for making the video. Great presentation, and information given. 🎉

Dam, those MRE’s are gourmet now! They sucked pork but back in the 80’s. We used to break our MRE’s down back then in the Corps. Especially when your doing timed 25 mile humps (rucks for you army guys) through the hills, mountains, river beds and sandy dirt trails of Camp Pendleton. This is good instructions for the new up-comers! With the internet it’s so much easier for someone to learn what they need to do and train beforehand. This didn’t happen in my time, but it would have been nice to have it. Good job young Lad! Cheers

I have ate c rats, LURPS, MREs in my life path (first entered service in 1973) and did historical reenacting eating hard tack, salt pork and ww2 rats but one of my best experiences was during Hurricane Katrina with the MRE " cheeseburger " that some troops from 82 ABN ( my old assigment) DivArty battery showed me. This is a fascinating subject, there is no end to culinary variations and efficient sustaining load for an innovative soldier.

Great to see content not from a poser, but a true warrior. Respect from the Philippines!

Excellent video! Not only informational, but nostalgic. I was a 96R back in the day where I would get air inserted for a 96h mission. I needed to field strip several of these and collect the big calorie items and morale stuff to sustain me. Next vid should talk about fitting a 5gal water can in a large Alice pack, lol.

I want to get into the USNA and join this Corps. This was my first video i have seen from you and i shall definitely watch more in the future. thank you for sharing you knowledge with us younger kids.

Good dope. We used to strip'em down to "rolling chow" so we could eat as we humped in SOI. My little cousin is heading out to MCRD in a few weeks so I sent him a link to this video. Also, I loved the beverage bag for the trash since it reduces your footprint in your AO. We kept those for waterproofing anything we recovered (i.e. notes, maps, cards, etc.) Great video.

Love the video -- terrific info, especially the electrical tape! Compact, effective, easy to use and actually re-usable ( duct tape, not so much & leaves residual ) If you can handle being That Guy in a group, have the huevos to stage an empty MRE box for discards -- without fail one's trash is another's treasure. The heater as a warmer can work ( their end result varies, newer ones work better ) ... but the off-gas is at least bad as propane in smell. I admit an affinity for the spoon -- best damn implement since the Garand. And the beverage bag works great for protecting small electronics ( yes, the cell phone ) and keeping copies of the latest Rules Of Engagement / damn Reservist orders dry and easily accessible for the duration of an exercise.

As an ex aussie digger I remember being on an exercise - Diamond Dollar 87 I think - in north Qld when we were operating with US troops. We were comparing their single meal MRE's with our 24 hour ration packs - they were about the same size!

I was an Artillerymen and my first duty station was in Germany. Our Lt was a Ranger tab and he taught us a lot of what and how to pack our gear . Your right about electrical tape as we also used it for our commo wire but more importantly on our LBE . My next unit we had another Lt and not only did he have his RANGER tab but he had served in a RANGER battalion, so he was real high speed , low drag . We placed our main meals inside of our coat pockets to keep em warm . We also used the MRE wrapper to put our socks inside of em with foot powder , as the plastic wrapper was very durable and we also carried 2 pairs of em on our body & 2 on our LBE . We didn’t have the heaters but eventually we got em . We didn’t use em since we had YUKON stoves or we’d bring our lil Coleman burner stoves . If all else fails , heat em on the engine or the exhaust. The bread was delicious and we didn’t have what y’all have now . The cakes and brownies were the best , especially the Maple nut cake . Cocoa , café , sugar and creamer for a great slurping drink while we would be driving for 12 hours into the early 0030 . Even made it while driving @ night . Well , ya make some solid points , especially for active duty Soldiers that don’t see much field duty . I always carried 3 liters of water and about 4 mres if we were doing alot of hip shoots . We had a Spc Blackshire who was our mixologist in Shield & Storm . He made so mighty fine flavors from the mre drinks .

I started breaking down MREs back in the 80s..kinda surprised nobody has ever posted a video of this before..great content !

