Surviving on REAL D&D Rations for 3 Days

[@BobWorldBuilder]

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[@srgarathnor]

people also used to take some food that would spoil somewhat quickly and eat that first, such as bacon, cheese, other non dry meats, and so on. They would then eat the hard dry rations later into their journey

[@daftwulli6145]

LOOL this is not how hard tack is eaten. It is usually crumbled down and put into soup to make it more nourishing. You can also find some historic recipes like hellfire stew here on youtube. But in pretty much every recipe i have seen you put it first into some kind of cloth and hit it a few times to get crumbs. Oh and as for rations weighing 2 pounds and only having 1 pound of food, well middle age packaging can weigh quite a bit. They probably used some kind of earthern ware and wood, both not exactly the light plastic we are used to.More realistic would be 700 food 300 packaging, but 1 pound each makes the math easier.

[@ignoreme62]

Love that you added weevils to the Hardtack for historical accuracy! Keep it up @bobworldbuilder 😁👍

[@tomispandacuddle]

tbf most adventurers would prob have some form of booze on them taking small swigs with there hardtack imo

[@shybluehope894]

I feel that having so much of your food eaten by seagulls might have thrown off your experiment somewhat.

[@fakjbf3129]

Preparing the hardtack a year ahead of time and letting it get infested with bugs for extra protein was genius!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I'm in it for the long game!

[@paradoxguy9226]

in D and D if i was the DM and the party did a survival check to find for and they did this alot i would change the rations to cooking supplies so they would use them with what they gather that way they don't spend the whole campaign with the same rations.

[@fakjbf3129]

@Creatotron Technically the bugs could be converting the carbs in the bread into protein, so it’s possible the protein content could increase. Though I agree that the total energy content of the food would necessarily be decreasing.

[@curtisholsinger6023]

The trick is to add bugs and cook them BEFORE they can digest the bread. Then it's additional protein :P

[@TheLyricalCleric]

I really liked how by day two you were screaming to Grace World Destroyer, “it’s the knife hanging in the laundry room! Don’t ask why, just bring it to me!”

[@samuelcoltsghost7025]

Can't believe he went full pirate and opted NOT to eat oranges to get scurvy. Truly a man of focus, commitment, and sheer will.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

What’s a dnd adventure without contracting an easily preventable health condition?

[@MrRourk]

He has a cleric in the party

[@YouW00t]

Oddly enough I went for orange juice when he asked about foods that would go well with hardtacks, completely forgetting that was actually a thing.

[@zombiebricks1]

I'm just surprised that he GOT scurvy in 3 days.

[@indifference.05]

@@zombiebricks1 I know right? Really authentic- I'm glad those d20s he ate at the end of the video helped him get rid of it though.

[@fr4203]

That part where he killed a bear with a longsword to make his own jerky really shows how much care he put in making this as accurate to D&D as possible.

[@Super1d3go]

The foraging was smart, the bear was brilliant, but the nut butter was uncalled for.

[@anondabomb]

Bear? He should have used either lizardman or elf.

[@PanzerWalrus]

@@anondabomb Elf has no carbon hydrates, nor protein, thus bad ration. Lizardfolk good with fava bean. Wizard tell Mogrok a glass of cianti is good with too. Mogrog go wrestle giant for fun, save community center.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

That bear had it coming

[@foxman8882]

Hard Tack was commonly put in a pot of water with the dry meat to make chowders. It’s just a more travel friendly form of flour

[@matthewweng8483]

Exactly. Like you said, hardtack was most often soaked in water and turned into some kind of gruel.

[@dizzy4303]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@matthewweng8483 precisely, similar to how you stated, hardtack was usually submerged into water and transformed into some sort of pottage

[@vapeyeeter6979]

​@@dizzy4303True. Like what you said, hardtack was usually put in water to make some kind of soup

[@joshuakim5240]

There's a surprisingly large variety of recipes utilizing Hardtack...none of which involves eating it as-in. It's pretty commonly used as a soup/stew thickener due to absorbing moisture like a mofo and sailors used to eat it as a weird pseudo-cereal by crushing it into a bowl of grog and eating it via spoon, but pretty much everyone avoided eating Hardtack as-is because it was so unappetizing to do so.

[@JustARandomMexican]

I really admire that he kept the challenge going, even as the doctors and nurses at the hospital were begging him to stop. Such commitment.

[@indifference.05]

Especially once he brought in the d20s into the diet, like all of the doctors were begging him to stop

[@Super1d3go]

It was hard to watch. Truly sad.

[@jful]

They failed their persuasion checks for sure.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Some say he’s still going

[@masterboof9719]

I can’t believe he only ate berries hand picked by Matthew Mercer. Such commitment to authenticity

[@CharmChampion]

Matt was a good sport about donating his time in the of science.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I just wish Matt picked better berries smh

[@GeorgeBobeck]

You can crush the hardtack and use it as a thickener in a soup or stew. The soup or stew could be made using the jerky.

