Thanks for making content about the real nitty gritty aspects nobody else wants to cover. In my opinion a video about nutrition and health is way more important than a hundred cqb videos
My late stepdad was an Army infantry vet of the Korean War. He once told me that when his platoon would go out on a long hard mission, the guys who ate spaghetti rations and similar light stuff before going out didn't hold up as well as guys who ate corned beef hash or beef stew---food that would "stick to the ribs".
I agree with that ! I attended a mountaineering clinic by Ed Viesturs. A High altitude climbing legend. His go-to food for Everest climbs at the higher camps, Spam. The mostly trail mix eating crowd in the class had looks of despair.
Army scout here. Field feeding was a huge logistical undertaking. Each vehicle (Stryker RV) with a crew of 6 would eat 4 MRE’s in a 24 hour period. We would carry about 5 cases of MRE’s at a time on the vehicle. Now, being mounted afforded us to carry such large quantities of food. We would be resupplied about every other day depending on the mission tempo. As a dismount, I would have at least two MREs in my pack as well as other snacks such has gummies and beef jerky. We were never more than a kilometer away from our vehicle so going back to resupply off the vehicle wasn’t that hard. As far as priories of what to keep in your kit, I would say water is first, then ammo and mission essential items like batteries for radios and the like, and then food last. Soldiers can be hungry for a time and you can ration your rations. While obviously not ideal, a single MRE can be stretched for 24 hours.
A lot of times even in training - the government says they'll come out and feed us , lots of times they did not, they always brought lots of water but food no. I would always carry a large amount of Lipton cup- a- soup packs , multi vitamins, hot chocolate, 3-in-one coffee, tea bags , salt, pepper, sugar ; all on my web gear because it sucks not having food with you in a cold damp op , or hole in the ground for 3 or however many days straight. It always amazed me how many guys didn't bring food because it wasn't on the kit list.
If you've ever been truly hungry, for days, this information has a special meaning. Yes, you can stay alive for quite a while if you have water. The rate at which one becomes stupid and clumsy from malnutrition is alarming. And, your body begins to consume itself. Echo Mike is on it.
Alright mate, interesting video, some great points. Couple of points from myself; 1. The rations in your belt kit should be your emergency rations, that aren't touched unless you absolutely need to, ie after being separated from your main pack or running out of your main rations. 2. If you have space in your daysack/assault pack it's a good idea to put in another 24 hours of rations. 3. If you're using mess tins, your emergency rations should be packed inside them. Otherwise you'll have two pouches in your belt kit dedicated just to food. 4, Electrolyte drinks taint your water, meaning you can't use it to make tea/coffee etc, so you'll need to dedicate a waterbottle to use them. Personally I don't bother with them. 5. I'd bin all of those cardboard MRE boxes, just more rubbish to carry. You can use the MRE heaters without them. 6. Eight main meals equals 4 days, rather than 6 days. As you mentioned, you can make them last longer, but you shouldn't be planning on doing so.
Very good and informative film! I would like to add something that I have had very good experiences with and that I no longer want to be without: Macadamia nuts! They have a lot of advantages! 1.) Is there any ready-to-eat food that has a higher energy density for the same weight? I searched for a long time and didn't find anything better! Macadamia nuts have more energy than chocolate, oatmeal, potatoes, pasta and so on! 2.) A bag of macadamia nuts has a small pack size and fits into even the most overloaded backpack! (And it's worth it!) 3.) You can eat the nuts straight away! 4.) Since they are slightly salted, they help replace sweated electrolytes, which is particularly welcome on long marches! 5.) They make you extremely full for quite a while, but without making you feel overeaten afterwards. 6.) The nuts are very tasty and 100 grams of macadamia nuts have around 718 calories!!! The only disadvantage that has been identified so far: After consumption, you want a big sip of water or other drink to get rid of the salty taste in your mouth and to counteract the thirst that arises. But I can't say that after eating half a bag of nuts (around 95 grams) you would be particularly thirsty and would therefore need significantly more water. - I can therefore only recommend packing at least one bag of macadamia nuts in your backpack! Even though they are relatively expensive, they are worth it!
That's a great tip. Throw in Dates and you've got yourself quite the power house for easy fuel. 4 Medjool dates is 62g carbs and 230 calories plus a ton of micronutrients.
Nicely done video. My only comment is based on my past deployments. What was presented may be considered as a minimum during ideal conditions... The water and caloric intake may increase based on the OP. My first deployment was a humanitarian mission with the Disaster Assistance Response Team in the middle of winter which saw me consuming twice the number of daily ration packs as I was literally eating the ration discards from others in the platoon. I did not care what it tasted like as I just wanted to stop the "kwaning" feeling in my stomach (horrible feeling after a full days of hard manual work). I was quite surprised at how much people discarded due to the "taste" of the ration. As you stated, the rations have come a long way from the past and being well feed keeps you fit and opertaional. My two combat deployments were to Afghanistan with the arrival at end of spring so water consumption was very high, of course. Eating proper full meals was still important even in such hot weather but constant hydration was paramount. Happy Holidays.
