Thread: What to pack for a 2 day trip - Kaimais

Also found out a couple of weeks ago that dehydrated food is very heavy if there is no water supply where you go. You would think in Tongariro there would be plenty of water but not the case, all streams completely dry.

I'm going to get some neoprene pouches made up I can put some frozen meat into in small portions along with pre cooked potatoes that I can fry up in a small pan. Make up a stew and portion it up and freeze it. I reckon it would stay frozen for a couple of days and then be ok for a day or two after that. No reason some bacon couldn't be put in for breakfast. Couple tins of Baked beans wouldn't go astray either.

The dehydrated stuff doesn't give you much energy either as there are actually very few calories in them.

Spend some time sussing out water availability and be ready to hump some in if you have to. I'm sure others with more experience might have some other ideas.

This came about after we were going to spend two nights in the bush but ran out of water on first night due to amount taken by dehydrated meals. We had to come out on second day. Also energy levels were stuffed as we weren't getting good nutrition from those meals. Proper food would have weighed less than the water and we would have had enough water for a second night in.

Yep I'm rethinking the entire food thing for overnighters.

Dehys don’t take up that much weight and water in the scheme of things, if you haven’t got enough water to cook a dehy then your probably not going to go to well hunting and camping from that spot regardless.

Had quite a bit of water but those meals just seemed to suck it up. Had easily enough for normal day hunting and some extra for coffee and cup a soup type of thing.
Compared to having a bit of steak and some potatoes and baked beans which gave more energy and not use any water.
Find dehy meals warm you up and fill a bit of a gap they are low in energy for what you are doing. With the weight carried with the water you carry far more calories in the other food.
Not a criticism just an observation from recent experience.

Originally Posted by Gordo

Had quite a bit of water but those meals just seemed to suck it up. Had easily enough for normal day hunting and some extra for coffee and cup a soup type of thing.
Compared to having a bit of steak and some potatoes and baked beans which gave more energy and not use any water.
Find dehy meals warm you up and fill a bit of a gap they are low in energy for what you are doing. With the weight carried with the water you carry far more calories in the other food.
Not a criticism just an observation from recent experience.

Yeah especially with an overnighter, just take some real food, leave the soggy cardboard(back country) for when space is tight on longer trips.