Once again looking back can give some interesting options. Before the MAINSTAY type survival bars there was another staple ration,fruitcake <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />. Take a look at the ingredients; flour,milk, eggs,fruits and nuts. All jokes aside, this is what our grandfathers carried in the great wars. Pemmican, a rather sophisticated food was the survival ration along with parched corn for 3 centuries of New World history. Look to your local people for inspiration. Fishermen, Livestock Herders and their world kin almost always have a simple staple for the outdoors. I personally carry the German Esbit stove and a small, carbon steel pot and spoon for minimal gear. Remember that aluminum and stainless steel tend to stick to many foods. Hot food is both a moral booster and physical help to tired mind and body. Tea,cocoa or cider, instant soups or reconstituted dehydrated fruits with quick oats are easily prepared. Canned foods are out of favour soley on wieght and the issue of trash. Much of that wieght is water which we anquish over anyway. Canned foods WERE the freeze dried,MRE miracles of their day. If I was looking at a 24 hour scenario a few quality canned foods are not without merit. You have a ready made cooking container that is hardly useless empty until properly packed out. I sometimes pack a can of franks and beans, chicken noodle soup with matzos or beef stew. Heavy? Yes, but unlike some of the gizmos people carry it is soon translated into fuel for the bearer. <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />