By: Blonde One
Our mission, which we chose to accept, was to test a self-heating food pouch with a view to using it for some of our youngsters when they’re out on expedition. The rice and meat sticks (sausages to you and me) came in the usual foil bag and could be eaten cold or warmed up in the usual way on a camp stove. This time though it was put in a special pouch, with a splash of water to allow the chemicals to do their thing. They soon did! It only took a few minutes for the bag to inflate with the steam. We were a bit worried that it might burst but it just happily cooked away.
12 minutes later we had a piping hot meal. After we had eaten the (delicious) rice and sausages we had a handy hand warmer as the chemical element was still warm enough to use. We decided that this just has to be a new addition to the emergency kit that we carry when we’re out walking with youngsters.
From a backpacking viewpoint I reckon they may be ok if it eliminated carrying cooking equipment, but then you would not be able to boil water for a brew or whatever. And if you were only going for s short camp and not walking far carrying cooking stuff would not be so much of s burden anyway. For me I now backpack with no cooking equipment at all in the interests of saving weight and I hardly find myself starving. Having said that my trips are more urban these days where I can usually find sustenance to buy at fairly regular intervals. A wild trek across Scotland such as the TGO Challenge would be different and I reckon cooking equipment would then be desirable.
I have a very good friend who carries potatoes and carrots at the bottom of her rucksack on the TGO. I like going camping with her because she often also brings steak!
We used to have tins of self-heating soup for WRNS expeditions, but they were very heavy. Having them in bags is a much better idea. When you are cold and wet from canoeing, they’d be ideal. How heavy are they?