A Few Days with 13 Individual Self-Heating Military Ration

I’m flat broke lately, so I’ve been eating whatever’s cheap enough to keep me full.

Military rations, for instance…

The 09 Individual Self-Heating Military Ration is the popular one online, but I heard the 13 version is the cheap and practical option, so I’m stuck with it to stave off hunger. Still beats instant noodles and Lao Gan Ma.

That’s what it looks like. A classmate of mine who served in the army says this 13 version might be fake, but who cares. As long as it’s edible.

Opening it up, there are two bags of food, one pack of pickles, one drink packet. None of the mooncakes, bread, cake and miscellaneous junk that came with the 09.

There’s a small bag with a fill line showing how much water to add. No requirements on the water itself — any water will do. Doesn’t have to be clean, since it’s only for heating.

Pour it in, flip the bag opening over and weigh it down. I used a small hammer.

Fifteen minutes later it’s ready. You can flip it midway, or not. I didn’t flip the first one.

Only after pulling it out did I find out this one was pickled greens and shredded pork noodles.

Forgot to take a photo of the noodles. I can only say it’s like ordinary compressed-pressed noodles. I was too lazy to separate them so I just cut it up and ate it. Taste wasn’t bad, acceptable, a bit starchy.

Then the other bag — curry chicken fried rice:

There’s actually meat in the fried rice, and not a small amount. This one’s much better than the noodles. Strong curry flavor. Almost tasty.

I tossed the pickle pack in too. Not much there, no presence at all.

I poured the drink packet straight into my mouth. Tasted like ordinary drink powder from a convenience store.

After both bags, I felt seriously full. It really does the job of staving off hunger, and the taste isn’t too bad — better than our cafeteria. You should know my hospital cafeteria card already has four digits on it, all because the food’s so bad I’ve never used the monthly allowance.

Anyway, the 13 Individual Self-Heating Military Ration is a pretty decent thing. Buy a few and keep them at home or at work — better than eating instant noodles, in my opinion. With this stuff I figure I can make it to the next payday. Probably.