Excellent mate that took me back to prepping my rations before heading out. You only eat bad the first few times, before you then learned to eat very well lol
Bars and snacks are great to stick in your pockets. I always run first strike bars or cookies in my shirt pockets and then I can eat snacks while I ruck.
Out hunting in the mountains of nz I work on around 3-4000cal a day. And I still came back nearly 2kg lighter than I left last time. Electrolyte drinks are incredible for keeping going and making your own dehydrated meals is easy as, plus taste better than any bought ones I've ever found
I've generally packed food supplies in this manner, but each and every time I'm out in the field I find the actual consumption is less than half of what was packed. Energy and nutrition is important in an extended action, but I've come to accept that trading food weight for ammo, water and shelter/weather appropriate clothing is more important to me during an exercise. There _will_ be some downtime after 3 or 4 days to refuel and resupply whether that's at a formal logistics depot or improvised caches.
Years ago, I read a book by the title EAT TO LIVE. It's all about nutrition and the author offers many ideas of what to eat and what to avoid. If the book is still in publication, and is updated, I would recommend it.
Those who do subscribe to the Ramen train of thought are missing out on key nutrition factors you can get with ease of use and which can take up approximately the same if not less space overall from other meal items. Not to mention the amount of water needed to make which means you need to use your fluid reserves if a water source isnt close by. Ramen will feed you but wont feed an active body much at all. Not properly anyway.
Having eaten both UK rat packs and US MRE's, I have to say that the UK is superior but I do have a French ration pack coming my way soon so it will be interesting to see how good it is.
Always tried to take a flapjack tray bake out on exercise in UK, plenty of energy, didnt bung you up, shareable, obviously for use here only, and also take a marker pen waterproof, if you share a boil you want your own grub.
The Canadian Individual Meal Pack (IMP) rations seem to taste better than the American MRE. However, when given the option I go for the US MRE because it has more "pocket" foods and seems better suited for dismounted operations. The CDN pears in syrup or fruit coctail dessert items are great but you are commited once you open them. Can't take a bite and keep the rest in a pocket or pouch for later. I also like how the MRE is a generic meal whereas the IMP comes in breakfast, lunch and supper. Nothing kills morale like ordering three days of rations and the QM gives you nothing but breakfasts because anouther group took all the lunches. This is annoying because breakfast has the gum, lunch chocolate and supper cookies. The breakfast entrees are not as great either. They used to have macaroni and cheese with peas. We all thought it was a French Canadian thing and they thought it was an typical English Canadian thing. Turns out someone in Ottawa probably just hated the troops or had a very troubled childhood.
Sorry, the British accent. You said peanut butter, I said you'd have to wash it down with some water (minus the T sounds) Great video, I need to get my cliff bars and Ramon noodles out of my pack I guess. I'm not a MRE fan, I need to find some substitutes.
For me seem like fancy first world american country thing.I have bit experience with middle east and ukraine.Things i ate there was Nan and tea with sugar few veggies and Canned meat,potate.Just they get me what they can.
idk I tend to drink more water out of a bladder than I do out of a bottle when I'm moving. Tube is easy access and I don't have to stop. Hard bottle I have to stop to dig out and drink or I'll spill everything all over myself. Not to mention I need both hands free.
Thanks for making content about the real nitty gritty aspects nobody else wants to cover. In my opinion a video about nutrition and health is way more important than a hundred cqb videos
@Wesley-kt5li 100% mate
My late stepdad was an Army infantry vet of the Korean War. He once told me that when his platoon would go out on a long hard mission, the guys who ate spaghetti rations and similar light stuff before going out didn't hold up as well as guys who ate corned beef hash or beef stew---food that would "stick to the ribs".
I agree with that ! I attended a mountaineering clinic by Ed Viesturs. A High altitude climbing legend. His go-to food for Everest climbs at the higher camps, Spam. The mostly trail mix eating crowd in the class had looks of despair.
Army scout here. Field feeding was a huge logistical undertaking. Each vehicle (Stryker RV) with a crew of 6 would eat 4 MRE’s in a 24 hour period. We would carry about 5 cases of MRE’s at a time on the vehicle. Now, being mounted afforded us to carry such large quantities of food. We would be resupplied about every other day depending on the mission tempo.
As a dismount, I would have at least two MREs in my pack as well as other snacks such has gummies and beef jerky. We were never more than a kilometer away from our vehicle so going back to resupply off the vehicle wasn’t that hard.
