Norwegian Army ration packs

[dommyracer]

Was rewatching Mr. Mear's wonderful 3 parter on the the Heroes of Telemark yesterday, and the above were mentioned, appear to be dehydrated foods and plenty of stuff inside.

I'd also seen them mentioned in the recent Army ascent of Everest, and they seem to attract a fair bit of praise.

So, what I was wondering is whether anyone knows of a good source for these?

 

[dommyracer]

Just as a point of interest, these ratpacks are produced by drytech, the same company that produces the "Real Expedition meal" (or "Real Turmat") in the orange pouches.

I know where to get these, but they are £5 a pop, wondering if its possible to get military stock - in fact, both Norway and Sweden use the same MRE

 

[bikething]

Not seen the program, but I know the Royal Marines used to have "Arctic" rations which were mostly freeze-dried meals and high calorie snacks. This is going back about 18 years mind. - IIRC they were a lot lighter in weight than the current ORPs.

I'll see if i can find out if they still have them - wouldn't mind getting some myself as a lightweight 'backup' for a trip on a plane later this year when luggage weight is a consideration.

 

[w00dsmoke]

So, what I was wondering is whether anyone knows of a good source for these?

Tom's army surplus in dundee could get all sorts of rat packs at £5 a box. He used to supply me with the RM dehydrated packs to but all they seemed to be were a drinks pack from 24hr rat packs and what looked like pot rice in foil sachets that u added hot water to. Great packs but they are not 24hr arctic rat packs, they were called arctic patrol packs. You could make them up yourself for much cheaper for what they were.

 

[bikething]

Tom's army surplus in dundee could get all sorts of rat packs at £5 a box. He used to supply me with the RM dehydrated packs to but all they seemed to be were a drinks pack from 24hr rat packs and what looked like pot rice in foil sachets that u added hot water to. Great packs but they are not 24hr arctic rat packs, they were called arctic patrol packs. You could make them up yourself for much cheaper for what they were.

must be a different ration..the ones i remember used to have a drinks pack, main meal (mutton stew comes to mind) porridge oats mix, choccy bars, biscuits (i think.. t'was a long time ago) was certainly a full 3-meal menu in there.

 

[Jambo]

Just as a point of interest, these ratpacks are produced by drytech, the same company that produces the "Real Expedition meal" (or "Real Turmat") in the orange pouches.

I know where to get these, but they are £5 a pop, wondering if its possible to get military stock - in fact, both Norway and Sweden use the same MRE

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I was wondering where you could get these from?

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

From the www.surplusandadventure.com shop.

Norway and Sweden
Norway & Sweden both utilize a 24-hour ration pack (Norwegian "Stridsrasjon" or Swedish "Stridsportion") designed by DryTech, consisting of 2 freeze-dried main meals, a packet of compressed breakfast cereal, packets of instant soup, and supplements. These are packed in 3 green polylaminate bags labelled "Breakfast," "Lunch," or "Dinner," overwrapped in clear plastic and issued as one day's ration. Included are a substantial assortment of beverages (cocoa mix, instant coffee, energy drink powder, and herbal teas), plus thin sliced rye bread and chocolate, chewing gum, a vitamin tablet, and litter bags. Lunch usually consists of chili con carne or pasta in sauce, while dinner is a choice of Beef with Potatoes, Codfish with Dumplings in Sour Cream, Pasta Bolognese, etc. Small tins of fish are often provided separately

What about this supplier ?
http://www.expeditionfoods.com/shop/index.php?cPath=33

Or this one ?
http://www.drytech.no/realfieldmeal/

 

[Jambo]

http://www.expeditionfoods.com/shop/index.php?cPath=33

I've already contacted them, they don't stock the Drytech stuff anymore. They sell their own brand version now.

Or this one ?
http://www.drytech.no/realfieldmeal/[/QUOTE]

They're the manufacturer, you can't buy directly from them.

Thanks for the information.

 

[crazydave]

not cheap though 30 quid a day if memory serves - occasionally they turn up on ebay from lads returning from artic training or amf duties.

I reckon we will start issuing them soon en masse seeing as how we are also using aussie ration kit.

brit artic rats were horrible and probably still are, the saving grace of the brit kit has always been the brew kit and choccy bars. you can soon make up a comparable civvy pack up from 2 minute rice and 5 min pasta meals, sachets of tuna in sauce or sardines. pot noodles/rice broken down make a comparative menu but with a bit more flavour. add a few regular rat pack norms like rolled oats mix and your laughing

 

[rik_uk3]

not cheap though 30 quid a day if memory serves - occasionally they turn up on ebay from lads returning from artic training or amf duties.

I reckon we will start issuing them soon en masse seeing as how we are also using aussie ration kit.

brit artic rats were horrible and probably still are, the saving grace of the brit kit has always been the brew kit and choccy bars. you can soon make up a comparable civvy pack up from 2 minute rice and 5 min pasta meals, sachets of tuna in sauce or sardines. pot noodles/rice broken down make a comparative menu but with a bit more flavour. add a few regular rat pack norms like rolled oats mix and your laughing

What Australian rat pack kit is that Dave?

