thedrifter
08-02-04, 11:53 AM
HEAT TO GO: New Hot Beverage Bag for Soldiers
How do you get hot water in the field? A seemingly simple question, but one that torments the Soldier every day. The U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center thinks it has the answer: a hot beverage bag that will cost the taxpayer less than one cent.
By Lisa Burgess,
Stars and Stripes European Edition
ARLINGTON, Va. -- Starting next year, tired soldiers in the field will be able to quickly cook up a cup of Joe, thanks to a sealable plastic bag that will be put in every Meal, Ready to Eat, or MRE.
The new "hot beverage bag" is designed to be used in conjunction with the flameless ration heater bag included in every MRE.
The warfighter would fill the bag with a cup of water, seal it, place it inside the heater bag, and after six minutes, be able to place the hot bagin a cardboard box and mix in the instant coffee or other beverage mix.
The bag provides a solution to a dilemma that has nagged defense food experts since steel helmets went out of style.
"[What] we haven't been able to do well is provide hot water in the field," according to Gerald Darsch, director of the Department of Defense Combat Feeding Directorate at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass.
Soldiers used to be able to boil water in their helmets; no more with Kevlar.
Offering within the MREs a simple plastic bag that costs taxpayers less than one cent "is a real no-brainer," Darsch said during a June 17 demonstration on Capitol Hill of the directorate's latest innovations. "But it's probably going to make more of a difference to the warfighter than any of the other fancy, bells-and-whistles [food packaging] developments we've done."
The ration heaters are intended to heat the MRE entree, but Darsch said Natick researchers have long noted that many troops don't use the device.
"There are always plenty of spare [ration heaters] around," Darsch said.
Likewise, the cardboard containers that surround many food items, including the entree, are often discarded, he said.
In the process of conducting their research into improving MREs, Natick scientists had collected numerous comments from troops saying that a waterproof, resealable plastic bag would be handy -- not just for storing uneaten snacks, but also to hold small personal items.
So last year, Natick researchers decided to combine the obvious, Darsch said -- a plastic bag for carrying items that doubles as a coffee mug.
The plastic bags were field-tested by troops in Iraq over the winter, and were "an unbelievable hit," Darsch said.
In response, Combat Feeding officials decided to put the bags on the fast track, Darsch said. Natick's schedule now calls for the devices to be inserted into all MREs that will be manufactured beginning in 2005, Darsch said.
Hot Beverage Bag: The Skinny
Name:
Hot Beverage Bag
Type of Equipment:
Sealable Plastic Bag
Killer Feature:
Used in conjunction with the flameless reation heater bag, the "hot beverage bag" can be filled with a cup of water, then sealed, placed inside the heater bag, and after six minutes, turn out water hot enough to place in a cardboard box and mix with instant coffee or other beverage mix.
Hot Water Bag: Reality Check
In 2005 the Army's Natick Soldier Center (NSC) will field a resealable plastic bag that can be used with the flameless ration heater (FRH) to make hot water. No doubt this new technology will be a significant improvement over the ZiplocŪ bags soldiers have been taking to the field since 1964...
Seriously though, the ability to heat water in the field since the steel pot (a.k.a. Helmet, Steel, M-1) went away is something that the Army has left un-addressed for far too long. It remains to be seen if these "Hot Beverage Bags" are the solution, however. They theoretically make sense -- the bag can be used in conjunction with the pre-existing FRH to heat water; once "supported" inside an empty cardboard ration box (another pre-existing item), a beverage can be mixed in and then consumed. But is this technology new (Glad invented the resealable bag 40 years ago), or is it an improvement over items already in the Army's inventory? Whatever happened to using the canteen cup?
The FRH will do the trick for a cup of coffee or for heating your Country Captain Chicken, but it might not do much good if you're in the mountains of northern Afghanistan, and the only available water looks a lot like snow. Unfortunately for today's soldiers, at some point the Army decided that flame was a bad thing, and took away everything that made it or used it. Gone are the hexamine and trioxane fuel tabs, gone are the gasoline burning M1950 squad stoves, and gone are the steel pots that you could make a fire under. All that's left are the canteen cup and its attendant cooking stand (albeit with no heat source cook with).
Open flame in a combat situation can be a very dangerous thing (especially at night), but there were ways to get around that. For example, trioxane fuel tabs and wood alcohol ration heaters burn with a faint blue flame that is all but invisible to the naked eye (and certainly not strong enough to set off the fire detection sensors inside the turret of an M1 tank). When used with the canteen stand, these are more than adequate to heat a canteen cup of water.
When the tactical situation allows, there is simply no substitute for flame when it comes to heating water (or your hands, feet, etc.), or melting snow (you'll notice there are no extension cords running up the side of Everest). What soldiers really need is a compact, lightweight multi-fuel (i.e. everything from unleaded to white gas to JP-8) stove that comes with a self contained fuel supply and cooking pot. The old M1950 stove fit this bill perfectly, as does the Swedish made Optima ClimberŪ. This would not only give Soldiers the ability to make coffee, but it would allow them to melt snow, purify drinking water, heat rations, and even boil water to shave and bathe with.
http://www.*************/pics/SoldierTech_HotBev-1.jpg
M1950 gas stove.
http://www.*************/pics/SoldierTech_HotBev-5.jpg
Trioxane fuel tabs.