@michaellicavoli3921

Жыл бұрын

Most of it is common sense.

Ur videos have been pretty helpful for me as a prepper or passing info to my buddies who are wanting to be more prepared citizens.

You'd NEVER ditch the electrolyte drink powder in a tropical environment !

I'm old enough to remember when MREs didn't come in a plastic bag inside the plastic bag.

I remember Robin's Sage volunteering to help train Special Forces at Bragg. Each of us was issued a case 24 count of MRE's. Then someone took a dump in the creek and we had to hike for miles to another location. We all field stripped our case. But we still all ended up with 0verweighted rucksacks because we were told we would not be moving and most people brought a 90 lb rucksack even before adding the MRE's.

As a former 11BRAVO, I was in the U.S. Army when they transition from the C ration to the MRE. I see they have packed a lot more food in them then the ones we were issued. 😏

@keithkarbel2000

Жыл бұрын

Same here. Those first versions of MRE were pretty skimpy and we ate everything at Ranger School (one guy in my squad even made toilet paper soup!)

Ahhhh, the good ole days of packing 50 liters of Food in a 30 liter pack. I decided not to defy the laws of physics and trained my body to burn proper fuel efficiently. After that, I ate small amounts of complex carbs, a little more protein and a lot of fats from grains, meat, and fruit oils like olive oil or ghee which won’t spoil. I could pack three days of food in one MRE bag and if I had to trade food for ammo, I got more selective and the bag stretched further. Mission focus and knowing yourself and where your trade space is will help win the day. Good luck, I’ll see you in Valhalla.

One thing to mention, you want to look at what else the different items may provide aside from just calories. A lot of the items are fortified with vitamins, minerals, and in the case of beverage powders electrolytes. Calories are of course really important, but some of the other things can help depending on scenario or length of field time.

Field stripped mine during my last FEX. Definitely felt the benefits

Great tip and demonstration. Thanks for making this video and sharing it

I would use my waist pack and place my snacks in there (wrapped in electric tape) And have my main meals in another pouch main the bottom of ruck, sustainment pouch. Would allow me to quickly access exactly what I needed. I do like your method aswell, thanks for sharing.

Good stuff! Ours didn't even have the heaters, but we ALWAYS broke them down. I still buy em occasionally to take hunting and broke them down of course! We didn't use the bag but strapped them all together with electrical tape.

We learned this in boot camp and MCT, (The abbreviated POG version of SOI,) but the old dark brown MREs didn't have a hot bev bag, so the trashpack was a new one for me. Solid video.

Thank you for your service! Freakin’ great vid. Subscribed with the bell turned on.

I’m not a tattoo person normally, but I like your tattoo on your right forearm. Very pleasant design. Thanks for helping the future soldiers from your food experience. Bless you all who protect us back home.

That's great advice for anyone.

Good refresher

Wow nice good advice. I normally just took them apart and jammed them all in one of the outside Alice pocket. The other pocket had dry socks and a t shirt and drawers The center one for tactical gear. I did use the beverage bag for trash also. Well done Sir 😁 You are a guiding light for young soldiers.

Great video!!👍💯🇺🇸

That's a great video. I know some of my SF friends would field strip them and pack three meals into one bag.

Good info; all stuff I used to do back in the day. The heaters...yeah, we used to use those as sleeping bag heaters, never for our food. :D Those were a hotly traded commodity (no pun intended). ;) Everything else you point out: so true!

This is like a video version of Ranger's Digest. Thanks Ranger Rick!

Good stuff, man. Another use for the beverage bag is to put all your dry stuff like nuts, M&Ms, and raisins for a trail mix. Throw your coffee powder in it, and you have an energy caffeine punch.

I went canoeing in the BWCA fishing opener. My friend who organized these canoe trips was Ex Army and at the time National Guard. We brought MRE's for first meal on our last day so we would have little clean up & tossed everthing into one garbage bag. The things I insisted on were Tang so the lake water didn't taste so bad and some bags of trail mix for the far side of the lake so we could keep fishing without having to canoe for an hour back to camp, just to eat lunch. The others all complained, but admitted it was a good idea when they were hungry.

