K Ration Breakfast - Ham & Eggs With a Side of Freedom
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- čas přidán 23. 07. 2024
- Today, I'm checking out the K Ration Breakfast, and taking my Ham & Eggs with a Side of Freedom.
The K ration is the iconic American WW2 ration that drove our troops across Europe and the Pacific during World War II. This K Ration Breakfast helped our troops start the day out right, whatever theater they were in. This WW2 favorite was so heavily manufactured that it actually contributed significantly to lifting the United States out of the Depression. Hitler and Hirohito may have tried to copy them, but there's only one true K Ration... the grandfather of all modern military MRE meals and rations.
MREs are an expensive habit. Feel the need to give back? Please consider a $1 donation to:
paypal.me/djdeluca?country.x=... -- Many Thanks!
*Follow me on Twitter - / thedarrendeluca
Like this video? Check out my recent video on the German Copycat K Ration - • Wehrmacht K Ration - G...
Timestamps:
0:00-0:37 - WW2 Footage Intro
0:37-1:46 K Ration Breakfast Unit explained
1:46- 5:33 K Ration Components Review
5:33-6:15 I get my butt kicked by a can
6:15-7:17 Main Menu Item (Ham & Eggs / Deviled Ham with a side of Freedom)
7:17-8:57 Coffee
8:57-10:00 Fruit Bar
10:00-10:53 Biscuts
10:53-12:37 Tobacco / Gum
A shout out to the master @Steve1989MREInfo for inspiring this channel.
Hope you enjoyed this WW2 throwback. Want to see the German copycat K Ration? czcams.com/video/Wolsh0Ks29A/video.html
where can i buy those? i can only find empty boxes
@@jackwoods535 well thats not good. 😒
but thanks
I just watched your German k ration vid, in which you said the Jerries didn't respect the U.S. Army. Reminded me of one my favorite quotes ever from a German general; "The Americans are very hard to predict since most don't know their own doctrines, and those that do don't follow it."
I remember reading something that the Krauts said to the effect of the Americans just waste a ton of ammo... It's true, but if you have the ammo to burn, might as well burn it.
And that scene in "Battle Of The Bulge", where an American soldier had a cake mailed to him and the Germans intercepted it The Germans knew if we could send CAKE to our frontline troops, the Germans had already lost the war. Based on a true event.
@@lancerevell5979 that movie was a horrible one. extremely inaccurate. I believe many veterans would have walked out. but the message about the fruit cake is true. America's untouchable industry might
American Military has given a lot of lateral decision making all the way down to Junior NCOs. For example, we weren’t given a Patrol Plan, we were expected to write one and send it up the chain. I believe most other Nations are more “top down”.
The inner box was wax sealed for the reasons stated, but also as proof against gas. An added benefit was it's usefulness as a fire starter/fuel source. One. box would heat your coffee water.
Linguistically, "dinner" is when you dine on your big meal of the day. "Supper" means last meal of the day. Farmers traditionally ate their big meal in the middle of the day. The US population was largely rural at the time and you had a whole lot of farm boys in service. "Lunch" means "hunk of bread." That is an urban, industrial term for workers scarfing a sandwich and an apple and getting right back to the work floor.
Even my father who was born in 1941 referred to the last meal of the day as supper. Lunch was for ladies... ladies luncheon.
I'm from rural Tennessee and that's the most absolutely perfect explanation I've ever heard (read) for the subject. All the old guys call lunch "dinner" and the evening meal "supper" and I don't know how many times I've to explain this stuff to yankee co workers, but it's been a few. Cheers!
@@archstanton4365 This English Lang & Lit grad is glad to be of good service to you.
@@natfoote4967 Much Obliged.
I loved the ham and eggs that came in the C Rations.
Funny thing , all of the family who were ground pounders in WW2 and Korea, each one carried a Swiss Army knife and praised the can opener.
That box with paraffin would make a good fuel source to heat the ration.
