My wife and I like to go hiking and do some occasional backpacking. I freely admit that I like to spend more time in the woods than she does so I consider it a bonus when she tags along. Last fall we spent a few days in a remote part of a National Forest doing some backpacking and it was during that trip that I gained an entirely new perspective on the practicality of freeze dried food bags when placed in a bugout bag for emergency purposes.
Captain Obvious!
Here’s the problem: Freeze dried meals require water. Sounds overly simple, “tell me something I don’t know Captain Obvious!” Yet unless you have been in a situation where hunger persists and there is NO water, or a limited supply of water don’t be so quick to judge.
The Setup.
It was day two of our hike and my wife and I were making our way out of the valleys were water was plentiful, moving up a few spurs and rock faces until were were considerably higher in elevation. The goal was to continue movement for a few more hours until we found a suitable location to pitch our tent, preferably within walking distance of a water source. Based on my topo map this wouldn’t be an issue…little did I know that it would be.
The Problem.
We hiked on and descended in elevation but what where we thought small streams would be were dried up. No problem, continue on for a few more clicks and what looked to be a good campsite would be mere meters away from a river. Once we arrived at our destination, dog tired by the way, it turned out that the brush was way too thick to penetrate and the water was probably more than a few meters away.
Water Assessment: you got what you got.
There we were, my wife had half of a camelbak of stream water left and my Berkey sport bottle was half full. We were tired, thirsty, hungry and my wife wanted to do a little personal hygiene (not with baby wipes but with soap and water). This situation was a far cry from most training exercises I had been part of, where no matter how bad the suck was there was always a cache point somewhere hidden in the woods with loads of water ready to refill canteens. Granted they make those cache points damn hard to find (poison ivy, wait a minute vines) but I digress, there was no such oasis to be found in our situation, we had what we had.
Decisions, decisions.
I knew that we would need water to drink and I knew that my wife would require just a small trickle for her personal hygiene. After all gentlemen, happy wife = happy life. We were also quite hungry but the freeze dried meals we had required something like 2 cups of boiling water in order to reconstitute them. Alternatively, I had brought along (just in case) two MRE’s which only required a plastic spoon. What I ended up doing was shorting the water in the freeze dried meal and still sharing the MRE with my wife. Needless to say the freeze dried meal was rather…nasty and pasty when the right amount of water was not used.
Lesson Learned.
I know I’ve beaten around the bush in order to relate a long story about our experience to make a rather obvious point about freeze dried meals but I feel like it was necessary. The freeze dried stuff requires water…and while in the comfort of your home with a full belly shoving them into a bugout bag might seem like a great idea! However the reality is you could be confronted with a situation where water is not readily available even when you thought it might be. In those cases a freeze dried meal is probably not a great choice, unless you want to crunch on hard noodles and ramen noodle dust. My suggestion is to make sure you always have food that can be eaten with no prep, especially in an emergency (BOB) bag (MRE’s, Datrex bars). While more expensive the time and heartache it could save is truly worth it.
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Datrex will always get you out of a pinch. May not make the wife happy, but at least it is something to eat, will fill a gap in the stomach, and give you some nutritional value.
Honestly, there is nothing “obvious” about what you pointed out here. Most people find it out the hard way.
I’m with the Maj on this. Also, a lot of folks seem to forget that water is HEAVY. I believe it is somewhere around 8 pounds a gallon and rather bulky as well. I try to stuff the BOB with things that don’t require water to be eaten for this reason.
Another thing to consider. a few cans, while a bit heavier don’t require water. some small tins of fruit ( pineapple is my favorite), tuna fish and the like can lessen the need for water. I’m not saying carry a shopping cart full of these on your back but half a dozen cans of such things can make things easier if you can’t find water for a day or so.
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Small tins or even MRE packets of fruit can be a lifesaver, so delicious at just the right time. Water is very heavy but necessary, can’t always assume there will be a place to fill up right around the corner. I think a solid load would be 4 quarts or about the size of 2 camelbaks.
I’m not saying carry none but that there is a line between enough and too much. loading up with freeze dried food only requires you to carry more water. finding a balance for your own personal situation is key.
I used to take a duffel bag of canned fruit to the desert when training. Besides being delicious and moisture and nutrition, it helps counter the affects of mre’s. Those cans were a morale boost but also kept the system moving. I keep canned fruit stocked because of that. Fresh fruit is not always available.
I live in the land of rivers and streams and creeks. I still have to plan ways to stay near them. If you’re close to water by car, you could be half a day or a days walk from it.
This may also be location dependant. In my area, too much water is way more of a problem than not enough. So for me, freeze dried is the way to go.
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RGR that. Good point.
This article illustrates a common misconception, freeze-dried foods don’t require water, your body requires water! If you don’t have enough water, don’t waste it by bathing. You can do without eating with little real ill effect for several days, water is necessary for digesting food, if you’re not supplying it by drinking then it will be drawn from your body! Dehydrating you much faster! I don’t think drinking your urine is a good ideal because by the time you’re desperate enough to do that, your urine is already too concentrated to help you, too much salt! Urine can be used externally to help cool you off, and a mixture of wood ash and urine repels many insects! I always try to carry at least a day’s worth of drinking water, 1 gallon+ (much more in a vehicle) with me, much better to have and not need than need and not have. One might be an inconvenience, but the other might help kill you! Good Luck!