What is THIS???

[yeti76620]

Look'n for some information from this plethora of knolwedge....... smart arse or otherwise.... The Longbranch

The Dates are form 1967, Nov & Dec....I was a few years too young to experience this:

Question is...What's in the B-3 UNIT?....      

Thank You 

[Blair]

Typical  Military "C" rations from that time period.
These were not all that bad. Not at all like the older "K" rations.

[Shotgun Franklin]

Looks like your basic C-Rations. When I lived on the coast we kept about 10 cases on hand for Hurricane Season. I ate some while a Cop too. I kept a 'meal' handy in case I got caught out away from civilization doing something. Never had the Boned Chicken. C-Rats were edible and OK if you weren't eating them constantly. I'll bet some Nam era Vets will know more these too.

[Advertising]

[yeti76620]

Yep...  Pretty much figured it was a "Chicken" C-Ration of the "Nam" era and all contents are clearly labeled but the B-3 UNIT.......

Question is what's inside the B-3 UNIT can?

   

Thanks...

[John Smith]

I have thankfully forgotten what were in the various "B" cans.  Here's an interesting read about "C rats" and others.  http://www.foxco-2ndbn-9thmarines.com/c-rations.htm

[GunClick Rick]

Round crackers,shake it,is it light weight?The chicken is like spam all compressed,i had a couple boxes years ago.We took it campin once and dug into it,chewed the gum (chicklets) and i think it had some mini packs of smokes.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:n0JVtuMVQMgJ:www.astrotx.com/C-Rations.pdf+B-3+units&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiodV_rMcQ5EvhZryy76F7jHJZoNOCBFhkCvQbH6xg8wJ2gPO_uA7BJrblLjjLRJ8SD7mwdZ8-WoGaRb_rh_BfgPQK0e3UULeDvnvahFjo-vwqVQeArs3lfiMn4WelA_rL8DdUh&sig=AHIEtbRM74mHu5wneoqoiV1UtvEUPc6bUQ

[GunClick Rick]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal,_Combat,_Individual_ration

[Blair]

So...
The question is, "What do you hant to know"

[Forty Rod]

Yeti, the good news is, they won't kill you.

The bad news is they won't kill you.  If you have a way...and the time...to heat them they aren't bad. They aren't great, but they aren't bad.  The ham and limas are exception:  they are nasty and inedible no matter what you do with, or to, them.

I used to collect all the chocolate bars I could get and take them when we went into Vietnamese villages.  The kids loved them.

[yeti76620]

Wow Gun Click Rick....  I would not have thought EVER that this stuff was documented like that........    

B-3 UNIT can has: Cookies, Coco powder, and a mystery jam spread!.......  NICE!

Forty Rod.....  Think these 45 year ol' cans kill me now?      

Thank You Gentlemen!

[Shotgun Franklin]

Did ya'll know that Civil Defense also had a bunch'a C-Rats that they could use? I used to pick'm up in Galveston. The only difference was that they didn't have cigarettes in'm. Well that and the variety wasn't as good, I only ever saw one case of the breakfast meals and never saw any Lima Beans in CD rations.

[yeti76620]

I think they saved the Ham & Lima's for the Fight'n men to keep 'em pissed off there Shotgun Franklin...

From what Forty Rod said and the material I've been read'n the Ham 'n Lima bean thing was/is just awful....

[Forty Rod]

Wow Gun Click Rick....  I would not have thought EVER that this stuff was documented like that........    

B-3 UNIT can has: Cookies, Coco powder, and a mystery jam spread!.......  NICE!

Forty Rod.....  Think these 45 year ol' cans kill me now?      

Thank You Gentlemen!

They are likely okay if the containers are still sealed.  They have a millennium-long shelf life.

They might even become better as they get older.  They say your sense of taste get worse as you age.   

One piece of history is the obsolete cigarette brands that used to show up in the packs.  We used to swap them like trading cards.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Wow,

This brings back memories!

There use to be a small peanut butter cup in some of the rations ....

If one could do it unseen, one (usually me) would casually toss it unopened in the coals of the fire ... then beat a hasty retreat/nature call .....

And wait for the can to explode ... with a aound like a small round and molten peanut butter going every where ....

Looking back, I kinda long for the simplicity of getting enthused about those things ....

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Hi Again,

I also remember getting Wings cigarettes as part of the issue
 
This was 1970: Wings cigarettes had not been made since 1947....

TTFN,

[Forty Rod]

Those were interesting times, Wadd. 

I remember in 'Nam rolling C-4 into a long rope and making a coil of it about 4-5 inches across.  You could light one end and cook over it, but the smell was awful. Used to freak out the new guy because they thought it would explode. 

It's amazing to me these days how easy it was to get C-4, grenades, Tommy guns, M-2 carbines, AK-47s, and M3A1 "grease guns", and other stuff.

[John Smith]

We used to use those little cans of peanut butter to cook over.  If you had the "runs", the so called cheese spread would stop you up.  The thin discs of foil wrapped chocolate were delicious.  OTOH the "gorilla biscuits" were of various flavors and consistency  The various main meals ranged from pretty good to mystery meat swimming in semi congealed grease.  Bottom line though if you're really hungry you ate them.

[Don Nix]

The turkey loaf was pretty good. you could melt the cheese and put on the chicken and turkey loaf and that made it a little better. I used to keep a bottle of tobasco sauce to help with the C rats.. the chocolates were reallly good.
I have eaten several boxes of C rats that were marked 1941 and older. the only problem was with the cigarettes. some times the old cigarettes would have weevil holes in them and you had to hold your fingers over the holes like you were playing a flute to smoke them.I still carry a P38 on my key chain. its been there over 40 years .

[Blair]

I don't remember the "ham & lima beans"...?
Some were really not too bad and even had a very high swap and trade value.
Spaghetti meal was usually pretty high on than list. I seem to remember Beans & Franks could rate pretty high too. But, I wont buy "Beanie Weenies" to this day in the stores. (I wonder why?)
The ones I detested were the sliced beef and/or pork packed in sauce. (pork was the worst of the lot) The 'sauce' was grease, lard or tallow! Otherwise known a rifle bore cleaner. This stuck to the roof of your mouth and did not stay in your system long enough to pass GO and don’t even think about having the time to collect $200.00 When you realized you had to hit the Head/Lateran, you were already day late!
This stuff was like having a can of "instant Dysentery" to me

[Slamfire]

I 'v heard people say " no way i'm eat'n horse meat",,,oh really!!!. Think about it. We used our steel pot's                                to heat water in ,,then drop in canned meat' and anything else you wanted warmed up. " Chesterfield" non filtered 4- pk.






    Hootmix.