I’ve been watching MRE reviews for years and just found your channel. Really enjoy your calm, well-edited style. Keep it up bud, I’ll be watching more of your content!
Thanks. Have some Russian stuff in the works.
Lol, me 2
These are amazing reproductions.
The box yes, the food no
The inner carton with its paraffin coating could also be torn up and used to heat the ration can.
i hope you did finish the spam later. look too good to waste it. i would probably mince it and cook with eggs, onion and tomato ketchup...greetings from Malaysia...we owe our freedom to the gyrenes, GIs and the grunts of Pacific, Korean and Vietnam wars. thank you very much
My father fought in Italy (5th Army, 85th Div. 338 Rgt. 3rd Bat, Co K) and he said that a can of dog food would have been better than the can of meat in a K ration.
That fruit bar looked like a repackaged nature valley bar
The K ration was meant to be a short term ration for assaults only with B or C rations to be available not more than 48 hours later. Unfortunately due to supply limitations and misunderstanding by general staff often soldiers were issued K rations for weeks straight believing they were able to fully sustain a man for 24 hours over extended periods. Plus they were one of the few rations able to be air dropped. Legend has it that some British Chindits resting in a rear area after operations vomited at the sight of K rations.
PS: you’re a brave man for drinking cold instant coffee.
A fantastic-looking reproduction K Ration. They did an excellent job with that.
He hot is with the Pulp Fiction line 😂 classic
Nothing like being in the dark, in the rain, pulling and unknown c rat (alright MCI but nobody actually called them that) and opening it and only knowing what you were getting when the stink hit your nose. Ham and mothers was the worst though cold beans came close.
It’s cool watching this reproduction right after recently watching Steve mre’s video of an original. This one is in much better condition 😂
Amazing repro
Now i wanna buy this:)
The average height & weight of a soldier in WW2 was much smaller (5'8,150lb); much taller and heavier (just shyof 6ft, 190lb) for today's average Joe, so a lower calorie count of 2900 would be very good for a smaller soldier.
Historically speaking, it wasn't.
Every combatant country in WWII realized that having food that tasted good and had comfort items was important. The problem in ALL the Axis countries was the supply base. They simply did not have the resources to produce rations like the K Ration on a regular basis. The Allies had so many food resources they were able to send hundreds of thousands of POW relief packages which were regularly pilfered, especially by the Japanese. The USA had so much food they sent the Soviet Union 4.4 tons of food supplies during the war.
Awesome stuff man! Can you send a link or something to where you bought this?
The outter font is way off but not a bad repro. Cool find. The reals ones I have are in very rough shape, too rough to make a vid of. I'm glad I stumbled upon your channel and will check out your other vids👍
Thanks. I'm a bit behind on my next videos but I have a few more Russian MREs coming soon. Maybe after that some actual camping food.
Which IRPs do you have? I have a few versions to get to myself and haven't cracked one in a while. Email me if you are ever looking for something. (Email in channel description, it will be erased if I post it here.) Or contact me on mreinfo.
Think this was done on purpose to prevent deceptive resellers.
It took me awhile to realize that was a repro.. The amount of time, it took to make that, it almost feels bad to eat it. But, anything for the viewers. I just found your channel, not too long ago. You do really good, in videoing and presenting the rations. Thank you for your service, and best in the New Year.
I've been trying to find reproduction versions of these rations. Do you know a reputable website where I can find one for a decent price?
@@avian68tbhero rations, eBay and Etsy, they run about 35 a piece
Noticed in your description you put that Hirohito may have tried to copy it. Which likely wasn't the case, both the Imperial Japanese Navy and army had over all more authority than the emperor(idea that the shogun has the real power and the emperor is simply a figure head).
