After Soviet Union imposed economic sanctions on Yugoslavia in 1948 most people survived thanks to K-rations donated by the U.S.A. I was a young boy and still fondly remember the K-rations. Everything was fine, only coffee was awful.
I've heard rumors that the tasted awful. Like almost everyone complained about how they're not palatable. If I remember that's one of the reasons they made MREs and why they made a whole research lab just for making rations taste better.
I was told by my Uncle who served in Europe during WWII that the paper was waxed for several reasons. It made the package water resistent, acid resistent and made excellent tinder to start a fire when conditions allowed.
More for anything it was for water proofing. The other thing were just happenstance that they figured out in the field. They still make and use waxed cardboard for modern shipping mostly for produce. Used to work in the produce department of a grocery store and the ship heads of lettuce, mustard greens, green onions, ect in waxed boxes.
The wax was for multiple values all that were mentioned and to keep air and humidity out.. it doesn’t matter that it may have not been the intention but it is the fact from use..
The packaging commencing with the earliest version of the ration consisted of a chemically-treated cardboard outer carton and a waterproofed waxed-cardboard inner carton to protect the contents from contamination or damage. The waxed carton was found useful by soldiers to start small fires in which to boil water for coffee or cocoa, also used as a boot insole, and even a drinking cup.
Ran across your channel from steve1989. I've been looking everywhere for some Era correct rations to go with my 1941-45 field manuals so glad you shared the link for these.. Ty
My dad was an infantry machine gunner in the South Pacific in WW2. He told me when I was a kid that the meal boxes were waxed to prevent the rot and the moisture of the jungle.
Just don't eat them for a long period of time. The K ration does not supply enough calories for strenuous activity. They found that out the hard way in WW2.
My grandfather told us how they used to steal chickens from farmers in the areas when it was cold and boil them in the boullion to make soup or season their food with it.
Based on Gundog's earlier review of these things, I ordered some from Hogan. He really goes above and beyond both in the manufacture and customer service end. I ate C rats, or "MCI"s during my own time in the service, and I had K rats as a kid in the 60's (Dad was in Supply in the USAF and had access to old stocks) and I wanted to see if they were close to the same as the originals. They are. They're worth trying if you're curious, have an old WW2 vet in the family to surprise (they'll probably throw it back at you) or just want something unique to eat while watching old WW2 movies.
The packaging changed to a set of distinctive color designs (the "Morale K Ration") to make it easier for soldiers to quickly select the "right" meal: brown for breakfast; green for supper; and blue for dinner. Within these colored boxes the meal was contained in a plain tan box; this was twice dipped in wax, after the contents were inserted and the box was sealed, in order to keep the contents waterproof.
There were two reasons the boxes were waxed - 1) to prevent them disintegrating if they got wet, and 2) to facilitate lighting them with the matches. When I was in the army, we would poke two holes in the can, make a sort of tent with the box, put the can under it and light it. This would heat the food up. Also, each case of rations would have a few P-38's thrown in on top of the ration boxes. These would be doled out to those guys who had lost theirs or who didn't have one.
These repro rations are only made to LOOK the part to the untrained from a distance, for use in re-enactments. They are not designed to be a 1/1 clone of originals. That would be too much effort and cost/time to produce, hence the graham crackers, modern canned items, and filter cigarettes.
Mr. Hogan makes some awesome K Repros - hahah that Clove gum is great! They sell it here at Cracker barrel in FL. I loved the review Gundog! The Pall Malls are used because they are slow burning and the cigs are usually a little stale so they actually smoke at a decent rate. I think that is the reason Todd used those. I had a set Breakfast, Dinner, Supper for 45 bucks plus ship back in August 2013 from Mr. Hogan (I used to call him Paul got so mixed up that's the Dundee!.. oops!) and they had the same Pall Mall's one pack was "Old Gold" one was "Camel" and one was "Chesterfield". You have an awesome clean WW2 Mess Kit! I got like 30 of em' and none are as clean as your set! Those Mess Kit utensils go for as much as the whole mess! -Steve1989
100% agree - been talking about this for over 10 years and it was my 1st comment in MREinfo forums back in 2005 - guy's nerves are jarred up last thing you wanna do is eat when the air smells and the adrenaline is pumping.
They still call lunch dinner and dinner supper in some parts of the US. I looked it up and there used to actually be 4 meals a day, at least for fancy folks. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and then supper at 9 pm or later, basically a little something so you didn't go to bed on an empty stomach. Keep in mind meals weren't so calorie-packed as today's meal are, along with much more manual labor, and you can see why 4 meals made sense.
Ha, that is awesome. I have been using one of those mess kits for the last 20 years, and I never knew you could slide the lid onto the handle like that.
Makes me remember how much i and my generation take the sacrifices of the great men and women of this Era for granted. Thanks for a truly interesting video!
