[pct-l] Cooking vs Soak-N-Eat Foods

[Trekker4 at aol.com (Trekker4@aol.com)]

    All rehydration or food soaking is done in the bag, so no extra vessel or 
container is necessary; all rehydration is doublebagged in a gallon ziplock, 
and kept upright while soaking. The AlpineAire and Backpacker's Pantry foods 
come in a zip bag; Mary Jane's Farm and Natural High do not; other brands I 
don't know about. Extra weight for this paragraph - 1 gallon zip bag. 
    The water for soaking would be carried for cooking anyhow, so I don't 
believe that's a factor. I add about 2/3 of the suggested water, and check it 
once an hour or so at a break, adding more water as necessary. I stir it with a 
lexan knife, which is longer than a large lexan spoon. It's a bit difficult to 
get to the bottom of some bags to eat the last bit of foot, but I sometimes 
use the knife tip for that. Extra weight for this paragraph - 1 lexan knife.
    So, the total extra weight is 1 oz, at least to me. I believe I left the 
MJ'sF url out of my post a couple days ago: 
http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/pfoshop/packages.asp. MJ'sF website says her foods can be  rehydrated hot or cold. 
She has 1, 1.5, and 2 (hiker size) serving foods, at reasonable prices; 
however, as I said earlier, her food is vegetarian. She also sells bulk foods, at 
even lower $ per oz prices.
    The unprepared hiker that Mara mentioned might not have been saved by 
warm food; one can go without food. By himself, the lack of clothes and shelter 
would have killed him first, I think; but I don't know all the facts.
    I'm heading out tomorrow morning for 20 miles in Big Bend Ranch State 
Park, just west of Big Bend National Park. The State Park will be deserted 
desert, compared to the people in the National Park this weekend. I'll report back 
on the Steripen water purifier, Mary Jane's Farm food (1 flavor), and my new, 
16 oz, Komperdell hiking pole/umbrella (Yes, it's a real, adjustable, 3 section 
hiking pole, with a 42" diameter umbrella; and, wow, it's got a 1/2 inch 
diameter compass in the top of the handle.) On the PCT I'll only use the pole for 
difficult stream crossings, maybe in snow fields, and for a bear at my bear 
can rattle; but the 16 oz total is as light a real, tough umbrella as I've ever 
found. 

Bob 
Big Bend Desert Denizen
(Naturalized Citizen, Republic of Texas)