Introducing the DRI

[StainlessSteelCynic]

That's quite a lot of creativity there! Good stuff
Always nice to have some extra food options.

The only thing I would question would be the shelf life, I'm inclined to think it could be longer based on what I've seen with military rations packs - I've had ration packs while in the Australian Army that were anywhere between eight and twelve years old.
As for civilian food, as long as the packaging itself doesn't break down, get damaged etc. etc., a lot of tinned food will last for several years and still be safe to eat.

But anyway... nice work, thanks for posting it. Thumbs Up!

[nduffy]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

That's quite a lot of creativity there! Good stuff
Always nice to have some extra food options.

The only thing I would question would be the shelf life, I'm inclined to think it could be longer based on what I've seen with military rations packs - I've had ration packs while in the Australian Army that were anywhere between eight and twelve years old.
As for civilian food, as long as the packaging itself doesn't break down, get damaged etc. etc., a lot of tinned food will last for several years and still be safe to eat.

But anyway... nice work, thanks for posting it. Thumbs Up!

I recently opened a few Gulf War 1990's Era MRE's and I can attest, they were not fit for consumption. The only things salvageable were the crackers, peanut butter and the accessory packs. The peanut butter was still edible, the crackers were as well, it came with a apple jam packet ( Ewwww) and the main entree was spaghetti with meatballs ( it was a rather interesting color of brown and was rancid when opened) This MRE was stored in my closet at around 74f. The freeze dried fruit was a bit off in flavor but it wasn't bad at all. I went with freeze dried meals for my MP teams. Mountain House makes rations for the US Military, so I could easily see them making a ration for the MP or the MP using freeze dry technology and putting together their own FD rations, FD rations would save weight, have an extremely long self life 20 plus years and easily longer if stored in an ideal environment. The MP teams can find and decon water easily enough(if they are smart). I also equipped my teams with 5 gallons of water per person to start out with (sealed and preserved).

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Ouch!
I suppose twenty to thirty years is really asking a lot but I wonder if the problem is more due to the packaging rather than the food itself? A lot of food has a long shelf life but as we know, only if it's kept in the right conditions.
Ration packs once used tins, waxed paper, foil and the like but since the 1980s there's been a lot greater use of plastic which doesn't hold up as well as tins.
Even dried foods don't like being stuck in plastic packets for too long, particularly if they aren't kept at a constant temperature during storage.

Regardless of that, I do agree though, that freeze-dried rations are a far superior choice for foods that will be stored long term.

[nduffy]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

Ouch!
I suppose twenty to thirty years is really asking a lot but I wonder if the problem is more due to the packaging rather than the food itself? A lot of food has a long shelf life but as we know, only if it's kept in the right conditions.
Ration packs once used tins, waxed paper, foil and the like but since the 1980s there's been a lot greater use of plastic which doesn't hold up as well as tins.
Even dried foods don't like being stuck in plastic packets for too long, particularly if they aren't kept at a constant temperature during storage.

Regardless of that, I do agree though, that freeze-dried rations are a far superior choice for foods that will be stored long term.

I recently read that the military (US) is working on a new microwave compressed ration. Would be interesting to see how those perform in the field and also self life stability. I will have to relocate the article and post it.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Yes please do, that will be an interesting read
I'm a bit of a gear head and I love comprehensive equipment lists so having more options for rations definitely interests me!

[nduffy]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

Yes please do, that will be an interesting read
I'm a bit of a gear head and I love comprehensive equipment lists so having more options for rations definitely interests me!

I am a gear whore......

[mmartin798]

Here are some press releases and a couple links that give a little information about one of the machines used in the processing of the Close Combat Assault Ration.

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/mre-...ation-pooping/

https://www.army.mil/article/205936/...the_field_soon

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-...han-10-pounds/

https://www.military.com/daily-news/...ghter-mre.html

https://soldiersystems.net/2019/10/1...ssault-ration/

https://www.enwave.net/case-studies/...rocess-is-best

https://www.enwave.net/how-it-works

[.45cultist]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

That's quite a lot of creativity there! Good stuff
Always nice to have some extra food options.

The only thing I would question would be the shelf life, I'm inclined to think it could be longer based on what I've seen with military rations packs - I've had ration packs while in the Australian Army that were anywhere between eight and twelve years old.
As for civilian food, as long as the packaging itself doesn't break down, get damaged etc. etc., a lot of tinned food will last for several years and still be safe to eat.

But anyway... nice work, thanks for posting it. Thumbs Up!

The old C-Rats lasted for decades, marines in the 80's were eating 1940's rations! For civilian stuff, Hormel does almost ration level packaging, I could see these being depoted to feed survivors by the Project.