From what I found K-rations were waxed to keep them from being damaged or contaminated, and also waterproof. Here is a qoute from Wikipedia. The later "Morale Series" had unique packaging designs that were color-coded and letter-coded on the ends for quick identification. The breakfast ration box had brown printing and was marked with a brown capital letter "B" on the ends, the dinner ration box had blue printing and was marked with a blue capital letter "D" on the ends, and the supper ration box had olive drab printing and was marked with an olive drab capital "S" on the ends. The packaging commencing with the earliest version of the ration consisted of a chemically-treated cardboard outer carton and a waterproofed waxed-cardboard inner carton to protect the contents from contamination or damage. The waxed carton was found useful by soldiers to start small fires in which to boil water for coffee or cocoa. Then this website also gives some details about the waxing. www.usarmymodels.com/ARTICLES/Rations/krations.html
The wax could also be used for burning, to keep fires burnt longer, and I'm assuming since K-rations are for emergency situations instead of the other usual rations, perhaps having fires that last longer out in the field can help during cold weather conditions and to keep warm.
thanks for the review, I looked up the reason for the was coated boxes and learned the following; The packaging commencing with the earliest version of the ration consisted of a chemically-treated cardboard outer carton and a waterproofed waxed-cardboard inner carton to protect the carton from contamination or damage. The waxed carton was found useful by soldiers to start small fires in which to boil water for coffee or cocoa. My father told me the used to bayonet the canned cheese spread, light the box and hold the can over the flame to melt the cheese as well.
+timitzer The use of wax reminded me that when I was a kid we had wax paper bags for sandwiches which folded over at the top. Did a nice job and biodegradable in the end. Not completely perfect for long term like plastic, but could store for a couple of days in the fridge. Might be nice to bring it back with improved closure.
The K-rations were designed to keep you going, and were compact. They were almost like a snack. The breakfast were the only ones supposedly with coffee. A can of chopped ham and eggs, a fruit bar, a cereal bar and cigarettes and matches, and sugar. The lunch had a lemonade powder, or bouillon, crackers, a chocolate bars, and the supper ration was pretty much the same, with the exception of pork or ham. You can find information on them in a lot of books or films on the average G.I. One of the best books, I ever read was called, "Private", by Lester Atwell.
My dearly deceased Father.. Milton Farrier Moore. Second class electrian on the USS KADASHAD."KADY" the rations are covered in wax against mustard gases. And to water proof against sea water. That ship is the very ship that carried out the bombing missions. With now former and deceased president George Herbert Walker Bush. As my dad has stated multiple times. Thanks for your videos. Godspeed
God I got a thing for food rations simple airplane food and other mass produced food kits! What a job, to decide what to put in these crates. Hmmm maybe a chewing gum and some aspirin, dried fruit and canned beef along with some powdered drink!
Wikipedia sez: The packaging commencing with the earliest version of the ration consisted of a chemically-treated cardboard outer carton and a waterproofed waxed-cardboard inner carton to protect the contents from contamination or damage. The waxed carton was found useful by soldiers to start small fires in which to boil water for coffee or cocoa.[4]
As soon as I can go back to work and can spend the money to buy these it's on! Thanks for this great educational/nostalgic video! Comparing these to the MRE's that I ate,while in the infantry. I am absoulutly amazed that the greatest generation were able to develop the battlefield while only having this much caloric intake!? Subscribed!
They were meant for the grunt to eat for a few days tops. You were supposed to get hot chow after that. Mermites filled with hot chow was to be taken to the front lines for those troops. Sadly, too many times that didn’t happen.
Just watched a video on a WWII field kitchen.the presenter said that soldiers would not really carry the mess kit, because it added weight and they made a lot of noise. The field kitchen provided a number of mess kits for the troops and the kitchen had the heated water cans in which to properly clean the kits after use. Am sure there were some soldiers who did carry their kits. Just FYI. Oh....the vireo on the field kitchen was really neat.
the wax was meant to both make it somewhat water proof and chemical proof. the k-ration was also gas proof and pretty much indestructible aside from bombs and bullets.
You asked for information to verify the reason for waxing the WW2 ration boxes. On the internet look up" K-Rations: "Food for Fighters" circa 1943 Office of War Information"- in that old army film they state that the boxes were waxed to be water proof and gas proof.
Not sure why anyone would want repro K-rats, but I'm sure there's a market somewhere. It says right on the outer box that the waxed one can be used as a waterproof container, but I bet most GIs used it as stove fuel to heat the canned food. By the way, K rations were considered "emergency" combat food, as a short-term substitute for the larger C-rations - which in turn were substitutes for field kitchen chow.
Rocky Raab Curiosity, the same reason he tries MRE's from around the world and why the majority of us watch him. That and he has a "go ahead" drinking game going on now.
Oh, I didn't mean HIM. I meant sane people, LOL! Seriously, since they are reproductions, somebody thinks there's a market for them. I just don't know who that is.
Rocky Raab I personally wouldn't mind trying a lot of the things he has done reviews of. There is the risk of what happened to the last box of MRE's I bought though. Two to four weeks later I finally make it home there's four packs left of the least desirable MRE packs in the box... :p
Rocky Raab There's a market for these things with the reenactor community. It adds to the reenactment when you eat the same type of food the soldiers did back then. Nothing kills the image they're trying to project faster than seeing a bunch of GI's lunching on Spagetti-O's.
just stepped in your channel a few days ago, and i gotta admit i found myself a new hobby. man, you and mreinfo videos are really interesting, you guys give a lot of interesting information, and we get to see some vintage food, this was something new to me, i knew about rations, but never though of people who show them, even though this is a reproduction (which is kind of good since is less dangerous haha), you get to see very interestings things and how soldiers would deal with their food back in the day. you both rock. cheers
Thanks gundog, it looked like Hogannnnnnnnn!!!!!! did a great job on that K-Ration reproduction. I'll bet Hogan has Kinch, Newkirk, LeBeau,and Carter working the assembly line under Luft Stalag-13 24/7 cranking these out. Hey do you remember in the great WW II film " Battleground " when there is finally a break in the weather and the American troops get a supply drop? One private opens a box and says " K-Rations......all Dinners " ( in a disappointed tone ) were Dinners less desirable than Breakfast or Supper? I cant believe they had no coffee in them. Thanks for using the P-38 and showing all the " OMG you used a can opener to open a C-rat can " folks you DO actually know the P-38 Wrist Wiggle. It's a thing once we learn we never forget. I still have a P-38 on my keychain.
