Today I thought I'd have a natter about rations and tell you how I put 3 meals a day including drinks (and sometimes chocolates and sweets (that's candy if your an American)), all on my webbing belt.
This item, I dare say, will be of interest to any and all outdoors persons, probably with the only exception being the camper. (That would be the camper who takes supermarket size trolleys of food for a week / fortnight and pitches the 12 birth kind of tent, you know family guy with the emphasis on family). "Yeah Yeah, we get it, now shut up and crack on!"..............
Ok, Ok then, this ration system of mine yeah, well I began to devise it initially as a 72 hour (3 Day) bug out ration supply to permanently store on my kit in the event of an emergency. The goal I set myself was to create a very limited supply of food that would cover the obligatory 72 hours, but not just be sparse and meagre, I wanted something that would provide me with a minimum of three meals a day plus drinks, and not just be one main meal a day. Let's face it, anyone who settles for one rat pack meal a day has got to have a few bolts loose eh? Besides, that doesn't even need any consideration at all, a child could do that! That's why I considered that option first :) :p
Now you could eat just one really big portioned evening meal a day alone and make do and hell, I often do when backpacking, but the consideration here doesn't just involve leisure, it is specifically designed around emergency 'and' leisure (by leisure I mean everyday hobby leisure peace times and not catastrophic bug-out scenarios). Put simply, this one day ration is more than adequate for everyday Backpacking, Bushcraft, Hiking, Trekking, and even solo camping trips for a week.
What needs to be clearly understood here, is that it is 'specifically' designed with emergency Survival/Bug-Out in mind.
If you have read my other pages or seen my "Kittchen Sink" You Tube videos (scheduled for Jan 2011), then you`ll understand where my logic is here. For those who have not, let me briefly reiterate my aim(s).
The whole Kittchen Sink blog and corresponding You Tube videos, are a series of information geared (mainly), toward the outdoors person. The primary concept is to enlighten, educate and inform on how outdoor kit, when not in use and in storage, can still remain IN use, functional, and ready to deploy in under 60 seconds, by adapting it as a Survival / Bug-Out-Bag type unit.
Also, as a lifetime heavyweight 'kitchen sink' backpacker, it is a personal journey for myself into other forms of outdoor pursuits and a way of lightning the load so that it encompasses most or all of them, whilst fundamentally remaining 24/7 functional as emergency equipment.
Ok, i hope that puts everything within context for everyone!
So now, where was I? Oh yes, I didn't want to just stuff three British ration pack main meals in a utility pouch and say "there you go - one meal a day for 72 hours, I won't starve or die or have to eat maggots and spiders or any other kinda Bear Grylls crap, that's more than enough food".
Of course it is, I'm even aware that it's possible to last you a lot longer than 3 days too, but not wanting to get into semantics or digress down a dozen avenues here, I will save my Grylls outbursts and myriad of debates surrounding food for another day and continue along.
In essence, I wanted to put together a ration supply for myself that:
1) Contained 3 meals a day for 'an absolute minimum' of 3 days (I aimed for 5 and got 4).
2) Also contained Tea / Coffee / and Hot Chocolate or Horlicks as a bedtime drink.
3) And all had to fit neatly inside one PLCE Utility pouch.
Let me tell you - it was a bit of a breeze!!....................
So much so that I can afford various other additions such as small Kendal Mint cake or choc bar or, double up on the lunch and breakfasts in EVERY days ration. The latter being preferred.
So, lets take a look and see what I put together for myself.......
Fig: 1
Fig: 1 above depicts the contents of 'one day' of rations that I see as being the bare minimum necessary for 'me' within both the contexts of emergency/survival or within the bounds of ultralite backpacking at an absolute minimum. (*There are other factors considered along with this ration which I will touch on later).
The contents of Fig: 1 are as follows:
1) 1 x 300g British Army Steak & Vegetable main meal ration (pink label - how err - nice).
2) 1 x 60g sachet of Dehydrated potato flakes with with added powdered milk. (this is a supplement to the main evening meal).
3) 1 x OXO cube (beef stock cube). this has 3 uses. (i) as extra gravy over potato (ii) As a hot drink and (iii) In a survival situation provides vital salts.
4) 1 x sachet of Cuppa Soup (they are now split and contain 2 sachets in one).
5) 1 x sachet of Porridge Oats (split and now contains 2 sachets in one plus milk powder and sugar).
6) 1 x British rat pack 60g sachet of Hot Chocolate.
7) 2 x British Army sachets of instant tea (split and replaced by real tea bags).
