Individual diet for the Russian army. As you know, it can be everyday (IRP-P) and combat (IRP-B). There are a number of other varieties. We invite you to talk about everyday life.
The provision of food rations to soldiers has been known since Ancient Rome. Products were issued to both the Russian army and navy. What was included, for example, in the naval food list of the mid-19th century, can be read in the article about the Battle of Sinop
1853.
But the history of dry rations in their modern sense dates back to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. In its formalized form, the idea of individual diets (IRP) arose a little later - at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.
By that time, the armies of the world had become much more mobile. Military science has already developed an idea of what types of food are best for soldiers’ meals. For dry rations, they began to use food that had undergone special processing and had a long shelf life. Such food could be consumed both cold and heated. The same principle has been preserved to this day.
This is why the governments of Germany, Britain, France, the USA, and Russia began to allocate funds to buy stewed meat
for their armies. In the British army there was even a separate type of dry ration - Iron ration (in English - Iron ration). It was an emergency supply, where all products were sealed in tin containers. Such an IRP was allowed to be opened only with the permission of the officer and only after there was a complete lack of other products, as well as the impossibility of delivering food.
A direct consequence of the development of army food subsequently became army recipes with stewed meat
during the Great Patriotic War.
Many canned soups and ready-made main courses
owe their appearance, inclusion in modern IRPs and free sale largely to the events described.
We buy goods
It is not difficult to buy real officer rations in Vladivostok, where there are many military units. And there is no need to climb after them through the fence of the unit, or crawl on your bell past the guard. On any classifieds website you can find a section dedicated to dry rations and several necessary telephone numbers. The set costs from 150 rubles and above. The peculiarity of such trade and the main factor in pricing is the shelf life. As a rule, the terms are short, and the longer, the more expensive it is.
Our seller named Denis offered a choice of sets whose expiration date would be in two weeks - 230 rubles per set, after a month and a half - 250 rubles, two months - 260 rubles. He also offered expired ones: 180 per package, the expiration date of which was two weeks ago, and 160 for a month overdue. Naturally, we didn’t take any risks and chose the “freshest” product.
Individual diet. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
The place of sale will usually be some kind of warehouse or garage if you want to pick up the goods yourself. There is also “city delivery” for 200 rubles. The time of the meeting with the “seller” is negotiable, here you need to get into the situation - he is a forced person and the Motherland may need it at any time. But you can agree on a late evening, without compromising work. This is what happened with us: it was more convenient for both the seller and the buyer to “cross paths” late in the evening in the area of Cape Churkin.
The test purchase took place under the cover of the Vladivostok night fog on a deserted street. A worthy setting for such a transaction is to buy boxes with “not for sale” written large on them. Denis turned out to be a tall, smiling young guy, hiding his military bearing under civilian clothes. On a white Japanese car from the 90s, a typical “contract driver”. Warehouse managers don’t drive these kind of cars, preferring “predica” ones.
Denis handed us a box with seven rations (usually the box contains sets of the same type, but our new friend specially selected all different ones from his supplies for us). Of course, he didn’t tell me what part the diet came from. But he approached meeting journalists without fear: what’s wrong with this, there are a lot of people selling. He promised to continue to cooperate if we wanted to become regular customers. He warned that there might be products in the package that were damaged in their packaging - if we find them, he is ready to come and replace them. What can you do, boxes are often loaded from place to place and abandoned. Looking ahead, everything turned out to be fine in the purchased samples and packaging.
How is the officer's packed ration packed?
The weight of an individual diet slightly exceeds 2 kg. The dry food is in a small rectangular cardboard box, coated on the inside with a thin layer of aluminum (like Tetra Pak). The top of the box has a round hole to make it easier to remove.
The box with the diet is placed in a durable polymer bag with a reliable folding handle. Opening the package is not difficult: the glued parts of the handle only need to be stretched in opposite directions. The packaging is designed so that the packed rations are easy to store and carry.
Who needs this?
In fact, not everything is “smuggling”, like packed lunches. They are sold quite legally by military shops. As it turned out, individual diets are in great demand in Vladivostok. On the eve of May 9, there was not a single copy left in the entire Fleet Department Store.
— Now there are no dry rations anymore, come back after the holidays. You understand, this is such a time that people are now sweeping away everything from the army,” said the store salesman.
He also assured that they sell only those goods that are allowed for sale.
According to the deputy chairman of the Council of the Primorsky regional branch of the All-Russian public organization of veterans “Combat Brotherhood” Viktor Tarabarin , most of the dry rations removed from the territory of military units are still written off.
In theory, they should be destroyed when the expiration date expires. But if something lies in the army for a long time, then in civilian life it may well be useful to someone. These diets are especially loved by tourists and hunter-fishermen. Although many people even buy it just for home. In general, I recommend everyone to keep a similar “NZ” in their house. As the typhoon that passed last year showed, it can come in handy out of the blue,” Tarabarin said.
