Survival Food Packet

[Timerover51]

Food Packet, Survival, General Purpose

Description: The general purpose survival food packet is a versatile packet; it is usable even where water is severely limited. It has passed extensive service tests in both hot and cold climates. The packet contains four food bars of uniform nutritional composition. There are six types of food bars: Fruit cake, chocolate fudge, cornflakes, rice-cornflakes, chicken-flavor, and cheese-potato. In addition to the four food bars, each can contains sugar, instant coffee, and a soup and gravy base, which provides additional salt for the ration. Each can provides about 880 calories. The unique nutritional design of this food packet permits maximum nutritional benefit at any level of consumption, ranging from one-half packet per man per day (minimal level of issue recommended for hot climate use) to one, two, or three packets per man per day. The minimal recommended issue for arctic survival use is one packet per man per day.

Packaging: The food packet is packaged in a 350 gram, key opening, rectangular can, with a can opener taped to it.

Typically, each emergency survival kit will have 14 of these packets in it, to provide a basic survival level of subsistence for a human for a period of one to two weeks. Additional packet cans may be purchased for Cr2.5 individually or Cr2 in case lots of 48.

Edit Note: This is what I am using in My Traveller Universe. If you wish to use something else, go right ahead.

 

[Enoki]

I would think something like this would vary by tech level considerably. What you are describing is something akin to WW 2 to 1950's emergency rations used by the military and even on lifeboats.

The 2000 version is something more like an MRE. Everything is in plastic or foil packages to reduce weight and keep it fresh longer. Selection is better. Freeze drying and other preservation techniques are used for some items.

I could see the use of irradiation to sterilize such rations making them good for years and years along with other packaging techniques.

If water were an issue it could be included as a separate item or even in the meal itself. Possibly a solar or vacuum still might be included to allow survivors to make fresh water from whatever sources they have available, urine included. Maybe one per 6 to 10 meal packs.

At higher tech levels a heating device might be included to allow the meal to be eaten hot and to provide some warmth.

Who knows by TL 15 - 16? The package might be a small 3D printer unit preloaded with the correct basic molecules and such and it just prints up a meal based on a programmed selection of items. One or two printers are in a kit along with a number of preloaded cartridges for use with the unit.
That technology is just becoming extant today. Give it a few hundred years...

 

[Timerover51]

I would think something like this would vary by tech level considerably. What you are describing is something akin to WW 2 to 1950's emergency rations used by the military and even on lifeboats.

The 2000 version is something more like an MRE. Everything is in plastic or foil packages to reduce weight and keep it fresh longer. Selection is better. Freeze drying and other preservation techniques are used for some items.

I could see the use of irradiation to sterilize such rations making them good for years and years along with other packaging techniques.

If water were an issue it could be included as a separate item or even in the meal itself. Possibly a solar or vacuum still might be included to allow survivors to make fresh water from whatever sources they have available, urine included. Maybe one per 6 to 10 meal packs.

At higher tech levels a heating device might be included to allow the meal to be eaten hot and to provide some warmth.

Who knows by TL 15 - 16? The package might be a small 3D printer unit preloaded with the correct basic molecules and such and it just prints up a meal based on a programmed selection of items. One or two printers are in a kit along with a number of preloaded cartridges for use with the unit.
That technology is just becoming extant today. Give it a few hundred years...

A solar still is a separate item of survival equipment. Heating units are also separate items. This is intended to be the food item in your survival kit.

With respect to protection, a can beats a plastic or foil wrap, and properly canned food has a minimum shelf life of 5 years. By the way, the bars are individually wrapped. As for irradiated food, that technology has been around for quite a while. The problem is that the end consumer is not that enthralled with the idea of eating irradiated food. For that matter, neither am I.

 

[wbyrd]

back a few years ago I worked security for a mining company. They purchased several survival pods... rugged metal cases with an inflatable air tight shelter, a weeks worth of air,air scrubbers, a chemical toilet, food and water inside.

the survival rations were small bars, wrapped in heavy foil and packed in fairly rugged boxes. they looked like sawdust mixed with peanut butter, and tasted about the same, but one candy bar sized ration had enough calories for one day.

a box about the size of a shoe box had enough bars to keep a person alive for a week or more...grumpy, hungry, never gonna eat peanut butter again...but alive.