[@totallynuts7595]

*This* is phenomenal advice, ngl.

[@Snarkknight5]

There are actually surviving letters from soldiers in the American Civil War who discuss (gripe) about the food. It was common for them to make stew with hardtack, whatever dried meat they had on hand, and beans.

[@thestraydog]

Take a look at the channel Tasting History with Max Miller, he has a video where he makes Hellfire Stew from the Civil War era which is made with hardtack

[@GeorgeBobeck]

@@thestraydog - Great channel! I’d also recommend Townsends.

[@willcool713]

I second Townsend's. Also, dried hard cheese definitely would improve the umami content of soups.

[@Szabla1595]

Oatmeal was also carried as a traveling ration by Scottish Highlanders. It's carbohydrate dense, easy to prepare, and versatile to cook with.

[@jokerlord9884]

Can't believe he actively went and worked in a salt mine to season his food. Mad lad. Legend.

[@A.Huddy.2273]

Impressed that when he failed his foraging check he started eating unidentifiable tree leaves and bark. Truly accurate to what would happen at the table!

[@Pressplay_Media_EU]

I just got an idea - Tasty Tack :D

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Gotta be resourceful out there

[@jb111082]

Man, loved it when bob went 3 days without food,and then remembered he had to eat,just like a real DND adventurer

[@Cahalith180]

There is a preserved food item called portable soup that was basically an early version of bouillon that could believably be part of trail rations as well as something that could be used to soak the hard tack in. The channel Townsends and son's has a great video on it.

[@generatoralignmentdevalue]

Seconding the Townsends reccomendation. If you think you would enjoy a less D&D branded version of this, that's basically their whole channel.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

When you said portable soup I immediately thought of John Townsend's video. Don't forget the nutmeg and mushroom ketchup!

[@TheFoox]

John Townsend is a fucking legend

[@Trains-With-Shane]

@@TheFoox True story.

[@twodogshawkeye9968]

As a fur trade historical camper I have used portable soup for many meals I’ve even just cut some up and put it in my mouth at times when hunting

[@bumbobrumbo]

I can’t believe Bob forgot to sleep out in the middle of the woods to simulate real D&D rations as you’d only use your rations on the road.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

The thing is, some people will legitimately complain about this lol

[@sylph4252]

You are supposed to bang two pieces of hardtack against each other so they produce a nice and loud noise before eating them. Skipping this step ruined the experiment, you gotta redo it

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Ohh, my interpretation of the rule was just to scrape them together enough to start a fire that can cook the other food

[@RevocerGM]

max miller would be proud

[@przemekdude]

he did that 5:32

[@translucentlyopaque]

Hardtack! *clack* *clack*

[@ClarkyClark]

Tap tap!

[@ShadowHawk-ye2bt]

The part where you fought off a gang of bandits with just a single square of hardtack was intense yet informative. I am now prepared for the marvelous world of adventuring!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

It's the most powerful, broken, insane, underused improvised weapon!

[@mitchhaelann9215]

@@BobWorldBuilder And a fantastic replacement when scale mail armor needs some of the scales replaced in the field!

[@marcelo9752]

You made me realize how delighfull it would be for a starving party to find food out of a good check of a ranger/barbarian, and how it would be better than finding a millionaire treasure sometimes. I came after a funny video and ended up gaining a level of dungeon master!! Thank you.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you for the kind comment! :)

[@KitKatHexe]

The way he sun baked the hardtack using his glasses as a magnifying lens was an amazing feat of subsistence!

[@niccosalonga9009]

Hardtack weevil apocalypse.

[@anxietealeaves9170]

I can't believe he up and wrestled a bison to the ground for fun and then accidentally ate poison ivy for the realism of a dnd session. I am in awe of his commitment to accuracy.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Poison ivy tastes spicy 🌶

[@ultranecrozma7449]

@@BobWorldBuilder No, its kind of sour

[@Centdot]

@@ultranecrozma7449its a joke

[@ConstantChaos1]

@Ultra Necrozma it is more alkaline bitter to my taste and astringent, not a forrest snack i would suggest even if you are able to eat them like the select few who aren't allergic to urushiol like myself It does make for an excellent home defense system though, had someone in my building break into my apartment (to SA me so yeah not fun) but I cultivate it on any accessible windows (on my side of course) it's as simple as making sure I wash my hands and clothes to not cause issues for others, anyway the contact dermatitis allowed for a positive ID on my attempted attacker especially since I threw one of my babies at his.... well anyway I got my vengeance and I must have crited to have hit something that small

[@Pendragon-dnd]

The fact that you LARPed being a rogue and also stole all the rations you’d be eating was very impressive!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I always strive to be 100% authentic

[@stevdor6146]

@@BobWorldBuilder i hear cat's eggs are the most authentic after all

[@somedude2305]

@@BobWorldBuilder Where did you get that hand of glory though? Was it real or a prop?