There is a military film on RUclips that said it was for water and gas attack repellent they were showing how they were made and packaged so yes that's what the wax paper was for
In regards to the waxing of the K Ration according to Wikipedia (which while informative is sometimes not the most reliable, but this seems to be well documented).... The later "Morale Series" had unique packaging designs that were color-coded and letter-coded on the ends for quick identification. The breakfast ration box had brown printing and was marked with a brown capital letter "B" on the ends, the dinner ration box had blue printing and was marked with a blue capital letter "D" on the ends, and the supper ration box had olive drab printing and was marked with an olive drab capital "S" on the ends. The packaging commencing with the earliest version of the ration consisted of a chemically-treated cardboard outer carton and a waterproofed waxed-cardboard inner carton to protect the contents from contamination or damage. The waxed carton was found useful by soldiers to start small fires in which to boil water for coffee or cocoa.
Hey Gundog. Do you remember the scene in the film " Battle of the Bulge " where a US Soldier makes a comment they had finally gotten an air drop of some K-Rations to their position? He seemed to have a lot of disdain in his voice when he said " Yeah....all Dinners ". Do you know if some K-rations were preferred over others? I wonder if the Dinners did not come with coffee and that's why he sounded so disappointed.
I have a third use for the wax coated box: It makes a good waterproof fire starter. Just tear it up and crumple the pieces underneath your kindling and firewood, and light the corner. The wax will also extend the burning time slightly.
I was in the Army in the 50's with the 1st infantry division and in Fort Riley. we ate K rations from 1945 once a week because they wanted to use the stuff up, they where from 1945 and it was served in bulk in the mess hall. In Germany I remember the sausage patties were very greasy. some had candy bars that were very waxy, some packages had fruit cocktail which was good and some had a can with round crackers and jelly in them, they even had pound cake that was good. spaghetti and meatballs. but I am not sure if those were C rations or some later type of rations but they were current issue., the cigarette packs were bigger. it wasn't bad considering, we would put the cans on the engine of our 3/4 ton radio truck to heat them up.
Great video. I know this was not your point but... Having eaten many C rations in my time I can tell you that like the K ration they were never eaten out of a mess kit. The mess kit was used only for A rations served by the company mess section. The mess section also provided two heated trash cans. One full of hot soapy and and another with fresh water for washing the mess kit. No NCO would have allowed a solider to eat a C or K ration out of a mess kit because there was no way to clean it. Bad field sanitation = sickness. Most of the time when heat was available (heat tab in the C ration) I/we would put a hole in the tin can of the main course and heat it then eat right out of the can.
You are correct Tom, that wasn't my point at all. The only way to do this reviews is visual and if you can't show people "what's in it" it kinda defeats the purpose. As for eating in the field, 5 years of being Field Artillery and living in the field taught me a lot about field chow. In fact the only time I ever used a mess kit was in basic training cause we had to. Cheers
I had those a few times. ^^ The Repro K rations by Hogan are really good. I really was thinking on buying some of him again. I enjoyed them very much. And I like how you get the P38 can (John Wayne ) Openers with them.
I suspect the wax was mainly to make them at least somewhat moisture resistant but it would also make great tender for starting a fire to heat anything you might want to heat.
I see some of the comments about the waxed box, but I wonder if the box was used to heat the meal? I would imagine that the wax would make it burn longer
this is pretty cool , i have a K ration from WW2 , the meal was bacon and cheese and it smelled terrible so i had to throw it out but i kept everything else. It is really cool to have a piece of history in my collection.
I was told by a WW2 vet that the wax coating was supposed to easily burnable to make a fire for cooking in the field. But others say it was only in the Pacific theatre.
Just fond the chanel,in regards to dinner supper. Dinner was used by the upper class,lunch was used by blue color. As for supper most people in the 40,s used the term for the late meal of the day.
The wax was cheap waterproofing. These had to be eaten in the winter, too, in places like Bastogne. That's 1944 for all you kids who don't remember. You also could use the inside sleeve, which was just thin cardboard to write and send V-mail, but that's probably over your head, too. (What do they teach kids today, anyhow?) :) Nice vid
Where's the cheese? When showing the sides of the box at the beginning it lists the contents and said cheese. Also, I would have lit a fire with the matches, and combined the chicken with the bouillon, and heated up in my messkit. Make a nice soup , and add the crackers.
in the nam... the sugar and carmel would be placed away from your hole to keep the ants off of you. No one carried a mess kit. The weight was always an issue and they made too much noise when you were humping to the next LZ. The rations were dry and in card board /Wax boxes to keep the moisture out. THese must be WW2 rations.
@@AFOKHAOS No, both are for sale in the united states. Unfiltered camels aren't at every store though. He probably didn't want to bother finding them. I go through the same hassle with camel wides....but unfiltered is definitely less common.
@@peterlamont647 I'd imagine camel unfiltered cigarettes cost more also. My roommate told me the cigarettes they smoke are nearly $10 a pack. Quitting is the best thing I've ever done.
on using the P 38 to open the can, anyone who ever was in the military as I was pre MRE would tell you if the choice is a can opener or P 38 use a can opener and forget the grief LOL BTW I like your channel
Dad was in the 8th infantry and he told me it was waxed to make it a little more waterproof. To heat up the tins they rigged up a basket near the jeep's manifold and it would let them heat the cans up while they were traveling.
