Caffeine Gum for Military and First Responders
By Blake Settle, founder of REV Gum.
Caffeine gum did not start as a consumer product. It started as a way to keep soldiers functional on too little sleep, and most of the good research on it comes from that world. This article covers that history, a 2026 study in special-forces soldiers, and how to work out a dose by body weight. We make caffeine gum; the studies cited were not funded by us.
Caffeine gum in military rations
A caffeinated gum called "Stay Alert" has been included in US military rations. The reasoning is simple: in the field, you cannot always brew coffee, carry liquid, or wait 45 minutes for a pill. Gum is light, shelf-stable, silent, and works in minutes.
Kamimori and colleagues (International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2002), working in a military research context, compared caffeine gum with capsules and found the gum was absorbed significantly faster. That study is one of the reasons gum, rather than a pill, ended up in the ration.
The 2026 special-forces study
Shiu et al. (European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2026) tested caffeine gum at 3 mg per kilogram of body weight in 16 special-forces soldiers, against placebo. The caffeine condition improved:
- Grip strength, by 4.4 kg on average
- Vertical jump
- Reaction time
- Shooting accuracy
- Close-quarters-battle course time
Sixteen soldiers is a small sample, and one study is one study. But the outcomes are the ones that matter in tactical work, and the dose was moderate. It is the most directly relevant caffeine-gum study for military, law enforcement, and fire/EMS that we know of.
Dosing by body weight: the math
The study used 3 mg/kg. Here is how that converts to REV pieces. REV Energy Extra Strength is 100 mg per piece; REV Energy Performance is 60 mg per piece.
| Body weight | 3 mg/kg dose | Extra Strength (100 mg) pieces | Performance (60 mg) pieces |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 kg (132 lb) | 180 mg | ~2 | 3 |
| 75 kg (165 lb) | 225 mg | ~2 | ~4 |
| 90 kg (198 lb) | 270 mg | ~3 | ~4–5 |
| 100 kg (220 lb) | 300 mg | 3 | 5 |
Worked example for 75 kg: 75 kg × 3 mg/kg = 225 mg. Two Extra Strength pieces is 200 mg, which is close and slightly under; three would be 300 mg, or 4 mg/kg. Two pieces is the sensible choice.
Two notes on this table:
- Round down, not up. Caffeine's benefits do not scale linearly, and the downside (jitters, fine-motor tremor, which matters if you shoot) does.
- Count the rest of your day. The FDA's general guidance for healthy adults is 400 mg per day from all sources. A 100 kg operator taking 300 mg from gum has 100 mg of room left for coffee, not 400.
Practical use in the field or on shift
Chew for at least 5 minutes. The caffeine comes out while you chew. Chewing for 30 seconds and spitting wastes it.
Time it to the task. Onset is roughly 5 to 10 minutes. Chew before the briefing ends, before the call, before the stretch of the shift you know will be hardest. You do not need the 45-minute lead time a pill needs.
Split the dose if the task is long. One piece now and one in an hour keeps you steadier than both at once.
Avoid caffeine in the 6 hours before your sleep window. Caffeine at 6 hours before bed still disrupts sleep (Drake et al., Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2013). For a 24-hour firehouse shift, that means thinking about when you will actually get down, not just when the shift ends.
Do not replace sleep. Caffeine sustains performance on a sleep deficit. It does not repay it. Two or three days of that pattern and the gum stops helping.
Why REV, specifically
REV is caffeine only: 60 or 100 mg per piece, with no L-theanine, no B-vitamins, no taurine, no sugar, no corn syrup, and gluten-free. In a setting where you are dosing by body weight and tracking your total, one active ingredient is easier to reason about than a stack. REV Gum was founded in 2018 in Austin, Texas; one of our co-founders is NFL quarterback Sam Ehlinger.
For agencies or units interested in bulk or wholesale, contact us through chewrevgum.com/pages/contact.
Related
- Caffeine gum, explained
- The science of caffeine gum
- Our studies blog
- REV Energy Extra Strength (100 mg)
FAQ
Why does the military use caffeine gum?
It is light, shelf-stable, needs no water or heat, and is absorbed faster than pills (Kamimori et al., Int J Pharm 2002). A caffeine gum called Stay Alert has been included in US military rations.
What did the 2026 special-forces caffeine gum study find?
Shiu et al. (Eur J Appl Physiol, 2026) gave 16 special-forces soldiers 3 mg/kg of caffeine from gum. It improved grip strength by 4.4 kg, vertical jump, reaction time, shooting accuracy, and close-quarters-battle time versus placebo.
How much caffeine gum is 3 mg/kg?
Multiply your weight in kg by 3. A 75 kg person is 225 mg, about two 100 mg pieces of REV Extra Strength. A 100 kg person is 300 mg, or three pieces. Round down and stay under 400 mg per day from all sources.
How long should I chew caffeine gum?
At least 5 minutes. Onset is roughly 5 to 10 minutes after you start chewing.
Can caffeine gum replace sleep on a long shift?
No. It sustains performance on a sleep deficit for a while but does not repay it. Avoid caffeine in the 6 hours before you plan to sleep.