At the time the Imperial Japanese army and navy despises one another(one wanted full authority), so it was probably more like the army tried to reproduce the concept as the navy were most likely not going to help them make it. As there has been in fighting even before WW2 which over all was why they collapsed rather easily in WW2. As resources were intentionally being routed to the army air service and ground meanwhile the navy Air service and ground forced essentially got scrap. It's kind of funny since it was only at the end during the defense of the mainland when the army and navy finally stopped budding heads and tried to work together creating stuff that were rather early(radio guided missiles, ir guided missiles and other such things).
Aside myself jabbering off excellent video on that reproduction of the breakfast K-ration
I love the Plup Fiction quote 🤣👍
I really wanted to see you make the bar into jam. I hope I see it in another video
Crack me up watching you with those smokes man I know the feeling lol
Let me buy those cigs 🤣 good video man, subbed!
Thanks... they weren't real Luckies... just some random brand with the filters ripped off.
@@MREScout I was a bit surprised they put real cigs in the ration.
👍👍 thanks
I miss the corn flake/oatmeal bars that came out during the Vietnam era.
When I was. Kid in the early 60s you could buy WWII K rations in surplus stores. I remember verydried out cigarettes and canned chocolate cake.
Using that kind of can opener is more of a French thing simply because ALL the can openers in France have been like that since they were introduced a very long time ago...
My wife who's American has never been able to use one and she really struggled to open cans when she came to visit me here in Paris when we were engaged 😄😄😄
So, yeah, I can understand why some people have a hard time using it...
Our daughter can't do it either...Even with a French dad...
Anyways...I really do like your videos and the fact that you were in the military makes all the difference and makes your videos even more interesting 🙂🙂🙂
The wax box was often used to start a fire to heat the rations
Yes. I got the Pete Puma reference... AND the Pulp Fiction one...
That fruit jam bar looks identical to the almond butter granola bars that I eat every day and they are delicious to the point of being addictive.
That is a very nice repro, where did you get it from?
Imagine that stuff being still edible after 80 years
It isn't. That's a repro. Eating an 80 year old K-rat can be deadly.
After your freberg/freleng quote, who else heard the rapid fire rattle of mallet?
The funny thing is Luck Strikes are still produced, so why the reproducer would tear the filters off is strange.
That fruit bar is not correct for the old K ration, the original was more like a condensed fruit jam that's why it says you can heat it in water and make a jam out of it, that is modern style snack bar.
That was what I suspected when I saw that white chocolate granola bar. ='[.]'=
Ha love the Pete the Puma reference...How many lumps would you like in your tea...Oh, 3 or 4.
Where did you buy the K ration... i'd like to try it too.
I actually found Navy C-rats were better than most meal, except for SOS. That stuff was good!! C-rats were usually a bag of leftovers for those on midnight watches or standing stupid on the quarter deck. But it was worth it.
Very cool vid. Minator Trading Company did an updated version of these not to long ago. Subd
WW2 K rations had very little nutritional value. It did fill you up but if you had to survive on it for to long you would start to starve to death. The public after the war wanted the government to go after the producers of K rations. But nothing was ever done. My father as a member of Merrill’s Marauders found out they were starving on K rations. They had to rely on the local native population to donate food and the British would send them Bully Beef which they seem to love. Once in a great while they would get shit on a shingle flown in to them. all US WW2 vets seem to love it. I do also because my father would cook it on a regular basis.it was those guys special meal.
Hold the can flat on a table and work the opener around .
Too bad some fire departments need a small ration during forest fire season. I never been on one, but a four hour two to three alarm blaze might weaken a FF or EMT over a few hours if fatigue sets in. Your thoughts please.
Seems like water and electrolytes would be the thing firefighters need most. They must cook in those nomex suits in the heat of a blaze. For wildfires, smoke jumpers would definitely need to carry some sort of MRE with them.
nng in here with support ! !
Thanks for being here. Liked your drift quad video :)
Where did you find that repro?
Nice review....As I said before on another one of your videos.
🤣 Nice ode to "Pulp Fiction"☕️....