Ellie
How do you get hot water in the field? A seemingly simple question, but one that torments the Soldier every day. The U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center thinks it has the answer: a hot beverage bag that will cost the taxpayer less than one cent.
By Lisa Burgess,
Stars and Stripes European Edition
ARLINGTON, Va. -- Starting next year, tired soldiers in the field will be able to quickly cook up a cup of Joe, thanks to a sealable plastic bag that will be put in every Meal, Ready to Eat, or MRE.
The new "hot beverage bag" is designed to be used in conjunction with the flameless ration heater bag included in every MRE.
The warfighter would fill the bag with a cup of water, seal it, place it inside the heater bag, and after six minutes, be able to place the hot bagin a cardboard box and mix in the instant coffee or other beverage mix.
The bag provides a solution to a dilemma that has nagged defense food experts since steel helmets went out of style.
"[What] we haven't been able to do well is provide hot water in the field," according to Gerald Darsch, director of the Department of Defense Combat Feeding Directorate at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass.
Soldiers used to be able to boil water in their helmets; no more with Kevlar.
Offering within the MREs a simple plastic bag that costs taxpayers less than one cent "is a real no-brainer," Darsch said during a June 17 demonstration on Capitol Hill of the directorate's latest innovations. "But it's probably going to make more of a difference to the warfighter than any of the other fancy, bells-and-whistles [food packaging] developments we've done."
The ration heaters are intended to heat the MRE entree, but Darsch said Natick researchers have long noted that many troops don't use the device.
"There are always plenty of spare [ration heaters] around," Darsch said.
Likewise, the cardboard containers that surround many food items, including the entree, are often discarded, he said.
In the process of conducting their research into improving MREs, Natick scientists had collected numerous comments from troops saying that a waterproof, resealable plastic bag would be handy -- not just for storing uneaten snacks, but also to hold small personal items.
So last year, Natick researchers decided to combine the obvious, Darsch said -- a plastic bag for carrying items that doubles as a coffee mug.
The plastic bags were field-tested by troops in Iraq over the winter, and were "an unbelievable hit," Darsch said.
In response, Combat Feeding officials decided to put the bags on the fast track, Darsch said. Natick's schedule now calls for the devices to be inserted into all MREs that will be manufactured beginning in 2005, Darsch said.
Hot Beverage Bag: The Skinny
Name:
Hot Beverage Bag
Type of Equipment:
Sealable Plastic Bag
Killer Feature:
Used in conjunction with the flameless reation heater bag, the "hot beverage bag" can be filled with a cup of water, then sealed, placed inside the heater bag, and after six minutes, turn out water hot enough to place in a cardboard box and mix with instant coffee or other beverage mix.
Hot Water Bag: Reality Check
In 2005 the Army's Natick Soldier Center (NSC) will field a resealable plastic bag that can be used with the flameless ration heater (FRH) to make hot water. No doubt this new technology will be a significant improvement over the ZiplocŪ bags soldiers have been taking to the field since 1964...
Seriously though, the ability to heat water in the field since the steel pot (a.k.a. Helmet, Steel, M-1) went away is something that the Army has left un-addressed for far too long. It remains to be seen if these "Hot Beverage Bags" are the solution, however. They theoretically make sense -- the bag can be used in conjunction with the pre-existing FRH to heat water; once "supported" inside an empty cardboard ration box (another pre-existing item), a beverage can be mixed in and then consumed. But is this technology new (Glad invented the resealable bag 40 years ago), or is it an improvement over items already in the Army's inventory? Whatever happened to using the canteen cup?
The FRH will do the trick for a cup of coffee or for heating your Country Captain Chicken, but it might not do much good if you're in the mountains of northern Afghanistan, and the only available water looks a lot like snow. Unfortunately for today's soldiers, at some point the Army decided that flame was a bad thing, and took away everything that made it or used it. Gone are the hexamine and trioxane fuel tabs, gone are the gasoline burning M1950 squad stoves, and gone are the steel pots that you could make a fire under. All that's left are the canteen cup and its attendant cooking stand (albeit with no heat source cook with).
Open flame in a combat situation can be a very dangerous thing (especially at night), but there were ways to get around that. For example, trioxane fuel tabs and wood alcohol ration heaters burn with a faint blue flame that is all but invisible to the naked eye (and certainly not strong enough to set off the fire detection sensors inside the turret of an M1 tank). When used with the canteen stand, these are more than adequate to heat a canteen cup of water.
When the tactical situation allows, there is simply no substitute for flame when it comes to heating water (or your hands, feet, etc.), or melting snow (you'll notice there are no extension cords running up the side of Everest). What soldiers really need is a compact, lightweight multi-fuel (i.e. everything from unleaded to white gas to JP-8) stove that comes with a self contained fuel supply and cooking pot. The old M1950 stove fit this bill perfectly, as does the Swedish made Optima ClimberŪ. This would not only give Soldiers the ability to make coffee, but it would allow them to melt snow, purify drinking water, heat rations, and even boil water to shave and bathe with.
http://www.*************/pics/SoldierTech_HotBev-1.jpg
M1950 gas stove.
http://www.*************/pics/SoldierTech_HotBev-5.jpg
Trioxane fuel tabs.
Ellie