|
OSU_Matthew posted:If I could also make a quick pile recommendation, I've made two of these and absolutely love them: What are the argon pillows like, in terms of springiness? To date, the only camping pillow that I can sleep on is an old-rear end thermarest dealie packed with all of their recycled scraps from their sleeping pads, but takes somewhere close to twelve hours or a few minutes in the dryer before the little bits and bobs all fully inflate, which completely defeats the purpose of compressing them down in the first place.
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 05:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 03:38 |
|
|
Verman posted:As for Mre's, like others have mentioned they are heavy, bulky, have a poo poo ton of packaging, and dont taste entirely great plus they are expensive at $8-10 per meal. I don't know how we're gonna condemn MREs for price when a pouch of Mountain House also costs $8-9 (you can get them in bulk, but you can also get MREs in bulk). Also, MREs average 1200 calories or so, vs 500 for a whole pouch of your average Mountain House. This is the most confounding thing about Mountain House to me, the way their dishes have less calories in them than even the "light" menus at most restaurants, in a situation where you want maximum caloric density. You can also open the pouch and remove extraneous poo poo like the toilet paper, matches, Tabasco bottle, and the little cardboard boxes they put around some components. That'll help with the volume, if not too much with weight. Mountain House stroganoff is pretty tasty though, and you don't have to locate a "rock or something".
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 16:46
|
|
|
Pham Nuwen posted:I don't know how we're gonna condemn MREs for price when a pouch of Mountain House also costs $8-9 (you can get them in bulk, but you can also get MREs in bulk). Lol, that’s exactly why I tried both making my own dehydrated calorie bomb meals and the MRE experiment, I wanted to cram calories down my face like crazy. Like I said, I found MREs to not be worthwhile since I’ve got no problem with powdered eggs and beans for days, but I figured people with more discerning taste would want something more flavorful, and were willing to pay the caloric price (or lack thereof). Also I got tired of the roll of the dice with the MREs, since while most of the meals were fine, the cheese spread was nauseating. I just wanted the peanut butter packs, damnit!
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 16:57
|
|
|
Thaddius the Large posted:Lol, that’s exactly why I tried both making my own dehydrated calorie bomb meals and the MRE experiment, I wanted to cram calories down my face like crazy. Like I said, I found MREs to not be worthwhile since I’ve got no problem with powdered eggs and beans for days, but I figured people with more discerning taste would want something more flavorful, and were willing to pay the caloric price (or lack thereof). Also I got tired of the roll of the dice with the MREs, since while most of the meals were fine, the cheese spread was nauseating. I just wanted the peanut butter packs, damnit! I haven't had an MRE in years but I remember the spicy vegetarian penne was pretty loving good, as were some of the desserts. Better than dehydrated. I guess you should also consider the water weight. Most MREs just need a few tablespoons of water to activate the heating element, while you have to add two cups of water to a bag of Mountain House. So your 4 oz dehydrated meal is actually 1 lb 4 oz if you have to pack in all your water (like I usually do in NM) Edit: the more I defend MREs conceptually, the more I think I should actually go buy a couple and try them out next time.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 17:18
|
|
|
We made our own dehydrated meals for our last couple of trips. It was fun, and saved some $, but its a bit of a time sink. There is a Texas company that makes really good dehydrated meals, can't remember the name though.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 17:39
|
|
|
