Quote Originally Posted by David I Evans View Post
I'm wondering at the weight of 6 MREs. That's in the wrappers I presume ?

That's 48hrs of food. The equivalent British 24Hr Ration pack is about 2.1kgs packed or 4.6lbs ish. That's a 1lb shaved off. Once you start dumping stuff, I suspect you could shave at least 2lbs off and maybe 3.

From experience the MRE pack generates a mass of rubbish, nearly a large bin big per platoon the one time I lived on MREs as part of a Rifle Company on exercise in the States The 24Hr ration pack has nowhere near the same level of packaging as MREs
We got a little bit better with a new ration that left out a ton of the BS packaging.

http://www.mreinfo.com/us/fsr/first-strike-ration.html

The development of the FSR came from the fact that prior to deployment, soldiers would "field strip" their MREs. Field stripping involves removing all the excess MRE packaging and unwanted items - bags, boxes, heaters, extra spoons, accessory packs, etc. Creative field stripping could reduce 3 MREs - one day's worth - down to the same size as a single MRE. While this practice reduced the soldier's load by only packing the most critical MRE parts, it also led to increased waste and a reduced consumption of food. A single FSR, which is 24 hours worth of food, is approximately 50% the size and weight of three MREs.

1 FSR = 2,900 calories

3 MREs = 3,800 calories