food addendum to urban table top exercise

in an attempt to lighten my GHB earlier this year, I replaced my canned meat tins with a counterpart in foil packs....what do the rest of you use for for GHB food?...the obvious answer is an MRE... but EXCLUDING MREs what do you pack? my menu (excluding a couple of PowerBars I throw in my shooting bag)..

foil pack tuna fish
foil pack instant mashed potatoes
pack ramen noodles
pack instant oat meal
partial vacuum pack peanut butter/cheese snack
vacuum pack teaspoon instant coffee/creamora
boullion cubes
tea bag
pack of GatorAde dry mix
tub of Crystal lite powder
pack salt/pepper/honey

I think my GHB has taken on the weight of a remain over night (RON)bag x 3days

whoops... forgot the pack of cocoa

For breakfast

Tesco Finest Summer Fruit Granola
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=268486797
500gms gives around 2250 kcal.
Milbona Can of 400gm of Dried skimmed Milk (makes 7 pints) - 1436 Kcal.

For main meal.

An Expedition Foods Tasting main meal pack 3x800kcal - 2400 kcal
http://www.expeditionfoods.com/expeditio...ample-pack.html

For tea breaks and snacks

A 400gm block of Greek Cypriot Halva - 2156 kcal
A resealable packet of 20 tea bags.
300gm of Chocolate Ovaltine - 1116 kcal
http://www.britsuperstore.com/acatalog/Ovaltine.html

Total kcal - 9358 kcal. i.e. enough for 3 days.

Total Weight is around 2.5Kg all in, so is about half the weight and bulk of 7-8 MREs

Cost is around $35 mainly due to the expensive freeze dried Expedition Foods taster main meal pack

Five single-serving packets of honey and four crunchy oat granola bars. Most of the time I don't have far to go.

-Blast

I've got honey sesame bars (yum) and Mainstay bars.

MRE's are actually rather heavy, and I don't rely on them for food when weight is a concern. I squirrel away Clif bars, Tanka bars (jerked buffalo and cranberries - essentially pemmican), turkey jerky, tea bags, and sugar packets into my packs and kits, since they can last almost indefinitely.

When I have time, I will add nuts, cheeses, and simple pasta dishes like mac and cheese, or couscous. I occasionally use freeze dried items, but they are awfully expensive, and hardly necessary.

Hikemor, do you have preferred sources for the Tanka bars, turkey jerky, etc. These are new to me and Im interested to know if one brand is better than another?

The most common source for Tanka Bars is probably REI; I believe you get a discount if you order a full box (24). They are an interesting product, being produced by a Lakota held corporation on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Personally, I am happy to give them my business and help them succeed. I first encountered Tanka bars at local outlets in South Dakota. I believe they now market a couple of varieties

They are basically jerked buffalo meat and cranberries (I think). Anyway, they are really tasty, provide substantial nutrition, and store well.

I get turkey jerky at Costco - probably as cheap as any.

I try and save both of these products for special, appropriate occasions. They aren't cheap, but they are lightweight, taste great (less filling!), and provide substantial nutrition.

I understand that "Tanka" translates more or less as "power."

Cereal bars mostly - usually ones with dried banana in them as I'm not a big fan so it stops me pilfering but not so much I can't eat them when I need to. Bigger kits have a tin of good pate and crackers - bringing a little sophistication to teotwawki! Snickers bars in the car (or raided from the vending machine at work if I have time to stock up)

I don't carry a stove so stopping to boil water to rehydrate stuff seems unnecessary, and I am not too fussed by nutritional profile - enough calories to fuel me while I travel and to stop me feeling hungry rather than a full nutritional plan.

The food staples of my GHB are clif bars, honey sesame bars, instant hot chocolate, coffee, tang, trail mix with peanut M&Ms.

Spam and Ritz?

Sue

I always read the ingredients label of a can of "potted meat" to my students....filed under "if they grind it up really fine, what are they trying to hide?"

Duck liver pate (bought on holiday in France and very good) and some nice grainy crackers studded with sea salt. Spam and Ritz indeed! ;-)

Sue

I carry Millennium bars as I like their taste and texture best. They go down better with a drink. I pack cocoa and soup mixes in these preform bottles. Virtually indestructible they are heavier and more bulky than packets but they never leak. Plus, they’re reusable.

I also pack drink add-ins like Gatorade or Propel. I'm trying a new product called Nunn. They pack 12 tabs (each good for a 16oz bottle packed in resealable plastic tube.

I do carry individual single serving packets of peanut butter, honey and jam (Minimus is a good source). The jam is Bonne Mamam, a brand I discovered while living in France, oh la, la, la*.

But I need a good carbohydrate to use as an edible carrier for the honey/jam/pb to my mouth. Most crackers are too fragile and the flatbreads I’ve tried always seem stale, even right out of the package.

Any suggestions?

If I were ever going to be more than hour or two walk from a Wawa I’d bring along some Mountain house meals.

*The French really do say this. The more la’s the more they’re excited.

I'm missing something. What does peanut butter and honey have to do with a mouse?

Jeanette Isabelle

Sorry, wrong url. Try it again.

Mouse jam, it's the latest thing. It contains protein, carbs and sugar. You can spread it on crackers, or squeeze the contents directly into your mouth.

Cats love it.

Sue

http://www.minimus.biz/

This URL should work. I've bought lots of things from them

Mike

The main food component of my GHB is a 2400-calorie lifeboat food ration bar and a two-serving freeze-dried meal pouch (I like Mountain House Santa Fe Chicken).

I supplement that with some jerky, instant oatmeal, peanut butter packets, honey packets, hardtack crackers, chicken bouillon packets, roasted/unsalted almonds, Clif bars and gel shots, and multi-vitamins. I also include some packets of instant coffee and Propel energy drink mix. Perhaps not the most nutritionally-balanced diet, but it's better than eating bugs, pigeons or rats for 3-4 days.

Stockan's Thin Orkney Oatcakes in a tin

http://www.stockan-and-gardens.co.uk/oatcakes.html

If the Stockan's Oatcakes are a little difficult to get hold off then Nairns oatcakes are available via Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Nairns-Pumpkin-Organic-Oatcakes-7-1-Ounce/dp/B002076VS6/ref=pd_sim_gro4

Other variations are available for non savoury.