 

[HG_B]

I would think something like this would vary by tech level considerably. What you are describing is something akin to WW 2 to 1950's emergency rations used by the military and even on lifeboats.

Yes, the separate can opener is REALLY old. The packaging would be better at high TL's. It is better at TL 7.

 

[Enoki]

A solar still is a separate item of survival equipment. Heating units are also separate items. This is intended to be the food item in your survival kit.

MRE's come with a heating unit using water as a catalyst. I could see including something like that at higher TL's simply because it weighs next to nothing, and takes up practically no space. Having a heat source could be very handy in a survival situation.

With respect to protection, a can beats a plastic or foil wrap, and properly canned food has a minimum shelf life of 5 years. By the way, the bars are individually wrapped. As for irradiated food, that technology has been around for quite a while. The problem is that the end consumer is not that enthralled with the idea of eating irradiated food. For that matter, neither am I.

Plastic- foil packets beat cans in two ways: Space and weight. That is why they are becoming increasingly popular. I agree that the main problem with irradiation is the irrational fear of things nuclear. Exposing food to a gamma or x-ray source does nothing to the food but kills all micro organisms that might be present.

But there are other methods too:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_preservation

 

[HG_B]

I agree that the main problem with irradiation is the irrational fear of things nuclear. Exposing food to a gamma or x-ray source does nothing to the food but kills all micro organisms that might be present.

The dental instruments that a dentist sticks in your mouth are also irradiated between patients in order to kill all bacteria.

 

[Xerxeskingofking]

Couple of points:

Food Packet, Survival, General Purpose

Description:
The packet contains four food bars of uniform nutritional composition....Each can provides about 880 calories.

do you mean that each bar is 880 cal, or that the four bars together are 880 cal?

The unique nutritional design of this food packet permits maximum nutritional design of this food packet permits maximum nutritional benefit at any level of consumption

you might want to rephrase that sentence, you're repeated yourself.

ranging from one-half packet per man per day (minimal level of issue recommended for hot climate use) to one, two, or three packets per man per day. The minimal recommended issue for arctic survival use is one packet per man per day.

hang one, half a packet per day? 400 cals daily? are these "stop you form dying after your ship crashes" rations or something given to combat troops? cos 400 cals is like....one Bigmac.

I'm guessing, since your a logistics buff, you must be aiming for the former, since I assume you know combat rations are in the 3-4 thousand cals/day range.

 

[Timerover51]

Couple of points:

do you mean that each bar is 880 cal, or that the four bars together are 880 cal?

hang one, half a packet per day? 400 cals daily? are these "stop you form dying after your ship crashes" rations or something given to combat troops? cos 400 cals is like....one Bigmac.

I'm guessing, since your a logistics buff, you must be aiming for the former, since I assume you know combat rations are in the 3-4 thousand cals/day range.

I am well aware of the calorie content of the typical military ration. I can even give you the report done in World War 2 which was used as the basis for that. Two companies of Canadian troops in Canada during the winter of 1941-1942 in January and February operating at temperatures ranging from 35º above zero to 35º below zero Fahrenheit were used as the basis for ensuring adequate caloric intake. Quite a few other agencies were involved, to include the National Institute of Health, to ensure adequate vitamin and mineral content.

This is a SURVIVAL RATION FOR USE IN AN EMERGENCY SURVIVAL KIT. This is for when you have abandoned your ship in a life boat or escape pod. Each can packet supplies 880 calories.

I am fully aware of what comes with MREs. Do you want the specification for them posted? It is quite lengthy. For further information on MRE and ration development in general, I would suggest visiting the website of the US Quartermaster Museum http://www.qmfound.com/history.html

I also have the monograph on the development of rations during and following World War 2. I find it fascinating reading, although sometimes I wonder about the persons writing the specifications.

I do have the formula for the standard US Emergency Ration of World War 2, the "D" ration bar. If you want to get an idea about what that was like, it would be a Chunky candy bar without the peanuts and raisins. Would anyone like to have that posted? I also have the menus of the various "C' and "K" rations that were issued during the war, and the menus required for feeding French and Moslem troops, along with civilian relief menus and those used for both Prisoners of War and freed prisoners of war.

Then there are the menus served to the troops immediately prior to boarding the ships for the Normandy Invasion, and the monthly menus for the troops occupying Europe, and while on the Normandy bridgehead prior to the Breakout.

