Rat packs

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BlueTrain

Nomad
Jul 13, 2005
482
0
77
Near Washington, D.C.
This may not come under the heading of "Lovely grub," Father Christmas, but don't know a better place.

In my general quest for knowledge about the British Army, I have discovered the 24-hour ration pack. I have not sampled too many of the contents, instead keeping the steak and kidney pudding for future study. However, I was impressed by the "biscuits, brown," which appear to be an excellent items for trail use, in addition to a good source of humor. In any event, there is nothing quite like it in any U.S.Army ration that I remember. The only rations I ever used were C-rations, which were actually pretty close to the 24-hr rat pack in that most of the components were in cans. I think there may have been some form of crackers (biscuits) in some but they may have been in MRE's. Likewise, I seem to recall some form of canned bread (!!!) but that is beside the point.

My point is, does anyone know of a commercial product similar to "biscuits, brown"? I have tried several kinds of crackers and some come close but still lack something. Someone from another forum suggested something called "pilot bread" but I've never found it on any grocer's shelf so far. Any ideas?

My father was a P.O.W. for a year in Germany during W.W.II and he used to go on and on about German bread and wartime bread at that. He said there was strength in that bread. Needless to say, his enthusiasm for that bread (rye bread, presumably, or black bread) did not carry over into actually having any at home. So my experience with black bread is nonexistant. However, there are alternatives.

I once thought that dinner rolls of one variety or another would make good trail food, and ever since, I try to remember to bring along a few. They pack well and don't fall apart. They keep well enough for as long as I would ever be out. I generally stop at a grocery store in the town closest to where I'm going and pick up a few. The closest town in my case is nearly always Front Royal, Virginia, if any of you are over this way.

At one time (1917) the US Army field ration that the individual soldier carried was hardtack, which was packaged, and bacon, for which the soldier was issued a special tin to carry it in. He was also issued a different special tin to carry flour, sugar and salt. Things have changed a little but I wonder if I'm starting to go in a circle? Bacon is one thing I haven't tried yet.
 

Jjv110

Forager
May 22, 2005
153
0
51
Jersey C.I.
Blue Train,

Biscuits Brown are also known for their combat properties. Meaning, that when you run out of ammo, you can throw BB at the enemy , taking out main battle tanks ! However they go well with the meat spread.

I did once come across some similar, civilian crackers but I can't remember the name.
Have you tried Biscuits Fruit AB? These are Biscuits containing squashed flies(currants) and the AB stands for (ar*e bandit). These a more chewy and are known to block your ar*e up. Quite nice though!

I think the Britsh Army rat packs are excellent and I used to collect all the disposed of ingredients that peolple didn't like and use them on leave.

I think someone else will be along soon to add some more intelligent remarks!

Julian.
 
Jan 15, 2005
851
0
54
wantage
I though the AB stood for ar$e blocking. ?
Could be useful to stop a hi lift jack sinking in the mud as well.

And then there was bacon grill.... Maybe that was why i went veggie :rolleyes:
 

BlueTrain

Nomad
Jul 13, 2005
482
0
77
Near Washington, D.C.
Jjv110 said:
Blue Train,

Biscuits Brown are also known for their combat properties. Meaning, that when you run out of ammo, you can throw BB at the enemy , taking out main battle tanks ! However they go well with the meat spread.

I did once come across some similar, civilian crackers but I can't remember the name.
Have you tried Biscuits Fruit AB? These are Biscuits containing squashed flies(currants) and the AB stands for (ar*e bandit). These a more chewy and are known to block your ar*e up. Quite nice though!

I think the Britsh Army rat packs are excellent and I used to collect all the disposed of ingredients that peolple didn't like and use them on leave.

I think someone else will be along soon to add some more intelligent remarks!

Julian.

I did in fact try the "biscuits fruit filled." I detected no fruit filling whatsoever and thought the plain ones were better.