Pham Nuwen posted:I don't know how we're gonna condemn MREs for price when a pouch of Mountain House also costs $8-9 (you can get them in bulk, but you can also get MREs in bulk). I should have specified, I don't really buy mountain house or backpacker pantry meals very often anymore. They're expensive, they're hard to portion out, and I like more basic foods that are easy to eat and mix/match with other meals. I just go to a grocery store before my trip and buy regular food. It tastes 10x better and costs less plus you can really minimize the packaging before hitting the trail. Most of my food consists of easy mix soups & sides, instant rice/pastas, ramen, mashed potatoes, stuffing, tuna/chicken in a pouch, tortillas, cheese, fritos, jerky/salami, granola/oatmeal and some fresh fruit if possible. Grab a few random sauces (hot sauce, peanut sauce, soy sauce, sweet and sour) and you will greatly increase your options). Another thing we've been doing lately is bringing ready to eat food for our first nights meal. Usually our first hike in is hard and often arriving in camp late in the day/night so meal prep is the last thing we want to focus on. Making a bowl of chili, grilling up some bratwursts, or bringing some pizza from the night before make for great show up and eat options. You dont have to worry about them going bad in the few hours you hike in. You can always freeze them so they thaw while you hike. I can't tell you how many times people have walked by our camp and been like "do I smell pizza?" Its a huge morale booster and then you don't have to worry about setting up camp and then making dinner. My favorite dehydrated meal though is the stroganoff. I don't even really like beef stroganoff very much normally but it does make a good mountain house flavor. Sometimes we'll get chicken fajita and put it into a tortilla. Pretty much anything you can eat in a flour tortilla is big with me. I'm pretty sure I've been known to eat plain tortillas with cheese and hot sauce before. As for MREs, I've eaten them many times in the past and I actually don't mind how they taste. They seem to significantly delay my bowel movements which might be a reason why they are often referred to as Meals Refusing to Extract.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 17:41
|
|
|
It's interesting reading this thread because I was about to make some of snarky post about how making your own meals is so much cheaper/easier than freeze-dried stuff, but I'm immensely spoiled by trips having 3-10 canoes and 6-20 people with the longest portage being 2km usually, so overpacking isn't really an issue, just have to balance out your boats more. IMP/MRE bloating/constipation is a known thing, but that's a feature not a bug for some people. You can field strip the hell out of an MRE as well, toss all the little crap and keep the main meal bags. If you have a pot or stove you don't need the heater bags either, they're pretty wasteful. Because we tend to have such big trips and have to account for some allergies (celiac/beans/lactose) or the goddamn vegans, we've become pretty adept at making 1 pot/2 pot meals that get done over a campfire.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 18:30
|
|
|
Verman posted:As for MREs, I've eaten them many times in the past and I actually don't mind how they taste. They seem to significantly delay my bowel movements which might be a reason why they are often referred to as Meals Refusing to Extract. Anything that reduces how often I need to poo poo in a hole is a bonus in my book. A bag of flour tortillas and a jar of peanut butter packs a lot of calories into a pretty small package; that's basically all I ate on my hunting trip last year.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 18:34
|
|
|
MA-Horus posted:It's interesting reading this thread because I was about to make some of snarky post about how making your own meals is so much cheaper/easier than freeze-dried stuff, but I'm immensely spoiled by trips having 3-10 canoes and 6-20 people with the longest portage being 2km usually, so overpacking isn't really an issue, just have to balance out your boats more. That’s definitely fair, I was tailoring my recommendations to be backpacking specific, camping and rafting are a whole separate animal, as it greatly changes the gear available; if we’re talking the latter, I like to have anything from a Dutch oven (camping) to full blown kitchen (rafting) to work with.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 18:59
|
|
|
For certain scenarios like desert camping where you can't get additional water, MRE's probably aren't a bad route as you won't be wasting valuable water to rehydrate your food. For traditional backpacking routes in areas where water is abundant, I try to avoid carrying anything with excess water weight if I don't have to. I do however carry a mini can of coke now for my big hiking day reward. Having a slice of pizza or chili on top of a bag of fritos with melted cheese and an ice cold coke ... that will make any amount of miles seem to melt away.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 20:06
|
|
|
