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> Ration packs, light weight food?
Ration packs, light weight food?
@ 11:46 pm (GMT) |
Bob MavinG’day guys,I’m gearing up for a walk in during the Australian NSW Red Deer rut. Does anyone have any experience with Ration packs, light weight food? I just tried one from NZ. Back Country Cuisine, “Beef Teriyaki”. Probably be OK when I was hungry after hiking up & down hills. Any recommendations!!! I’ve got most of my gear sorted including my Hennessy Hammock, I like that! Water is probably going to be my worst problem, the creeks are dry so I’ll have to hump water with me. I’ve got a heap of soft 1lt flat water containers that don’t take up any room when empty. Cheers Bob |
Replies
@ 05:08 pm (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: Ration packs, light weight food?Hi Bob, we have been using back country for years but have always had good access to water.One thing Steph does is this. She makes up a couple of meals of mutton casserole, then freezes them down. As you can imagine, this is very heavy so it has to be eaten first if going on a long haul. The combination of high protein and fat is very important but more so I think because we often run into snow. As the trip progresses, our packs get lighter. If we are then able to secure meat, we can go back to a good protein feed. Use herbs and pill bottles of sauces to spice up your meals. Just try to keep protein levels high as carbs can get you right in the shit, give you enough energy to get you moving but then let you down later when you run low on energy. Rice is a good carb, better than bloody instant noodles. Milk powder is also handy but again, water will be the issue for you. You may want to think about cans of corned beef. To some degree, it will depend on your own tastes but you will have to balance protein needs and liquid needs. Tinned foods are always very weighty but you may have to utilize something of this ilk due to water issues. Once you are finished with the can- if you have a cooking fire, put the can in the fire to promote oxidization. When you break camp, bury the charred can and it will rust down to basic components again. More and more people are going Paleo for good reasons. Carbs and sugar (I love a cholate bar per day in the bush) make for a nice pick me up in the bush but you really have to work on protein and fats. Hope that helps a bit. |
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@ 05:14 pm (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: Ration packs, light weight food?I forgot to mention,now that biltong is very popular in supermarkets world wide rather than being a South African novelty, I am finding more and more folk using it in the hills. I also use it on occasion. |
@ 09:26 pm (GMT) |
deerndingoRe: Ration packs, light weight food?Hi,I've played with light weight nutritious meal packs for a few years now. After discussing the issue with a dietician and having been involved with ration packs in the military I've ended up with using the following as a standard one meal pack. 1. 50g rolled, steamed fast cook oats (sweetened for breakfast - unsweetened for lunch or dinner). 2. 100g sachet of tuna. 3. tablespoon of dried mash potatoe (Deb) 4. tablespoon dried peas. 5. small thing of soya sauce or whatever. 6. Teaspoon of olive oil Snack stuff - muesli bar, tea bag, sweetener, dried milk powder, shortbread biscuit. This has a good mix of high, medium and low GI carbs, protein and fat. You place ingredients 1 to 6 in a bowl and add about 350ml of boiling water - place a lid over it and let it stand for a few minutes. It ends up being a cross between a soup and a something. Something like Vietnamese beef noodle soup. I eat most anything so it works for me. Careful with the olive oil as it has a huge amount of calories. You can buy all this off the shelf. Further dried vegies can be bought in Asian grocery shops (mushrooms, onions). I don't use cans or hard containers and they weight more and take up room in the pack to carry back out. I don't use 2 minute noodles because they are too high a GI and are gone in a flash like Nathan said. The fast cook, rolled oats take longer to digest so get released slower into the body. Hence the energy flow from the food is longer and more regulated. You need to get the boiling water on the oats real hot and wrap your bowl in something to keep the heat in to give the oats long enough to soften up. I vacuum seal each meal to sort out my food, ration it and make it real easy to deal with in the field. It also reduces its size and seals its scent from night time visitors. I don't know how many times I've heard other complain of bush mice n rats eating holes in the tents and or packs to get at the food in the middle of the night. Aldi has vacuum sealers soon for a bout $60. The vacuum bag takes any waste from the packaging too. The museli bar and biscuit are for between meals with a cuppa. In warm environs I use a JetBoil. In cold environs I use a shellite cooker because the gas of a gas cooker has a hard time in cold environs. That's what I've ended up with. |
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@ 02:53 am (GMT) |
Bob MavinRe: Ration packs, light weight food?Thanks guys!!!That’s a lot of good info. I’ll cook some meals, vacuum it & freeze it flat for the first day. I make heaps of Venison jerky. Rolled oats is a good idea, I eat that for breakfast at home. I use a Trangia stove, also carry a little square Solid Fuel Hexamine stove in my day pack to make a cuppa or packet of soup with a bit something dead in it or some jerky. Nathan, I ended buying a little Canon Legria HF R406 camcorder. I intend to do some videoing of the Fallow & Red Deer this next rut. I took some photos of a double 8 and a double 7 Red just before last year’s rut but during the drought this year a lot of Deer were shot on the crops at night. Can’t blame the farmers they can’t feed the cattle, having to buy feed when they can get it. With a bit of luck we might get some rain so I don’t have to carry much water, these old legs are not as good as they were! Cheers Bob |
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@ 01:55 pm (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: Ration packs, light weight food?Steph makes me eat oats (porridge) when we are in the hills together. Yuck. Keeps me going though. |
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@ 02:02 pm (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: Ration packs, light weight food?Forgot to say, we don't normally take tinned food either, kit is more like Deerndingo but with the freeze dried meals and as I said. I like to have the dried potato too. The frozen casserole is heavy but good if you have room for a bit of weight on the way in but generally, anything with water is obviously heavy. I mentioned tinned food because it has water in it already if sourcing water is a big problem. But these days it is possible to buy wet sachet food as well if water is an issue. |
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@ 02:59 pm (GMT) |
Bob MavinRe: Ration packs, light weight food?Porridge YUM!!! I’m sure I will break the drought, the creeks will be flowing and I’ll be soaked with my new waterproof hammock full of water!!! Ha ha. Come to think of it, I have to make a hammock for my little dog who sneaks into my swag through the night, he’s not getting in my hammock. I don’t think that exotic material it’s made of would like his toenails.Bob |
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