Budget dried - Think Vesta etc

[Rumpole_Stiltskin]

Normally I hike and wild camp for several days at a time and as such like to try and keep the weight down.

I also like to keep clean up as simple as possible and either go with boil in the bag or Vesta meal done in my food thermos.

I know I could buy dehydrated food pouches for my exact purpose but don't want to spend a fortune.

Currently the only dried food I get is:
Vesta meals - B&M etc, my current favourite
Pasta pouches - OK but often need milk (I just use water which makes them a bit muh)
Rice/Supa noodles - Nuff said

Obviously the Vesta meals win hands down so I'm wondering if anyone else has any budget alternatives?

 

[bilmo-p5]

Have a look at this video. Food for thought. (Pardon me, )

 

[ateallthepies]

I find adding a beef or chicken stock cube to super noodles etc makes them better. Also a Peparami cut up and bunged in gives a bit of meatiness. Dried mixed veg from Asda also adds to the mess!

Have you tried dehydrating foods? A great hearty mix can be made from dried mince beef, dried veg, Smash potato and gravy granules for about a quid a meal!

 

[Mesquite]

Have a look at this video. Food for thought. (Pardon me, )

And here's the thread where the video was discussed. It's got some useful ideas as well

If you want to know about nutritional values Paul discusses it here

 

[dwardo]

Not much help as I have tried various dried and even rat-pack meals and they all disappoint equally. Had to post as i love the location "127.0.0.1", brilliant.

 

[Nic Le Becheur]

Normally I hike and wild camp for several days at a time and as such like to try and keep the weight down...
Obviously the Vesta meals win hands down so I'm wondering if anyone else has any budget alternatives?

Sainsbury's instant dried noodles, mixed with a Sainsbury's Cuppa-Soup, makes a cheap meal for as little time and effort it takes to make a brew.

 

[Bishop]

Obviously the Vesta meals win hands down so I'm wondering if anyone else has any budget alternatives?

Wait till you try nettle & worm pancakes but seriously don't be afraid of cooking. If you can boil water then a whole world of food awaits to be discovered check out Jas Townsend on Youtube and his perfect campfire dumplings

 

[Rumpole_Stiltskin]

7 Days in a rocket pack... Good vid as I've got two of them and a short back that I'm rather attached to. What do people with civi packs do?

I think so far my favorite is vesta out of pure conveience and that taste of the 80's. Does anyone know of similar but with different meals, green thai curry, all in stew, lanc hotpot etc...?

Jas Townsend seems like he may be taking hours of my life in the coming weeks out of pure curiosity, even though though I dont think its going to work with my hike wild camp for days on end.


@ dwardo - I think we may live in the same place .

 

[ateallthepies]

I have dehydrated tinned curry in the past. I kept some vaccum sealed for exactly one year and rehydrated and it was fine, was never gonna be as good as when fresh tho. It took a while to rehydrate and cook, maybe 15-25 mins I can't remember now but if you search my posts it's there somewhere! Add some rice and your onto a goodun!

You can dehydrate lots of tinned stuff but for longer storage avoid overly oily or fatty foods. If your making up ration packs a week before using them then alls good as it takes a while for dried fat to go rancid.

 

[Bishop]

What do people with civi packs do?

They don't lol The vast majority of hikers & campers don't do week long expedition style trips without any external support or re-supply. As a result most civilian packs top-out at 75-80L and that's usually more than enough to carry all they need with a drybag of food internally. Of course the world loves its oddballs and if you dig into Google's image search for Appellation Trail hikers from the 70-80's you'll see some backpacks from manufacturers such as Cobmaster & Kelty that positively dwarf a British Army bergan. Plus there is no shame for having gear hanging off the outside of the pack, or at least there was. Some military load carrying ideas have migrated over to civilian designers such as chest rigs for hikers and the Aarn Bodypacks but it's rare to see them in the wild. As for myself I am a peasant with no shame so have no qualms strapping a pair of drybags to the outside of my 35L pack. It's a weird trade off, I do own a bergan and it allows me to go out for longer but the extra dead weight reduces the range I can cover per day.