[@saltyshalquoir8008]

@@somedude2305do you think it actually worked to put everyone to sleep and unlock the doors or was that just movie magic?

[@Kee715]

Something to note is that historical hardtack/ship's biscuit would have been baked 2 to 4 times to remove even more water, which really would be like trying to eat a brick when dry.

[@suzuxiiiahdv]

So, not sure if you realized, but you're supposed to take the weeviles *OUT* of the hardtack before eating them. Those little guys might have messed up the numbers, as weeviles do in fact have mass. They easily added a whole extra pound to your food, minimum. Whole thing needs to be redone, can't believe you would make a mistake like this.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yeah I wanted the extra protein, but totally forgot to consider the weight! Well, guess I'll do it again!

[@digitaljanus]

@@BobWorldBuilder This might be a situation where you choose the greater of two weevils.

[@thewraithe]

The REAL info is always in the comments!

[@jdm2626]

@@digitaljanus take my vote lol

[@infinitesimal9001]

Also extra protein

[@Dragondan1987]

What people tend to forget is store bought jerky probably wouldn’t be what the adventurers would eat, but jerky with like half the liquid of regular jerky, so adventurers jerky is probably even lighter so you get more calories per serving. Our store jerky is carefully balanced to be enjoyable to eat, not a survival food, so it’s gonna be a lot more moist.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Great point!

[@MrRourk]

Salted Pork is what they had on tall ships back in the day

[@mitchhaelann9215]

@@MrRourk Salted pork, salted fish, smoked squirrel, cured venison, if you were lucky.

[@LeganArabach]

@@mitchhaelann9215 aaaand now I'm hungry for dried meats.

[@hithere5553]

@@mitchhaelann9215and that my friends is why the phrase “worth their weight in salt” was high praise.

[@TheColumboGaming]

You clacking the hardtack together and yelling "it's tackin' time!" before tacking all over the place was truly just like playing with an unruly group of players! Thanks for the immersion!

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

What a horrible night for the curse of eyeballs.

[@ClockworkBlade]

This comment deserves an award

[@JohnLeePettimoreIII]

check out "tasting history" : hardtack episode or "steve1989" eating hardtack that was made during the (american) civil war. yeah, you read that correctly. from the 1860's.

[@warnermeister]

Seeing such a detailed guide on hunting squirrels and birds to make jerky with was really interesting! Too bad Bob was fatally attacked by a Bobcat during filming :(

[@BobWorldBuilder]

RIP 🪦

[@k8giggles]

I’m glad you tried to make this a bit more inclusive. Not everyone has the patience to genetically modify their own whey protein, so letting us know store-bought is fine was a relief for me!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

It's a community effort!

[@asherfairfield3567]

I can't help but respect the man for rotating through a pound of jerky, then a pound of fruit, a pound of nuts, and lastly a pound of hard tack during these four days. I'll definitely be doing that with my characters from here on out.

[@AndreasChrisWilhelmer]

I think where you went wrong was mixing those dried mushrooms with your dried fruits and nuts. Remember that mushrooms do not qualify as plants. Those side effects are to be expected.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Who could've predicted foraging wild mushrooms would go wrong!?

[@OrcBro]

Hardtack goes really good with any soup or stew. You can make "soup" by cooking some dried veggies, if you prepared and took some with you (or whatever you can find on the trail. There are edible roots for example), your jerky and some water. Or use "portable soup". Description later. Kinda "reconstituted" soup. If you carry "spice wallet" on your belt (it's usually like a smol herbalist kit with a couple of vials (mine has 4) where you can store spices, salt or, if it has non-leak stopper, - oil), you can make a very decent meal to go with your hardtack. Much more filling too. Hardtack gives you portable carbs with a super long shelf life. It's a great "disaster preparedness" food too. I keep some hardtack in my bug out bag. It takes very little space and is pretty light. Same goes for dried veggies, meat and nuts. Just add some water and cook. It expands in size and is much more pleasant to eat this way too. Hardtack is actually pretty tasty when soaked and acts like croutons in a soup/stew. Believe me, when you're camping or have to travel on foot long distance - weight and space management becomes a huge problem. Not to mention you can't carry a fridge with you. Lol. Also when we talk about rations - it's always "dried food". There was no other way to make "rations". It means food is dehydrated. Not "egg" or "apple" or fresh meat or bread or fresh carrots. It's hard cheese, hardtack, roasted salted nuts, dried veggies, roots and fruit, dried fish and saltpork as well as dried mushrooms and "portable soup". (Shrooms have very little calories, but they add lots of flavor!) Foraged food will be fresh. When you cook with your dried food (usually you make stew or soup) - it will majorly expand in volume and will provide much more flavor (don't even need to add salt because it was prepared with a high content of salt. Salt absorbs water and helps preserve foods). You can make dried veggies at home by cutting them, putting them on the oven tray, sprinkling it with rock salt and slowly (6-8 hours at 140F) dehydrating them. Also look up saltpork and "portable soup" - it's fascinating! For example portable soup is hard and very light chunks of dehydrated bouillon that you can store in a piece of cloth and drop in boiling water and it will dissolve and here is your soup base. (It is made by slowcooking, usually 8-10 hours, beef chunks with bone, removing the meat, cooling it down, removing the fat, straining the liquid, reducing the liquid carefully till it turns to jello and air drying that jello for up to 10 days. The result is a very long shelf life, natural "bouillon cubes" 😂 Store them in your "rations" cloth.

