I'd say don't put anything else than water in a hydration bladder, such as Camelbak or Source. These bladders are meant for water only and you might end up ruining it if you do not wash it properly. They do not react well to sugar or chemicals.Junior wrote:
In this thread's context I would recommend to buy food on Berget or use the food tickets.
MRE's are cool if you're into hardcore milsim, and a necessity if you're going to be on the field most of the time but not in a permanent base where you got food.
Get real food!
Also, do get an energy drink (Not redbull!!!) in you canteen, hydration bladder, a bottle or whatever.
Beside of the hard work of cleaning it later you will get tired of it's taste and not have another option.
You can however, as wired as it sounds, switch the canteen (or whatever solution you choose) with your teammate, and both of you will enjoy the benefits of both the drinks.
Instead have your water in your bladder, and keep a separate canteen for any type of sports drink or whatnot. I usually keep a regenerating sports drink back at the base that I will empty during the evening before hitting the hay. It will help with restoring my energy level for the next day.
Foodwise we need to remember there are other options than MREs and BE food. Last Berget I saw people eat their BE provided food warm ONCE. This was not only because they were out on the field at the time of the arrival of the meals, but also because regulating this was hard as the deliveries were made irregularily.
You can easily make your own food on site. Most of us use different sorts of field stoves, the most popular propably being the swedish Trangia. Basically only your imagination (and enthusiasm) is the limit regarding what you can make yourself.
For example many times I need fast energy, so I eat a pasta of some sorts. But because I don't want the energy level to wear down too quickly I add meat. Salami, spam, canned meatballs or whatnot.
You can mix and match so you don't get bored with your food. You can make yourself a nutricious porage in the morning or go with noodles.
I do understand though, that when you travel thousands of klicks to berget, you will think twice about what you really need because you don't want to carry everything with you, and food adds A LOT of weight. So that's easily a no go for many long distance travellers. This applies to MREs as well so you really have to think about the pros and cons before you decide.
BE food:
+no stress about food, its made for you
+price isn't half bad
+warm if lucky
+no need to carry food while traveling
-cold if unlucky
-cant decide what u eat
-cant decide when u eat
MREs
+fast and easy
+almost tasty
+eat when u want to eat
-gets repetitive very quickly
-expensive
-adds weight to your backpack
Field stove cooking
+sky's the limit for what u can make
+u can make food when ever u want it
+cooking is therapeutic
+easy at best
-food and stove adds weight to your backpack
-you actually do have to make something to heat your food
-washing the dishes is always very offputting
-don't pair up with the commander. He will be running around and you end up doing his food too!
Whatever u eat for meals, always carry snacks in your vest to boost your energy level. Also, in guard duty, when it's raining and you're freezing nothing makes you feel better than candy. When I was in the military and I felt like crap crawling knee deep in snow in the middle of the night in -15 degrees celcius its amazing what difference some gummy bears can make Thank god for gummy bears, or whoever invented them. I don't think it was god