YMMV, but for me I need food I will actually want to prepare and eat on trail. No cook/cold soaking works very well for me on backpacking trips because it minimizes camp chores and saves time for more hiking. I have also found dehydrated meals to be hit and miss. When you are doing mileage you need calories and I do not ever again want to pack out gross stuff I can't stomach. So I would absolutely recommend trying stuff before you go out. Verman posted:I do however carry a mini can of coke now for my big hiking day reward. Having a slice of pizza or chili on top of a bag of fritos with melted cheese and an ice cold coke ... that will make any amount of miles seem to melt away. I also love packing out a huge sub / burrito / etc for the first meal on trail.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 20:15
|
|
|
For whatever reason, most prepackaged backpacking meals are always behind standard grocery store do-it-yourself meals when it comes one or more of the following areas: cost, nutrition, weight, or cooking time. 200g of dried fast-cook pasta or couscous, a kraft macaroni cheese pouch, and 2 oz of bacon bits gives ~1200 kcal and ~150g carboydrates for ~300g total weight, costs like $3 in ingredients, and will cook in 2-7 minutes. A pretty realistic portion amount for a day's worth of cooked meals when backpacking (either dinner+breakfast or just dinner if you don't cook breakfast) is 1000-1500 kcal, so 300g of this covers that. It's also a one pot just add boiling water meal. In contrast, this will require 2-3 pouches of mountain house or packitgormet, and since those things cost like $5-8 each you're talking 10-20+ dollars per meal. In many cases, the calories/g and carbohydrates per meal will be worse. In the cases where they aren't, the 2-3 servings required will often have 2000-3000 mg of sodium, which is on the higher side of what might be required even after running at marathon pace for 8 hours, and in any case electrolyte replenishment is something that should happen throughout the day, so eating a few grams of salt at dinner is usually just gonna make you thirsty and have to pee more during the night. And in the cases where you can find a prepackaged meal that is pretty optimal in terms of weight efficiency, nutritional profile, etc. (packitgormet does have a few of these), it almost always requires longer than 5 minutes of cooking time, and it's still costing you like $15 instead of $3. I mean don't get me wrong, I like a lot of those meals and they'll work just fine if you bring enough of them. But at some point it's hard to justify the cost when it doesn't beat a couscous + whatever meal by any metric.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 20:23
|
|
|
This is awesome food chat. I’m swaying now towards packing adult lunchables, peanut butter, tuna packs and dehydrated noodles with maybe one Mountain House type meal for when I feel like it. Most of my trips are going to be short and the more I walked around the grocery store today the more “no duh” stuff popped out as easy picks for short trips. I freaking love peanut butter, too. I did buy some neat stuff today! I’m feeling good on equipment now, the rest I’ll figure out the hard way. BeFree filter bottle:  Pocket rocket 2 kit:  Dry bag:  A titanium spork and some other miscellaneous things: 
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 20:43
|
|
|
SwissArmyDruid posted:What are the argon pillows like, in terms of springiness? To date, the only camping pillow that I can sleep on is an old-rear end thermarest dealie packed with all of their recycled scraps from their sleeping pads, but takes somewhere close to twelve hours or a few minutes in the dryer before the little bits and bobs all fully inflate, which completely defeats the purpose of compressing them down in the first place. Argon is just the exterior fabric, so it's like a really soft and silky nylon, like what nicer sleeping bags use. Inside is a large ball of climashield, which is high end synthetic sleeping bag fill. It's fluffy, but compresses down under your head nicely. I prefer soft pillows that still keep my head pretty level so it's perfect for me. I even just folded it in half when I needed extra loft on the airplane. Rolo posted:This is awesome food chat. I’m swaying now towards packing adult lunchables, peanut butter, tuna packs and dehydrated noodles with maybe one Mountain House type meal for when I feel like it. Most of my trips are going to be short and the more I walked around the grocery store today the more “no duh” stuff popped out as easy picks for short trips. I freaking love peanut butter, too. Protip--you should return that spork and get a long handled aluminum/titanium spoon: https://www.rei.com/product/782241/sea-to-summit-alpha-light-spoon-long Makes eating out of packages so much simpler and cleaner. It's one of those things that as soon as someone sees it on the trail, they always get one by the next trip. Also, everyone has solid advice in bringing an easy meal for the first night, like a sub or I do a pack of jalapeno brats and wrap them in tortillas toasted over the fire. Most anything will keep nicely the first day. Also Pepperoni and cheese bagels are great for a quick cheap lunch. PB&J can be done with jelly packets from Chik Fil and and Jason's peanut butter packets, that's a solid recipe. Breakfast is usually clif bars or instant oatmeal for me, just so I can get up and going faster. And you owe it to yourself to try Packit Gourmet--wayyy better than mountain house on every front, plus it doesn't have cheese that adheres to your spoon like concrete
