Thanks for the information on reproduction K rations. The reason that K rations were mis-used, especially in Burma, was that the logistical system was inadequate sometimes. K rations were more easily supplied than a field kitchen with B Rations (non-perishable "real" foods--the A-rations needed refrigeration) and even the C rations and special Jungle rations were just not available. If my research is anything approaching accurate, not only were the K rations used excessively, but insufficient numbers of those rations were issued. I experienced something similar during my American military service. The peacetime field training standard was one hot B-ration meal and two MREs (early in my career it was two MCIs) but quite a few times my units wound up too far away from the logistics chain for that to happen. We compensated by carrying reserve rations and when authorized by the company chain of command would substitute a third MRE for the regular field feeding program. MREs were expensive and peacetime economy measures included sack lunches with breakfast--and an MRE supper. I did spend a year in the combat zone far to the rear--servicing isolated radio relay sites. I retired in 2010 but I did see a few non-American rations. British 24 hour rations was pretty much the norm for non-American armies--just one bag or box for the entire 24 hour day. American rations were three individual meals plus supplements, and whenever possible a field kitchen was used. My last decade of military service (and when I went to war for a year) was in the American National Guard--our field kitchens seemed lavish to me and included refrigerated trucks and refrigerated airlift containers--the primary mission of those field kitchens was disaster relief. We soldiers got to use them sometimes and we left our field kitchens Stateside when we went to war. Since my National Guard unit was communications, we would operate in remote teams, often dozens of miles from any other American forces. Feeding got strange sometimes. World War Two was worse. American logistics broke down sometimes. British logistics were far less robust. Issuing K rations to the Chindits was necessary for a number of reasons. One reason was that the American supply chain had enough to dole out to some Commonwealth forces. Another was that Britain didn't have an assault ration like the K ration--I don't know as much as I'd like about WW2 British rations, but they were improved over World War One British rations--and in World War One the American Army rations were inferior to the British or French. There was a joke in US Army Europe--if we wanted to stop the Russian Red Army, just set up Volksfest tents and stock them with beer and hot chow. The Russians would gorge themselves and take a nap. Should slow them down for six hours or so.
I've been making repro US rations for nearly 20 years and these are visually about the best so far, there's a guy in the Czech Republic who also make them and they contain the actual canned product as it says on the label... My critique of this ration is that the bags where actually heat sealed and the Bouillon Powder was a simple cellophane bag/sachet, but apart from that, nice effort, much better than mines!
Unfortunately I haven’t come up with a method where I can actually heat seal the bag closed so that it is a tight fit like the originals as for the sashay packets it’s quite difficult to get them replicated like the originals but it’s something I’m looking into for the future
@@rossharris3987 I had to get an electric crimp sealer (cost me £90 about 15 years ago, so dunno what they'd cost today- if you can still get them), the bags on the originals I have are not so air tight and quite loose tbh, the sachets I print on gloss paper I buy in bulk then have to cut into A4 and print out on a lazer printer which I had to buy just for that! It's a long and expensive process and as i've said, yours are about the best I've seen, I did muck about with transfers on the can element, too fiddly and really a pain in the ...
It's the small things in life, a chilled irn bru, some time to play video games, kids having good days at school and rounded out with an RM video to just chill I always find it interesting to see how they organised rations back when especially as we take instant food for granted today, I know we have had food storage for centuries but still
The cigarettes came as a four pack. At least the Korean and VietNam era were that way. Odd that there weren't any matches but then I don't know that much about the K rations.
I haven't watched the video, but Ross Harris doesn't make any component of these, he buys them from the manufacturer/s, alongside other dealers throughout the world. They can be bought elsewhere.
Maybe you should give the video a watch then - if you have not watched the video how do you possibly know what manufacturers products are inside? (apart from knowing that you can buy sugar cubes at the supermarket).That's beside the point however - Yes you can buy the different components - they are plain, flat pack, untreated and mostly empty - but with the price tag at £60 (per set of 3 - see your below comment) you are paying for the time taken to combine everything , re-wrap, gather all the materials, build all the sets up and home make some of the food items to the original recipes in custom made molds. This results in the creation a high quality product, even before you take into account the countless hours of trials, testing and development - imagine if he was charging the minimum wage for the hours that went into making them - which is evident in the products standard. The end result however, most importantly - is a historically accurate set of rations that you can consume that are incredibly close to originals - I have been collecting K rations for a fair amount of time and got to see some of the above examples made by Ross very recently. In my opinion - these are the best ones to my knowledge on the market place - and for the level of quality, detail and a evidently huge levels of passion and commitment to the hobby - I challenge you to find anything close to the standard and quality offered by these reproductions.
