Field rations and "Rat Packing"

Rhinocharge

I'm like an eighty year old stripper, I'll reveal my wares slowly.
You'll have to wait till Monday to see my goodies!!

Fallschirmjager

on the whole bogroll thing you can get small packs of baby wipes. they serve a double purpose, if you are fed up, run down, thinking of quitting, a change of socks and jocks after a bit of a wipe down will be the closest to a shower. now if you are all manly and dont want to smell like a Johnsons and johnsons advert, you can get the ones with no perfume. in fact a great one is E45 wipes (only know of superquinn that do these).. you can always put a number of them in resealable plastic bags if you want to reduce the load. now may sound like the type of thing John Wayne would not be impressed with but it works. also a good wet shave works wonders as well and a good brush of the ole teeth.

it will give you a great lift in morale, will actually wake you up (there is a psychological effect as you are doing your morning sequence) as well.

for when u are really down have a small bag of your most childish sweeties, the one that make you feel happy....only dole them out as a real treat and promise yourself to eat one if you make the next hours march, give yourself a target when you are knackered. dont forget you will be doing a heavy workout for 24 hours so to avoid the worst headache in the universe dont forget salt tablets or the drinks that include them.

i have only tasted the US rations once (called MRE) and to be fair they are not bad. they also come with a chemical heater and it gets piping hot in a few minutes and the good news is they have all the energy you need. they are in a bag that fits the pocket on your leg exactly and is in a waterproof bag. the normally come with everything needed so you dont have to go digging about for stuff in your kit. you can eat them cold as they are precooked. the bad news is they are not cheap but they do keep for around 5 years or longer (there is a test on at the moment for how long they maintain vitamins, i think its now up to about 9 years but thats from memory). only place i know that sells them is ebay and as it happens after a hurricane is a good time to check as they are used by the US authorities for emergency rations and normally people sell the surpluses.

loads of other countries do the same so you might check around. since it looks like we are all beginning these types of events, buying a few might be worth it as they keep for so long...

now it may sound all a bit much but hell you may as well get into the mood of the thing...


one final thing, before you eat, use wipes on your hands so remember what your mommy told you about washing your hands -- unless vomit and crapping every 15 minutes for 24 hours is your thing....

iceage

All good sound advise, like our BB's, think Bio-degradable wipes guys, if you use them.;) Ole mother nature is not supposed to smell like Johnson + Johnson;)

kdouglas

Rhinocharge wrote: »

I'm like an eighty year old stripper, I'll reveal my wares slowly.
You'll have to wait till Monday to see my goodies!!

Enough shilling your business please, the other retailers on here dont do it.

If you want to request a thread in the appropriate sub-forum you can, anywhere else you are just a normal poster and expected to behave as such.

Rhinocharge

kdouglas wrote: »

Enough shilling your business please, the other retailers on here dont do it.

If you want to request a thread in the appropriate sub-forum you can, anywhere else you are just a normal poster and expected to behave as such.

Fair enough. I was going to Pm ye on Sunday evening regarding same.

Tommyboy71

I don't know whether it was said or not. Forget packing a wardrobe. You only really need two sets of clothes - one dry, one wet. When you are in the game wear the wet one and when you are tucking yourself up for a kip change into the dry one. The wet one will feel cold and horrible first thing in the morning but it will warm up once you get moving and may dry out (weather dependant). The dry set is so you can have a fairly comfortable nites kip.

Always have at least two spare pairs of socks with you in a ziploc bag or similar. If you can change your socks as soon as you can after walking into that puddle/stream/boghole/lake it will prevent you feet turning to mush.

birdman 1979

You also dont have to waste your money on ration packs. Alot of the stuff you need for going out on the 'ground' can be found in any supermarket. As long as you have a mess tin and a hexi your laughing. Noodles, cup a soups. dried fruit, cereal bars. canned meat balls. The current Irish Army ration packs have all the above in it. Also remember what you pack, you have to carry.;)

Hivemind187

birdman 1979 wrote: »

You also dont have to waste your money on ration packs. Alot of the stuff you need for going out on the 'ground' can be found in any supermarket. As long as you have a mess tin and a hexi your laughing. Noodles, cup a soups. dried fruit, cereal bars. canned meat balls. The current Irish Army ration packs have all the above in it. Also remember what you pack, you have to carry.;)

I've got to agree with this.

Ration packs are only useful to a massed army which needs to transport a huge ammount of supplies in a compact way without jeopardising longevity. Airsofters - who go home in the evening - dont really suffer this requirement.

A couple of bottles of water or isotonic drinks and a sandwich is enouogh for a casual skirmishing day with bits and bobs added or subtracted depending on how long you intend to spend in the field.

Infact you can make your own hard tack by mixing broken peanuts, raisens, dried cherries and cereal with honey and oats, pressing it into small bars and chilling it until set (or baking it for 20 minutes at a low heat). They keep for a couple of days and provide you a pretty decent boost of energy in a compact size when you need it.

iceage

Mars bars and fizzy pop!!;)

amaughan

Hivemind187 wrote: »

I've got to agree with this.

Ration packs are only useful to a massed army which needs to transport a huge ammount of supplies in a compact way without jeopardising longevity. Airsofters - who go home in the evening - dont really suffer this requirement.

A couple of bottles of water or isotonic drinks and a sandwich is enouogh for a casual skirmishing day with bits and bobs added or subtracted depending on how long you intend to spend in the field.