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 21:03
|
|
|
OSU_Matthew posted:Protip--you should return that spork and get a long handled aluminum/titanium spoon: Seconding this. Also, these come in spork form as well, so you don't have to give up your pointy ends for length.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 21:18
|
|
|
OSU_Matthew posted:Argon is just the exterior fabric, so it's like a really soft and silky nylon, like what nicer sleeping bags use. Inside is a large ball of climashield, which is high end synthetic sleeping bag fill. It's fluffy, but compresses down under your head nicely. I prefer soft pillows that still keep my head pretty level so it's perfect for me. I even just folded it in half when I needed extra loft on the airplane. Good tip! I’ll pick one up.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 21:39
|
|
|
OSU_Matthew posted:Protip--you should return that spork and get a Kung Foon
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2018 22:12
|
|
|
Verman posted:For certain scenarios like desert camping where you can't get additional water, MRE's probably aren't a bad route as you won't be wasting valuable water to rehydrate your food. For traditional backpacking routes in areas where water is abundant, I try to avoid carrying anything with excess water weight if I don't have to. Even if you're not using water to rehydrate an MRE, you're usually going to need to drink a lot while eating one just to get through the bread and also to dilute all of the sodium and other electrolytes they pack in to the food. Just something to consider. Source: I've eaten tons of MREs in 29 Palms at all times of year.
|
|
#
?
Oct 16, 2018 00:15
|
|
|
Rolo posted:Dry bag: If you're not too picky about brand and don't expect to need expedition-strength construction, the wal-mart dry bags are decent and cost a shitload less. I've had mine for maybe 4 or 5 years now and they still hold up in humid conditions. One of them spends a lot of time in the elements as a bearbag too. If you need something bigger sized, mountain warehouse has ones that go up to 80L for like $15. I have a 40L one and, hey, it works.
|
|
#
?
Oct 16, 2018 01:25
|
|
|
Guest2553 posted:If you're not too picky about brand and don't expect to need expedition-strength construction, the wal-mart dry bags are decent and cost a shitload less. I've had mine for maybe 4 or 5 years now and they still hold up in humid conditions. One of them spends a lot of time in the elements as a bearbag too. If you need something bigger sized, mountain warehouse has ones that go up to 80L for like $15. I have a 40L one and, hey, it works. I’ll look into those, I got this one because I racked up a ton of REI store credit these last couple weeks, plus this one was only about 12 bucks. My plan was to just use it as a hanging food bag and if a squirrel eats it no huge loss.
|
|
#
?
Oct 16, 2018 01:58
|
|
|
Look man, I am an advocate for chopsticks as standard camp equipment to the point that I bring my own chopsticks around with me when getting any kind of carry-out, but even I draw the line at kung foons. Get the long-handled spoon, or a much cheaper alternative in korean housewares. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 16, 2018 01:58
|
|
|
I refuse anything named foon on principle. This war was fought, sporks won, get over it.
|
|
#
?
Oct 16, 2018 02:11
|
|
|
Rolo posted:I’ll look into those, I got this one because I racked up a ton of REI store credit these last couple weeks, plus this one was only about 12 bucks. My plan was to just use it as a hanging food bag and if a squirrel eats it no huge loss. That's not as bad as I thought - S2S drybags generally start at $20 locally so I looked for alternatives.The wal mart ones were $10 for 3 (2, 4, and 8L) and weigh about an oz each, so it was deffo in 'good enough' territory  Chard posted:I refuse anything named foon on principle. This war was fought, sporks won, get over it. I can't bring myself to say it out loud either 
|
|
#
?