Crap when I was in the Army from 1981-87 We heated up our rats on the jeeps manifolds too. They were just bringing in the MREs in 1986. So they where still feeding us the Cans before that.
Idk how much the rations cost but I would think he could've used actual Camel non filters, I can still buy it them locally in Illinois albeit they are more expensive than most cigs but they aren't that much more and they aren't very difficult to come by. It's not a big deal but it would certainly lend to the authenticity of the thing.
The reproduction ww2 rations make for a better review , because the originals are usually full of rot and horror by now , and this way you can experience the ration in something approaching its original form.
my bet why they're waxed is waterproofing last thing a fighting man needs is soggy rations so think of the wax as a sealant to keep your rations dry and more appealing to the hungry trooper.... just another way our CO's ( Commanding Officers) made sure our guys were fed well with dry rations....
It's obvious you've never eaten in the field. Mess kits are used when there's a field kitchen available, field rations are designed to be eaten without any addtional utensils. You mention the scarcity of water, why dirty a mess kit when you can eat it out of the can directly and avoid wasting water or risking sanitation by not cleaning the pan properly?
gundog4314 i would love to see you review the north vietnamese soldier ration at the indochina war with france and with USA.. they are small stature and yet they are formidable opponents.. i think they eat mainly rice
Rice, Dried Fish and fish sauce was the staple rolled in a tube or a sock type piece of fabric. Motivated men and women can do marvels. Such as Caesar's Legions that ate grass.
I heard, from old veterans, that if you lost your mess kit, then you had to eat out of your helmet. I think maybe they were referring to a field kitchen.
I don't think I've ever met anyone that used a mess kit outside of training or a "junk on the bunk" inspection. The steel pot helmet was incredibly versatile. Head protection, cook pot, wash basin and shovel. You can't do that kind of stuff with a K-pot or whatever they call them these days. Cheers Christopher
After Soviet Union imposed economic sanctions on Yugoslavia in 1948 most people survived thanks to K-rations donated by the U.S.A. I was a young boy and still fondly remember the K-rations. Everything was fine, only coffee was awful.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing that with us. Cheers
That's cool. I have fond memories of MREs after the hurricanes that hit Florida.
My relatives probably ate those. Thanks for the info!
wow, that is very interesting. thank you for sharing that story.
I've heard rumors that the tasted awful. Like almost everyone complained about how they're not palatable. If I remember that's one of the reasons they made MREs and why they made a whole research lab just for making rations taste better.
I was told by my Uncle who served in Europe during WWII that the paper was waxed for several reasons. It made the package water resistent, acid resistent and made excellent tinder to start a fire when conditions allowed.
nailed it
That is EXACTLY why they were waxed.
More for anything it was for water proofing. The other thing were just happenstance that they figured out in the field. They still make and use waxed cardboard for modern shipping mostly for produce. Used to work in the produce department of a grocery store and the ship heads of lettuce, mustard greens, green onions, ect in waxed boxes.
Also to prevent mustard gas from getting in
Everything that I've seen online says that the wax is for waterproofing. Makes the most sense to me.
ruclips.net/video/YueiTnSl_Bo/видео.html In this video it talks about being gas proof
The wax was for multiple values all that were mentioned and to keep air and humidity out.. it doesn’t matter that it may have not been the intention but it is the fact from use..
Could be for multiple purposes - water, gas, air, etc.
The packaging commencing with the earliest version of the ration consisted of a chemically-treated cardboard outer carton and a waterproofed waxed-cardboard inner carton to protect the contents from contamination or damage. The waxed carton was found useful by soldiers to start small fires in which to boil water for coffee or cocoa, also used as a boot insole, and even a drinking cup.
Ran across your channel from steve1989. I've been looking everywhere for some Era correct rations to go with my 1941-45 field manuals so glad you shared the link for these.. Ty
My dad was an infantry machine gunner in the South Pacific in WW2. He told me when I was a kid that the meal boxes were waxed to prevent the rot and the moisture of the jungle.
I use these for reenacting. Usually make soup. Put the chicken in the bouillon after youve boiled it.
Just don't eat them for a long period of time. The K ration does not supply enough calories for strenuous activity. They found that out the hard way in WW2.
They were vitamin-deficient as well.
They sure did find out the K.Rations did not have enough calories in them typhonis007,to sustain soldiers in the field. Soldiers lost a lot of weight.
They were not meant for long tern use...more of a 72 hour ration. But ended up being used otherwise.
My grandfather told us how they used to steal chickens from farmers in the areas when it was cold and boil them in the boullion to make soup or season their food with it.
Based on Gundog's earlier review of these things, I ordered some from Hogan. He really goes above and beyond both in the manufacture and customer service end. I ate C rats, or "MCI"s during my own time in the service, and I had K rats as a kid in the 60's (Dad was in Supply in the USAF and had access to old stocks) and I wanted to see if they were close to the same as the originals. They are. They're worth trying if you're curious, have an old WW2 vet in the family to surprise (they'll probably throw it back at you) or just want something unique to eat while watching old WW2 movies.
The packaging changed to a set of distinctive color designs (the "Morale K Ration") to make it easier for soldiers to quickly select the "right" meal: brown for breakfast; green for supper; and blue for dinner. Within these colored boxes the meal was contained in a plain tan box; this was twice dipped in wax, after the contents were inserted and the box was sealed, in order to keep the contents waterproof.