For pure meal-time convenience there's always Uncle Ben's rice and the Look-what-we-found range of wet meal pouches that boil in the bag nicely, however the makers can't guarantee the ink on the packaging is food safe so the water cannot be used to make tea and has to be dumped. It's a bulky and heavy ration option, one or two as a treat fine but a weeks worth will be unpleasant to carry any great distance.

Pasta & sauce packs benefit tremendously from Nido milk powder as it's full-fat not skimmed. Tesco now stock it in the World Food section, though £7 a tin it will last you a while.

There is however another school of thought when it comes to eating and a growing number of ultralight hikers don't cook food at all. Instant noodles can be munched on straight out of the pack, there's GORP (good old raisins and peanuts), Liquid Biscotti aka ‘Super Spackle’, Peanut butter, Hazlenut spread, crackers, biscuits, Peparami, Smoked sausage, chocolate, cereal bars plus protein shakes & energy bars.

Baked beans and Bacon can be dehydrated in a microwave and goes well with instant mash potato.

 

[Rumpole_Stiltskin]

Thanks for the Nido powder recommendation, I seem to recall that many moons ago pasta sachets just needed water and I've been trying to find one that is still that way to no avail. It might be a bit of extra faff but it’s not too much and will make meal time a lot nicer and a little harder hitting. I was also thinking of adding a little olive oil to most of my meals via a small Sigg bottle or sml travel nalgene.

I was toying with the idea of getting a ribz pack to move some weight from the back to the front. So far other than a mat I've never needed to strap anything to the back of my bergan (thanks largely to snugpak .

Rasins/nuts and salami are almost always in the mix though I've yet to find any biscuits that compare to brown both in taste (just me I think) and package convenience.

 

[ateallthepies]

There is porrage too! I love the sachets of golden syrup flavour' adding milk powder or Nido! So simple, just add boiling water and a couple of the big Sachets do me for hours!

 

[Trig]

I find adding a beef or chicken stock cube to super noodles etc makes them better. Also a Peparami cut up and bunged in gives a bit of meatiness. Dried mixed veg from Asda also adds to the mess!

Not tried adding stock cubes or veggies, but i too add peperamis to super noodles. Nice and easy, just boil some water and you've got a tasty enough meal. Not too sure about the eating them dry out of the packet though...

Super noodles, Pepperamis, a packet of crackers and a bin bag full of the babybell cheeses and im sorted.

Thanks for the Nido powder recommendation, I seem to recall that many moons ago pasta sachets just needed water and I've been trying to find one that is still that way to no avail..

Have you seen the Mug shot pasta sachetcs? Not much in them ( a mug full funnily enough) but all they need is boiling water

 

[Tengu]

Nic le Becheur, Thats a fave of mine too

 

[Rumpole_Stiltskin]

Have you seen the Mug shot pasta sachetcs? Not much in them ( a mug full funnily enough) but all they need is boiling water

I've actually overlooked them due to them being called 'mugshot'.I guess my though process was that I wanted a full meal rather than a 'mug'.

Maybe I should take another look and throw two of them into my 700ml food thermos.

 

[Tengu]

They are quite nice for an odd snack.

 

[Trig]

Yea, 2 of them and maybe a smoked sausage/pepperami or chorizo chopped up and added in might be alright.

 

[ateallthepies]

If you ever go to Spain or other countries keep a lookout for their dried meals. They can do a wide variety of things like our domestic Batchelors Pasta n Sauce packs. I always grab a load and stuff my case or whatever with them as they are cheap, tasty and stay good for years unopened!

I did have lots of Spagetti Bolognaise packs as they were really good and more than enough for a big appetite per pack!

 

[bigbear]

Worth looking at the blog by Andy Kirkpatrick if you are serious about max calories and min mass. Hardcore Alpinism can teach us some good lessons,but you are trading quality and quantity against weight in your bag.