Military Ration Packs: New Zealand Army, 1986 vs 2021

 The changing face of soldiers rations..

One of the lads on the RNZ Signals Facebook group recently posted a picture of a typical 1980's New Zealand Army ration pack and I thought it would be interesting to see how they have changed since then. I was in the Army from 1987 to 1991 and I often used these rations until some minor changes were introduced in the early 1990's. 

A 1986 vintage New Zealand Army Ration Pack

Back then the New Zealand Army used canned food in its rations...small cans of meat stew, baked beans and spaghetti. I was once told by an army cook the cans of stew were one grade above dog food and having eaten them I would not discount this at all...they tasted OK but were fatty and looked disgusting. 

One Man 24 Hour Ration Packed (canned):

A breakdown of the contents of the canned ration are as follows:

Main Meals:

Corned Beef and Vegetables, 170 gm's (canned)

Spiced Mutton and Vegetables, 170 gm's (canned)

Spaghetti and Sausages, 170 gm's (canned)

The main meals were in cans...

You could also get another variant with Baked Beans and Meatballs and Lamb and Vegetable Casserole. I liked the spiced mutton stew the best...it was good hot..not so good cold.  The other contents were always the same...

Side dishes:

Cup of Soup, sachet (different flavors)

Rice, 85gm bag

Service Biscuits, sweet (2 packets)

Honey, liquid (tube)

Sparkles hard candies, packet

Chocolate, military, dark (1 bar)

Sultanas, 50 gms (1 packet)

Salt, 7 gms (2 sachets)

Curry Powder

...the side dishes, drinks and some condiments...

Drinks:

Tea, loose leaf (2 packets) You had to make this in your cups canteen....spitting out tea leaves as you drank...not fun!!!

Coffee, instant (2 sachets)

Milk Powder, dried (2 packets)

Sugar, 7gms packet (6 sachets)

Misc.

Matches

Steelo pad with soap

P38 can opener

We used to supplement these meals with our own store brought noodles, dried onions, biscuits, sweets and condiments. Every soldier would carry hot sauce and things like pepper and garlic salt to add flavor. There were also freeze dried rations with the mains replaced with Alliance brand dried meals but these usually only went to the Special Forces...I only ever used them once. 

This Alliance freeze dried meal is an item in the Canterbury Museum

There were some minor changes in 1990 so while it was still canned food we got new goodies like Maggi noodles, tuna fish (instead of the stew), tubes of condensed milk, jam and marmite, tea bags and muesli bars. 

The 2021 Operation Ration Pack:

Compare this with the modern iteration of a New Zealand Army ration the ORP or Operational Ration Pack. These are much more comprehensive and balanced with a greater variety of items and more thought about the nutritional value of the items.

The New Zealand Operational Ration Pack....

The main problem with the ORP is the weight...they are nearly 2 kg's each!!!  A lot of the contents would need to be 'field stripped' or removed from the pack to make them a manageable size. There is also a lot of packaging which gets problematic as you have to carry it with you...

..There are a variety of menus in the ORP range...

Anyway...lets have a look at what the modern New Zealand soldier eats out in the field...

Contents of the NZ Army ORP:

There are 8 separate main meal options depending on menu number, this one has...

Mains:

Chili Beef with rice, retort pouch 300 gm's (1 pouch)

Chicken with Vegetables, retort pouch 300 gm's (1pouch)

Other mains include: Moroccan Lamb, Chicken Satay, Vegetable Tagine, Beef and Vegetable Stew, Chicken Jambalaya, Thai Chicken...

All of the items in an ORP laid out...a lot of food!!!

Sides:

Instant noodles, chicken (1 packet) Beef is the other flavor...

Crackers, Cream Cracker (1 packet)

Cheese spread, can (1 can)

Muesli bars (2 bar)

Fruit bar (1bar)

Biscuits, Choc Chip/ANZAC/Jam they vary per menu (1packet)

Fruit & Nuts, dried, packet (1 packet)

Chocolate, bar (2 bars)

Boiled sweets, packet (1 packet)

Sweetened Condensed Milk, tube

Jam/Vegemite, packet...it varies with menu number (2 packets)

Contents sheet and nutritional information for the ORP

Drinks:

Soup, instant (1 packet)

Sports drink, sachet (2 sachets)

Coffee, instant (3 sachets)

Tea, bag (3 sachets)

Chocolate drink, packet (2 packets)

Possible breakfast option from the ORP...

Misc:

Onion flakes, dried (1 packet)

Chilli Sauce

Sugar, sachets (6 sachets)

Gum (2 packets)

Salt

Pepper

Plastic spoon

Towelettes, antiseptic (6 towelettes)

Matches

Scrubbing pad

Incidentally I used the old style canned rations on a number of tramping trips I did back in the 1980's notably the trip around the Northern Circuit on Mt Tongariro, Hanmer to St Arnaud, trips into the Kaimanawa's and also on the Heaphy Track in 1990. They were Army organised trips so we used our Army equipment, rations and transport...