There is an excellent discussion of ration development in World War to in the following volume of the US Army "Green Book" series on World War 2: The Quartermaster Corps: Organization, Supply, and Service, Volume 1, see Chapter 5 for the relevant data. The volumes on the Logistical Support of the Armies in the European Theater are also worthwhile reading, along with the volume on the Quartermaster Corps in the War against Japan.

http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/010/10-12/CMH_Pub_10-12-1.pdf

And some discussion of subsistence support of Allied troops during the Korean War in the following volume, available online as a download.

http://www.history.army.mil/catalog/pubs/22/22-1.html

 

[Limburger59]

I agree that the main problem with irradiation is the irrational fear of things nuclear. Exposing food to a gamma or x-ray source does nothing to the food but kills all micro organisms that might be present.

I can't picture travellers, zipping through the vacuum of space awash with solar radiation, launching nuclear missiles, and carrying FGMP-15's into starport bars, being afraid of irradiated food.

 

[HG_B]

I can't picture travellers, zipping through the vacuum of space awash with solar radiation, launching nuclear missiles, and carrying FGMP-15's into starport bars, being afraid of irradiated food.

:file_21: SO true.

 

[Enoki]

I can't picture travellers, zipping through the vacuum of space awash with solar radiation, launching nuclear missiles, and carrying FGMP-15's into starport bars, being afraid of irradiated food.

You never know... They might be rubbing the equivalent of a rabbit's foot every time they jump...

 

[Timerover51]

The following is an account of the World War One US Army emergency ration. Source is included in the quote.

WORLD WAR ONE EMERGENCY RATION

The emergency ration and its production make another interesting story. Designed to be used only in dire extremity, primarily for No Man's Land fighting, the ration was packed in small cans to be carried in the soldier's pocket, usually the upper left-hand jacket pocket. This ration corresponded to the starvation ration of the allies. Its components were adopted after experiments at the battle front and after consultations with food experts. It represented the greatest amount of food that could be concentrated in the smallest compass.
The complete ration consisted of three cakes of a mixture of beef and ground cooked wheat, each cake weighing 3 ounces; three 1-ounce cakes of chocolate; three-quarters of an ounce of fine salt; and 1 dram of black pepper. From the beef the preparation process removed all fat, sinew, and white fibrous tissue. The meat was then heated, and all of its moisture was evaporated so skillfully that no flavor was lost. The wheat or bread component of the cake was prepared by removing the chaff from cooked wheat which had been kiln-dried, parched, and then ground to a coarse powder. The meat and bread were compounded together, about two parts of bread to each part of meat, making a perfectly homogeneous cake. The chocolate of the ration was prepared by combining equal weights of fine chocolate, containing not less than 20 per cent of cocoa butter, and pure sugar, and molding the product into cakes weighing 1 ounce each.

The several components were packed into oval tin cans, which were camouflaged to render them inconspicuous. These cans bore the legend:

"U. S. Army Emergency Ration. Not to be opened
except by order of an officer, or in extremity."

Many ways of preparing the emergency ration for eating in the field were found by experiments. The bread and meat cake could be eaten dry; or, when boiled in 3 pints of water, it made a palatable soup; boiled in 1 pint of water, it produced a thick porridge which could be eaten hot or cold; the cold porridge could be sliced and fried when circumstances permitted. The chocolate could be eaten as candy or made into a drink by placing the chocolate in a tin cup with hot water.

The above description is taken from the following source: America's Munitions 1917-1918, Report of Benedict Crowell, The Assistant Secretary of War, Director of Munitions, Government Printing Office, 1919.

 

[Timerover51]

The following is the formula for the "D" ration bar as of December 1942. The formula is given in proportions of each ingredient, so that the use of either pounds or kilograms would give the same result as long as the proper proportions were maintained.

THE FORMULA FOR THE D RATION as of December 1942

Chocolate, plain, adjusted to 54 percent cacao fat = 160 Parts
Sucrose = 160 Parts
Milk, dry, powdered, skimmed = 70 Parts
Added Cacao Fat = 30 Parts
Oat Flour, raw = 20 Parts
Vanillin = 1/2 Parts
or Ethyl Vanillin = 1/6 Parts

Sufficient thiamin hypochloride is added to give not less than 0.45 milligram per 4-ounce bar.