From reading in other places (there was a link somewhere to an official MOD site that went into great detail about the current versions of ration packs), it would appear that I have older ration packs. I don't think current production have cans but perhaps they still do.

I likewise am uninformed about the current state of US Army field rations. I have tried a component of MRE's that is a heat and serve meal that is just like a frozen meal or TV dinner, as they used to be called. They actually make an excellent meal for the intended purpose. Moreover, one fits perfectly in the small British Army mess tin, although two will not fit (for carrying purposes) in either the small or large tin with the handle folded, which is only marginally frustrating. The only shortcoming is that the foil cover is slightly fragile, so the cardboard top that is glued to the foil but comes off easily, needs to stay there to prevent accidental puncture.

MRE's are evidently a one meal production, which makes them slightly less flexible than 24-hr rat packs. The older C-rations were also one meal only and fairly heavy but only slightly more so than the 24-hr rat packs I have been studying. C-rations were around for a long time but there were no vegetarian or kosher variations. The ones with fruit cocktail went first.

During WWII there were lots of other rations, K-rations probably the best known, though not necessarily the best liked. I imagine most have been dropped long ago and others replaced but I have done no research on the subject.
 

11binf

Forager
Aug 16, 2005
203
0
61
Phx. Arizona U.S.A
hey blue train : i as well would like to find a place that sells a good hard military type cracker/biscuits.. pilot bread is still made by (mountain house) here in the U.S.A. ,its sold in NO#10 cans...and can be found on thier web site or better backpacking shops...also thier are shops here in the U.S.A. that sell aussie food and products,one of the food products are arrnot's( cabin biscuits)...you can also find m.r.e crackers (not my favorite cracker) at some of the better surplus stores along with just the main meals...and to answer your question from another thread ,no messkits are not used anymore by the active army....vince g 11b inf
 

Jjv110

Forager
May 22, 2005
153
0
51
Jersey C.I.
innocent bystander said:
I though the AB stood for ar$e blocking. ?
Could be useful to stop a hi lift jack sinking in the mud as well.

And then there was bacon grill.... Maybe that was why i went veggie :rolleyes:

Yeah, maybe you're right. Ar*e blocking/blockers. It's been a while! I was impressed with bacon grill and I thought it was nice. There were also bacon burgers(menu D) I think. Amazing what you'll eat when you're hungry!

I think tins are still used, but only for the big ten man packs. The boil in the bags are easier to carry and less bulky. A lot of the time the tinned food left particles of metal all over the burgers or whatever it was. Then there were the boiled sweets which were impossible to remove the wrapper and so you had to eat that as well, then spit bits out as you went.
 
Jan 15, 2005
851
0
54
wantage
Ah - 10 man packs...

Cheese possessed. (processed rubber)..

The tins of sausages in grease were kinda filling...

I did actually like the bacon grill and bacon burgers ( what was the difference ?)
 

lardbloke

Nomad
Jul 1, 2005
322
2
52
Torphichen, Scotland
I remember the old ration packs as well. Besides being cannon fodder I also served as nutritional co-ordinator on mountaineering expeds. The old b browns used to block you up for about four days. Hmmm rubber cheese and buscuit browns. We used to chop all the rations up and make one huge curry, cooked on hex stoves, ahhh the smell, the taste, the gripping the walls toilet trips. Luckily for us, we had A10's stationed at our base, so we could get our hands on nice American rations. These consisted of the early hot cans, but blimey they were heavy. Now we have lovely shiny bags that provide lovely delights....
 

ESpy

Settler
Aug 28, 2003
925
57
53
Hampshire
www.britishblades.com
Marks & Spencers used to do an equivalent of biscuits brown that fell far short of the original in that it was actually edible... Rye biscuits, I think? I'll have a look next time I'm in. The downside is that they aren't in as resilient packaging as BB.

(added - I don't know of an M&S in DC!)

