Author Topic: Trail food?  (Read 5448 times)

alan de enfield

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Re: Trail food?
« Reply #45 on: 14:23:14, 18/06/18 »
I'm also in the position where not fulfilling my calorific needs is a very good thing indeed

Obviously dried foods makes sense where water is freely available but where it isn't then it makes no difference as you're carrying that water one way or another. In fact I can't count the number of times I've carefully saved a few hundred grams with dried food only to get to camp where there is a source of water but I've still got 1000g of water still undrunk sitting my pack.

For short trips the pouches (or tins really since tins don't actually weigh that much anyway) can work well.



Agreed - I keep a pack of 'ready meal' Sausage & Beans, or All Day Breakfast for such times as there is no water readily available.
Even those are better 'value' than the LWWF meals.
 300g, around £4, and 450-500Kcals.
The main ration packs are de-hydrated.


I carry around 1.5 - 2 litres of water but it is seldom that I don't pass a farmers water trough, stream, pond, puddle or even a house sometime during the day and can top-off the bottles for the dinner meal and Breakfast porridge.

Pennine Way Virgin

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Re: Trail food?
« Reply #46 on: 18:53:10, 18/06/18 »

Yes they are available at between £1.50 & £3.00 per pack.
the issues I have with them are :


Portion / bag size is 250g
Calories per portion / bag is around 200.


So for an equivalent meal to a de-hydrated 800Kcal meal you need to buy 4 of them (and carry 1000g) as compared to 150g bag of de-hydrated food. Yes you can 'add something' to them but that is all weight carried.


Burning off much higher than normal calories hiking with a pack in hot weather needs additional calories to your normal intake.


When one 250Kcal meal weighs almost twice an 800Kcal meal I think the choice is easy.




My only issue with dehydrated camping meals is the price, if I could afford them then yeah, I would be right there with you! But I am looking at between £5-7 (pretty much my whole days food allowance) for a single meal from the local outdoor shops near me, which would be fine for an overnight or long weekend excursion, but for longer ventures (I am setting out on a 4 week camping trip this Wednesday) those prices are just not sustainable on my budget.


As for the weight, you are right they are much heavier, a packet of LWWF Chilli Con Carne and a packet of Pataks Rice for example weighs in at 500g and supplies just under 700kcal, but it only cost me £1.98 by comparison, and the rest of my days ration is typically made up of cheap, light weight, dried goods (porridge, powdered milk, noodles, couscous etc, with the odd chocolate bar or flapjack to make up the calories) and rarely costs more than £5.  I may come across as cheap and stingy, but coming from a low income household I'm happy to suffer a couple of extra pounds on my back to save a few in my wallet.


Funnily enough I have been looking at food dehydrators on amazon recently, with the intention of trying my hand at dehydrating my own meals and snacks on the cheap.  Anyone have any experience with this, are the commercial dehydrators any good?
« Last Edit: 18:59:20, 18/06/18 by Pennine Way Virgin »

Owen

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Re: Trail food?
« Reply #47 on: 20:17:07, 18/06/18 »
I have a de-hydrator, I find their great for drying fruits not bad for vegetables but I've never had any success with meats. Even at their best they're not as good as freeze dry and vegetables dried this way take longer to re-hydrate. You really need to leave them soaking for an hour or so before cooking.
I'm planning on going for a week in Knoydart soon, I'll be taking;


For breakfast, porridge with freeze dried berries https://www.healthysupplies.co.uk/freeze-dried-fruit.html milk powder and sugar added. This comes to 185g and 500kcals per day. Plus lemon tea.


For mid-day snacks, rye bread 50g or 2 slices per day. two tubes of squeeze cheese for the week.   
40g of flap-jacks and 60g of dried fruit (apples, bananas, pineapple and kiwi fruit) per day. that works out as an average of 190g per day I'm not sure what calories.


 For evening meal a bewell meal, I know their expensive but I buy a couple each month to spread the cost. When I go away for a week or two backpacking I don't stop, I want to be out in the hills not shopping. Because of this the wet food packets like LWIF would just be to heavy. They're also quite heavy on gas as they need a lot of heating, whereas with freeze dry you just need to bring your water to the boil, stir it in and leave.   
   

ninthace

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Re: Trail food?
« Reply #48 on: 14:16:35, 19/06/18 »
I am currently hiking in the Austrian Alps and have found the best technique is to plan my walks to hit huts and Alms at strategic intervals. Nothing hits the spot like Apfelstrudel and a glass of Weissbier. Saves pack weight too, Euros weigh next to nothing.  😁
Solvitur Ambulando

 

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