Best Pack Food

Back in the d-a-y before fancy backpacking meals, I did a lot of long distance hiking on the AT. A lot with scouts, a lot solo and with friends. Lentils, rice and beans we're the mainstays. Carried two wide mouth bottles- one for drinking water, one for soaking your meal during the day so you didn't have to burn too much fuel cooking it (if you wanted to). We carried very dry jerky, including Korean dried cuttlefish jerky for proteins. Very efficient nourishment for backpacking.

Now it's mostly Mountain House or some concoction my wife dreams up with the dehydrator. YMMV
 
Montana'eer said:
I always said 'My Rectum Exploded' when we got back from the field.
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That reminds me of a funny story; my first job in Alaska was as the brigade engineer; we had an annual winter exercise that lasted about a month for me, because I had to certify our dirt airstrip was up to snuff with the USAF and at the end I had to clear all units in terms of making sure they didn't leave any s*@tbags (one infantry unit left a bunch, which I pointed out to the battalion S3, a grumpy major; he said, "Lieutenant, you are like a little kid on an Easter egg hunt.").

Anyway, at one point I became really constipated (like a week) so I asked a medic for some laxatives. He gave me a bunch of pills and it was literally as you described: rectal explosions for a day (but we had to poop in plastic bags). At the end of our exercise I sent my team home and I stayed with the Bde surgeon (he and I were the last out). I told him what the medic gave me and he burst out laughing - "He gave you like four times what I would have!"
 
I do veggies all separately and same with meats. For burger I chop it up really small brown it and season it in a pan then put it in the dehydrator. I did chicken breast on the bbq then basically minced them up into small princes to dehydrate. Veggies and fruit are simpler. To rehydrate I soak what I'm going to make for a meal for about a half hour before adding boiling water. I make tacos, mix veggies and rice with burger, gravy packets are easy flavor to add as well. Breakfast I'll mix dehydrated fruit oatmeal and powdered milk then add water. With meats you want to stay away from fatty meats I peel the skin off chicken. The fat is what will go rancid.
 
There's a lot of good suggestions on here already. The only thing I would add would be the Idahoan instant potatoes, their soups, and dehydrated hash browns in the packets. All are good and not too heavy.
 
Definitely! Between the hash browns and the instant taters I don't dehydrate my own potatoes. It's way to cheap, not worth my time to mess with. Rice and or Roman noodles in different concoctions add a lot to a meal.
 
Montana'eer said:
Little white pills?
Yeah I was a medic. 🤣
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Geez, I don't remember; that was a long time ago. Thinking about that reminds me of another funny story...CPT Maguire, the Bde surgeon, was in the Bde hq (back when there was only a separate Bde in AK). Our CSM, who had a thick eastern European accent, stopped him in the hall one day and said, "Dr Maguire, I would like to offer my condolences for the death of your hairdresser. No if you don't want to go to your own funeral, please get a haircut immediately."
 
I have tried mountain house and peak refuel, mh didn't really agree with me that much, might have been the meal I chose though.
 
I seem to favor those with Pasta which is the majority. I've tried them all. The only bad one I've had was Mountain House Breakfast with eggs & sausage.
 

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