survival food or camping food?

[Scythe13]

For me at least, this is a subject I care about. When I'm out camping, I don't look like much of a survivalist. I'm out with Pop Tarts (damn I love Pop Tarts), chocolate croissants, scones and jam, chicken tikka pie, and loads of delicious food. I have a sweet tooth and I'm not afraid to admit it. I never grew out of that childhood chocolate and ice cream phrase.

However, there is a huge difference between survival food and camping food. When I'm out camping, there is nothing better than a lovely cuppa-soup before bed, then waking up and toasting some Pop Tarts and having a nice bit of warm Brioche!!! Living the dream baby!

Imagine going camping and waking up to some crumby food, low quality, zero flavour, food! What a great motivator.

When it comes to actual survival, that'll be when the 1kg of Beef Jerky comes into play, along with the less interesting meals.

Remember, if you're camping as a practice for Bugging Out, if you do take a little extra food (or a lot, in my case), it doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. It just means you're enjoying the world as it is and as much as you currently can. For me, that's cool! You're meant to have fun.

If it was a practice bug out, you'd probably not stop at a store and pick up a load of chocolate and biscuits, but it's still worth noting that if you're camping and gear testing, don't buy cheap bacon. Buy the best stuff you can and really have a wonderful time. You don't have to suffer to say you've been camping.

[Highlander]

I think the only difference between the two foods is the weight and bulk of the camping foods

I think that the calories are what count, it doesn't matter so much about what kind of food it is, you make a choice, ...do I take this because I like it?, or do I take this because its less bulky, if the body gets enough goodness from them both, then its only down to the weight and size of your pack and how far you want to walk with it

[TOF]

LOL, my camping food is my survival food, or should that be vise versa? I would use the same menu either way, that's the beauty of making your own.

[Mortblanc]

I like to forage for fresh foods so I always stop off at the KFC drive through on the way to camp.

if I head out on Friday the big bucket will usually last me well into Saturday.

[bigpaul]

survival or camping its weight that would be the issue for me.

[Barneyboy]

the weight is the prop for me

[Scythe13]

That's a fair point about weight.

The reason I say about a differentiation between camping food and survival food, is because when going a few miles off the beaten path (or away from the car park) you can carry more gear, e.g. camping, as opposed to travelling 4-5 times that distance, or more, when bugging out.

So, for a more enjoyable experience, camping with high quality delicious food will be more fun than bugging out with lighter dehydrated foods.

I'm all for carrying a light pack, however, when camping, I'll take a bit more weight because of the added extra luxury the croissants and jam will bring. Instead of surviving off beef jerky (as much as I love it....but not the price of it) I get to step up and wake up, to a lovely French themed breakfast...no not frogs legs haha.

The thing is, camping, can be a small walk of a few miles, which is easy enough, and when carry a small pack, like I do, it's nice to add extra weight as luxury food. However, when bugging out, light and calorie dense is the requirement.

[Barneyboy]

(2 December 2013, 21:24)Scythe13 Wrote: That's a fair point about weight.

The reason I say about a differentiation between camping food and survival food, is because when going a few miles off the beaten path (or away from the car park) you can carry more gear, e.g. camping, as opposed to travelling 4-5 times that distance, or more, when bugging out.

So, for a more enjoyable experience, camping with high quality delicious food will be more fun than bugging out with lighter dehydrated foods.

I'm all for carrying a light pack, however, when camping, I'll take a bit more weight because of the added extra luxury the croissants and jam will bring. Instead of surviving off beef jerky (as much as I love it....but not the price of it) I get to step up and wake up, to a lovely French themed breakfast...no not frogs legs haha.

The thing is, camping, can be a small walk of a few miles, which is easy enough, and when carry a small pack, like I do, it's nice to add extra weight as luxury food. However, when bugging out, light and calorie dense is the requirement.

agreed ,croissants and peanut butter is the bomb ,as for beef jerky I do make my own but its not them same as wildwest jerky mate that is very nice

[CharlesHarris]

Great topic!

When hiking along the Appalachian Trail in the Eastern US, the "through hikers" who walk the entire route from Maine to Georgia often have food caches mailed to rural post offices to pick up along their route every 4-5 days, whereas others learn to glean suitable foodstuffs which are readily available from chain grocery stores in the small mountain towns along the way. I am of the latter group.

While freeze dried "backpacking" food is quite tasty and light weight, it is also expensive, especially when bought at small stores in the towns along the AT, as they seem to mark-up prices above the suggested retail for benefit of the "touristas" because they are money grubbing bastards....

I have developed a basic list of grocery items which I can find in any US grocery store, which will last me 4-5 days until I get into the next town having a hotel with hot showers, brew-pub, all you can eat buffet and a salad bar! Urrgh!

These staples also constitute the contents of bucket food caches I may have friends pre-position place along my route.

A 1.5L Hawkins pressure cooker is a great piece of kit which does wonders in cooking tough game meats. It does up a great job for cooking up pre-soaked dry beans and rice quickly with little fuss. The 1.5L size is just right for two people to eat well and have no leftovers. But if travelling light I leave it behind....

My normal ration routine is to measure 1/4 cup each of split peas and lentils, adding to 1/2 cup of rice, 1 tablespoon of dried onion powder and 1 teaspoonful each of curry powder and salt into a Nalgene wide-mouth bottle with 1-1/2 pints of water to it top-off, carry and agitate while I walk the trail during the day. By sundown, after soaking and mixing by the jostlig of my rucksack, the stuff cooks up quickly in 30 minutes or so for a satisfying meal.

Without a pressure cooker, even if you pre-soak dry beans, you are stuck with long cooking times which waste fuel and require attention better used for other things, like SLEEPING when you are dog-tired! Split peas, lentils and rice with some daily variation of seasoning work much better. Coconut, peanut butter and curry are my favorite!

When traveling light I do not pack the pressure cooker. But one should stay in the vehicle kit!

On the trail my grocery staples to be sought at each town along the way are 1 lb. each of dried green split peas, and lentils, 5 pounds of rice, a small tin of Madras curry powder or Chipolte, a bag of shredded coconut, a pound of peanut butter, another pound of fruit jam, several small tins of evaporated milk, tea bags, beef or chicken bouillion cubes, instant oatmeal for breakfast, a pound of honey or brown sugar, two tins of SPAM, and a pound or so of corn tortillas or flat bread, then I am good to go for 4-5 days until the next town! Get it all for less than $20 and weight is less than 1 kg per day for food.

I cook everything up in my old Army mess tin. Yes, it gets boring after a while, but if you can manage a hot meal and a bath in a B&B once a week you can do this for a long time before going completely bonkers. In my misspent youth I was actually good for a month or 1000 km! Every week or so a pub with live music and good munchies might actually keep me in town a few days!

Link with useful info http://at-trail.blogspot.com/2011/03/app...-food.html

[TOF]

You can get rid of 75% of that weight and have better variety with a little effort and planning Charles.
If you cook up a pot of beans at home then dehydrate them, one pound of beans then weighs about 4 ounces. As part of a meal simply rehydrate for about 40 minutes, to an hour. Cooking time is then reduced to about 10 minutes or so. Weight, cooking time and most importantly fuel usage is dramatically reduced. This girlie has packed a weeks supply of home prepared meals, drinks and condiments for a weight of less than 2kg. I had no repetitions and had a great time. You just need to think outside the box and get creative.