You can always gather intell about the enemy by the sort of trash they leave behind and a few other things that they are doing.
Marine Scout/Sniper here....We watch as well.
Thank you for your service....Do you think that the ham/eggs would have been improved with a little bit of hot sauce?
Everything improves with hotsauce. Although as I age I like tobasco less and siracha more.
@@MREScout I'm probably older than you are....So spare me this "aging" crap ok?? 🤣
where do you source the repro rations?
I think that after a day marching, I would have been very happy to have this meal.
Where do you get this repro ration?
where can you get these?
Great review. This ration looks quite good. MREs have come a really long way, didn’t they?
The reason you had so much trouble with the P38 (AKA FRED Flaming Ridiculous Eating Device) was you were opening it backwards,
where did you purchase this K-Ration?
The paraffin-impregnated carton would make a passable source of fuel for preparing meals. Chopped fine with, say, a KaBar or equivalent, then put into a small hole dug with the same knife…
Are these inexpensive enough to be used or put back for emergencies?
I don't know if they are still made but they were kinda expensive for "real life scenario" @ 17$ each.
Hopefully you didn't succumb to the Luckies! We are all rooting for you, Darren :)
Where did you end up buying this K ration, and the german ration?
The K ration is from a company in the US. The German ration actually comes from Belarus.
Is this a reproduction? And where did you get it?
I never understood why they devoted that much space to sugar. One cup of coffee and a whole ounce of sugar? That's the equivalent of 7 sugar packets. Should have cut back the sugar ration in half and put in something else like cocoa powder or lemonade. Understanding that the ration was rushed through development and they had shortages all over the place, they did the best they could.
Other than that, really solidly designed ration for the time.
I think the WW2 lemonade powder needed to have sugar added to it. It wasn't presweetened.
Throw them away, been 10 years since I’ve had one, it only takes one to start again.
Mystery meat on crackers might be better. Especially if the meat is warm ish
Thanks for an informative video! I've watched other ration vids, but really like watching someone who actually lived the life and ate field rations in their natural environment--not a nice, neat tray. 😎
Even though these and other rations are only intended to be eaten for a few days, the compactness and portability meant that often, front-line troops had to survive on them for weeks (if not months) at a time. During the Battle of the Bulge, soldiers who were already underequipped with winter gear had to survive in nothing but K's. I understand that became something of a scandal.
Mein Vater war scharf auf diese Rationen speziell die Zigaretten. Lucky Strike gibt es in Deutschland zu kaufen.
when the Chindits, a force comprising British Australian, Indian and Gurka troops were sent out in an attempt to smash their way through the jungle to outflank the Japanese they were necessarily travelling light with the intention of being resupplied by air for one reason or another only K rats were available for air drop they lived on them for months one unfortunate individual was carried out of the jungle ny natives to where he could meet a vehicle driven to an airstrip and medevacced out when they checked his original records it was found he had lost 90 lbs in body weight
How old are these rations are they reproductions?
if you think american mre are good, you should try french "ration de combat"
Please tell me these aren't really as old as they would have to be in order to be from WWII...
I honestly can't believe they would have kept for that long even under perfect conditions...
It's a reproduction
DONT FCKN JIMMMMEEMEE, JULS
Anyone tell you're a good copy of Tony Montana (no insult meant), should do a review as him, probably would be very funny.
8:27 Looney Tunes. Bugs vs. Pete Puma.
Nice reproduction of an iconic military field ration from WWII.
(The laser printed data in the cans lid gave it away.)
Where do you find these reproduction rations? Would love to try one. No way in holy hell this was an actual ration, it's in better shape then the normal ones were when they were issued.
As noted, it's a repro. It's a Hogan reproduction late war K Ration. They are online.
Dude, watching you fight the cigarette urge was painful. Even the pregnant pause when you sat them down at first.
I won that round...
@@MREScout I didn't doubt you.