They can indeed. However, Ross has gone to painstakingly lengths to source the most accurate available content, and purchases the items in bulk. So for an individual to build a set to the same standards it would likely cost even more then £60 simply for the base material. Let alone the time required to assemble it. Indeed if you feel as though you can do better by all means try. However, i sincerely doubt this and since you have provided no constructive criticism, why don't you keep your opinions to yourself.
At £60 each, if you had a 10 man group doing a two day event, and wanted to give them each three per day, that's £1,800 in rations for 48 hours. No one is doing that.
That is upto individuals to decide. Or they may simply want to, as I have done, purchase a single set simply for demonstration purposes. Also if you do break down the cost then for a 48 hour period that is £120 per person, for 6 meals which inturn brings each meal to a grand price of £20 each. Excluding of course the cigarettes, hot drinks and so on that can be consumed throughout the day. Now although £20 a meal is pricy is not far off the average price for a food vendors at a public show around £10-£15 for each one. So if you're looking for accurate food for a one of weekend, although a little more expensive then your average meal, this is likely your best option available.
Ross Harris FB page - facebook.com/ross.harris.3766952
At the time of publishing these rations retail for £60.00 for a set of three.
Are these available for Amazon?
Thanks for the information on reproduction K rations.
The reason that K rations were mis-used, especially in Burma, was that the logistical system was inadequate sometimes. K rations were more easily supplied than a field kitchen with B Rations (non-perishable "real" foods--the A-rations needed refrigeration) and even the C rations and special Jungle rations were just not available. If my research is anything approaching accurate, not only were the K rations used excessively, but insufficient numbers of those rations were issued.
I experienced something similar during my American military service. The peacetime field training standard was one hot B-ration meal and two MREs (early in my career it was two MCIs) but quite a few times my units wound up too far away from the logistics chain for that to happen. We compensated by carrying reserve rations and when authorized by the company chain of command would substitute a third MRE for the regular field feeding program. MREs were expensive and peacetime economy measures included sack lunches with breakfast--and an MRE supper. I did spend a year in the combat zone far to the rear--servicing isolated radio relay sites.
I retired in 2010 but I did see a few non-American rations. British 24 hour rations was pretty much the norm for non-American armies--just one bag or box for the entire 24 hour day. American rations were three individual meals plus supplements, and whenever possible a field kitchen was used. My last decade of military service (and when I went to war for a year) was in the American National Guard--our field kitchens seemed lavish to me and included refrigerated trucks and refrigerated airlift containers--the primary mission of those field kitchens was disaster relief. We soldiers got to use them sometimes and we left our field kitchens Stateside when we went to war. Since my National Guard unit was communications, we would operate in remote teams, often dozens of miles from any other American forces. Feeding got strange sometimes.
World War Two was worse. American logistics broke down sometimes. British logistics were far less robust. Issuing K rations to the Chindits was necessary for a number of reasons. One reason was that the American supply chain had enough to dole out to some Commonwealth forces. Another was that Britain didn't have an assault ration like the K ration--I don't know as much as I'd like about WW2 British rations, but they were improved over World War One British rations--and in World War One the American Army rations were inferior to the British or French.
There was a joke in US Army Europe--if we wanted to stop the Russian Red Army, just set up Volksfest tents and stock them with beer and hot chow. The Russians would gorge themselves and take a nap. Should slow them down for six hours or so.
Criminally underrated channel
I've been making repro US rations for nearly 20 years and these are visually about the best so far, there's a guy in the Czech Republic who also make them and they contain the actual canned product as it says on the label... My critique of this ration is that the bags where actually heat sealed and the Bouillon Powder was a simple cellophane bag/sachet, but apart from that, nice effort, much better than mines!