We always carried Tabasco sauce. Then they started putting tiny bottles in the bag. Cold weather we carried Raman noodles and a small butane stove. We didn't have hydration systems so we had canteens with canteen cups! We kept the spoons for radio antennas! We still broke down the mre's. And keeping the tp paper was way important!🤙😁

Well done brother. Thanks for the video.

A meal prep pouch with a few small things in it like hot sauce and gatoraid mix or instant coffee can help a lot, maybe add some beef/chicken bullion cubes and some tea bagsto or even real coffee to ziploc baggies, especially if you're going to have the ability to boil water you can then really boost morale for yourself and the boys, or trade for other things. Also, always have some extra ziplocks, great for keeping itemd dry, and have some wet wipes and ass paper in some too.

“I don’t even like spicy stuff.” Dude what? Hot sauce is life

Love that you don't use the heater, everyone thinks I'm nuts but I haven't used one since my dad brought MREs home when I was a kid. I have used zero heaters ever, including initial entry training. I'm definitely bringing the moist towlette for the same reason you kept the gum, feels good to feel fresh. I'm probably also ditching more sides/desserts than you did, like the cookies and the cobbler. They seem too big for how much value they add nutritionally. I also always ditch drink powders, especially the big protein powder packages. Not gonna dry scoop drink powder, and it can't really go in a camelbak or even canteen.

I didn't eat that crap back while I was in the Marine Corps back in 1987-1991. We had no heaters back then. Mres came out in 1982. They still had C Rats that were 1975 - 1982! I use to eat Vietnamese food out in the field. I had a nice steal 3 round Thai food container that my wife gave me. She is Vietnamese/America. She was NAVY! Cool video RANGER!!!! I had a Mess kit with knife fork and spoon!! Aren't mess kids issued any more?!!!

as soon as you said "Spaghetti with beef sauce" I got really hungry lol. That's ALWAYS been my favorite!!

Great explanation

This video was super helpful. I feel kind of stupid that I have never done this before. I’m a PFC about to get waivered to SPC in 2 weeks bc I true blued EIB in November and just graduated Air Assault this past Friday! Headed to Ranger school later this year and your channel has definitely helped inspire me! Thanks!

@davidparmly8828

Жыл бұрын

Drive on, CK! You make us proud!

@LuckyAJC

Жыл бұрын

hell yea thats awesome 👌

@davidparmly8828

Жыл бұрын

Whatever you do - do not text that number above. It ain't Gritty soldier doing it. Internet scam - fooled me, up until it didn't. No harm; No foul, I guess.

Great info. Thanks.

Good video , I totally agree strip em down. The less weight you have to hump the better off you are. Batteries ,ammo and other shit take enough space. When I was in we didn't have heaters and we stole hot sauce from the chow hall lol.

I totally understand field stripping MRE's to the bear minimum, for weight purposes!!! However, some of the "little things" included in a Standard MRE.... have multiple uses that many people are not aware of!! For example, the freeze dried coffee is also a vasoconstrictor. It can be used to control bleeding when it is applied, in the dry form to a wound. (obviously not a major bleed!). The caffeine in the freeze dried coffee can also help with a headache. Consume the whole packet with a chug of water. Caffeine obviously helps with fatigue. (also, stay hydrated with electrolytes) MY FAVORITE ..."overlooked" thing in the MRE, is the packet of coffee creamer!!! The creamer is made of dry oils and is essentially flammable!!! Toilet paper and matches burn out way too fast to start a good fire. The "magic combination" for very hot and well sustained "starter fire", is to add sprinkles of coffee creamer and sugar as it begins to burn. Then add small strips of the plastic from the big MRE bag. After the initial toilet paper and matches burn off, you have a long sustained fire, fueled by dry oils, caramelized sugar and a plasticizer... YIKES!! ...That is a very hot fire!! :o) My point to all of this is, do not overlook the small things. Go over EVERYTHING in that MRE pack. Figure out at least 2 things that each item could be used for! ..Things that might seem useless... or just "extra weight"... could end up saving your life. Please read my other comment below. That is really important stuff!!