As far as priories of what to keep in your kit, I would say water is first, then ammo and mission essential items like batteries for radios and the like, and then food last. Soldiers can be hungry for a time and you can ration your rations. While obviously not ideal, a single MRE can be stretched for 24 hours.
A lot of times even in training - the government says they'll come out and feed us , lots of times they did not, they always brought lots of water but food no.
I would always carry a large amount of Lipton cup- a- soup packs , multi vitamins, hot chocolate, 3-in-one coffee, tea bags , salt, pepper, sugar ; all on my web gear because it sucks not having food with you in a cold damp op , or hole in the ground for 3 or however many days straight.
It always amazed me how many guys didn't bring food because it wasn't on the kit list.
If you've ever been truly hungry, for days, this information has a special meaning. Yes, you can stay alive for quite a while if you have water. The rate at which one becomes stupid and clumsy from malnutrition is alarming. And, your body begins to consume itself. Echo Mike is on it.
@@icescrew1 100%, cheers mate
Thanks Mike!
My favorite meal, midrats, on watch, while everyone else is sleeping!
@@Mr_Contract________x I second this. Food, peace and quiet, and a cig.
Alright mate, interesting video, some great points. Couple of points from myself;
1. The rations in your belt kit should be your emergency rations, that aren't touched unless you absolutely need to, ie after being separated from your main pack or running out of your main rations.
2. If you have space in your daysack/assault pack it's a good idea to put in another 24 hours of rations.
3. If you're using mess tins, your emergency rations should be packed inside them. Otherwise you'll have two pouches in your belt kit dedicated just to food.
4, Electrolyte drinks taint your water, meaning you can't use it to make tea/coffee etc, so you'll need to dedicate a waterbottle to use them. Personally I don't bother with them.
5. I'd bin all of those cardboard MRE boxes, just more rubbish to carry. You can use the MRE heaters without them.
6. Eight main meals equals 4 days, rather than 6 days. As you mentioned, you can make them last longer, but you shouldn't be planning on doing so.
Hey, I 100% agree! I can go two days on roughly 1,000 calories daily but on day three I need to fuel the machine. And Merry Christmas!
Very good and informative film! I would like to add something that I have had very good experiences with and that I no longer want to be without: Macadamia nuts! They have a lot of advantages! 1.) Is there any ready-to-eat food that has a higher energy density for the same weight? I searched for a long time and didn't find anything better! Macadamia nuts have more energy than chocolate, oatmeal, potatoes, pasta and so on! 2.) A bag of macadamia nuts has a small pack size and fits into even the most overloaded backpack! (And it's worth it!) 3.) You can eat the nuts straight away! 4.) Since they are slightly salted, they help replace sweated electrolytes, which is particularly welcome on long marches! 5.) They make you extremely full for quite a while, but without making you feel overeaten afterwards. 6.) The nuts are very tasty and 100 grams of macadamia nuts have around 718 calories!!! The only disadvantage that has been identified so far: After consumption, you want a big sip of water or other drink to get rid of the salty taste in your mouth and to counteract the thirst that arises. But I can't say that after eating half a bag of nuts (around 95 grams) you would be particularly thirsty and would therefore need significantly more water. - I can therefore only recommend packing at least one bag of macadamia nuts in your backpack! Even though they are relatively expensive, they are worth it!
That's a great tip. Throw in Dates and you've got yourself quite the power house for easy fuel. 4 Medjool dates is 62g carbs and 230 calories plus a ton of micronutrients.
@@lightstrider8239 Excellent! Thanks for the tip!
Nicely done video. My only comment is based on my past deployments. What was presented may be considered as a minimum during ideal conditions... The water and caloric intake may increase based on the OP. My first deployment was a humanitarian mission with the Disaster Assistance Response Team in the middle of winter which saw me consuming twice the number of daily ration packs as I was literally eating the ration discards from others in the platoon. I did not care what it tasted like as I just wanted to stop the "kwaning" feeling in my stomach (horrible feeling after a full days of hard manual work). I was quite surprised at how much people discarded due to the "taste" of the ration. As you stated, the rations have come a long way from the past and being well feed keeps you fit and opertaional. My two combat deployments were to Afghanistan with the arrival at end of spring so water consumption was very high, of course. Eating proper full meals was still important even in such hot weather but constant hydration was paramount. Happy Holidays.
Gummy bears,Scho-Ka-Kola ,ISOSTAR Energy Gel, lard,Dried Sausage...good video man
Excellent mate that took me back to prepping my rations before heading out. You only eat bad the first few times, before you then learned to eat very well lol
We all learned a long time ago, that we need to fuel our bodies to keep us moving out in the field and keep us on our feet.
Bars and snacks are great to stick in your pockets. I always run first strike bars or cookies in my shirt pockets and then I can eat snacks while I ruck.