Source: QUARTERMASTER SUPPLY in the EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II, Volume 2, SUBSISTENCE Appendix 28

Field ration D was strictly an emergency ration. As a result of an OQMG directive, work on it was begun in 1935 by Capt. Paul P. Logan, then head of the Subsistence School in Chicago. This work was completed by 1937. The D ration was the result of hundreds of experiments in combining chocolate, the basic ingredient, with different cereals. In the beginning developmental work was based on the theory that an emergency ration should not be palatable lest it be consumed before an emergency arose. [Emphasis Added] Subsequently, at the instigation of G-4 of the general staff, palatability was made a requisite in order that the D ration might also be used to supplement other food, such as reserve and regular field rations, in the theaters of operations.

In the end a palatable 4-ounce bar, containing 600 calories, was developed. The chief ingredients were chocolate, sugar, oat flour, cocoa fat, skim milk powder, and artificial flavoring. The chocolate was unique in that it was stabilized to a high melting point; it could withstand temperatures up to 120° F. Except for minor changes in ingredients and in fortification of the chocolate with vitamin B1, no changes were made in the formula for the D ration during World War II. A ration consisted of three of these bars with a total weight of 12 ounces and a total caloric content of 1,800. This new ration was always regarded as one to be used strictly as a last resort, and then for only a brief period covering very few meals. The caloric content was therefore deemed adequate for such a stop-gap use.

Source: THE QUARTERMASTER CORPS: ORGANIZATION, SUPPLY, AND SERVICES, Volume I, Chapter 5

A 2-ounce portion of the "D" ration bar was included in some menus of the "K" ration, and because of the powdered milk, was sometimes made into hot chocolate.

 

[Timerover51]

I can't picture travellers, zipping through the vacuum of space awash with solar radiation, launching nuclear missiles, and carrying FGMP-15's into starport bars, being afraid of irradiated food.

Having had, over the course of my life, a very large number of X-rays, along with several whole body bones scans using Technetium-99 (is is quite interesting to be able to see your skeleton in detail with you still in it), I am not a fan of any avoidable exposure to any other possible forms of radiation. I guess I am just irrational. That is why I put up with full-body pat-downs when flying.

 

[HG_B]

I am not a fan of any avoidable exposure to any other possible forms of radiation. I guess I am just irrational. That is why I put up with full-body pat-downs when flying.

It is completely impossible to be exposed to radiation by eating irradiated food (as practiced for bacteria elimination). That is like avoiding microwaved food so as to not get exposed. Therefore, you are avoiding nothing. Except possibly "cleaner" food.

 

[Enoki]

So, I could see at higher tech levels a flexible packet that has a self-contained heat source you can activate in the packing, a variety of flavorings that won't make you vomit, provides reasonable nutrition, and is all in a small light size that requires no special handling or tools to open, operate, or consume. And, it will stay "fresh" for years.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Hey now, we resemble that remark!

You never know... They might be rubbing the equivalent of a rabbit's foot every time they jump...

Yes, we call it Jump Dimming.

 

[Timerover51]

At Xerxeskingofking, with respect to the British Compo Ration. This is from the Ration chapter of the US Army Quartermaster Corps history for World War 2.

A special ration providing food for ten men for one day had been under consideration in this same period, but the project remained dormant until the spring of 1943. Then it was suddenly revived and rapidly pushed to a successful conclusion as a result of two factors. One was the great success of the British Composite Pack during the North African campaign in the fall of 1942. This "Compo" ration, packaged to feed fourteen men for one day and containing nine different menus, was intended to provide the only subsistence in new operations for as long as forty-two days. The Research and Development Branch made a complete study of this ration in the spring of 1943, and it undoubtedly had much influence on the development of the ten-in-one ration

And for those interested, the Subsistence Research Laboratory was located in Chicago.

 

[Carlobrand]

The following is the formula for the "D" ration bar as of December 1942. ...

I recall an account by a WW-II army captain of his experience during the war. One of the notable parts relevant to this issue was that at one point he'd been in the field and on rations for so long that his stomach could no longer tolerate regular food. He ended up in an infirmary eating pureed something-or-other for several days while he recovered. I also recall that the preference was to find some way to deliver prepared meals to the troops, with the rations intended to provide an alternative when combat circumstances made that impossible. Do you have any information on the maximum recommended time the soldiers could or were supposed to be eating field rations?