Re: Army Ration Packs
 

:smt026

Nice one, will PM you with some details - if it's sausage and beans I'll be there in a shot:cool:

@carty et al - We will be taking some fresh food and even staying in hotels on the way there and back, not intending on surviving on ration packs for a week. They're there for when we need some food but can't get access to fresh stuff, having eaten them before I thought they were quite good for what they were:smt005:oops:

Re: Army Ration Packs
 

And MSR Petrol stoves don't make everything stink of petrol? Hmmm.... :rolleyes:

If you're getting that effect from a Trangia, you're not using it correctly. Mine never makes anything smell, and topping the burner up is easy if you have a proper fuel bottle - mine is a Primus one with an easy to use fuel regulating spout.

Re: Army Ration Packs
 

Ever tried using a hexamine cooker then YC?

Now they are a real PITA to regulate;)

Re: Army Ration Packs
 

BTW I already have a petrol powered stove borrowed from an army friend of mine, looks like an interesting way to burn the hair off my arms...

Re: Army Ration Packs
 

no, because you can store more petrol in the base than you can in the trangia, plus you can use petrol from ur bike if you run short.

this is what i found anyway. :-)

Re: Army Ration Packs
 

How much cooking do you need to do in one hit? I carry a max of 600cc of meths with me, and a full burner. I can last a week on that lot cooking every day and making the odd cuppa.

Re: Army Ration Packs
 

Fair one, never had anything but borrowed fuel bottles and they never seemed to work properly.

Heh, hexy burners have their place. At least they're light and will fit inside mess tins.

Re: Army Ration Packs
 

Hexy burners are notoriously useless at heating anything up though.

I'm sorry, but I don't hold with this "act like a real man and rough it like they used to during the war" malarkey. There have been huge advancements made in camping gear in recent years which put mess tins and hexy burners where they belong, back in the 1940s. It's still roughing it when using modern gear, but at least you get a proper hot meal at the end of a long hard days riding.

I'm the same about riding gear. I won't bother buying a pair of German Para boots because they are cumbersome and while they make great Para boots, you soon realise they are useless as riding boots if you've ever owned a pair of good quality bike boots. Same goes for jackets and trousers. I won't waste my money on ex-army goretex camo jackets because I know they haven't been designed for bike use. It makes me shake my head in wonderment when I see the upside-downy heads insisting on buying that sort of kit purely because they have to look macho. Mind you, most of them don't ever ride bikes when there's their scabby C regd Transit van sitting outside.

Added to that, UK forces rat-packs are crap, the US ones are far far better. Maybe that's why our SF use the common or garden US issue ones almost exclusively.

Re: Army Ration Packs
 

Theyre great for warming your hands as all the flames spill out the sides under your mess tins ;)

I use the british army goretex trousers out on the enduro when greenlaning in the winter as I can get them for about £3 a pair.

I bung them over my riding kit and dont care if they get shredded.

Re: Army Ration Packs
 

Fair play for that sort of useage, but as day to day riding gear they are pretty crap.