I miss the British Ration Packs. Wish they were cheaper here in the US.
People just don’t realize how many calories you burn humping a 70lb Bergen.
Menu number ten is the best 🔥
Outstanding breakdown
Thanks for promoting meals and nutrition over carrying 15 mags for that mythical firefight.
Lovely Stuff
Out hunting in the mountains of nz I work on around 3-4000cal a day. And I still came back nearly 2kg lighter than I left last time.
Electrolyte drinks are incredible for keeping going and making your own dehydrated meals is easy as, plus taste better than any bought ones I've ever found
Those electrolyte powder added into boiling water make a. Great drink In cold temps
Solid knowledge transfer brother thanks and Merry Christmas..
Great content
I've generally packed food supplies in this manner, but each and every time I'm out in the field I find the actual consumption is less than half of what was packed. Energy and nutrition is important in an extended action, but I've come to accept that trading food weight for ammo, water and shelter/weather appropriate clothing is more important to me during an exercise. There _will_ be some downtime after 3 or 4 days to refuel and resupply whether that's at a formal logistics depot or improvised caches.
Years ago, I read a book by the title EAT TO LIVE. It's all about nutrition and the author offers many ideas of what to eat and what to avoid. If the book is still in publication, and is updated, I would recommend it.
put together they will make u a great Christmas Day lunch in the field!
Excellent, and Merry Christmas !
Finally, someone digging on ramen.
Those who do subscribe to the Ramen train of thought are missing out on key nutrition factors you can get with ease of use and which can take up approximately the same if not less space overall from other meal items. Not to mention the amount of water needed to make which means you need to use your fluid reserves if a water source isnt close by. Ramen will feed you but wont feed an active body much at all. Not properly anyway.
Having eaten both UK rat packs and US MRE's, I have to say that the UK is superior but I do have a French ration pack coming my way soon so it will be interesting to see how good it is.
May everything you put in your mouth turn into a sesame bar.
sorry but US Ex Infantry, Had Brit and Spanish rations in Iraq and elsewhere . French Rations rule...
The one thing I hate about fish oil supplements is the fishy-tasting burps for hours after taking them.
Beef jerky in various forms, plenty of granola and chocolate is my fav, but can't go wrong with meat n potatoes.
Great video man
Good look at your food loadout. What were the soups in your webbing?
Nate
In cadets, I didn't mind the all-day breakfast with the cinnamon bun.
Hi EM great video keep it up Cheers Jc 😁🇬🇧👊🏻
Aussie and Brit rat packs are the best I’ve found.
Always tried to take a flapjack tray bake out on exercise in UK, plenty of energy, didnt bung you up, shareable, obviously for use here only, and also take a marker pen waterproof, if you share a boil you want your own grub.
The Canadian Individual Meal Pack (IMP) rations seem to taste better than the American MRE.
However, when given the option I go for the US MRE because it has more "pocket" foods and seems better suited for dismounted operations.
The CDN pears in syrup or fruit coctail dessert items are great but you are commited once you open them. Can't take a bite and keep the rest in a pocket or pouch for later.
I also like how the MRE is a generic meal whereas the IMP comes in breakfast, lunch and supper. Nothing kills morale like ordering three days of rations and the QM gives you nothing but breakfasts because anouther group took all the lunches. This is annoying because breakfast has the gum, lunch chocolate and supper cookies. The breakfast entrees are not as great either. They used to have macaroni and cheese with peas. We all thought it was a French Canadian thing and they thought it was an typical English Canadian thing. Turns out someone in Ottawa probably just hated the troops or had a very troubled childhood.
Why are they hard to find?
Sorry, the British accent. You said peanut butter, I said you'd have to wash it down with some water (minus the T sounds)
Great video, I need to get my cliff bars and Ramon noodles out of my pack I guess. I'm not a MRE fan, I need to find some substitutes.
Check out what ultra light hikers use. Or at least budget ultralight hikers
Its hard seeing people recommend you eat peanut m&ms for 3 days straight
For me seem like fancy first world american country thing.I have bit experience with middle east and ukraine.Things i ate there was Nan and tea with sugar few veggies and Canned meat,potate.Just they get me what they can.
idk I tend to drink more water out of a bladder than I do out of a bottle when I'm moving. Tube is easy access and I don't have to stop. Hard bottle I have to stop to dig out and drink or I'll spill everything all over myself. Not to mention I need both hands free.
"I'm a choco-holic and a fatass" I'm listening 🤔
"you can't eat ammunition" ....well.....
Facts.
I know a dude that tried that, didn't end well.
Can we have a short one of how to shape a boonie like yours okay
Shame you can't just take lembas bread 😂
No room for anything else.
First lol
“But did you liek and subscribe”. 😮😂