8) 6 x sachets of sugar (10g each)
9) 2 x sachets of Nescafe 3 in 1 coffee (it includes milk and sugar).
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THE MENU:
This is how the menu pans out for the day.
Breakfast:
1 x Porridge (double portion or eat half and save half for supper)
1 x Mug of tea (about a litre of - oh yeah I looooove my tea - every 30 mins at home, clockwork).
Midday Snack:
1 x Cuppa Soup (double portion made thicker with less water or save half for supper).
1 x Cup of coffee (sometimes I just pack tea cos I don't drink coffee at all. Coffee aggravates the thirst whereas tea quenches it, but for the trail its a welcome change ).
*1 x (And if there was any pushed in, a thin 'small' chocolate bar or Kendal Mint Cake).
Evening Meal:
1 x Steak and Vegetable + Mashed Potato & *Gravy (*not really gravy but good as).
1 x Cup of tea or coffee.
Bedtime Nightcap:
A well earned big cup of Hot Chocolate. ( I now understand why these are in Ration Packs lol).
Plus a cuppa soup or a bowl of porridge (if I saved some from earlier in the day).
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Its ok, calm down, caaaaalm down.....breeeeeeath!!
Thats it!! There ya go - colours coming back to ya cheeks now.
Now then........before you go and take another wobbler, let me just explain a couple of things here about this menu.
If the horror of eating porridge and cuppa soups for a week fills you with dread then let me remind you that this here (i.e Fig: 1), is only one menu.
This menu can (and most definately IS) adapted slightly so that it varies every other day.
For instance........
Porridge is substitited with Weetabix (I have no idea what the you call these in any other country I'm sorry. I Just thought I'd mention that as I know how partial everyone's countries are of switching the names of stuff). All I do, is crush two Weetabix down to flakes and add milk powder then sachet them up. You then make it up with hot water just as you would porridge, only it tastes like, well, Weetabix!
The midday Cuppa Soup is sometimes not doubled up on but rather has noodles added to the sachet instead and flavours alternated. Sometimes its a beef and tomato Army rat pack soup with noodles in etc etc. Often its not even a Cuppa Soup at all, its a Pot Noodle, just bagged and crushed with maybe a slightly less quantity in so its the same amount as the Cuppa Soup per pouch volume. Remember here also, that this ration pouch is designed primarily for an emergency. When your stressed to the max, cold and hungry then crushed food that does not look overly presentable will not make a blind bit of difference to you. You WILL think its a banquet! There are many people who (and rightly so) attest to you not waiting for an emergency situation to arise before testing out the capabilities of your equipment and your own resolve. I have never seen anyone attempting to persuade people to eat food that looks like they wouldn't even throw it to the dog. I hereby recommend you do exactly that, particularly if your the type of person who is here because of creating a `couch potato` bug out system. That is to say, you don't do the outdoors thing but want to be prepared. Facing a meal that looks like vomit can be a real challenge. It is critical however, that this challenge be conquered. If you wait until you find yourself in an emergency situation beforehand then come the day you have to eat this stuff if may actually repulse you so much that you just hurl at the very thought it, and that, is a killer.
I have on occasions taken breakfast, dinner, tea and supper and flung them all in the pan at once, stirred the lot up and ate every last bit of it, purely because I didn't want to stop around to cook because the weathers been so appalling I've simply concentrated on keeping my head down in my bag and keeping warm. That's porridge, mashed potato, steak and vegetables, chocolate pudding in chocolate sauce, rice, cuppa soups, noodles, you name it, all flung in one pan with extra water and boiled up.
The strange thing is, you probably WILL enjoy it. It just all depends upon the circumstance you find yourself in. Most outdoors people have become immune to this over time and most will have ate meals that look horrendous (and still do), but if your not the outdoors type then I thoughrily recommend you test your menus. Crushed up food rehydrated is really no big deal, it just doesn't look presentable that's all. It tastes `exactly` the same only crushing thing down saves on space and volume in your pack. Its worth thinking about your days meals though, and planning ahead with foods that can be flung together if necessary and eaten all-in-one. Porridge for breakfast and rice pudding for dinner for example aren't too bad and are quite nice actually when combined as one meal in the event that you don't get the chance to make breakfast say for whatever reason. So you get the thinking here. Personally I`ll eat just about anything, I don't really care, but if your not the outdoors kind then certainly if your the kind of person who views food presentation as the be all and end all of food, then you best be trying out your menus before its too late.