I have to confess that I used to carry a tube of Primula cheese spread to make the biscuits borderline edible... :)

I lost my stock of biscuits brown to mice - I'd foolishly put the things in a box in the shed; they seemed to have been eaten by 3 mice. Why 3? That's how many corpses I found inside the box. Draw your own conclusions. :eek: ;)
 
Jan 15, 2005
851
0
54
wantage
Allegedly, this is what they're made from :

Wheat flour, wheat bran; sugar; invert syrup; hydrogenated groundnut oil; salt; ammonium bicarbonate; vitamins B1 and B2.

I prefer the oatmeal blocks, myself..
 

stoddy

Need to contact Admin...
May 4, 2005
122
1
49
dorset
innocent bystander said:
Allegedly, this is what they're made from :

Wheat flour, wheat bran; sugar; invert syrup; hydrogenated groundnut oil; salt; ammonium bicarbonate; vitamins B1 and B2.

I prefer the oatmeal blocks, myself..

actually you are incorrect on the ingrediants.

they used:

sawdust

ground army boots

and rust from old mess tins


I once made a curry from Biscuits Brown and biscuits AB (Airborne :D ).
but under the Geneva convention, I wasn't allowed to eat it :D

I would only eat a Biscuits Brown, after I had finished eating my boots.

they are the ultimate survival biscuit :D
 

bikething

Full Member
May 31, 2005
2,568
3
54
West Devon, Edge of Dartymoor!
Is it me or have biscuits brown / fruit gone soft these days (not in a packet opened kinda way)

When I were a lad in the cadets we used to get the old compo rations (the ones with the tins in) . IIRC we nicknamed "Biscuits Brown AB" as "doggy biscuits" cos that's what they looked like - fat, pale, hard as concrete with a pattern of deep dimples in - We don't know if they tasted like dog biscuits as no-one would eat a dog biscuit to find out :eek:
The biscuits fruit used to be like garibaldies on steroids (nicknamed "squashed fly sarnies" by us cadets)!

Having recently bought a couple of rat-packs from armyrations.co.uk I found the biscuits brown to like hard digestives- not quite as sweet, but sweet none the less, and the biscuits fruit to be similar, with unidentified bits of black lifeform in them.

The boil in the bag pouches were quite heavy though - and what happened to the giant 1-pint tea bags?
 

twelveboar

Forager
Sep 20, 2005
166
0
56
County Durham
I used to enjoy cheese possessed, but the little can of sweets was the highlight of the pack, a book of matches, bar of chocolate and loads of "tenpercenters" the boiled sweets that were supposed to bontain bromide to surpress those lusty urges.
 

led

Settler
Aug 24, 2004
544
5
uk
Just read a story about the UN ration packs that were sent to help the hurricane Katrina survivors have been impounded and are to be incinerated! Un-*****-believable!!!
 

Jared

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sep 8, 2005
3,406
648
50
Wales
Yeah, just read that too. Apparently just the meat containing ration packs getting incinerated.

Haven't sampled much from the old ration packs, but what I was impressed with was the P-38 can opener they had packed with them. Small and effective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-38_can_opener

An Atwood Prybaby with a tooth would be a nice bit of kit.
 

pumbaa

Settler
Jan 28, 2005
687
2
50
dorset
On the subject of AB biscuits , went on a trip with school (just a few years ago) to see HMS victory (at portsmouth) and in the shop there they sold "ships biscuits" . Although these are not quite the same , i figure they would do the same job , ie chip yer teeth . They are definately hard enough to batter a bear to death with , hey presto Meat !!!
Pumbaa
 

Ogri the trog

Mod
Mod
Apr 29, 2005
7,182
71
60
Mid Wales UK
Aah the memories...
...Anti-personnel biscuits... All in curries.....The strange sheep in Kellys Garden, Falkland Islands, who you could feed an entire tin of boiled sweets in a mushy handfull to, and she'd spit out the green ones!
I have one pack of Biscuits brown left and all this talk is making me hungry.

ATB

Ogri the trog
 

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