Dude, this is the only video I've ever seen about field stripping MREs! It has ALWAYS made me wonder if these KZread warriors were legit.

Marine S2 Scout here, 1st Bn 1st Marines 69/70 RVN. On extended patrols we took the coffee and the one large can from our C Rations, one can per day. I came home on the USS New Orleans in 1970 at 115 lbs. I actually had abs. 😁

The original MREs were freeze-dried to eliminate as much weight and bulk as possible. It was quickly driven home that the water to reconstitute the food still had to be carried... I took my swing at the military back in the '70s, so I remember repacking the C-rations (actually, MCIs) into socks. I enjoy eating MREs, and in watching this video, I realized that I divide up what I am going to eat in pretty much the same way as you describe field-stripping. An interesting video; thanks!!

@davidparmly8828

Жыл бұрын

Pete, our Ranger class (3 or 4-83) got LRRPs for one meal in Florida. In a green clothy outer pack and everything freeze dried. They were terrible. Required hot water to work.

@petesheppard1709

Жыл бұрын

@@davidparmly8828 Back in the late '70s, I came across some VN-era LRRPs. Surprisingly, only one was bad. IIRC, the others were fairly tasty, even dry.

@davidparmly8828

Жыл бұрын

@@petesheppard1709 i was referring to the concept of the LRRP. the amount of time required to heat the water (we weren't allowed fires anyway) meant we just used cold water. IIRC, mine was a chili mac concoction. Trust me: I consumed all of it but it was crunchy and that had to impact my taste perception.

@petesheppard1709

Жыл бұрын

@@davidparmly8828 I tried them both dry and wet. OK for what they were--except for the obviously bad one.

@asmith7876

Жыл бұрын

@@davidparmly8828 Ugh, LRRPs…middle of the desert in summer, poured in boiling water, waited 20 minutes, STILL barely soft enough to eat! WTF? I was in the Army mid-80s, only two menus had dehydrated stuff, one beef patty, one pork patty, both beyond nasty. And it was not uncommon to get food poisoning still. I have some new ones and WOW, delicious!

18E commo dude and the Captain is a real ass about failure so we got way too much stuff and there no room for MREs. MREs had to be field stripped down and we not even about to have more than one. However the medic got sick and had to leave the field, the captain and me get his food and we sit there dividing it like two people who trust each other. Cold weather exercise in Korea doing an SR mission 1993. Today I would say practice some fasting 24-72 hours and some daily intermittent fasting of 18-23 hours and know how hunger really works and fear of no food or little food will go away.

Veteran of the 80s 90s Army. This video would have made my Ranger School experience sooo much more efficient.

@Mortlupo

Жыл бұрын

It would have made my day in a regular unit too as I had thirty extra pounds of radio gear in my ruck...did not leave much room for meals. Now at 55 and in the Civil Air Patrol as a Ground Team Leader, I'm using this for my two meals I need to carry on my load bearing rig, our 24-hr loadout has too much stuff and I need to make room!

@mhero6865

Жыл бұрын

@@Mortlupo Nothing worse than being the 203 Gunner in the 80s That vest sucked

One thing I did during my time in Iraq was after breaking down my MREs was separate small easy to eat on the move items like the peanut butter or the some of the other snacks and kept them in a small pouch or pocket so I didn’t need to drop and fish into my ruck to get to them. Pull it out of the pocket, consume, roll up tight, put back and when we stopped add it to the trash bag. For the stuffed pretzels (combos) I’d use a spare beverage bag to shrink them down more, and since the bag was resealable could ration out the snack as I wished.

Could also take the snacks out and load those in a pouch/pocket that's easy to get to so you don't have to drop your bag everytime you want a pick me up. Personally: I'd mix up the sports drink in a seperate bottle from my regular water ahead of time. As a morale booster. You need water anyways, and if it has flavour, calories and electrolytes, bonus!