He also remembered that during his service in the army, dry rations were the usual set of canned goods that soldiers threw into their duffel bags. They were in metal cans and weighed significantly more than they do now.
Hiking enthusiasts really appreciate these “soft canned goods”. Convenient, nutritious, tasty. Although there are also disadvantages.
- Despite all the advantages, the packed lunch is still monotonous. Although it is very suitable for fast races with a small amount of time to rest. But the romance of long gatherings around the fire still requires freshly cooked food, says experienced hiker Pyotr Emaltynov.
Individual diet. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Professional tourist-athlete Sergei Kochergin, for whom the weight of the product is an important criterion, does not use “green suitcases”.
- Of course, on the one hand it is very universal. Beginning tourists love IRP, when you don’t yet know exactly what you need. And when experience comes, people form their own diet. Experienced tourists prefer to prepare their own canned food, because it takes a long time to carry it, every extra gram is important,” says Kochergin.
Try
Finally, the time has come to open the bags and taste their contents. In total there were seven different ration options, in which coffee, sugar, vitamins, biscuits, dry fuel, spoons and other accessories remained unchanged. But the main dishes and canned food for spreading on bread differed from one to another.
The editorial staff tried to try everything to form a collective opinion.
“Buckwheat porridge with stew” turned out to be quite salty, with the characteristic taste of canned stew, and quite crumbly. The men appreciated how filling it was, although of course you can only eat it on hikes, it’s canned after all. “Meat with green peas and carrots ,” where there were actually small pieces of meat and carrots among the peas, some found it a bit bland, but the shape and satiety compensated for this deficiency.
“Beef with beans and vegetables” was a bit tough for tasters. But the meatballs were positively rated by everyone who tried them: real meat, a good ratio of salt and seasonings, and most importantly - satisfying. Especially considering that they were heated, as intended, with dry fuel, and not in a microwave.
We got seven options. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Everything is laid out ergonomically. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Matches and dry fuel. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Sugar and drink concentrate. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Coffee, tea, cream, spoons. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Even the good creators of the diet included chewing gum. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Wipes, vitamins and water purifier. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Army biscuits. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Small canned food. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Lard. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Examination of army dry rations. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Examination of army dry rations. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Examination of army dry rations. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
So many things. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Meat with peas. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Beets and lard. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
We heat food using dry fuel. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
Chocolate. Photo: Yulia Nikitina, PrimaMedia news agency
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“Beet caviar” sold out very quickly. The mixture of sweet and salty flavors complemented any other dish perfectly. According to the editors, this is one of the most delicious canned foods in all the sets.
Processed cheese is slightly bitter when eaten directly, but leaves a pleasant creamy aftertaste. True, two cheeses identical in label turned out to be completely different in appearance and consistency. Apparently the second one was already past its expiration date. “Vegetable stew,” apparently, was prepared in the best traditions of Soviet canteens, when simple ingredients make a surprisingly tasty dish.
Opinion about the " sausage pate" was mixed. Some people thought it was the strangest product, others it reminded others of a doctor’s sausage. The other pates were a little more familiar and went well with the biscuits. True, the biscuits will be a serious test for your teeth. You still have to try to bite them off, although this may be a sign of a long shelf life.
Applesauce was especially appreciated by weight-conscious girls: 100 grams of grated fruit and no sugar - what could be better for a follower of proper nutrition. And the taste turned out to be familiar from childhood. Perhaps this is exactly the kind of “puree” we were fed in the first 5 years of life.
Separately, it should be said about lard, called “salted bacon . The lard there is boiled, and not everyone likes it. Of course, if you try, you can make it easier if you sprinkle it with black pepper, which is in the set. But even with biscuits it doesn’t turn out particularly tasty. For such a case, you need a crust of black bread.
The chocolate with Suvorov's quote on the packaging turned out to be excellent. But instant coffee from a bag is not very good. In our office, instant coffee tastes better.
Dry soldering requirements
Despite the fact that the composition of the army IRP in Russia and foreign countries is different, the requirements for its composition and packaging are the same:
- The packaging of the IRP must be sealed and protected from any contamination.
- The composition of the IRP should include only products with a long shelf life. The contents of products requiring special storage conditions are excluded.
- Products with easily digestible ingredients that are not capable of causing food allergies, disorders, etc. should be included.
- Foods should be easy to prepare or already processed.
- The energy and nutritional value of IRP products should be the daily human requirement.
In addition to perishable products, it is prohibited to include alcohol, products with confectionery or cooking fat, cocoa, as well as those containing a large amount of spices, preservatives, and natural coffee in the IRP. The presence of fresh fruits and vegetables, and any products that have not passed clinical and laboratory tests is also unacceptable.
