food – Page 12 – besthike.com

More and more Parks will be doing it in future. Best get used to hiking with one. …

Last summer I saw a bear vault with a night light attached so hikers could find it in the dark. Good idea.

bear-vault-bv500
details – Amazon

Despite the weight, I think I’ll stick with mine instead of buying an Ursack.

Here’s another happy camper:

… I found that the vault slipped in quite nicely to the top portion of my 60 liter pack. It was also great to have a waterproof container to put dry clothes in (in a zip-lock bag so they didn’t absorb food smell). Towards the end of longer trips its nice to have a waterproof place to put all of our garbage.

Around camp they are a godsend. I’ve used the vaults as stools, chairs, cutting boards, tables, water jugs, and hammers. Just having a flat surface in camp is a treat. Another handy feature is that they are transparent. You can see what you’re reaching in for. Other cannisters I’ve used are a solid plastic and you have to fish everything out/around to find what you’re looking for.

Now I know what you’re thinking. How can you do a good review of a bear cannister without having it attacked by bears? I’m way ahead of you.

While camping this summer by Lake Colden in the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks my BearVaults were put to the test. For those who don’t know, this area is notorious for its black bears. We placed our BearVaults a fair distance from our camp site. In the middle of the night I woke up to hear smashing sounds coming from the direction of our vaults. Thuds came from the vaults smashing into the soil. Loud bangs from the vaults hitting each other and hitting the fallen trees that we had placed them beside. For a good hour these sounds drifted over to our campsite. Then they stopped. In the morning I found the BearVaults 10-15 feet from where I had left them. They were dirty, one had a small scratch on it, but other wise they were intact and the food within in them untouched. …

silverorange stuff – BearVault Bear Canister Review

audiocast – Wildebeat – The Story of Bear Cans, part 2

Calipidder posted a terrific comparative review of all the available systems.

(via Two-Heel Drive)

January 24, 2009

cooking outdoors – Jetboil Flash PCS

The best site by far for hikers who EAT FOOD is Trail Cooking & The Outdoors.

Subscribe to that blog, for sure.

Sarah posted a good overview article: The Many Methods Of Trail Cooking. The main categories:

Freezer Bag Cooking™ (FBC style)

One pot meals

No Cook Method

Insulated mug method

If you like one pot meals you should check out the recently announced Jetboil Flash PCS.

will come in four colors—black, gold, purple, and blue …

thermochromic technology (the decorative wave on the outside of the cup changes colors as contents inside heat up) …

translucent lid to track cooking progress …

The Flash PCS canister stove will be available for fall 2009 and will retail for $99.95.

Trailspace

I’ll be updating my current JetBoil. These are good improvements.

Click PLAY or watch a demo on YouTube.

Still … the entire system is dangerously unstable. (The centre of gravity too high for the small base of support.) I never use it without stabilizing the unit by burying the base in the sand, or bracing it with rocks.

November 19, 2008

how to pack your hiking food

Sectionhiker put up a great post:

Tips and Tricks: How to Pack a Food Bag:

1. When I pack my bear bag at home, I first divide all of my meals into 5 piles: breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, and drinks.

2. I put each pile into itâ€™s own plastic bag. I find that the best ones to use for this purpose are the plastic bags that I get from the dry cleaners that wrap my folded dress shirts.

3. I place my backpacking towel, bear bag line, and mesh sack at the bottom of my food bag.

4. Then I insert my O.P. Sack into my bear bag and place my long handled titanium spoon and toob tooth brush along the inside, propped up vertically for easy access.

5. Next, I put the 5 bags of food into my O.P. sack, one by one, so that the meal or snack that I want next, is positioned at the top of my food bag. After, Iâ€™ve eaten something, I reorder the bags as required, so that food breaks can be kept short if I want to get going again.

6. I always carry my food bag on top of the other gear in my backpack so that itâ€™s easy to access during the day.

Click through for the details – Tips and Tricks: How to Pack a Food Bag – Sectionhiker

November 9, 2008

Slow Fat Triathlete

Book recommended by Sarah of Trail Cooking & The Outdoors.

Slow Fat Triathlete: Live Your Athletic Dreams in the Body You Have Now

One of the funniest and inspiring books I have read in a long time …

Book Review

October 8, 2007

camping – where is the salt?

Oh … taped to the meal package. Of course!

Thanks Jason!

One thing Iâ€™ve tried to do over the years is to simplify my in-camp procedures by reducing the number of odds and ends I carry. Something thatâ€™s always bothered me is fumbling through my Ziplock of condiments to dig out that one specific spice I need for the meal at hand. Then, I had one of those â€œwhy didnâ€™t I think of it beforeâ€ moments last week.

Simply put, I figured I could tape meal-specific condiments to their respective packages with masking tape, thus eliminating one more storage bag from my pack. Now, I plan ahead so when mealtime comes, I have exactly what I need all in one place.