Infact you can make your own hard tack by mixing broken peanuts, raisens, dried cherries and cereal with honey and oats, pressing it into small bars and chilling it until set (or baking it for 20 minutes at a low heat). They keep for a couple of days and provide you a pretty decent boost of energy in a compact size when you need it.

thats all well and good for a day skirmish but when you are doing a big event like a 2 ta 3 day thing its better to have rations and adds to the mil sim aspect. i do alot of fishing and normally i bring out big bags or fry up food well when i go for week or weekend sessions.all the stuff needed just for the cooking and camping alone takes 2 or sometimes 3 trips to the car and thats without the fishing gear.rations would make this much much easyer along with not having to cook it i just wish there was somewhere in longford to get them ha

Fallschirmjager

of course you could just use the burger van...at this stage i am guessing they are even in the hindu kush....LOL

NakedDex

Not really, if it was a weekend event you'll want high energy snacks during the day, like isotonic drinks and nut/cereal mixes, and something more substantial in the evening when play has broken. A pack of rashers in a cooler bag with an ice pack along with a hex stove and a metal plate is plenty to satisfy. You don't need to carry much really. And if you're going for an event longer than an overnight/two days, you will most likely move to a safe area where your gear and tent are stored anyway, so ration packs aren't any advantage if you can store some proper grub in your tent for the evenings.

amaughan

NakedDex wrote: »

Not really, if it was a weekend event you'll want high energy snacks during the day, like isotonic drinks and nut/cereal mixes, and something more substantial in the evening when play has broken. A pack of rashers in a cooler bag with an ice pack along with a hex stove and a metal plate is plenty to satisfy. You don't need to carry much really. And if you're going for an event longer than an overnight/two days, you will most likely move to a safe area where your gear and tent are stored anyway, so ration packs aren't any advantage if you can store some proper grub in your tent for the evenings.

the reason they are so good is space.i do some camping where i might not see my car for days on end and carrying down all the grub needed to supply me for such a lenght of time is not an option for the sheer weight and amount of room needed to hold it the ration packs just seem alot easyer and well i hope there nice too ha.i like the ration packs for skirmishs as the give a great feel to the event i like my games and events as real as possible from a mil sim point of view it gets me in the mood to kill hahahaha

NakedDex

Ration packs are designed fir long term use, ie fir extended periods away from your food source. I can see a use for them on long camping trips, but you'll never be that far away from proper food in any airsoft game. That said, if you're mad enough to enjoy them, tuck in. I'd rather cook something fresh, it builds morale as well as satisfies hunger.

Fallschirmjager

its agreed then...all we need is :

iceage

And don't forget this.
fizzy_pop_130x173_two.jpg

Cuddlesworth

A word on socks.

Thousand mile socks.

That is all.

iceage

Thanks cuddlesworth.

iceage

On a rather sensible note, I found this linky, I know not all of it applies but if we decide to spend a night or two out under canvas so to speak, this might give some futher info as how to properly conduct ourselves in the irish countryside. Some handy tips on water courses and what to do/not to do.

Hivemind187

iceage wrote: »

On a rather sensible note, I found this linky, I know not all of it applies but if we decide to spend a night or two out under canvas so to speak, this might give some futher info as how to properly conduct ourselves in the irish countryside. Some handy tips on water courses and what to do/not to do.

Which linky?

iceage

Duuuuhh! sorry bout that.

http://www.wicklownationalpark.ie/pages/wildcamping.php

Hivemind187

iceage wrote: »

Duuuuhh! sorry bout that.

http://www.wicklownationalpark.ie/pages/wildcamping.php

lolz. good post though.

TheDoc

to be honest, I cant see myself lugging around ration packs, tins, cups, stoves, sinks, fridges, xboxs.

For me im going to stock up on some lucozade sport and nature valley bars, its all i need in fairness and all ive ever used.
My list it

Multicam Camo
Spare camo
Thermal underarmour
Nature valley bars 2 boxes
Lucozade sport 6-8 bottles.
John player blue 20 pack 2-3 packets
2 zippos
1 normal lighter
3 pairs of socks
Medical kit
Vaseline
Headache tablets (jsut incase)
Durex x3 (incase richie turns over to the dark side)

I know theres more , i just keep adding things every day.

All this hopefully fitting in a multicam backpack, if i ever get around to buying one

Cuddlesworth

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote: »

to be honest, I cant see myself lugging around ration packs, tins, cups, stoves, sinks, fridges, xboxs.

For me im going to stock up on some lucozade sport and nature valley bars, its all i need in fairness and all ive ever used.
My list it

Multicam Camo
Spare camo
Thermal underarmour
Nature valley bars 2 boxes
Lucozade sport 6-8 bottles.
John player blue 20 pack 2-3 packets
2 zippos
1 normal lighter
3 pairs of socks
Medical kit
Vaseline
Headache tablets (jsut incase)
Durex x3 (incase richie turns over to the dark side)

I know theres more , i just keep adding things every day.

All this hopefully fitting in a multicam backpack, if i ever get around to buying one

You are going to need a waterbladder and solid food. If you don't want ration packs, hard wearing solids like nuts and salami might get you through. This is a MilSim event. Its game on, no lunch breaks, no popping down to the shop for a hour. In your off time(duty shift, not off game) all you are going to think about is sleep.

TheDoc

o i have a waterbladder alright...no airdrop apache pizza...bollox

gerrowadat

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote: »

John player blue 20 pack 2-3 packets

These are going out the window of the bus on the way down. Just letting you know now.

iceage

Ahhhhhh attack of the Non- Smokers!! (myself included, 4 yrs now)