There were two reasons the boxes were waxed - 1) to prevent them disintegrating if they got wet, and 2) to facilitate lighting them with the matches. When I was in the army, we would poke two holes in the can, make a sort of tent with the box, put the can under it and light it. This would heat the food up.
Also, each case of rations would have a few P-38's thrown in on top of the ration boxes. These would be doled out to those guys who had lost theirs or who didn't have one.
dinner = lunch? Mind = blown
Dinner is the largest meal of the day by definition. Then mid day meal was the biggest.
yeah when I was a kid, dinner was the midday meal, the evening meal was called tea and supper was a snack before going to bed.
When I was growing up dinner was called lunch. And supper was supper.
Here in the south I grew up calling lunch dinner.
The cigarettes make me mad because Camel still sells unfiltered cigarettes.
I agree, whoever made this decided to be cheap on something so simple
I'm six-years quit, but I was a Lucky Strike man. It's the filters that kill you, anyway!!
@@KonElKent filterless are worse for you but higher quality tobacco is used. Cigarettes with filters are more processed and cheaply made
Pall mall is probably cheaper than camel nowadays.
These repro rations are only made to LOOK the part to the untrained from a distance, for use in re-enactments. They are not designed to be a 1/1 clone of originals. That would be too much effort and cost/time to produce, hence the graham crackers, modern canned items, and filter cigarettes.
Really shows how the MRE even the early ones were light years ahead of the K-ration.
Mr. Hogan makes some awesome K Repros - hahah that Clove gum is great! They sell it here at Cracker barrel in FL.
I loved the review Gundog! The Pall Malls are used because they are slow burning and the cigs are usually a little stale so they actually smoke at a decent rate. I think that is the reason Todd used those.
I had a set Breakfast, Dinner, Supper for 45 bucks plus ship back in August 2013 from Mr. Hogan (I used to call him Paul got so mixed up that's the Dundee!.. oops!)
and they had the same Pall Mall's one pack was "Old Gold" one was "Camel" and one was "Chesterfield".
You have an awesome clean WW2 Mess Kit! I got like 30 of em' and none are as clean as your set! Those Mess Kit utensils go for as much as the whole mess!
-Steve1989
100% agree - been talking about this for over 10 years and it was my 1st comment in MREinfo forums back in 2005 - guy's nerves are jarred up last thing you wanna do is eat when the air smells and the adrenaline is pumping.
Exactly cigs were a big part of war for a reason it calms them down n they should still be able to get them.
30? I wish I had just ONE!
I remember when those mess kits were dirt cheap, same with the utensils.
They still call lunch dinner and dinner supper in some parts of the US. I looked it up and there used to actually be 4 meals a day, at least for fancy folks. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and then supper at 9 pm or later, basically a little something so you didn't go to bed on an empty stomach. Keep in mind meals weren't so calorie-packed as today's meal are, along with much more manual labor, and you can see why 4 meals made sense.
That is correct!!!
Whoaaaaaaa
Wouldn't the wax be used as water-proofing and also used for burning?
GracieFaceFunkyBunch Yessir - K rat boxes were the perfect slow-burn tinder for the guys - it was still dry too because of it!
wax also gas proof,a requirement from 1939. later in war,wax coating was dropped. these are morale boxes,no wax,but still good for fire. 1944,46.
Ha, that is awesome. I have been using one of those mess kits for the last 20 years, and I never knew you could slide the lid onto the handle like that.
+CrashFactory666 Tricks of the trade LOL
That's a really neat little improvisation for the can lids. Never heard that before.
Thank you for providing us with this video
Makes me remember how much i and my generation take the sacrifices of the great men and women of this Era for granted. Thanks for a truly interesting video!
From what I found K-rations were waxed to keep them from being damaged or contaminated, and also waterproof. Here is a qoute from Wikipedia.
The later "Morale Series" had unique packaging designs that were color-coded and letter-coded on the ends for quick identification. The breakfast ration box had brown printing and was marked with a brown capital letter "B" on the ends, the dinner ration box had blue printing and was marked with a blue capital letter "D" on the ends, and the supper ration box had olive drab printing and was marked with an olive drab capital "S" on the ends. The packaging commencing with the earliest version of the ration consisted of a chemically-treated cardboard outer carton and a waterproofed waxed-cardboard inner carton to protect the contents from contamination or damage. The waxed carton was found useful by soldiers to start small fires in which to boil water for coffee or cocoa.
Then this website also gives some details about the waxing. www.usarmymodels.com/ARTICLES/Rations/krations.html
The wax could also be used for burning, to keep fires burnt longer, and I'm assuming since K-rations are for emergency situations instead of the other usual rations, perhaps having fires that last longer out in the field can help during cold weather conditions and to keep warm.
thanks for the review, I looked up the reason for the was coated boxes and learned the following; The packaging commencing with the earliest version of the ration consisted of a chemically-treated cardboard outer carton and a waterproofed waxed-cardboard inner carton to protect the carton from contamination or damage. The waxed carton was found useful by soldiers to start small fires in which to boil water for coffee or cocoa. My father told me the used to bayonet the canned cheese spread, light the box and hold the can over the flame to melt the cheese as well.
+timitzer The use of wax reminded me that when I was a kid we had wax paper bags for sandwiches which folded over at the top. Did a nice job and biodegradable in the end. Not completely perfect for long term like plastic, but could store for a couple of days in the fridge. Might be nice to bring it back with improved closure.