Also, a main meal does not have to be British Army rations (I just prefer them cos they're handy, boil in the bag and have a shelf life of ten years, so if I want to do a trip, I can do so at the drop of a hat because its all there ready). Sometimes I will include dehydrated meals for 'wet' main Army meals, such as chicken and mushroom pasta (this is lush with fish btw). This is obviously bulky so I smash/crush the pasta tubes down so that it does not take up much space.
Furthermore, the great bonus about British Army rat pack main meals are that you don't have to waste fuel by heating a meal then heating water for a brew. The water I use to boil the 'in the bag' meal gets used for my brew, so I have a brew and a hot meal ready at the same time from one lot of fuel not two. Plus, there's no washing up needed thereby conserving water resources, and if you cut the foil pouch open neatly, you can save it and re-bag another meal and seal it up for another day.
Bare in mind too, that all these meals can be substituted or even enhanced by whatever it is you manage to kill or forage for - like fish with the cuppa soups or fruits in the porridge etc etc - it's all limitless.
So without banging on and on here, what I'm saying in essence is, this is a template, you make your own.
Everything in here is Uncle Compromise!! In fact, the only thing that was not was the `95 Pattern Utility Pouch all the meals have to fit in. That, was the determining factor as to what and what does not, go in.
I can make 4 days of meals fit comfortably in that pouch (5, if I really push it and invite Uncle Compromise back). That's all the content of Fig: 1, four times over. That will provide me with food and drink from morning 'til night, for four days (or 96 hours).
With 2 utility pouches, I can comfortably go backpacking, trekking, bushcrafting, hiking or solo camping for 8-10 days without the need to even attempt to trap or kill anything!!
Furthermore, if you do catch say fish or rabbit, then you can save your main meal rations for another day or have a banquet for your afternoon dinner covered in cuppa soup. mmmmm!! :)
OTHER FACTORS:
Of course, in all of this, I need to actually clarify that the daily rations here, under 'normal' circumstances, are subsidised by other foodstuffs either which I carry in my rocket daysack or sometimes purchase along the trail sometimes. (its not always your in complete wilderness, so when you see a chippy or a pub - use it wisely!!). Furthermore, if I'm on a trip whereby carrying my Bergen and in the wilderness for more of a 'holiday break' type excursion rather than to say practice bushcraft or survival , then this ration is somewhat obsolete as I will have enough food to live like a king, with main meals and snacks all day long if needs be, and more often than not places to restock along the way. So it depends upon what it is your doing at the time. It is however, extremely useful when travelling light or in emergency/survival situations whereby that ration may well become the difference between life and death. In the latter circumstance, four days of rations in one single utility pouch can me made to last a helluva lot longer and is far better than nothing. As an example off the top of my head, suppose you are a survivalist, or ultralite hiker, who mainly relies upon catching or trapping their food source 'en-route'. Should anything happen to you so that your now placed in a position that you cannot move (a broken leg say, or trapped/isolated), and considering you can survive three weeks without any food at all, then that pouch contains enough food to sustain you for weeks. Furthermore, because some of the rations have been doubled up on, you can also split them back down again.
As I have stated elsewhere before, I am NOT a survivalist (although I recognise I may outwardly appear to talk and act like one). I simply adapted my backpacking equipment in the event of......
It's somewhat difficult to explain with crystal clear clarity, my rationale on it all within a couple of sentences. So much so that I have wrote a separate blog page entitled "The Problem with Survival" in order to attempt to clarify my rationale.
This ration method, for me, fulfils all 'my' requirements in terms of Mediumweight, Lightweight/ Ultraliteweight Backpacking , Bushcrafting, Bug-Out/Survival needs, for an absolute minimum of 4 - 8 days. If needs be, I could make it last far longer simply by fasting alone.
As an example, If I fast on Tuesday morning, then on Wednesday afternoon and again on Thursday night, I have effectively gained another full day of rations. To me, that's well worth considering in any crisis scenario.
Right then!, I hope you enjoyed this segment of the Kittchen Sink and it's given you some err "food for thought" (Awww cringe, come here 'til i slap ya!). lol.
I look forward to hearing any and all comments and constructive criticisms. And if anyone else out there can fit 3 square meals and drinks a day for 4 to 5 days into a plce utility pouch, i'm all ears as to what you did my friend, and very much look forward to seeing your content and menu.
Once again, thank you for visiting the Kittchen Sink. I appreciate your support.
Enjoy Your Wilderness
Kind Regards Ian
PS: I had more pictures what were not needed so I`ll push them in below.... well, just because.
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