Tom, I am not all that great when it comes to foods stuffs.. I think there ends up being a lot of fats in the junk foods I take, and consider these to be in the carbs and the protiens.... I agree totaly if fats are a seperate food item.... I bring things like cheese and crackers and even peanut butter...... i am one of eating machines that eats anything I want and more that I really wanted sometimes, and don't seem to be able to gain an ounce ;-( I get tired of big guys kicking sand in my face a the beach too! But I get even in water over 8' deep just fine<br> ;-).<br> I miss baddly the Stoffer's frozed boilable bags meals. These were not exactly light weight, but were very handy to my style of cooking.. If you know of another source the info would be most welcome.... Incase you don't know what these are I will attempt to explain what and how....<br><br>I bought these Stoffer's boilable meals frozen... they came with rice, noodles, in one bag, and the other bag was swedish meat balls, steak and veggies, chicken and veggies, and that sort of thing.... Since it was no problem keeping these frozen they worked out well.<br><br>my technique was to leave as much trash at home as possible, and to boil the bags with water that I would drink later, or with the meal.<br><br>So I would fire up my rocket Sveya 123 and boil up a pot of water with the bags.... when all was hot I would pour the meat entree' on the noodle/rice in the other bag and eat directly out of the bag, pour the water into some drink and eat. After eatting there was no clean up, other than stuffing the bag in to one bag. After 10 days or so I would have usually 2 cocoa bags stuffed full for all the trash I had. I never washed a single dish....Every time I washed a dish in my life it rains..... So as rain is not a great idea at -40'F I prefered to never wash a dish ever...just ask my wife! ;-)<br><br>Like wise I think he needs a shelter, and at the site i provided there is a tent made just for going there..... "Top of the World" is the name of the tent... it is made from a "To order" Eygptian cotton, very strong, and very thin material that at least won't melt if it catches fire! I know of no synthetic tents that are even remotely safe with any flame around them..... perhaps there is, and I don't know about it... I have not personally seen the "Top of the World " tent, but have seen the cloth it is made from. I think it compares weight wise to any synthetic tent made for the same place, and you can have a stove in it.<br><br>it seems to me that if you have a syntheic tent you need some other tarp for just cooking, as the wind might need to be broke, and the weather in general might not lend it self to cooking totally expose.<br><br>Your right about me being an Eatern Mountaineer, and I only see real cold at about 4000'+ here, but I stay out for 10 days at a time that high..... And lived out in a wood stoved and with also a open fire tee pee. The stove saved coals over night.. it had 4' of pipe only....<br><br>I find water vapor a real pain in the tail...... it takes only a few days to wet out and freeze a down bag, so I use a vapor barrier from about 20'F and colder..... I made mine from junk, but recently bought a store bought one. All that needs be is that the cloth is about 100% water proof, and that you turn it out each day.... I found just how well this works, when on of my seams failed after being out awhile, and no knowing the seam failed..... I was in a gortex bivy, 0'F bag, with the vapor barrier, a ridge rest, and a therma rest. it was the 4th ot 5th day at never above -10'F when I noticed ice on my bag near my feet, and inside the bivy. The spot was about 124 square inches or so. I reversed the bag out side and hung it in trees at tree line to sublimate, and sewed up the seam again, as I was only 1/2 way thru that trip<br> And so it goes......... Mac