Rations Comparison

**ravenshield936** · 01-29-2010, 05:56 AM

I've eaten Canadian Forces military rations before, which we called IMP (Instant Meal Packages)
I actually love that stuff, and it's not bad..though it's quite sick when served cold.

We also know, the US military MRE is notorious for bad taste and "bad exit strategy"

So here I am, actually wondering, if anyone on this forum have tasted BOTH the MREs and the IMPs

If so, can you tell me what you think of it? Which one's better when comparing the two? And how far off if rated in a scale from 1 to 10 (10 as the best, 1 as worst)
What i mean will be if you rate ration A as 7, where will you rate ration B?

And anyone else can feel free to hijack my thread as long as it's about other rations. If anyone has tried other military rations, or even PLA's, let's share the stories. After a while maybe we can all have an idea where they belong on the scale too.

**Mightypeon** · 01-30-2010, 12:13 PM

Well, I had German EPAs (Ein Mann Pakete), and US MREs.
Personally: Eating both transports enough chemicals into your body to make, in the event of death, beeing deposited on a chemical waste dump a certainity.

The German stuff has some very nice (and shit reducing) chocalate, okish bread, some sausage (which tasted a bit weird), and a fairly tasty cheese like matter.
At the worst, it tasted like nothing, which is better than MRE taste.
I would give EPA a 5, and concerning MREs I would have to definie negative numbers.

**erikh** · 01-30-2010, 01:32 PM

The Norwegian FR-2000 is quite good in my opinion. It tastes quite good actually the first time and it comes with chewing gum and chocolate. However, when you are in the field and eating the same Chili Con Carne or Beef with Curry for the nth time, you eat it only by need and not pleasure. I think you get tired of eating some sort of hot baby food all the time. Makes you want to eat something hard and chewy.

**pla101prc** · 01-30-2010, 03:34 PM

canadian ones are great provided that you only eat it once in a while. i remember being a signal guy on one EX, cuz i was signal so i didnt really move around much and wasnt hungry for food or anything, had 4 days of IMP, almost barfed...

**bd popeye** · 01-30-2010, 03:55 PM

Since I served in 1971 to 1991 I cannot make any comparison between the MRE and IMP. But I can compare MRE to the old C-Rations and K-rations.

C-Rations and K-rations were the same. C-rats were the Army and USMC designation and C-rats was the USN designation. MRE's seem like eating at a fine restaurant compared to that C-rats crap. C-Rats were just nasty. The only thing good in them was the chocolate. Everything was stale. Oh yeah the came with a pack of cigarettes. In the USN we only ate them during an extended General Quarters drill. Or in the Philippines we had to go on these all day junkets in the jungle called a MINE-EX. We had to spot mines being dropped into a bay near Subic.

In the USN we would say.."Who wants to be a Grunt? Not me..Who would want to live in a foxhole and eat out of a can? Not me!!".