As I have mentioned before, my goal is to be able to be self-sufficient for up to 3 days, in temperature ranges from -10 degrees Fahrenheit to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. I also want to be able to eat with or without a heat source and be able to provide myself with the full range of nutrients and calories needed should I have to walk 37 miles home from work. I think I have finally found the solution.
While military field rations have been derided in the past as barely edible, modern food science and developments in meal selection have created a very wide range of "meals ready to eat." They require no cooking and aside from the beverages, require no added water, which is an advantage if you have a limited potable water supply. As part of my goal in emergency planning is not not just survive or exist, but to be comfortable. I could have selected American MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) as my food supply solution. I would need 6 of these for my needs and they are quite easy to find online, either surplus or commercially packaged for civy street sales.
Since I was looking for something new and different, I have opted to supply my food needs with the British ORP (Operational Ration Pack). Also known as 24 hour rations, they come in a single box per day and offer a wide variety of menu choices. The regular menu offers 20 different menus and they also have 10 different menus each for Vegetarian, Halal, Sikh/Hindu and Kosher. All food items in the packs were surveyed and all chosen for inclusion scored at least a 6.5 on a scale of one to 10, being at least between liked and moderately liked before being selected for inclusion.
The packs are designed to be stored in a temperature range of 37 to 77 degrees without additional protection from the environment for extended periods of time, though they can be stored in hot environments for short periods of time. Each pack weights about 5 pounds and contains about 4,000 calories, more than enough for a 37 mile hike home and will allow me to make each pack last even longer if I am sheltering in place.
The main menu items are packaged in retort pouches which can be reheated in 4 minutes in gently boiling water, though they can also be eaten without reheating them.
So on to the meals. Here is a photo of one of my older meals which I am rotating out of storage. This is Vegetarian menu 3, and personally, I have no issue with any of these vegetarian menus since I know they give the same level of nutrition as the regular menu items and honestly, I rarely notice that they are vegetarian.
One you open the box, you can get a full idea of how many items they contain.
Below is the example found in Vegetarian menu 3.
Meal Pouches: Mushroom Omelette, Vegetarian Tomato Noodle, Pasta and Bean Salad, and Sticky Toffee Pudding
Snacks: Castus Apricot Bar, Biscuit Fruit, Strawberry Boiled Sweets, Classic Fruit and Nut Mix, Oreo Biscuit, and Strawberry Jam
Drinks: Isotonic Tablet Orange, Blackcurrant Drink, Raspberry Drink, Cherry Drink, and Hot Chocolate Caramel
Sundries: Beverage Whitener (x4), Tabasco Red, Sweet Menthol, Spearmint, Strong Mint & Peppermint Dental Chewing Gum, Instant Coffee (x2), Sugar (x4), Wet Wipes (x2), Teabags (x2), Tissues, Spoon, Water Purification Tablets (x6), Matches, and a Reusable Poly Bag.
You can un-box the meal and re-pack the food items in your bag or even your pockets, as they are designed to withstand such a short duration re-pack. And since the ration also includes water purification tablets, you can purify up to 6 litres of water a day without worrying about additional water purification means.
They have a shelf life of 2 years based on the "best before dates" of the contents, so every 2 years I will rotate my stock. You may read that military rations will last for years. What I have found is that the commercially available food items, as well as the items containing fruit and nuts do not hold up for 5 years as some may claim. So play it safe and only buy rations which are "in date" and rotate your stock of food. (British rations have a pack date on the white circular label on the outside of the box noted as "PD0213" for example meaning pack date February 2013. This would have a "best before date of February 2015.) Since the food is quite tasty by camping/backpacking standards, this will be easy to do on a weekend hike or outing.
Highly recommended if not easy to find. Try looking on eBay or GoArmy in Scotland which does offer reasonable shipping to America. www.goarmy.co.uk/survival-sleeping/cooking-eating
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