[@gamemaster112ful7]

I love how hard you committed to the challenge. My favorite part was when you ran out of rations, so you decided to raid the local village for more food. Those peasants didn't know what hit them.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Rogue for life

[@IMightBeVanny]

They never saw it coming

[@pokegirl302]

the extra mile you go with actively foraging supplementary food is truly an inspiration for us all

[@niccosalonga9009]

I really did not like the roadkill thing.

[@N8Maple01]

But since you can't tell which berries are safe by color, you have to pay attention to the leaves of the plant you find them on.

[@niccosalonga9009]

I'm surprised he didn't even feel I'll from those berries.

[@pswelles5714]

yeah, glad you spotted that it wasn't cow parsnip.

[@starvin666]

Had to lol at the cow poop to bind it all together

[@LegalKimchi]

I never knew you could get so many calories from simply eating your own hair. Natural recycling is fascinating. Thank you bob!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yes composting organic materials in your own body is an underused practice for unlocking extra nutrients. Education is my passion.

[@thrasew]

Hair is made up of proteins called keratin which cannot be broken down by our body. They can only be processed at very high temperatures which do not exist inside our body. So, when you swallow small strands of hair accidentally, they just end up passing out of the body with other undigested food.

[@urielseptim910]

@@thrasew uh oh someone isn't *in*

[@niccosalonga9009]

No. No thanks. Bob... Also, please don't eat roadkill.

[@GibiASMR]

I loved this!!!!

[@averystorm3438]

Yo Gibi! Weird to find you here.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you! :)

[@travisl9580]

Whoa! A wild Gibi appears!

[@YaMadaIsAho]

Hardtack ASMR?

[@cryofist]

GIBI? lmao

[@counterburn1216]

It was really cool that you went into your local sewer to fight off rats to see if you could actually adventure on this diet. Really informative and I hope you got that finger back.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

The rats were a lot bigger than I expected!

[@nateshandy2070]

You didn't have to hunt those woodland creatures yourself for more food, but you did. Truly exemplary D&D content creation. 🙏

[@tyrians]

The way he took out his magi-tek boomstick and exploded that rabbit is true peak youtube.

[@GreenLantern814]

I mean, managing to hit the rabbit was an accomplishment. I cheered!

[@dehir032]

You know its really great you foraged that rotisserie chicken from the supermarket! Its like how you said in the video that "jerky is just a meat thats dry, so we can kinda pick what kind of meat we prefer for our ration and leave it out in the sun for 24 hours" really smart to change that up on day 3, you need to have a diverse diet even as an adventurer!! always love how accurate you try to be to the dnd 5e players handbook.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yep I always leave chicken outside for 24 hours before eating!

[@xjesusxchristx]

Milk, soup, watered down and/or buttered rum, and ale/beer of any kind - are the traditional liquids used to soak hard-tack in. It was also common to pound, or grind it up, and use it to thicken soups and stews. At least one food historian also feels that American Southern gravy and biscuits, has it's origins in hard-tack being served with sausage and milk gravy - so that could be an interesting avenue to explore.

[@tyrellrutledge52]

I love where he carves up the deer into “ration sized” portions. So consistent!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

The trick was hunting a square deer easily divisible into smaller portions

[@warpath6666]

Now hold on a second here, if he was a Cleric he woulda been fecked (no edged weapons) LOL!!! However, he would have an advantage in melee combat with his +2 Hardtack Of Smashing 😄👍

[@tridan111]

I was wondering how he managed, I've tried but in my area there are only west-European non-euclidean fallow deers so no luck there :/

[@eliaswehrley]

I am glad you went through the effort of going all the way to the nearest wheat field and milling the grain yourself.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I'm always 100% authentic with my demonstrations

[@richmeads1897]

Thought I'd have loads to complain about here, but that chicken tartare actually looked REALLY tasty. Gonna try it tonight.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yeah almost no one reads the recipe chapter of the DMG!!

