4/22/12 Backpacking Food

Here's the low down from yesterday's excursion and previous adventures: You can't go wrong with chicken & rice, ever. Freeze dried eggs only taste good once. Make sure its the eggs you don't have to cook after adding water. Kung Pow Chicken is good if you like to sweat. We still pack it on occasion.

Chicken breasts and mashed potatoes are good as well as beef stew, beef stroganoff and turkey tetrazzini. We tend to stay away from the pastas like lasagna, spaghetti and chili mac because it just takes way longer for the pasta to soften up than what is indicated on the package. We have waited longer than indicated but you have to eat sooner or later.

We have to have a desert for the last night out. Usually we pack the Mountain House raspberry crumble. It says it serves four, we only serve two.

Mountain House is our regular buy then Backpacker's Pantry. This trip we are trying a brand called Natural High. Another thing we have been packing for the past three years is Tanka Bars and Tanka Bites made from cranberries and buffalo. http://www.tankabar.com/cgi-bin/nanf/public/products.cvw?sessionid=198ed02c6dc09cc4f89cf07adc12a460f7edd00

Mountain House runs about $7.25 a 2 serving pack. Some are more , some are less. The price has come up over the past seven years. I thing I started out paying about $5.75 a meal. Backpacker's Pantry can be a bit less and if you want to really save some money go to:

http://www.mtnhse.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=M&Category_Code=MC and buy the Marine Cuisine. The selection is dwindling but it is a good price. Of course, you can do all your shopping online:

http://www.mtnhse.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=M&Category_Code=MHDL .

I always think that $7.00 is a lot of money for a freeze dried meal, but we do split it between us, so $3.50 per person is like eating from the dollar menu at McD's and it's probably better for you.

Since we have 1 Liter Nalgene water bottles we also pack a lot of Gatorade. Walmart has powdered G2 and it take 2 packs to a 1 liter bottle. There was a Gatorade packet available at Walmart that made 1 liter but it has been discontinued. I can still buy them at Cox Hardware in Texas: http://www.coxhardware.com/p-54-gatorade-powdered-drink-mix-quart-size-assorted-flavors.aspx

If you want to get your freeze dried food in person, here is the list of places to go from close to far. The best selection is at REI: Walmart, Dicks, Dunhams, MC Sports, Bass Pro, Gander Mountain, Cabelas, REI.

All the Gadgets

It's been a month since my last post.  Getting ready for our Grand Canyon trip is eating up considerable free time.  My solar project has been on the sidelines for a while so what I want to share now is a picture of all the gadgetry that I will need to power during our 5 days at the canyon.  Keep in mind that we are driving only 20 miles and the next 10 days are all backpack only.

I have determined a few things since my last post.  The first is that the solar chargers that I show are probably crap.  I suspect that when I get the chance to crack one open I will find that they allow the batteries to discharge in the dark.  I broke down and bought a 110vac charger for my NiMH batteries and found that when fully charged my iPod battery pack will indeed charge my iPod.

I have a trip to the Grand Canyon in May.  I need a low cost dependable solar battery charging alternative.

Some Lessons Learned

My focus for the past few months has been with NiMh batteries.  Although they have a high power capacity of around 2200ma they only produce around 1.2 volts as compared to lithium or alkaline batteries which produce 1.5 volts but at a reduced power capacity for alkaline and an increased cost for lithium.  I've discovered that, when powering my iPod with a two battery external power adapter, if the voltage drops much at all the iPod complains that the device cannot be used for charging and then uses its own internal battery.

I have two solutions right now; one is to use the two battery iPod unit with freshly charged batteries (seems like a lot of work) the other is to use the 4 battery unit with the iPod USB cable.

I had a short weekend in Madison, Wisconsin and discovered a few inconveniences with the current components, mostly with the solar charger and the NiMH batteries.  My batteries were mostly depleted and I was heading out at night.  Also, it is winter so the amount of daylight hours is reduced.  By the numbers, I needed 10.5 hours of daylight and for January that is all I get.  Throw in some clouds and the diminished light at sunrise and sunset and there is no way to get a full charge of 4 batteries in one day by solar alone.

So here is what I have to start with.  On the left is the iPod emergency charger.  In the center is the USB power pack.  On the right is the 1 Watt solar battery charger.  The charger now comes with a built-in USB connection so I guess I need to buy two more.

The battery cover on the solar charger is completely removable.  This is the first thing that needs to be fixed.

A little strip of Gorilla Tape makes a durable hinge.

 Next: keeping the lid closed and the batteries in.