The K-rations were designed to keep you going, and were compact. They were almost like a snack. The breakfast were the only ones supposedly with coffee. A can of chopped ham and eggs, a fruit bar, a cereal bar and cigarettes and matches, and sugar. The lunch had a lemonade powder, or bouillon, crackers, a chocolate bars, and the supper ration was pretty much the same, with the exception of pork or ham. You can find information on them in a lot of books or films on the average G.I. One of the best books, I ever read was called, "Private", by Lester Atwell.
My dearly deceased Father..
Milton Farrier Moore.
Second class electrian on the USS KADASHAD."KADY"
the rations are covered in wax against mustard gases.
And to water proof against sea water.
That ship is the very ship that carried out the bombing missions.
With now former and deceased president George Herbert Walker Bush.
As my dad has stated multiple times.
Thanks for your videos.
Godspeed
God I got a thing for food rations simple airplane food and other mass produced food kits! What a job, to decide what to put in these crates. Hmmm maybe a chewing gum and some aspirin, dried fruit and canned beef along with some powdered drink!
Wikipedia sez: The packaging commencing with the earliest version of the ration consisted of a chemically-treated cardboard outer carton and a waterproofed waxed-cardboard inner carton to protect the contents from contamination or damage. The waxed carton was found useful by soldiers to start small fires in which to boil water for coffee or cocoa.[4]
bcgrote Sounds good to me
As soon as I can go back to work and can spend the money to buy these it's on! Thanks for this great educational/nostalgic video! Comparing these to the MRE's that I ate,while in the infantry. I am absoulutly amazed that the greatest generation were able to develop the battlefield while only having this much caloric intake!? Subscribed!
They were meant for the grunt to eat for a few days tops. You were supposed to get hot chow after that. Mermites filled with hot chow was to be taken to the front lines for those troops. Sadly, too many times that didn’t happen.
I'm sure the wax is to seal it in general. Water, gas attacks, everything.
It looks better than some modern MREs i saw. I would eat that chicken. Of course i know it is a reproduction.
Grand father told me the only thing he really cared about with the K ration (which he hated taste wise), was that it burned damn well for kindling
Just watched a video on a WWII field kitchen.the presenter said that soldiers would not really carry the mess kit, because it added weight and they made a lot of noise. The field kitchen provided a number of mess kits for the troops and the kitchen had the heated water cans in which to properly clean the kits after use. Am sure there were some soldiers who did carry their kits. Just FYI. Oh....the vireo on the field kitchen was really neat.
Makes sense, as we never carried them either for the same exact reason when I was in the Army
I think this ration pack surves very vell as fire starter??? since its wax on it.
Best regards from Norway
the wax was meant to both make it somewhat water proof and chemical proof. the k-ration was also gas proof and pretty much indestructible aside from bombs and bullets.
Waxed cardboard can be used for starting a fire. If it gets wet, it does not get soaked trough and will still burn well. Just like birchbark.
You asked for information to verify the reason for waxing the WW2 ration boxes. On the internet look up" K-Rations: "Food for Fighters" circa 1943 Office of War Information"- in that old army film they state that the boxes were waxed to be water proof and gas proof.
Not sure why anyone would want repro K-rats, but I'm sure there's a market somewhere. It says right on the outer box that the waxed one can be used as a waterproof container, but I bet most GIs used it as stove fuel to heat the canned food. By the way, K rations were considered "emergency" combat food, as a short-term substitute for the larger C-rations - which in turn were substitutes for field kitchen chow.
Rocky Raab Curiosity, the same reason he tries MRE's from around the world and why the majority of us watch him.
That and he has a "go ahead" drinking game going on now.
Oh, I didn't mean HIM. I meant sane people, LOL! Seriously, since they are reproductions, somebody thinks there's a market for them. I just don't know who that is.
Rocky Raab I personally wouldn't mind trying a lot of the things he has done reviews of. There is the risk of what happened to the last box of MRE's I bought though. Two to four weeks later I finally make it home there's four packs left of the least desirable MRE packs in the box... :p
Rocky Raab Pseudo-nostalgic people?
Rocky Raab There's a market for these things with the reenactor community. It adds to the reenactment when you eat the same type of food the soldiers did back then. Nothing kills the image they're trying to project faster than seeing a bunch of GI's lunching on Spagetti-O's.
just stepped in your channel a few days ago, and i gotta admit i found myself a new hobby. man, you and mreinfo videos are really interesting, you guys give a lot of interesting information, and we get to see some vintage food, this was something new to me, i knew about rations, but never though of people who show them, even though this is a reproduction (which is kind of good since is less dangerous haha), you get to see very interestings things and how soldiers would deal with their food back in the day. you both rock.
cheers
+macc305 Awesome. Welcome to the party. Cheers
I wonder if soldiers ever took the caramel cubes and put them in their hot coffee for added sweetness
My Dad's outfit (475th Fighter Group SWP Theater) out of mess kits including the HQ staff that ate at my Dad's mess. The 431st Sqn. had mess trays
@Gundog4314 I'm hooked. I have been watching you every free second for three days :)
Rock on!
I seen a training film called k ration food for fighters, its meant to be air and water tight and is supposed to float
Thanks gundog, it looked like Hogannnnnnnnn!!!!!! did a great job on that K-Ration reproduction. I'll bet Hogan has Kinch, Newkirk, LeBeau,and Carter working the assembly line under Luft Stalag-13 24/7 cranking these out.
