RE: [pct-l] Sierra Hike vs. Thruhike

["BeachBum" <transient@backpacker.com>]

On Wed, 5 Jul 2000 20:36:14 -0700  "Reynolds, WT" <reynolds@iLAN.com> wrote:
>re: Trianga Stove.
>I have not seen nor used one. Your weight of 5 ounces [stove + bottle] is
>3-5 ounces lighter than my Primus [Stove + empty canister] depending on the
>canister I use. [3+1.5+.5.]. Your numbers indicate what I say--A savings of
>3-5 ounces under the best of conditions.

uh....yah..... it's about 5 oz. lighter and works as well or better.

>re: Rehydrating without heat.
>In the desert it seems possible to rehydrate with just the heat of the sun
>but in the Sierra this ain't so. To rehydrate without heat requires the food
>to be prepared/packaged to work that way. 

Maybe the smaller, lower, less difficult Sierra has something to do with that....  ;o). Gotta admit, I don't do desert anymore. Just not that much fun. I might reconcider when they perfect that freeze dried water. I much prefer winter and snow...easier to get warm than cool. I make my own food so maybe that's why mine works.

Usually [not always] foods that
>require time to cook/reconstitute gain a greater percentage of their weight
>from water. For example, Miniute Rice requires less water to reconstitute
>than the same weight of regular rice.

Hmmm...ok. I take in the same amount of liquid no matter what. I can drink it or eat it....all the same to me. But if I drink it I don't have to heat it.

I dehydrate my own meals. The canned chicken and tuna I chop up before dehydrating and I break it up after dehydrating it. It allows it to reconstitute in about 3 to 5 minutes in any temp. I frequently use it, mayo and pickle relish packets and crackers for lunch. Makes real good chicken or tuna salid.  The dried ground beef takes longer, usually about 15  to 20 minutes or so. All of it just requires boiling or hot water. I used to do gravy and such but I'm just too lazy to clean the pot afterwards.
>
>re: The Esbit
>Yep 2 tablets per 2 cups. However for 3 cups or when the wind is blowing or
>in rain.......

Back when I used an Esbit I used one tab or less for 2 cups of water. And using a windscreen helps alot in wind or rain.....meant the pretty much the same fuel consumption in all conditions..;o) But I don't think they work as well as alcohol stoves when it comes to melting snow.
>
>Yep to everything you say but what I SEE out there is people carrying and
>eating a pound of Oreo Cookies in a day because all this lightweight, easy
>to reconstitute stuff ain't food.

I wouldn't know about that. Like I said, I make my own and I eat VERY well..... maybe too well, according to my girlfriend.....lol. I have meat in every meal. My spaghetti is as good as it gets. This stuff tastes so good I frequently eat it at home, too. I also squirt a little canola oil in it to restore the fat/taste. Works like a champ. 
>
>Yep, for a three-day hike one can go simply and not even carry a stove and
>for 2700 miles one will soon learn to eat anything. On a 100-300 mile pack
>in the Sierra neither situation applies. Almost always, people eat the M&M's
>the first day and the freeze dried stuff gets dumped at the next resupply
>point.

Hmmm...odd, in the Rockies, which are just a bit bigger, it works for me. I'm just poor folks... can't afford freeze dried, plus it tastes like shit.....=o) I'm retired and spend 10 to 20 days a month on the trail. Food is just too important to fail at. 

Jerry

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