[@richmeads1897]

@@BobWorldBuilder Hahaa, yeah it's a sadly overlooked chapter. That kentucky fried aarakocra is divine. Real talk though - this video really got me thinking. I never really bother with rations / survival mechanics much in my games. But I DO try to address survival and food through narrative means. I figure most adventurers have skillsets that can easily supplement or improve these rations (hunting, fishing, foraging, cooking, etc..). And so I like to ask players what they're doing to help, when making camp. The answers are often really good for story: Maybe a character sits away from the rest of their party, sharpening their weapon and looking solemn. Maybe someone makes a huge effort to raise morale by cooking a stew. Maybe someone *always * does the hunting and it's a source of resentment. Maybe two characters use foraging together as an excuse for a private talk. Think of the classic LOTR "po-ta-toes" scene - I think it's an absolutely essential little slice of life that goes a long way to humanising those characters. Eating / camping / surviving is a powerful narrative tool that really helps us see our characters as people, not just heroes. And you could so easily miss all that value by hand-waving it away with 'you make camp for the night'. TLDR: Use survival - especially campfire time - to tell stories and deepen characters, rather than police PC's calorie intake. Extra thought: Where my chef bard subclass at? I want to give people Inspriation with potatoes.

[@Slater6377]

Don't forget that you have the option to cook with those rations. A common way to use hard tack is as a filler for soup. You could make a stew with the jerky and fruit then add the tack after it has been pulverized into smaller bits as a thickener.

[@RetroTaylor94]

The part where you turned that poor man into jerky was haunting. You just bit his throat out and sun-dried him on a pile of salt in the backyard. You did that.

[@TheDictatorsKingdom]

Then when he said it tasted like chicken and made a thick stew ladle out of the guys right femur too, man's was committed

[@rudyj8948]

Loved the part where he mashed up the hard tack bugs into a hummus style dip. That's real ingenuity!

[@niccosalonga9009]

That was awful. The roadkill snack part was worse though.🤢

[@Miniredfoxette]

Wow, I can't BELIEVE you actually ate rocks in this video, that's some dedication to the minerals

[@saltyshalquoir8008]

This guys in tents!

[@janbruhovsky7247]

I remember i once in life made myself enough hardtack from the exact same recipe for 2 months. I am a night owl, and i didnt want to disturb my parents at night (kitchen is too near their bedroom), but I was craving food at long gaming nights, so it was a good idea. Honestly, I recommend getting milk powder and store it in a cabinet, to make yourself some milk to dip hardtack, and have a proper meal at night. If you have experience with making candy, make yourself a coffe, then evaporate 80% water and dump the syrup to caramel (add some baking soda, if you have this bad sour coffe). You've made yourself caffeine candies to stay more fresh at night. You can also dump some funny candy into your milk-water and have a coffe lol. Thank me later, folks.

[@ukeyaoitrash2618]

Why not dip it in gamer branded energy drink?

[@janbruhovsky7247]

@@ukeyaoitrash2618 money is an issue in my case. If you have energy drink, dip it in energy drink lol

[@MisterFizzer]

Replacing the hard tack with thumb tacks on day 2 was a stroke of evil genius from Grace

[@BobWorldBuilder]

They don't call her World Destroyer for nothing!

[@misslebase]

I liked how you soaked the hardtack in the “health potion.” I think this is something adventurers should actually consider.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I just love that health potion flavor!

[@donraeside]

@@BobWorldBuilder I live in a place where hard tack is sold on the shelves, and it's not an uncommon food for holidays. It's often soaked and then added to other foods, akin to dumplings in stew (fish and brewis is famous, and it's a stew of codfish, fat, root veggies, and hard tack - it is salty, it is greasy, it keeps you alive in Newfoundland winters). Additionally, creamy things! Cream cheese, brie, chowder...not stuff you'd have in the woods, but 100% something a local inn with a few cows or goats might serve! Or more simply, soak in milk and fry it in fat or butter.

[@cringedealer84]

Bro really rolled a D20 in real life and dodged the attack patterns of the rain for 20 minutes straight, I’m so proud of him

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Staying dry is extremely important to wilderness survival

[@Jan_Loathlove_-_MicroHomebrew]

insightful! I always considered the weight of D&D rations including the packaging that keeps in from becoming destroyed, or spoiled by the elements of possible pests of bacteria

[@Schampu4000]

The part where you fought wild wolves to simulate energy consumption over a day was a bit unexpected, but very cool!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Too bad they would stay in initiative order though

[@questionablysane2889]

Honestly, seeing you bravely hunt for fruit in the middle of the woods, without even knowing what it is, was a genuine inspiration. We should all be as brave as you to try new things!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Everyone should go outside and eat the first thing they see #health

[@sindex]

Finding that cache of salted pork that Townsends hid in the woods was probably the key to the end of day 3 after the hardtack fiasco. Not the collaboration I expected, but man, what a cool turn of events! Plus that cool hat he gave you was amazing. I don't know why you didn't wear it in the rest of the video.