Hey do you remember in the great WW II film " Battleground " when there is finally a break in the weather and the American troops get a supply drop? One private opens a box and says " K-Rations......all Dinners " ( in a disappointed tone ) were Dinners less desirable than Breakfast or Supper? I cant believe they had no coffee in them.
Thanks for using the P-38 and showing all the " OMG you used a can opener to open a C-rat can " folks you DO actually know the P-38 Wrist Wiggle. It's a thing once we learn we never forget. I still have a P-38 on my keychain.
There is a military film on RUclips that said it was for water and gas attack repellent they were showing how they were made and packaged so yes that's what the wax paper was for
In regards to the waxing of the K Ration according to Wikipedia (which while informative is sometimes not the most reliable, but this seems to be well documented)....
The later "Morale Series" had unique packaging designs that were color-coded and letter-coded on the ends for quick identification. The breakfast ration box had brown printing and was marked with a brown capital letter "B" on the ends, the dinner ration box had blue printing and was marked with a blue capital letter "D" on the ends, and the supper ration box had olive drab printing and was marked with an olive drab capital "S" on the ends. The packaging commencing with the earliest version of the ration consisted of a chemically-treated cardboard outer carton and a waterproofed waxed-cardboard inner carton to protect the contents from contamination or damage. The waxed carton was found useful by soldiers to start small fires in which to boil water for coffee or cocoa.
Wax box was likely for freshness and keeping out moisture. Crackerjacks used them into the 70s.
Hey Gundog. Do you remember the scene in the film " Battle of the Bulge " where a US Soldier
makes a comment they had finally gotten an air drop of some K-Rations to their position?
He seemed to have a lot of disdain in his voice when he said " Yeah....all Dinners ".
Do you know if some K-rations were preferred over others?
I wonder if the Dinners did not come with coffee and that's why he sounded so disappointed.
That's why. No coffee
I have a third use for the wax coated box: It makes a good waterproof fire starter. Just tear it up and crumple the pieces underneath your kindling and firewood, and light the corner. The wax will also extend the burning time slightly.
I just watched a 1940's documentary that the wax was used for waterproofing, air proofing, and to be gasoline or chemical proof.
You are supposed to add the boulion too your M UNIT or your can of chicken chunks there. If you add little water, you can make a paste or gravy
I was in the Army in the 50's with the 1st infantry division and in Fort Riley. we ate K rations from 1945 once a week because they wanted to use the stuff up, they where from 1945 and it was served in bulk in the mess hall. In Germany I remember the sausage patties were very greasy. some had candy bars that were very waxy, some packages had fruit cocktail which was good and some had a can with round crackers and jelly in them, they even had pound cake that was good. spaghetti and meatballs. but I am not sure if those were C rations or some later type of rations but they were current issue., the cigarette packs were bigger. it wasn't bad considering, we would put the cans on the engine of our 3/4 ton radio truck to heat them up.
the wax on the box is to keep the stuff dry and to use to start a fire even when its wet outside
Great video. I know this was not your point but... Having eaten many C rations in my time I can tell you that like the K ration they were never eaten out of a mess kit. The mess kit was used only for A rations served by the company mess section. The mess section also provided two heated trash cans. One full of hot soapy and and another with fresh water for washing the mess kit. No NCO would have allowed a solider to eat a C or K ration out of a mess kit because there was no way to clean it. Bad field sanitation = sickness. Most of the time when heat was available (heat tab in the C ration) I/we would put a hole in the tin can of the main course and heat it then eat right out of the can.
You are correct Tom, that wasn't my point at all. The only way to do this reviews is visual and if you can't show people "what's in it" it kinda defeats the purpose. As for eating in the field, 5 years of being Field Artillery and living in the field taught me a lot about field chow. In fact the only time I ever used a mess kit was in basic training cause we had to. Cheers
I had those a few times. ^^ The Repro K rations by Hogan are really good. I really was thinking on buying some of him again.
I enjoyed them very much. And I like how you get the P38 can (John Wayne ) Openers with them.
its was to water proof it and also make it insect proof too hope that helps :)
I suspect the wax was mainly to make them at least somewhat moisture resistant but it would also make great tender for starting a fire to heat anything you might want to heat.
I see some of the comments about the waxed box, but I wonder if the box was used to heat the meal? I would imagine that the wax would make it burn longer
The wax was used to keep rain and jungle steam out of the food.
this is pretty cool , i have a K ration from WW2 , the meal was bacon and cheese and it smelled terrible so i had to throw it out but i kept everything else. It is really cool to have a piece of history in my collection.
I was told by a WW2 vet that the wax coating was supposed to easily burnable to make a fire for cooking in the field. But others say it was only in the Pacific theatre.
They use to make tanker stew from their rations, the steel pots were great cooking in.
Just fond the chanel,in regards to dinner supper. Dinner was used by the upper class,lunch was used by blue color. As for supper most people in the 40,s used the term for the late meal of the day.
There is a US Army film from WWII that discuses the production of K-Rations and noted that the boxes had to be impervious to water and gas.
also the wax was flamible to help heat up the ration if you want
my dad loves the p38 his favorite can opener
The wax on the box is for water proofing, according to a WW II army film on rations. Food for fighters.
The wax paper and outer packaging would be great as firelighting (if you could safely light a fire).
You did a great job on this video
The wax was cheap waterproofing. These had to be eaten in the winter, too, in places like Bastogne. That's 1944 for all you kids who don't remember. You also could use the inside sleeve, which was just thin cardboard to write and send V-mail, but that's probably over your head, too. (What do they teach kids today, anyhow?) :) Nice vid
The Navy still uses "Dinner" for lunch and "Supper" for dinner. They call it over the 1MC (ie. Dinner/Supper for the crew.)
