[pct-l] cold soaking food containers

Sat Mar 9 14:10:50 CST 2013

More food for thought.   This is what I have evolved to when thru hiking
the PCT... I think I have tried it all since I have been backpacking every
year since the early 80's...In those days we boiled water in a coffee can
on a camp fire for drinking and everything else... These days I go
stoveless until the high sierras then switch to a cook system.  (HorseShoe
Meadows/Lone Pine for me)  Kennedy Meadows for most... Then back to
stoveless after Sonora Pass until Three Sisters in Oregon or Cascade Locks.
  I Just add water into a pre-packaged food pouch (I mostly use Mountain
House) and after 2 hours or so it's ready to eat right out of the pouch....
Sometimes I carry extra veggies, olive oil. seasoning. etc to add to the
pre-packaged pouch.. There is no extra weight carrying involoved because
the extra weight of added water in the pouch is negated by no cook system;
ie. stove, fuel, pots etc to carry .. This also gives the added bonuses of
reducing volumne in your pack and saving time with any sort of clean up!
.....  When I do carry a cook system then I just boil water and pour it
into a food pouch and eat it right out of the pouch...Never cook a meal in
a pot anymore when thru hikng.  Still love the no clean up routine...
Which, by the way, is hard to accomplish in SoCal beacause of the scarcity
of water.  Alot of different ways to skin the cat..  You'll find your
favorite way which often times varies from year to year... As far as bears
and food goes either hiking on the trail or at campsites I have never had a
bear problem with one exception.  That was with a well hung bag system in
the late 80's.  Since then my pack and food is always by my side day and
night and never a problem, even in the days before bear proof required
containers.   However, that being said,  I hardly ever camp where I eat or
camp near large groups or campgrounds unless there are bear boxes
available, I never snack in the middle of the night and almost never camp
at water sources.. Bears are smart and they know this is where food is easy
to find....I also keep my pack clean of crumps etc and not just for the
bears.  It's all those pesky little critters that are more troublesome..
 Last year I also started using opsak food bags especially for garbage and
any homemade food...  As far as food soaking in a bag in your pack for
hours while you're hiking is not an issue... We snack, eat all day long
while we are hiking anyway.... To be extra safe I do put that soaking food
in an opsak bag but only to keep the food odors from permeating to the rest
of the pack..  Happy Trails, Lucky

On Sat, Mar 9, 2013 at 10:33 AM, Jim & Jane Moody <moodyjj at comcast.net>wrote:

>
>
> Finally!  A topic I know something about.
>
>
>
> Last year I started going stoveless, to save weight and time and avoid an
> unintended forest fire.  I use clear plastic Nalgene containers
> (cylindrical), the 125 ml and 250 ml sizes.  They weigh 50 gm and 65 gm
> respectively.  They're p uncture-proof and leak-proof, unless you put in
> something that fizzes , building up pressure.  Then you're on your own.
>
>
>
> I would put my dry food in a container in the AM, add water (and sometimes
> olive oil) and stir, hike till lunch, then eat.  I'd repeat then for the
> dinner meal.  As best I could, I would clean it out after each meal with
> water (slosh it around, then drink it).  If I got worried about bacteria
> after 2 or 3 days, I'd squirt in a little alcohol handcleaner, add a dab of
> water to ensure the gel got distributed all around, shake well, empty,
> rinse again with water and let air out so the alcohol can dissi pate.
>
>
> When in town, I'd clean the containers thoroughly with soap and hot water;
> I also packed a small toothbrush to get the screw threads clean .
>
>
>
> I eat a lot of peanut butter, made from dried, ground peanuts, to which I
> added honey crystals, Nido, and coconut milk powder.  I would mix up the
> peanut mixture at home and send a ziplock full in each resupply box.  It
> took a while to learn how much water to add in the morning, but runny
> peanut butter is still tasty .
>
>
>
> My main dried meals included a variety of freeze- dried meats, veggies,
> and cheese, to which I would add a carb bought on the trail.  I found that
> instant potatoes, cous-cous, and dehydrated bean mixes rehydrated the
> quickest and most thoroughly.  I had worse luck with instant rice and pasta.
>
>
>
> This isn't exactly on topic, but I tried to stop for dinner at a water
> source or at least a site with a view.  After dinner I could clean up,
> rinse out smelly containers, stow garbage in trash ziplock, and hike an
> hour or three to a campsite.  That way I was minimizing food smells where I
> was sleeping.
>
>
>
> Good luck.  You'll do fine.
>
>
>
> Mango
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
>
> From: "Carrie Jilek" <fancyjilek at gmail.com>
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Sent: Friday, March 8, 2013 9:30:10 PM
> Subject: [pct-l] cold soaking food containers
>
> Hey everybody. I plan on cold soaking all my meals and don't think it will
> be possible to reuse some of the bags I vacuum seal with to cold soak in as
> well. Does anybody have any experience with this? Did you use another
> separate container or bag? If possible, when not in bear country I'd like
> to attach my cold soaking system to the outside of my pack to heat up the
> contents! Any thoughts?
>
> Also when vacuum sealing I've had some difficulty with the contents
> puncturing the Sealsaver bags. The manufacturer suggests you use a paper
> towel lessen the contact of the dehydrated food on the bag, but I'd like to
> avoid any extras if possible.
>
> thanks, and cheers!
> Carrie
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
> All content is copyrighted by the respective authors.
> Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
> All content is copyrighted by the respective authors.
> Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.