No heat instant/emergency food?
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Do you mean Joe? He's Irish!The Scottish guy over on In Forests and Lands carries a tub of Swedish Nöt-Crème.
Nöt-Crème Ask med hasselnötscreme - 175 g
Nut-Crème Ash with hazelnut cream - 175 gwww.dittsvenskaskafferi.com
Lovely chap too. Met him about 2 yrs ago, and attended a firelighting workshop with him. He's one of the best teachers I've come across.
Ah. Must've misremembered or misheard. Only found his channel within the last year IIRC.
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Yeah, in ratpacks back in late 90's/early 00's iirc. Used to love the corned beef hash and beef stew
Loads of things you can take really. Any tinned food, microwave rice, fruit and nut mix, chocolate bars... anything with some carbs and protein and its all good. I think its harder to find food you do need to cook these days, most stuff is made to just need reheating. Even a frozen ready meal once defrosted can be eaten as is. Might not taste the best, but the calories are there and it wont make you ill.
N
notice how you never got a breakfast and dinner you liked in the same box?
I’m sure this was the MOD’s way to prevent too much morale in the lines
Now you are talking.
notice how you never got a breakfast and dinner you liked in the same box?
I’m sure this was the MOD’s way to prevent too much morale in the lines
I have lived about three days on Blå Band ready to eat meal. A bit heavy though, otherwise OK.
www.varusteleka.com
Blå Band Outdoor Meal, Ready to Eat - Varusteleka.com
These are surprisingly tasty, a bit suspicious-looking, quite large portions, and packed in typical strong Blå Band bags.
www.varusteleka.com
Kendal Mint Cake, marzipan or - for longer trips - MOD Rat Pack (heavy but ready to go 
). A Rat Pack also lives in my van for if/when I have an unplanned night out.
). A Rat Pack also lives in my van for if/when I have an unplanned night out.
I've been buying nairn's super seeded oatcakes as they are very nice to nibble on. The seeds seem to bump the calories up to 450 per 100g. They are wrapped in bags of 5 (50g) so would seem ideal for taking out and about.
Great to hear so many ideas for how to stash some back-up calories for when you find yourself in a pinch. I wonder about the issue of digestion to access these calories - the meat options (salami / chorizo / pork pie), though appealing could take a chunk of time to digest (and perhaps some water / liquid) and if you're up against incoming weather / night / remaining distance, you might need to get the energy into your system quicker.
I wonder about the small gel pouches that cyclists use on race days, as they're designed for fast absorption into the body to be available for the athlete. They're small and light but do have a hit of energy to boost the body and are in a more accessible semi-liquid form, aiding speedier digestion. Perhaps they aren't enough to constitute a meal / big hit of calories, but they could be a good way to give yourself another 30 mins of being performant so you can make better decisions / make it to a safer location / etc. I figure they also have a decent shelf-life and they're not overly expensive.
I also was thinking about whether a powder form 'fuel' option might be useful, especially if you can simply add some water to make a paste that you could just munch. Might not be joyful on the palate, but could get some valuable content into your system, again in a small particle form that would make digestion quicker to access the energy. I'm thinking of the mushroom powders that are available, where you pre-add some seasoning to make more enjoyable, plus a simple sugar, etc. There are the food-substitutes for gym-goers that they make up to give them accessible protein and necessary carbs, but I think they can be expensive and in a more emergency-focussed situation, as in the OP, protein is not the key, so they may not be that helpful.
+1 from me for the marzipan too - lasts ages in the fridge, you can chew / cut off a bit, is already in a small-particle format, and has sugar, nuts and egg in it, so lots to enjoy!
I wonder about the small gel pouches that cyclists use on race days, as they're designed for fast absorption into the body to be available for the athlete. They're small and light but do have a hit of energy to boost the body and are in a more accessible semi-liquid form, aiding speedier digestion. Perhaps they aren't enough to constitute a meal / big hit of calories, but they could be a good way to give yourself another 30 mins of being performant so you can make better decisions / make it to a safer location / etc. I figure they also have a decent shelf-life and they're not overly expensive.