Unfortunately I haven’t come up with a method where I can actually heat seal the bag closed so that it is a tight fit like the originals as for the sashay packets it’s quite difficult to get them replicated like the originals but it’s something I’m looking into for the future
@@rossharris3987 I had to get an electric crimp sealer (cost me £90 about 15 years ago, so dunno what they'd cost today- if you can still get them), the bags on the originals I have are not so air tight and quite loose tbh, the sachets I print on gloss paper I buy in bulk then have to cut into A4 and print out on a lazer printer which I had to buy just for that!
It's a long and expensive process and as i've said, yours are about the best I've seen, I did muck about with transfers on the can element, too fiddly and really a pain in the ...
It's the small things in life, a chilled irn bru, some time to play video games, kids having good days at school and rounded out with an RM video to just chill
I always find it interesting to see how they organised rations back when especially as we take instant food for granted today, I know we have had food storage for centuries but still
Aye irn bru, the colder the better
The cigarettes came as a four pack. At least the Korean and VietNam era were that way. Odd that there weren't any matches but then I don't know that much about the K rations.
their are but its in the dinner unit the supper ration above is part of a daily ration wich comprised of breakfast supper and dinner
US C rations from Vietnam era were always a big item sought after. Maybe he could do these as well. Nice set of WW2 items though.
Looks very authentic. Is there anything to indicate it’s a reproduction?
I mean you can kinda tell it's not 80 years old.
Hi Nice video. I review some modern military and civilian rations. I wish I could afford to review this. Since it is a reproduction I can eat it.
The one I had were green cans of meat.
Strange that there is nothing to purify water or coffee etc to drink.
Water purification tablets were issued separately.
@@RiflemanMoore thank you for sharing your knowledge.
This is what the Dirty Dozen were eating when water for washing was stopped.... good movie.
Was half expecting a Steve1989MREInfo moment of you brewing up and scoffing the lot! 😃Nice looking K rat
No coffee?
It comes in the breakfast ration
@@rossharris3987 one of the reasons why breakfast was the favourite
Канал живет...приятно!!
First!
I haven't watched the video, but Ross Harris doesn't make any component of these, he buys them from the manufacturer/s, alongside other dealers throughout the world. They can be bought elsewhere.
Maybe you should give the video a watch then - if you have not watched the video how do you possibly know what manufacturers products are inside? (apart from knowing that you can buy sugar cubes at the supermarket).That's beside the point however - Yes you can buy the different components - they are plain, flat pack, untreated and mostly empty - but with the price tag at £60 (per set of 3 - see your below comment) you are paying for the time taken to combine everything , re-wrap, gather all the materials, build all the sets up and home make some of the food items to the original recipes in custom made molds. This results in the creation a high quality product, even before you take into account the countless hours of trials, testing and development - imagine if he was charging the minimum wage for the hours that went into making them - which is evident in the products standard. The end result however, most importantly - is a historically accurate set of rations that you can consume that are incredibly close to originals - I have been collecting K rations for a fair amount of time and got to see some of the above examples made by Ross very recently. In my opinion - these are the best ones to my knowledge on the market place - and for the level of quality, detail and a evidently huge levels of passion and commitment to the hobby - I challenge you to find anything close to the standard and quality offered by these reproductions.
They can indeed. However, Ross has gone to painstakingly lengths to source the most accurate available content, and purchases the items in bulk. So for an individual to build a set to the same standards it would likely cost even more then £60 simply for the base material. Let alone the time required to assemble it. Indeed if you feel as though you can do better by all means try. However, i sincerely doubt this and since you have provided no constructive criticism, why don't you keep your opinions to yourself.
@@bennightingale788 becasue I was friends with Ross on Facebook and discussed these with him.
That is the very possible way I know what the video shows, idiot, "how do you possibly know".
@@harryb8945 pointing out the cost is not an opinion, you fool. It is fact.
At £60 each, if you had a 10 man group doing a two day event, and wanted to give them each three per day, that's £1,800 in rations for 48 hours. No one is doing that.
That is upto individuals to decide. Or they may simply want to, as I have done, purchase a single set simply for demonstration purposes. Also if you do break down the cost then for a 48 hour period that is £120 per person, for 6 meals which inturn brings each meal to a grand price of £20 each. Excluding of course the cigarettes, hot drinks and so on that can be consumed throughout the day. Now although £20 a meal is pricy is not far off the average price for a food vendors at a public show around £10-£15 for each one. So if you're looking for accurate food for a one of weekend, although a little more expensive then your average meal, this is likely your best option available.
🤡🤡