[@darklordrowan6152]

Rouging his way through townsends storehouse 😱

[@AceVendetta]

One of the things about hardtack and jerky is that it was often made into a stew by breaking up the hardtack and letting it soak up water, then adding some salted meat. Adding dried fruit and fresh vegetables and forage could make it a decent meal

[@kaiushospitalis1707]

Unfortunately, I don’t think the average adventurer would roll as high on their stealth check when attempting to steal milk from their local dairy farm. But using your campfire smoke to obtain wild honey was a stroke of genius! As a result of this video being so amazing-and the utilization of your bonds and flaws, you sir gain inspiration to use in another video wherever you see fit!

[@Sibula]

I think soaking and mixing the hardtack into some kind of soup or sauce would be the nicest use for it. If you only have the rations I'd guess boiling some ratio of hardtack and jerky would create a not too terrible mixture, and if you've managed to forage some seasonal vegetables, that's a lot better. Also, a tiny little pouch of spices would weigh almost nothing and will make any food much more palatable.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yeah it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, and I had some leftovers with soup after these three days haha

[@ianherriott8998]

I came across somewhere, that historically, dried meat (jerky) was most often used by rehydrating and cooking with it. And, in combination with hard tack made into a soup or stew. Often with the addition of lard or another fat like butter.

[@jaredragland4707]

@@ianherriott8998 Yep. Stew made from jerked or smoked meat plus hardtack or just cracked dried grain (corn, rye, barley, what-have-you) is not only a longstanding trail staple, it can be pretty tasty with a couple wild onions or herbs.

[@williaminghamfarrow9371]

I never expected you to survive on D12 pints of beer per day! I need to try it!!!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Still hungover

[@Blandco]

It's how they build the pyramids!

[@euansmith3699]

@@Blandco Yeah, they were supposed to be building walls.

[@RogaineForEwoks]

My characters always forage for alcohol instead of useless meals.

[@fragilistico]

The part when for no apparent reason you killed that shopkeeper for not giving you a discount on the rations was truly the most commitment i have seen from a dnd player

[@chrystenq]

I really don’t think anyone else would take on the work needed to hire a bear to act as a stand in for a Goliath to understand their caloric needs. You go above and beyond for us ❤

[@BobWorldBuilder]

It's my duty

[@mikemalo47]

Back in the day ( AD&D +) This was diet was referred to as IRON RATIONs. It was the D&D 3quvalent of todays MRE basic subsistence lever food that would keep for a LONG TIME. Back in the day before equipment lists got simplified. There where long lists of food stuff that a party could stock up on , of course this meant more Loads and often required a pack animal or two.

[@SeekerOf7ruth]

Supplementing the rations with wild berries and eggs was pretty genius honestly. Not to mention having some honeyed dessert rations for when you need a morale boost!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Low key accurate though

[@Softandsparkly]

This honestly looks like so much fun to try for a couple of days, I know it's limited but it's so nice to get more involved in a game this way!

[@TheShelbyTheShelby]

I can't believe you kept going for 2 days after shattering your tooth on hard tack on Day 1! That's dedication! And maybe masochism.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I never cut corners!

[@XSanctusMalumX]

I heard that pumpkins “technically” counted as berries before but that was a real clever way to make the spell Goodberry actually provide a full day’s worth of food

[@md_vandenberg]

When Bob brought The People's Elbow from atop the roof of his house onto that Bugbear, I nearly cried from the spectacle of it. Unfortunately, Bob proved that you cannot heal broken bones from just eating a quick meal. Get well soon, Bob!

[@LazyPlop1]

I like that this video was doing various challenges and talking about D&D rations instead of "local man near tortures himself with boring food."

[@LadyDarkHatter]

I wasn't expecting to see you actually catch, slaughter, clean, and dry a wild pheasant, but this was really informative! I guess that makes sense with the 17 survival check.

[@jypsridic]

I'm just glad he remembered the h in pheasant

[@lewisjohnson4207]

@@jypsridic yep the bit where he ate a peasant was a little disturbing but informative

[@linkor321]

The way you turned the hardtack into soft-tack by decomposing all the microbial melon-juices from the jerky was incredible! I never would have thought of that.

[@finnrock5558]

That was indeed an excellent move on his part. Very clever.

[@Oferoni]

I never realized marshmallows are a survival food. Kind of makes sense, since people roast marshmallows on bonfires.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

When you're in a marsh, you forage marshmallows. Simple as that!

[@euansmith3699]

@@BobWorldBuilder You've got to pull their poisonous spines out before eating them, though.

[@Soggy2002]

@@euansmith3699 You have to build up poison resistance somehow.

[@euansmith3699]

@@Soggy2002 I now imagine that Marshmallows are a dwarven delicacy.

[@LaineyBug2020]

Hmm, I was going to mention foraging for wild greens. Also helps make stews from rations more filling! Plus you can find things like wild onions, garlic, mushrooms to make things more savory, and stuff like pine needles and nettles and dandelions for vitamin infused tea!

[@cornmanconnell2212]

The way he grew the nuts years in advance from his own trees really shows how committed he was

[@BobWorldBuilder]

A good meal is all about preparation

[@matt-thorn]

Sampling water from the nearby stream for the risk of dysentery was really a stroke of genius! Actually carrying it around the entire time was probably not needed though.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Hind sight is 20-20!

