[pct-l] freezer bag cozy

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

Not only is BPA a problem, but I personally do not feel right  
creating so much additional trash for the sake of the "convenience"  
of not washing my pot. I was able to reuse so many of my ziploc bags  
during my hike that I only had to add more bags to my stash once.  
Cleaning my pot was a cinch. Just add a little water, scrape with my  
spoon (sporks are useless for this) and drink. Or, don't wash at all  
if not that dirty.

You can greatly reduce the weight of your pot by making your own lid.  
Foil works well. That bendy aluminum that never gets brittle is best.  
I super-glued a tab on top to serve as a grabber for lifting the lid.

Another handy cooking method is to cook your food and then wrap it  
(pot or freezer bag) in its cozy then put it in a large ziploc and  
stow it in your pack. Hike on for up to two more hours, then eat.  
Don't do this with soup. It's a nice way to have your dinner ready  
when it's time to recline for the evening. This method of stowing  
cooked food in your pack works with instant pudding. Pudding is a  
great way to extend the amount of water you are carrying in dry  
stretches.

Diane
On Jan 2, 2010, at 1:06 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Subject: Re: [pct-l] freezer bag cozy
> To: Kathryn Zimmerman <thebaglady07 at gmail.com>
> Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Message-ID:
> 	<ca2c2381001021306l15a80dd4k6131475b15653016 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> On Fri, Jan 1, 2010 at 3:17 PM, Kathryn Zimmerman
> <thebaglady07 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Does anyone know what with the issue of heat and plastics (i.e. water
>> bottles sitting in the sun and reheating foods in microwave) if  
>> the leaching
>> of unhealthy elements in freezer bags are an issue? ?Probably is,  
>> don't ya
>> think?
>
> The problem here is that there are a whole bunch of different
> chemicals that plastics are made of
>
> the two main additives that scientists are worried about now are
> Phthalates and Bisphenol A
>
> Ziploc bags are made of Low Density Poly Ethylene (LDPE) and that is
> one of the plastics that contains neither and is pretty well accepted
> as safe.
>
> The other is good old Poly Propylene. It turns out that the high end
> clear lexan Nalgene bottles are one of the worst. Nalgene has since
> switched to a different type of plastic,
>
> http://www.thegreenguide.com/buying-guide/plastic-containers
>
> HYOH, YMMV