Guess it's time to go repack my truck bag. Thanks for the info!

I leave for the marines in 5 days(bootcamp) so this is helpful thank you sir!

@GrittySoldier

Жыл бұрын

👊

MRE -- Meals, Rejected by the Enemy!(today, some of them are actually pretty good).

I swear they used to have more stuff in them. But it’s been awhile lol. Good video brother.

Good stuff all around! OZ = pounds, so very true. And I absolutely agree about the heaters.- would !only want 'em to heat me

I've used those heat pads a lot for boddy warmth when I was in the military up in northern Québec !

Nice video! On the lighter side. I was a 5 jump chump in an ordnance unit. We would take the inside of the heaters and put them in a 20oz Pepsi plastic bottle with 20 tobaccos. When they would explode. It was like being in a gas chamber. We threw them inside GP medium tents. We would make Ranger cookies with the coffee and chocolate etc. Would wrap them in foil and heat them up till it got hard.

I once worked alongside an Army Private (Australian Army) who was on Double Rations, (Medical Grounds) and watching him strip his Ration Packs was a Science.

I always keep the TP in the beverage bag in an ankle pocket. It has saved my life before I swear by it.

So educational even for foreign militaries

I know how to field strip an MRE and do a gruntroll, but enjoy watching people do it!

The beverage flavor pack can make treated water from a stagnant or stinky source palatable. Nothing seems to improve the taste of Ringers Lactate IV fluid, however. Have tasted Army rations from K, C, & MRE series. K-rations (WW2-Korea) make the most sense weight wise, but require more water taken in for staying hydrated. British rations are a box for all day, with more exotic cuisine items compared to US issue, but involve more cans. Good video.

It's been almost 2 decades but I remembered most of it. Although I never brought the drink mix and did bring the seasoning, i.e. Tabasco (people would always trade for it 🤣).

Electrical tape and “ranger bands” (elastics cut out from bicycle tube or any kind of inner tube so you have different sizes). That for me as a soldier was a must have.

When I was in the army we had MCIs at first, which everyone called C-rations but they actually weren't. That was before the change to MREs, and we still got them after MREs were adopted. Then, when we did get MREs, they didn't have MRE heaters in them. The flameless ration heater wasn't invented until 1990, after people ate cold MREs for 9 years. If you wanted to heat them up, in winter you could put them in your coat next to your body, instead of your pocket. The rest of the year you could eat them at room temperature.

Great video!

@GrittySoldier

Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Always keep the heaters and hot sauce! Comes in handy during hazing.

We were taught to break them down like that when I was on active duty in 94. I never used the heater and ditched it.

Good video.

Great guide, I did pretty much the same thing to ukrainian MREs before taking them with me on a mission, this helps to save weight and space in your ruck. It's one of those things no one teaches you in training.

I am not high speed. But I do like my MREs while hiking or camping. So still thanks for the info!

@GrittySoldier

Жыл бұрын

👍

Good info

Good video. Being the POG that I am, I've never actually needed to do this, but it is good to know on the off-chance that I do. Side note, I spied the Lego succulent you have on the shelf there. Built mine a couple of weeks ago =)

Had winter MRE's at base camp on Denali....good lord there's a LOT of calories in those. When in field, always keep the heater & pack; the spoon save two, one for backup, put a hole in the handle and dummy cord it. The gear nerds would purchase sporks from outdoor shops. Pretty crazy how much trash gets generated from one pak. I always flatted my broken-down MRE's, made it much easier to stuff than a taped-roll.

honestly im just watching this for the fun of it did my time 2yrs ago and your lay out was about the same few things I usually keep is like matches and spoon as theyre more like tools overall personal preference

Being in transportation I would field strip a case of mres. Just keep the good stuff.

One thing we did in cold weather environments was stuff the UNOPENED main meal in the front of our pants prior to patrol…warm meal definitely helped with morale…