[@morrigankasa570]

Actually, running water like that nearer the headwaters isn't that high risk generally.

[@matt-thorn]

@@morrigankasa570 That's true, unfortunately he doesn't have a well or something, can't really call tapwater an authentic experience.

[@mangoman1177]

I loved the part where he opens a portal to the forgotten realms for authentic D&D rations, truly going the extra mile!

[@WarlockJacque]

It’s amazing how he freeze-dried the entire pig. I mean c’mon, that DEFINETLY exceeds the amount of food adventurers would have! (Great video, love it)

[@xyced]

I found it particularly cool when he switched out the beef jerky for self-made tiger jerky. Just what his character would do.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

My OG dnd character had tiger legs, so it was actually a tough choice for me

[@notpearl3590]

Bob, the way you dissolved the hard tack to in your water so you could drink and eat at the same time was genius! Props for multitasking!

[@morrigankasa570]

Actually, I heard some soldiers in the War Between the States actually did that.

[@birboii]

That's not what multitasking is. You can say making chocolate milk is multitasking.

[@thisaccountisntreal107]

Hardtack is down right hard to bite into Most of the time you'd be served some broth or just beer to moisten the hard tack

[@luketfer]

@@morrigankasa570 yup I highly recommend the tasting history channel where he makes hell fire stew using hardtack

[@morrigankasa570]

@@luketfer I know, I'm subscribed and seen all his videos:)

[@TheTrueObama]

it was so said seeing you make the jerky from scratch, raising patches, slaughtering her, and making her into jerky was an emotional ride.

[@justafan9206]

Poor cow.

[@eaglebreath5]

I was impressed how you drank the extra water used to soften the hard tack. I can't help but wonder if it would have absorbed more had the water been heated prior. I know I prefer to add hot water to my mini wheats in the morning. Really gives the meal a consistent texture of paste which is much easier to digest.

[@paperboatcanfloat3424]

Can’t believe that you actually predicted the weather on your survival check. You dodged that storm easily! It’s a marvel that you sent a great axe through that wolf who was attacking you.

[@prestonsmith7313]

The way you accounted for an adventuring day by carrying around a great axe and swinging it at passing commoners was so smart. It really added to the immersion and was a good way to burn calories.

[@jsauce8669]

Pretty impressive that you managed to set up such a large domino train with all your hard tack! 🎉

[@saltyshalquoir8008]

Mine never stands up reliably…

[@Mikalon90]

We actually did take this very serious for a campaign we had. Other System tho. And yes when we travelled to the northpole of the world our rations grew HUGE. Also that world is less magic, so you dont easily make fire ect. It was so cold at one point my char started to fantasize, saw his wife that stayed home and sat down to die. Food went rare later. We had to hunt penguins and even a mammoth to survive. Its amazing to plan how much firewood and food you need to survive such a journey. Its rly immersive

[@oldmanofthemountains3388]

If it helps, hard tack was often softened in ale, rum, or grog. That certainly helps a LITTLE with the taste, but also adds some calories!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Now that’s a dnd table snack 👌

[@yeraycatalangaspar195]

Hard tack would pair well with soups and stews. I think you could even make a basic soup out of jerky and whatever dried stuff you got (powdered food, dry veggies etc).

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Totally agree and will be trying it soon! It's so easy to make I'm definitely going to do another batch soon

[@crschoen123]

I can't believe it - you made the perfect video! Not a single mistake, and perfect logic the whole way through. You were so accurate with your nutritional analysis and accuracy to the rules as written that's it's weird. 😉

[@BobWorldBuilder]

What can I say, I’ve never made a single misake in my entire life. 😉

[@baccusx13]

Let me take a page from the 7th Sea playbook and answer to what hardtack can be soaked with and it's... RHUM! Yup, it's a pirate thing, obviously but i'm pretty sure that in DnD, adventurers would dip it with any alcohol available. Cool experiment btw and nice video!

[@technoeevee6969]

Using blu tack as a supplement for hard tack was a genius move on his part

[@mudmew4231]

EDIT: Nevermind, this is a valid strategy with an alchemy jug, great work as usual Bob Bob I understand the book says your character needs to drink a gallon of liquid, but I assume they say that to cover water, milk and the drinks you get at the tavern not exclusively a whole gallon of cooking oil. You went above and beyond the calorie count so I guess you proved your point, good job(?)

[@BobWorldBuilder]

And it only gave me one heart attack!

[@Sturmjager]

Wow. I never thought that eating a whole wheel of cheese by yourself was possible. I guess Skyrim wasn't so unrealistic after all.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Skyrim diet would be an interesting video...

[@swordfishtrigger]

pretty sure the item listed in equipment includes equal weights food and food preserving containers. ive seen antique war rations in wood boxes wrapped with oil cloth to keep everything waterproof.

