[pct-l] Buying Freeze Dried Food in Bulk

[Austin Williams]

Hello,

Anyone wanting to incorporate freeze dried food into their trail diet might
want to consider buying it in bulk to save money.

I did this two summers back and it worked well.  There is a seller on ebay
with the username "vertumnus75".*  *She (I think it was a "she") has some
kind of wholesale deal with Mountain House.  On larger orders (like those a
thruhiker makes) there is free shipping.  Her rates are way cheaper than
survivalacres.com on all bulk purchases.

If any of her listings don't meet your needs, shoot her an email and talk to
her about it.  I did that and she set up a special (private) ebay auction
for me with the amount and kinds of meals that I needed.

Anyway, here's what I wanted to share with you:

98 pouches for $490 with free shipping (that's $5 per pouch):

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&pub=5574887679&toolid=10001&campid=5336527861&customid=&icep_item=330403711874&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg

In the brick-and-mortar stores, Mountain House meals can cost anywhere
between $6 and $9 (at least here in Oregon).

There are other sales on ebay (by this and other dealers).  There are deals
for smaller and larger quantities.  But the one I listed above is the
cheapest per-pouch available anywhere (according to my research).  To get a
better per-pouch deal than that you'll have to buy about $7,000 worth of
freeze dried food... and that would just be ridiculous.

I found deals at survivalacres.com and survival-warehouse.com that are less
than $5 per pouch... but they don't have free shipping.  The shipping
charges end up making it more expensive than the ebay seller I went
through... that's why I went with her.

I ate freeze-dried meals three times per day on the trail.  I wouldn't do
that many again.... freeze dried for EVERY meal is too much.  One freeze
dried meal per day would be great.  Maybe two on some days.  But three per
day is too much IMO.  The texture and flavors didn't really get old (I had a
*very* wide variety), but having to cook *every meal* was a pain in the
butt.

Anyway, I did a *ton* of research before I bought from the seller I
mentioned above, and I just wanted to share the fruits of my labor.  I hope
it helps you save some money.

-- 
Austin Williams
PlanYourHike.com

"The mountains are calling and I must go."   -John Muir