 

[widu13]

you can soon make up a comparable civvy pack up from 2 minute rice and 5 min pasta meals, sachets of tuna in sauce or sardines. pot noodles/rice broken down make a comparative menu but with a bit more flavour. add a few regular rat pack norms like rolled oats mix and your laughing

You won't get the same calories or balance of nutrients tho. The Army pay a fair bit for 'em new. Mind you I'm a fan - I still remember biscuits AB and tinned rations.

 

[rik_uk3]

You won't get the same calories or balance of nutrients tho. The Army pay a fair bit for 'em new. Mind you I'm a fan - I still remember biscuits AB and tinned rations.

True widu, and for a fiver I doubt you could get the same quantity or quality

 

[crazydave]

they are adding the sundries from the aussie packs to bump up the brit ones with stuff like the toothpaste tubes of jam and vegamite going by my conversation with the chefs at the summer do. the larger packs have dried onoins and allsorts in there. the aussie rats are ok for something different but I think they preserve in the same way the americans do so the biscuits have an after taste. they also use tins like the old brit ones. I was told they were looking at different biscuits to replace the oatmeal cookie and better spreads following the primula fiasco as biscuits brown are staying. the new field kitchens are a work of art as they've been designed by a proper army chef not an engineer

you can get the calories up to the same level and greater when you make your own as its basically just civvy kit in a different packet. the calorie boost is mainly the sweets and sugar in the brew kit not the food. 2500 calories can soon be made up with pasta and sauce, sardines, squeezy cheese, crisprolls, pepperami, instant porridge etc...

as to how much the army pay for em - I know when cadet units pay for them they are about £2.50, they pack over 5 million of them a year down in southampton and by 2010 the extra 38 or so menu options should be up and running

beat bully beef and biscuits any day

 

[Jambo]

Thanks for the info Crazydave.

Eventually found the Real Turmat meals here;

http://www.extremeoutdoorfood.co.uk/

They're the new UK distributor. Emailed them, the main man is away on a expedition for a few weeks. The website should be up and running when he gets back.

 

[iano]

Hi all, sorry to resurrect a seriously old thread, but thought I'd chip in seeing as I googled for Norwegian Army rations (got one off a mate recently and it was uber, hence me thinking I might grab a few more) and found nothing but this and a few other links that came up with nothing much for sourcing them.

Anyway, if you want these in the UK this page seems to sell the civvy version, not the full ration pack but the individual meal packets: http://outdoorsgrub.co.uk/shop/index.php?manufacturers_id=13&osCsid=8c762b711b29398f035d07e8efe39296

They are, however, crazy-expensive. As in, prohibitively expensive. You can get a whole day's rations for about the same as 1 pouch.

Anyone know anyplace to get these without breaking the bank? At £9 a meal, no MoD can be paying 3x that + more for the extras in the ratpack per soldier per day can they... Obviously economies of scale come into it but surely there must be a better price out there somewhere without joining the Norskt Forsvarets, anyone know of one?

 

[Tor helge]

There are no place in Norway either to get these packs at a reasonably price. Unless one is in the army or HV. We sometimes get these packs on exersises, but seldom eats them there. Most people take them home and use them on hunting/fishing trips.
To buy them from an army shop or something similar is madness. You could actually by a months worth of food for one 3 pack army ration.
Even the army thinks this is expensive. They also taste rather bland.

My advice is to make your own ration packs. Much cheaper.

Tor

 

[iano]

Bland? You obviously haven't had the pleasure of too many UK ORPs I guess it's always a case of 'the grass is greener on the other side' but I was well impressed with them

I guess the combination of Norwegian prices/exchange rate, the rarity of these and shipping/import isn't going to help much. I think the Swedes and Finns also use the same ration but even then I guess there's not so very many of these produced, and it would be just as costly to buy from Sweden or Finland...

I've been making my own meals for civvy hiking, but it's not as easy and quick as rations which I got used to from army time (not a problem really - you have more time and anyway it's relaxing to cook a bit at the end of the day), and you have to worry about ingredients going off if it's hot. Hence me wondering about getting hold of more rations. I think I will end up carrying on down the route of making own food, I'll have to have a snoop around the forum for a few more recipes!

Can I just ask, are these used year round in Norway? Or are these dehydrated ones for winter only and there is a 'wet' ration for summer issue? We get issued wet rations all year round, there is an arctic ration in the system somewhere but I guess it never gets cold enough in the UK (or snowy enough) to be issued them... But having all dehydrated rations must suck for you guys in the summer when there's no snow to melt to make them back up?

 

[forestwalker]

B But having all dehydrated rations must suck for you guys in the summer when there's no snow to melt to make them back up?

Both Sweden and Noirway is criss-crossed with streams (and lakes), just about all of which are perfectly potable. Water is harder to get in winter, since you have to melt snow. The wet rations have one advantage; you can eat them cold right out of the pack. Now back when I did my military stuff it generally was a can of split pea soup. Freeze-dried was Gucci kit as far as the military thought back then.