Oct 16, 2018 23:08
|
|
|
I use those same dry sacks. They're from Outdoor Products and you can find them at Walmart and other places like Target or Big 5. Here's a good overview of them: https://sectionhiker.com/budget-dry-sacks-from-outdoor-products/
|
|
#
?
Oct 16, 2018 23:32
|
|
|
I got myself a used Jetboil and being the complete moron that I am, I broke it. Turns out that if you want a quick and easy way to damage your equipment, use it in unintended ways! Anyway, I called Jetboil and asked if they could send a replacement part for this thing. "Should be covered under the warranty, send it on in." Turns out it's pre-Johnson Outdoors acquisition and it's he oldest model available. No dice on the warranty, but they offered me 50% the price of a new burner. Sure! So they sent me a brand new burner (with the regulator), 3-4 canister stands, and a pot holder attachment for like 30 bucks. Jetboil rules.
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2018 16:03
|
|
|
I love brands that appreciate a lifetime customer.
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2018 17:03
|
|
|
Cannon_Fodder posted:I got myself a used Jetboil and being the complete moron that I am, I broke it. How did you break it?
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2018 19:46
|
|
|
Winter hikers, know any sleeping pads with a decent R-value and a price under $100? I've got a 0 degree bag but with temperatures potentially dropping to the single digits I want to be prepared. Edit: The Teton Altos insulated pad claims an R-value of 4 at $80. The color matches the lining of my sleeping bag, but tempting as that is I'll wait to see if anybody's got other opinions
Pham Nuwen fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Oct 18, 2018 |
|
#
?
Oct 18, 2018 18:43
|
|
|
Pham Nuwen posted:Winter hikers, know any sleeping pads with a decent R-value and a price under $100? I've got a 0 degree bag but with temperatures potentially dropping to the single digits I want to be prepared. https://www.klymit.com/insulated-static-v-sleeping-pad.html If you decide to get more $pendy, just buy a Neoair XTherm and never look back.
|
|
#
?
Oct 18, 2018 20:49
|
|
|
Massdrop insulated static V is r4.4 for 65 bucks and 18 oz for the long version. If that isn't enough, stack it with a z-sol (r2.6) for another 45 bucks and 14 oz. It's about 12 oz heavier than the XTherm and takes up more space, but it gives you comparable r-value at half the price and flexibility when it's warmer out.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2018 06:02
|
|
|
How do those Static V pads hold up? I keep seeing them and kind of want to try one, but I've been burned on inflatables before so I'm just curious about how good the warranty is. I replaced my last pad (REI Flash) with a Thermarest Venture pad because it seems like they're fairly durable and comfortable at the cost of a little extra weight. Even better, I found one for only 50$ new on ebay. It's not the highest R Value, but I figure I could supplement with a foam pad for winter if need be. Plus, my understanding is that Thermarest will warranty their pads for life, at no more than a 20$ repair charge, though I can't speak to that firsthand. Oh, side trip report on foam pads for the car camping. I bought a queen 1 1/4" foam topper at Walmart for 16$, and that worked well down to the mid thirties on an air mattress for car camping. I think a thicker or denser foam would be optimal for under 40, but I figure most other people won't be car camping (especially on an air mattress) at those temps anyways. Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 16:05 on Oct 19, 2018 |
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2018 06:35
|
|
|
I have a static V luxe that I've used on a few trips now, coming from an original thermarest pad from the 90s. Pros: Very comfortable Doesn't deflate in the night really good for side sleepers Packs down very small Cons: Takes a while to inflate as it's a pure air mattress Pretty drat big once inflated, It's 1.5x as wide as my old thermarest It comes with a puncture kit and seals but as long as you don't put it down on anything seriously sharp I don't see a hole getting punched in it. It feels well constructed.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2018 17:31
|
|
|
I feel like most air pads have been significantly improved for durability to do newer materials etc. My Big Agnes insulated Q core has been running strong for the last ~5 years with zero issues. I went from a Z pad to a therma rest trail self inflating pad (which leaked air), to this and I will never look back. 3" of insulated squishiness between myself and the ground ... I sleep so soundly now.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2018 17:41
