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Survival Rations


dustin
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Dustin,

 

Once again a great thread. Wonderful research and information. I posted a 1960's over the water survival kit several years ago that also contained several rations. Here is the link below.. I will try to get better pictures specifically of the rations..

 

Leigh

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/49820-us-survival-kit-over-water/?hl=%2Bover+%2Bthe+%2Bwater+%2Bsurvival+%2Bkit

 

In my opinion, the field is relatively under studied. There were so many advancments going into the jet age, these kits were consistently being revised. The kit you posted I'm sure is an evolution of the early units I posted pictures of. I do know that going into Korea the C-2A raft was the standrad then, I believe, in 1954 it was superseded by the MB-4. This was standard for specific type aircraft. But where it really gets all katty whompus is with ejection seats, designations changed pending which type of seat it was used in conjunction with, same components but different outer container. It would be interesting to see a publication detailing the generations, now Breuningers book does illustrate quite a few but doesn't really spell it all out completely.

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Dustin-

 

How do you feel about Steve1989 on YouTube? He opens and eats old rations including but not exclusive to US stuff. I both cringe and enjoy the content. I look at it like this: he opens them so I don't have to. Either way, original and fun content you may enjoy. He just ate 1967 in-flight AAF ration. Gnarley!

 

He certainly takes a tutorial to the next level by actually eating them, lol. It all starts off pretty cool, then, well.... Even back to the 1930's when the USAAC was initiating emergency ration development, shelve life was always in consideration, in the ration and its packaging. Under wartime conditions, these were then put through the ringer! where many deficiencies were noted. So each succeeding generation, preservation was emphasized. The Emergency Parachute Ration and AAF Aircrew Lunch were still in inventory through Korea and used, basically a decade. Considering emergency or survival rations were just basically candies, I see no reason why they wouldn't last for a very very long time

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Dustin, thank you for another enlightening thread. Awhile ago I picked up a 1954 ration I wanted for a display I was working on for a Cold War presentation. The seller included some pictures of the canned rations along with the contents. Looks like the picture of the one in #6, but here it is for comparison.

 

post-17422-0-54616100-1490125952_thumb.jpg

 

I'm wondering if in your research you've come across any good pictures of the contents of the Cold War era E-1 survival pack? The only image I've found is a rather fuzzy one from a 1953 National Geographic article.

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I'm wondering if in your research you've come across any good pictures of the contents of the Cold War era E-1 survival pack? The only image I've found is a rather fuzzy one from a 1953 National Geographic article.

 

AHH Your wanting a better image with the Boker-155, I'm certain. But, no such luck from my end. What I've archived has been by happen stance, I do make an effort to check post war records since they often include WWII stuff even up through Korea, images get intermixed. I have noticed a consistency, records and image holdings have had a tendency to thin out and to be non-existent during and after the Korean war era. I don't know why that is. They are still hidden away somewhere.

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:) I'll always take more and new information on the knives used by the USAAF and the USAF. But in this case I'm still interested in how the emergency kits evolved as the the mission requirements broadened from regional to global.

Saving up my pennies for when your book is available. :D

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Yes that would be a great under taking from somebody else for sure, I stop of VJ-Day. If the item was developed during the war I take it to post hostilities, or at least make note of when the next subsequent change took place. I have attempted in the past to gain an understanding of later kits but gets complicated and confusing real quick. It will take some direct focus to really iron it all out. This image is an earlier concept of the Type A-1 global kit, it includes a .22 Cal revolver.

post-56-0-53549900-1490302730_thumb.jpg

 

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