I also was thinking about whether a powder form 'fuel' option might be useful, especially if you can simply add some water to make a paste that you could just munch. Might not be joyful on the palate, but could get some valuable content into your system, again in a small particle form that would make digestion quicker to access the energy. I'm thinking of the mushroom powders that are available, where you pre-add some seasoning to make more enjoyable, plus a simple sugar, etc. There are the food-substitutes for gym-goers that they make up to give them accessible protein and necessary carbs, but I think they can be expensive and in a more emergency-focussed situation, as in the OP, protein is not the key, so they may not be that helpful.
+1 from me for the marzipan too - lasts ages in the fridge, you can chew / cut off a bit, is already in a small-particle format, and has sugar, nuts and egg in it, so lots to enjoy!
As powdered form, definitely heard of people using instant oats sachets made with cold water.
Long trail hikers/backpackers call it cold soaking. Apparently can make ramen that way too, just takes time (30mins+) for it to rehydrate.
Long trail hikers/backpackers call it cold soaking. Apparently can make ramen that way too, just takes time (30mins+) for it to rehydrate.
The default I carry in a daysack:
- A brew kit with a few teas, sugars, whiteners, hot chocolate, coffee. This also has a bag of nuts or similar from a ration pack.
- A main meal from a ration pack
- One of the cake bars from a ration pack
Between those three I think I'd be OK for energy and keeping warm for a 24 hour period, and will give me the energy needed to get to safety or await rescue depending on the circumstance. I like to keep the 'energy' in a few different availability formats like that, so that I can either give myself a quick boost of energy for an immediate physical challenge, or warming and slow release for the longer haul or overnight.
- A brew kit with a few teas, sugars, whiteners, hot chocolate, coffee. This also has a bag of nuts or similar from a ration pack.
- A main meal from a ration pack
- One of the cake bars from a ration pack
Between those three I think I'd be OK for energy and keeping warm for a 24 hour period, and will give me the energy needed to get to safety or await rescue depending on the circumstance. I like to keep the 'energy' in a few different availability formats like that, so that I can either give myself a quick boost of energy for an immediate physical challenge, or warming and slow release for the longer haul or overnight.
Thanks for all the great ideas, and hopefully this gave you pause for thought on your own provisions. Still open for more suggestions and what you carry.
Several there that were new to me, especially marzipan. My list was more inclined towards Woody Girl's line of thought, so I value the other new ones to extend the list.
I think stonepark and astrochicken nailed some important key points, much higher calorific needs in winter and mountains, trip duration, and bio-availability both quickly and longer term.
Much as I love GORP and nut variants, I learnt recently that nuts are not easily digested and bioavailable, unless crushed down and we all have a tendency to not chew them enough to do this properly. Therefore nut butters and cooked nuts are better in a fix, e.g. Jared's useful link.
That's my excuse for trying Toddy's peanut biscuits recipe, purely in the interests of science of course.....
Several there that were new to me, especially marzipan. My list was more inclined towards Woody Girl's line of thought, so I value the other new ones to extend the list.
I think stonepark and astrochicken nailed some important key points, much higher calorific needs in winter and mountains, trip duration, and bio-availability both quickly and longer term.
Much as I love GORP and nut variants, I learnt recently that nuts are not easily digested and bioavailable, unless crushed down and we all have a tendency to not chew them enough to do this properly. Therefore nut butters and cooked nuts are better in a fix, e.g. Jared's useful link.
That's my excuse for trying Toddy's peanut biscuits recipe, purely in the interests of science of course.....
I do not leave home without some sausages and some mueslibars or snickers, preferably the latter.
Sausages give the energy (fat and protein) needed to keep going, snickers give a moral boost and some extra carbs.
Dog biscuits and homemade jerky.
Feed the boys first with a mixture. Then what ever is lurking in my bag
Feed the boys first with a mixture. Then what ever is lurking in my bag
Mentioned already, but flapjack is an excellent thing to have in reserve- the sugar/honey content for instant energy, and the fat and oats for slower burning lasting energy, and of course the oats help keep the digestive system working during a stressed time! Other ingredients added to taste....
They're good even if they end up crumbs in a bag....
and they are both easy to digest and tasty enough that folks want to eat them.....unlike some of the more 'survival' type stuff that's, well, an acquired taste of necessity.
Personally I like oatcakes and cheese, almonds, raisins and good chocolate. None of that carp hard fat stuff that used to be called cooking chocolate that lasts forever around kendal mint cake. Claggy stuff.