|
|
|
I really like my Rei flash. It's comfortable and warm, but one of the ribs let go recently and the thing on the inside that stops the air from flowing out the air in valve came loose the first time I used it. I'm in Canada or I would probably have returned it right away.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2018 18:24
|
|
|
khysanth posted:How did you break it? Being real stupid. I'm by no means experienced in camping or using this thing. My logic went as follows: Stove makes fire. Fire is warm. I'm cold and I have the makings of a firepit with some wood shavings and sticks. If I turn the stove sideways, the fire will catch from the stove to the shavings and voila! What really happened is that the flame went along the - now vertical - stove face, and caught more oxygen, drawing fuel faster. The small flame became a flame the size of a grapefruit and I couldn't put my hand close enough to the regulator to turn it off. Dumb. So I dealt with it by throwing it about 30 ft. to snuff it out before it exploded (panic). It landed, snuffed out, and a couple bits got lost in translation. The igniter worked, the gas would flow, but something about the significantly modified gas channel meant it wouldn't hold a flame. Dumb. I'm feeling pretty foolish, though I'm glad it resulted in no injury (besides my fickle pride). Dumb.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2018 19:42
|
|
|
Yikes. So yeah, you probably learned not to tip your stove over. But for future reference: a campfire needs to have at hand a means of extinguishing it. Best is a spade or shovel and a ready supply of earth or sand that isn't loaded with flammable materials (so not just like leaf litter or whatever). If you'd had that to hand, you could have smothered your camp stove fireball rather than hurling it away from you. Thirdly, almost definitely the canister has an overpressure safety valve, which means it will turn into a rocket rather than detonate. Still not exactly fun times, but a far better failure mode.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2018 19:54
|
|
|
OSU_Matthew posted:How do those Static V pads hold up? I ended up returning one because I didn't find it that comfortable. A lot of people really like them though so YMMV. e- it was the massdrop x klymit ultralight insulated pad. I think it was probably too narrow and short for me (I'm 6'3" and use a wide/long Neoair now). I primarily stomach and side sleep and have been happy since the switch. khysanth fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Oct 19, 2018 |
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2018 20:13
|
|
|
Cannon_Fodder posted:Being real stupid. If it helps, next time you can recreate the wilderness hand grenade experience for a lot cheaper with a sterno can and some bad decisions. Details aren’t important, just trust me.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2018 20:18
|
|
|
Re foodchat: Find yourself an indian grocery store. The place near me sells Indian 'ready meals' that are basically repackaged indian MREs for the consumer market. The store on my street corner sells about 30 flavors, they're all delicious, dirt cheap and they're super energy dense: Macros/100g for this pack, which is 300g total. They obviously vary:  The daal is one of my favorites and it's not particularly spicy if you're not into that sort of thing. They're tasty cold as well. They all seem to be vegetarian so I guess if you mind not having meat that might be an issue but it doesn't bother me. I've taken them on cycle tours and yet to find a flavor I didn't like. Toss them in a pot in the bag, eat with your fancy as gently caress titanium long armed spoon or whatever.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2018 23:01
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 03:38 |
|
|
StarkingBarfish posted:Re foodchat: Find yourself an indian grocery store. The place near me sells Indian 'ready meals' that are basically repackaged indian MREs for the consumer market. The store on my street corner sells about 30 flavors, they're all delicious, dirt cheap and they're super energy dense: These are indeed very tasty, I eat them at home but hadn't thought about it for hiking. If you have abundant water and an appropriate pot I bet you could boil water over a fire, drop the pouch in to heat, and then eat out of the pouch. I say this because I hate cleaning pots while camping.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2018 23:39
|
|