[@mixiesticks]

That looks like some solid hard tack!! I've flavored it before with herbs, olive oil, and sometimes red pepper flakes. I first learned how to make it in middle school since we were learning about the civil war in 7th grade. Most of the other kids didn't like it, but I had a strange fondness for it since it was like a thick version of the communion wafers from the church I used to go to.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yeah I've been playing to make it again with olive oil and some seasoning. We usually buy crackers every once in a while, but I feel like making really thin, flavored hard tack would be almost the same thing!

[@mixiesticks]

@@BobWorldBuilder Probably cheaper too! Great idea!!

[@ChaseLindberg]

@mixiesticks626 the olive oil would decrease its preservability. Oils don't age well.

[@mixiesticks]

@@ChaseLindberg Yeah, I just make about as much as I want for a quick snack 😋

[@Wise_That]

Glad you remembered that in medieval times all the water was pretty dirty. Adding a bit of sewage and garden dirt like you did was a really nice bit of realism, and also a clever hack to add in some extra minerals.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Not to mention add some extra flavor!

[@ameliac3560]

It’s honestly pretty cool that you decided to drink either only water from streams or alchohol! Not many people appreciate details like that.

[@Laticia1990]

tbh the ale provides a lot of calories as well. maybe that should be taken into account.

[@thememe986]

The romans invented biscotti for the exact same reason, it easy to carry and eat on the go, calorie dense and lasts a long time without going bad.

[@ChaoticGoodDeeds]

I can't believe he calculated the calorie intake of a Tarrasque in the later part of the video. Incredible!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

The incredible part is-how does a tarrasque even eat that many creatures in a day??

[@leadanvil8215]

A very common liquid to add to hardtack is animal fat (mostly pork fat) making what's called hellfire stew. Tasting History did an episode on it in fact. It's also added to soups and stews to thicken it or beers and wines to add some substance other than just alcohol to your stomach. It was interesting to see you doing this challenge, and I hope my random trivia helps!

[@RadarLuv100]

Historically, American Civil War soldiers would soak hard tack in bacon grease. Ships cooks would let it soak in stew. When I was in the Army (20 years ago) hard tack was replaced with something resembling a hard saltine cracker about 4x4 inches if I remember right. We paired it with oily peanut butter or a cheese spread that's kinda like the cheese packet in a box of Velveeta shells and cheese. Sometimes we got jelly.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I can see why they sent with straight up bacon grease haha, and a pbj with hard tack would be interesting!

[@SevenStarsandSevenStones]

And the cracker is always broken. It does do the "crumble up and add to the entree" job that hardtack is also good for, though.

[@jeffreykershner440]

I remember grape jelly pouches. They were flavorless, but wet enough for the crumbs

[@Wolfman24ification]

I loved it when he took the nuts and tried to plant them to give himself extra food. truly genius.

[@TheEyesofSyn]

There's an old recipe I found for a hardtack adjacent "winter bread" that was made for the slightly more well off and used things like sugar, honey and spices to fancy it up and preserve it. Honey and sugar are both great preservatives, things like simple syrup in a bar kit, when made correctly will last quite some time, so I do wonder if a basic hardtack recipe could be make a little more palatable with some honey along with a touch of salt. In the homebrew world of my D&D campaign, one area has something called pepper bread which is a long storage survival bread, thinner than hard tack, flavored with pepper, honey, and dried berries crushed finely. It's often eaten with a stew made from wild root vegetables and game meat. I'd imagine traditional hardtack would work well in a similar dish, softened in a meaty broth, or even crushed into something like a cream based soup.

[@Chirkrasia]

BRB stealing this for my campaign because region specific hard tack types is genius

[@annikahstebben4425]

Just be careful with the wild carrots, one wrong plant and it's a tpk stew (Look up wild carrots and hemlock for a dangerous game of spot the difference)

[@Adragos17]

This sounds awesome!

[@inamerica55585]

Definitely a good idea to put pepper in your hardtack, then you'll never notice when it's infested with weevils, they'll just look like pepper.

[@isabeli.9481]

In my country they are called hallullas and are really common. You can always find them with the fresh bread in the supermarket

[@koolioman12]

That orchard you grew to get all the fruit was insanely beautiful and that smoker you built yourself with full tutorial to make the jerky, absolutely superb

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thank you very much!

[@Matthias129]

I regret to inform you that you forgot the A1 Steak Sauce and Stevia packets that also come with the trail rations. The rules are listed in the Player's Handbook under Appendix A: Conditions Sub Table 1: Condiments. Unfortunately, your results of these "real" rations are voided by this. Hope to see a part 2 where you rectify your mistakes!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Everyone forgets about the condiments table!!

[@deadpoet4]

This experiment is fine! Those are OPTIONAL rules. Only the first printing of the PHB has them listed as RAW. This was fixed in supplemental printings, but Sage Advice STILL has to deal with questions on this every now and then.