Did you just make that coffee with cold water? 🤢
They still make lucky strike and camals without filters. They cheaped out on them and the crackers. And the modern printing on the meat can.
Years ago I was at the Smithsonian when they had the 442nd army exhibit running. In video interviews with the veterans they said common practice was to use the wax paper and cardboard boxes as fuel to make cooking fires. They'd put the cans directly onto the burning cardboard until the cans got puffy and the heat expanded the water inside. That's when they knew the food was hot. They were issued b, l and rations but the GI would eat whatever he had at the time. The cigarettes were like their dessert and they always finished their meals with them.
"lucky strike green has gone to war! l.s.m.f.t."
You fail to realize that in order to save space and weight and the fact that most tabacco products of the time did not have filters.
Next time you use a P38, don't take such large bites with the tool. Try making your bites with the P38 a third of what you took on this particular can.
Good advice.
Those are shitty pall mall cigarettes with the filter ripped off 😂
The Fruit Bar suspiciously resembles brands of granola bars available in grocery stores, so that's probably where that comes from.
It think this was a repro? The stuff looked too brand new. That can of chopped ham would have bulged and been a hockey Puck.
@@paulwolf7562 He already stated it's a repro, made by someone in Bulgaria, I believe. It would be nearly impossible for a WWII ration to still be in this good of shape, obviously. But I was more curious on where/how the maker sourced the components. Whether it was an accurate recreation based on old documentation, or a modern facsimile simply dressed to give an authentic presentation. In other words, is it the original authentic recipes or is it things bought off the shelf that approximate the originals. It appears to be the latter.
L.S.M.F.T. ...............
In my many years on this paltry planet I don't think I've ever seen anybody have so much trouble with the p-38 can opener. 😁
My father was in the Army Air Corpus and said he liked the K Rations.
Is this a reproduction?
That can seriously looks like dog food. Gross.
Aside from having a strong artificial smoke flavor, it was actually very good.
Cold, exhausted, hungry, even dog food would be a delicacy.
Plus I would have had that can open a lot quicker you set it on a flat surface and work it all the way around real quick and hold on to it yeah you can do it that way but it takes a lot longer because you're fighting both you trying to open the can holding the can and all sorts of fun stuff
The p38 can opener works better with a clockwise rotation of the can. Got it reversed, hence the difficulty. Just sayin.
Here's a little thing for you when was the p38 invented the can opener not the aircraft because when I was in we were still eating the sea ration and that's the only thing you had to open them plus we actually had the Mess kit Plus the actual silverware knife fork and spoon go with the mess kit and I still can't understand why they got rid of the silverware especially the spoon hell as big as that thing was you could use it as a shovel
It's Fancy feast you had it right it's cat food it's Fancy feast
To have been in you use that John Wayne badly an that's what old salts call a P 38 for you youngsters .. 2 wars an still have mine an still use it
And you can grab one at an REI or Patagonia store. IIRC, like at the cashier station there'll be a goldfish bowl half full of loose P-38s.
Colin Fletcher endorsed them too, in case somebody brought cans into the field. He'd hike with one for that occasion.
I just found out that the new P-38 can openers are not as good as the ones that are from the 60's!. The one that I just bought a year ago is trashed!.
I got mine dated 1964.
Im not sure how you can review a recreation when all the food is not what was actually in a k ration its all modern and can't really be compared to real k ration
Hey quit your bitching about the p38 I use that damn thing up until I bought me a can opener an actual can opener and I still get the original one hooked to my dog tags that I had when I was in the service and that sucker still works just as good the ones they make now days are cheap garbage yeah they work but the bottom part of the p38 that holds into the rim of the can so the cutter edge can cut the lid open breaks apart to where then it won't work
What no booze? Why not a miniature of Jack Daniels?
He hot is with the Pulp Fiction line 😂 classic
He hot is with the Pulp Fiction line 😂 classic