Last year Carl Schulze, while covering a Bundeswehr-led multinational exercise, picked up a spare late production Einmannpackung, writes Bob Morrison.
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Firstly, I must point out that there are no real surprises in this review of an Einmannpackung (EPa) with a Best Before Date (Mindesthaltbarkeitsdatum or MHD) of 28 February 2025, but as this time Carl sent me a non-veggie retort pouch version I was keen to try it out. In addition to having German origin (Erasco) pouches rather than the Spanish origin (Jomipsa) pouches mentioned in FR34 or foil trays mentioned in FR33, this carton is also one of the last of the Einmannpackung production batch.
Regular readers of this Rations section of Joint-Forces will be aware from past articles on Germany’s grey carton field cuisine that a little while back the Bundeswehr had to surrender to the ‘woke’ onslaught and change the traditional name of its Einmannpackung (One Man Pack) to Einpersonenpackung (One Person Pack). However being practical types, our German friends only initially changed the paperwork relating to future production and waited until the existing multi-year contract ran out before going to the expense and bother of generating new paperwork and package labelling for what is otherwise an essentially unchanged 24-hour ration pack.
Although overall this pack was a little out-of-date when I finally got around to opening and photographing it in late April (the last year has been a busy one for me and I have a Rations backlog) many of the components were actually still individually within date. Most ration packs are intended to have quite a long shelf life, though some of the commercial items included might have shorter Best Before Dates, but usually foodstuffs will be edible well past the given date.
¤ Chocolate Mouse Dessert and Fruit Muesli retort pouches [© BM]
Remember that ‘Best Before’ is predominantly intended for guidance, but ‘Use By’ is a clear instruction which should not be ignored; unless, of course, you are literally starving with no other form of nutrition available. If in doubt once the Best Before Date has lapsed, let first your nose and then a few of your tastebuds be the judge because usually they won’t let you down. If it smells wrong and it tastes wrong don’t eat it! Seemples!!!
This German EPa carton was Typ 4 and contained: 2x 300g Ready-To-Eat meal pouches; 1x 80g Muesli pouch; 1x85g Tuna pouch; 1x60g Dessert pouch; 1x 170g Wholemeal Rye Bread ring-pull tin with replaceable lid; 1x 25g Cheese Spread (processed) sachet; 2x 48g Meat Spread foil tubs; 2x25g jam foil tubs; 2x 35g Energy Bars; 2x 25g Chocolate Bars; 1x 50g Dried Fruit Mix; 1x 35g Cookies; 1x 25g Beef Jerky sachet; plus Beverages and an Accessories Pack. According to the EPa Typ 1-6 Contents List my Typ 4 pack should also have contained 1x 125g Biscuits, as per all other EPa rations we have covered, but even though the packed full carton was taped closed these usually foil-wrapped crackers were missing this time.
I split my three meals into: Muesli with Apple & Strawberries plus Rye Bread and Spreads for Breakfast; Tuna as starter plus Erbseneintopf mit Cocktailwürstchen (or Pea Soup with Cocktail Sausages) for Lunch; and Currybockwurst mit Kartoffeln (or Curry Sausages with Potatoes) plus Chocolate Mousse dessert for Dinner. The many snacks were either spread out over a couple of days or stowed in my travel food & drinks pack for future consumption on assignments; although I usually try to source myself an evening cooked meal when working away from base, I am often on the road before breakfast time and that is when energy bars, chocolate and jerky etc. can come in handy along with a flask. The Accessories Pack and Beverages were identical to those covered in past EPa cartons, with the drinks sachets also being useful additions to my travel food & drinks pack.
It is not really fair to stereotype Germans as only eating sausages, even though there are said to be at least 1500 official types and variants, because their cuisine is much broader than this with many regional variations. However both Mains in this ration pack did actually contain sausages; one being a thick pea soup and the other being a very mild curry and paprika stew with diced potatoes. Both were edifying, and probably suit the German palate, but I wouldn’t write home about them and I find most German sausages to be much too processed and fatty for my personal taste. The fruit muesli, even though carefully reconstituted with a measured 150ml of water, seemed a bit watery to me but it was okay. The tuna with salad cream from Danish company OrifO, on the other hand, was superb and I could have happily eaten that as a 300g main course. The tinned rye bread has definitely grown on me over the years, and the tubs of jam and spread were tasty, with even the pepper-flavoured soft cheese spread being surprisingly pleasant.
¤ Pea soup with cocktail sausages [© BM]
¤ Tuna in salad cream [© BM]
¤ Curry sausages with potatoes [© BM]
As mentioned further up the page, there were few surprises with this ration pack but I’m glad I tried what looks to the the last of the Man Packs. It will be interesting to see if the latest Person Packs herald anything new, but I won’t be at all surprised if the Einpersonenpackung description is merely window dressing.
¤ My next full ration pack review, if all goes to plan, should be on individual Spanish Armed Forces Breakfast and Lunch packs, though I have a couple of individual manufacturer samples from Poland and France to also take a brief look at in this section. After that I’ll probably return to the topic of Norwegian Arctic Rations.
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Further reading:-
- Field Rations 32 ~ Bundeswehr Lightweight Einmannpackung
- Field Rations 33 ~ Bundeswehr Boxed Einmannpackung
- Field Rations 34 ~ New Bundeswehr (Bagged) Einmannpackung
- Field Rations 72 ~ Bundeswehr Einmannpackung 2022
- Field Rations 75 ~ Bundeswehr VJTF23 Einmannpackung
- Field Rations 83 ~ The Last Bundeswehr Einmannpackung?
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