… Here you can see salt packets taped to the top of dehydrated eggs.

Homemade Backpacking Gear | by Jason Klass

Jason posted a video of this so-simple-I-never-would-have-thought-of-it-on-my-own idea on his Gear Talk blog.

October 5, 2007

PCT late season hike – Freezer Bag Cooking

Sarah’s Freezer Bag Cookingâ„¢ | Outdoor Food Simplified site is #1 for hiking food in my opinion.

But Sarah’s a hard core hiker, as well.

Check these photos from her latest trip report:

My friend Steve and I set out to do the section hike of Chinook Pass to White Pass on the PCT here in Washington. We headed southbound on this section. It is roughly a shy 30 miles. …

We left Chinook Pass in a snowstorm, the only vehicle besides us up there was the snow plow.

Would you go out this late in the year?

Snow on the PCT – trip report and more photos

August 7, 2007

blog – Outdoor Food Simplified

Sarah’s Freezer Bag Cookingâ„¢ | Outdoor Food Simplified is simply the best on the net for hikers looking for great grub.

Check this post as an example:

Often I get asked if one can actually save money by doing their meals at home versus running down to the local REI for meals.

The answer is always “Yes!” but I hadn’t really ever run how much one could save. And simply put, I decided to see if it was more than just money that one could save.

Could you also eat healthier and save money? …

Sarah compared the $6 Mountain House Spaghetti and Meatballs meal-in-a-bag vs preparing her own:

Made at home Spaghetti (16 ounce serving):

600 calories
700 mg Sodium
13 g Fiber
29 g Protein

As you can easily see, you can save a lot in cost, sodium and you will get a LOT more fiber if you make your own. You will also know exactly what is in your meal. At a savings of about $4 per serving and half the sodium, that alone makes it worthwhile to make your own. You are also avoiding potential hidden MSG, and fillers.

Freezer Bag Cookingâ„¢ | Outdoor Food Simplified

June 28, 2007

review – Jetboil coffee maker

Some were underwhelmed with my “preferred coffee system”.

Perhaps I need to step up.

Since I’m already using the JetBoil stove / pot combo, I’ll pick up a JetBoil coffee press based on this good review:

Here’s the basics of how the Jetboil French Press works.

1. Get some water and fill up the cup
2. Light up the micro burner
3. Boil the water
4. Scoop in the coffee
5. Stir the coffee into the boiling water
6. Press it on down
7. Drink some amazing coffee on the side of the mountain you’re currently on.

Review: Jetboil French Press Hiking and Camping Personal Coffee Maker | Single Serve Coffee – SingleServeCoffee.com

June 6, 2007December 12, 2024

lost overnight – Syncline Loop, Utah

Things can go wrong, fast.

A series of decisions, all which seemed reasonable at the time. Even experienced hikers can get lost in canyon country.

Three friends, planning on a challenging day hike on the standard Syncline Loop in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, got stuck overnight without provisions. ~~One suffered some hypothermia.~~

Rich posted a detailed account of how it happened:

Now, we didn’t really have much in the way of food. I had brought a few slices of bread, some saltines, a jar of peanut butter and, of course, plenty of water. We each had a similiar supply.

We planned on stopping at the grocery store on our way to Moab but, somehow that slipped our minds. …

So, we figure … we’d probably find a bit of trail food at the visitor center.

Well, we soon found out there was nothing at all in the way of trail food at the visitor center. The Island of the Sky Visitor Center is a little more than a Ranger Station. In fact, I really like Canyonlands because it doesnt have any amenities.

The desert is one place your really do need the 10 essentials. And extra water. Even if setting out only for an hour or two.

They made one last urgent scramble to get up and out.

… we saw … a potential exit. It was crazy and we were all really uncertain but, we pushed on. Every second getting closer to darkness.

Of course, as they do in the desert, temperatures plunged with the setting sun. Thankfully, we still had clear skies and little to no wind. We climbed higher and higher.

… It is endless!!!

For certain, that mile or so was the most intense and rugged hiking I have ever done in my life. Naturally, I loved every minute of it but, my lungs would argue otherwise. We had been on the trail for nearly 10 hours.

No pretty pictures on this post. Just three wiser hikers the following morning when the sun finally came up. Cold, but never in any real danger.

Canyonlands National Park – WikiTravel

May 19, 2007

coffee on the trail

Like Russ at Trailcraft, I need coffee in the morning when I’m hiking.

He’s recommending a new one on me:

The Press-Bot Coffee Press by ventureDESIGNworks made great coffee. In fact, everyone in the group enjoyed it. The only complaint was that it was occasionally difficult to remove from the Nalgene bottle. …

As an added bonus, the PRESS-BOT only weighs 2.8 ounces!

Coffee Nalgene Style

No doubt Russ will be mortified with my preferred hiking coffee “system”. I buy tubes of Nestle sweetened condensed milk and mix it with instant coffee. Fast, easy and … surprisingly delicious.