I still use Supper for my evening meal. Lunch is lunch and breakfast stays the same. I only dine at steakhouses.
Question (rising hand)! Isn't K-Rat Dinner Pack suppose to come with fruit flavor drink powder? I tho Bouillon Powder was for Supper Pack...
These are pretty cool.
Where's the cheese? When showing the sides of the box at the beginning it lists the contents and said cheese. Also, I would have lit a fire with the matches, and combined the chicken with the bouillon, and heated up in my messkit. Make a nice soup , and add the crackers.
Barnabus Blackoak I would get a resealable can and put some cheese in my stuff. just canned cheesespread is harder to fine
in the nam... the sugar and carmel would be placed away from your hole to keep the ants off of you. No one carried a mess kit. The weight was always an issue and they made too much noise when you were humping to the next LZ. The rations were dry and in card board /Wax boxes to keep the moisture out. THese must be WW2 rations.
Hmm that make sense with the sweets. Cheers
K rations were waxed both for water proofing and for chemicals attacks. Watch WW2 documentary on WW2 U.S. Army food
"Sometimes the mess kit stuff just doesn't cut it".....pun intended? 😂
Artillery brings dignity to what would otherwise be a brawl
The cigarettes were kind of disappointing. Camel unfiltered are available still. He should've went legit.
Probably a legal reason he didn't put the actual ones in.
@@AFOKHAOS No, both are for sale in the united states. Unfiltered camels aren't at every store though. He probably didn't want to bother finding them. I go through the same hassle with camel wides....but unfiltered is definitely less common.
@@peterlamont647
I'd imagine camel unfiltered cigarettes cost more also.
My roommate told me the cigarettes they smoke are nearly $10 a pack.
Quitting is the best thing I've ever done.
on using the P 38 to open the can, anyone who ever was in the military as I was pre MRE would tell you if the choice is a can opener or P 38 use a can opener and forget the grief LOL BTW I like your channel
Dad was in the 8th infantry and he told me it was waxed to make it a little more waterproof. To heat up the tins they rigged up a basket near the jeep's manifold and it would let them heat the cans up while they were traveling.
Man he must be Old
Crap when I was in the Army from 1981-87 We heated up our rats on the jeeps manifolds too. They were just bringing in the MREs in 1986. So they where still feeding us the Cans before that.
I didn't have a drink watching this so I just swallowed my spit... Lol
I just watched a US ARMY film about K rations made in 1943 and they did mention it being water and GAS proof..
Yes they were gas proof and water proof they were even meant to float
Where do I buy these? I can’t find any reproduction rations anywhere.
Idk how much the rations cost but I would think he could've used actual Camel non filters, I can still buy it them locally in Illinois albeit they are more expensive than most cigs but they aren't that much more and they aren't very difficult to come by. It's not a big deal but it would certainly lend to the authenticity of the thing.
Waxy paper also acts as a good firestarter so that might be another reason
i know you dont want to show your face in the reviews but i really think you should of given the smokes a go
I have a lot of US GI forks that I use in the house but I just can't source knives and spoons.
The reproduction ww2 rations make for a better review , because the originals are usually full of rot and horror by now , and this way you can experience the ration in something approaching its original form.
my bet why they're waxed is waterproofing last thing a fighting man needs is soggy rations so think of the wax as a sealant to keep your rations dry and more appealing to the hungry trooper.... just another way our CO's ( Commanding Officers) made sure our guys were fed well with dry rations....
Wonder if people are still watching this after all these years, but would anyone know for how long these K rations remain edible?
I almost thought you were preparing actual food from the 40s, then noticed that this is a reproduction ration.
I gotta check these things out. I carried a P-38 forever, with cans of Bernie weenies or C-rats from WWII or Korea era it worked great.
In the Marines we called the P38 a "John Wayne".
Correct!!!
It's obvious you've never eaten in the field. Mess kits are used when there's a field kitchen available, field rations are designed to be eaten without any addtional utensils. You mention the scarcity of water, why dirty a mess kit when you can eat it out of the can directly and avoid wasting water or risking sanitation by not cleaning the pan properly?
That’s a clean
ew looking mess kit, I was gonna ask if it’s reproduction but I saw the markings.
I honestly couldn't tell you. I did get it as surplus and I think its stamped US but with all the knock offs these days who knows.
the amount is to small for an infantry solder engaged in combat
+Buntalan Lucu Different times. The average weight of a soldier in WW2 was 130 lbs. or 59 kg. and people back then were used to doing without. Cheers
gundog4314 i would love to see you review the north vietnamese soldier ration at the indochina war with france and with USA.. they are small stature and yet they are formidable opponents.. i think they eat mainly rice
Rice, Dried Fish and fish sauce was the staple rolled in a tube or a sock type piece of fabric. Motivated men and women can do marvels. Such as Caesar's Legions that ate grass.
Hence the reason for so many fat asses in Murica.
I love that they used a filtered cigarette with the filter removed, even though camel still sells filterless
I heard, from old veterans, that if you lost your mess kit, then you had to eat out of your helmet. I think maybe they were referring to a field kitchen.
I don't think I've ever met anyone that used a mess kit outside of training or a "junk on the bunk" inspection. The steel pot helmet was incredibly versatile. Head protection, cook pot, wash basin and shovel. You can't do that kind of stuff with a K-pot or whatever they call them these days. Cheers Christopher