Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Carrying Canned Food?

The link kenaiking posted is a great one. I find those recipes better than any freeze dried stuff and WAY cheaper if that's a consideration. Easy to put together although you may need to get a few of the ingredients online. Most of the basics are available at your local grocery store. And you can dehydrate your own meat if the foil packaged stuff is too much weight.

I'm not a back packer extrodinare, but I always carry at least a can or two when I'm out for a few days. Usually canned meat and something simple if I'm just too tired, wet or lazy to mess with anything else.

I find heating a cup or two of water, pouring it in a bag and letting the whole thing sit for a while, pretty untaxing, particularly if I'm using a wood stove that is fired up anyway. Not a big deal to have a small isobutane stove either and quicker to boot.

LOL - go with interpretation number two. If it works for you - it works.

Hunting from a spike camp isnt the same as thru hiking a long trail. And, if the end of a herd day is met with an easy to prepare meal that recharges the batteries then the real mission is acomplished.

I like Kifaru products because they are unique and functional solutions to back country life.

The notion that your food needs to weigh less than nothing perplexes me. I can't make a mountain house taste better than my own heavier concoctions of dried browned hamburger, noodles, and salty sauce mixes. I don't carry canned food, but I don't worry about carrying some cheese or meat or other less-than-lightweight food, knowing that my $20 stash of backpack food can be turfed in easier conscience than the $100 worth of storebought clif bars and foofoo mountain house if I happen to tag out early.

20# of real food versus 10# of mountain house won't break your hunt, at least if you've trained to the point that you won't kill yourself packing 100# of meat out replacing the 20# of food you packed in.

Packing cans out is a bit strange, but not if the distance isn't too hairy or you have to make multiple trips anyway. I don't see what the big deal is. Tailor the food to the hunt.

I always used to take 1 can of corned beef with me. I could make it into soup stock with raimen packets that would last up to three days if I was socked in.

I have moved from mh to packit gourmet. While some of their stuff is a little bit more expensive it does taste much better than most dehydrated foods.

I think Vek's advise of taking a dehydrator to some chislick or buffaloburger is exceptional.

Sincerely,
Thomas

10 pounds of mountain house is 26 packages

I agree though I like to take apples, jerkey, peanut butter, and such. It just makes meals better. Usually while Im hunting I just eat those and sub a odwalla bar in there too. For dinner I like a freeze dried hot meal.

Like before, to each is own. It only has to work for the person carrying it.

I'm sorry, but I think your figures are way off. I don't see 1500 calories in each "meal" with that stuff. And I suspect you used the net weight, not the actual weight of the canned goods.
If you want to carry canned goods, that's your call. For some things, like meat, some might want to. But there is really ne reason to do so unless youy insist. E

Eremicus,

Like I said, it's an approximation. I just googled the stuff to get weights. For a can of campbells chunky soup I got 18.3oz. Some of my cans are even lighter (14 oz), but I went with the heaviest figure just in case.

Regarding calories, feel free to do the math and come up with true figures for: 1 full can of soup/chilli/alphaghetti, 1 tin of del monte fruit cups, 2 granola bars, a pudding cup, a fruit snack, 2 cups of tea with cream and sugar, and a shnitload of trail mix all through the day, I think that's pretty close to 1500/meal

Canned peaches and a can of SPAM every now and then. The pouches of chicken, tuna, or beef work well. Canned food has a high salt content (just a consideration).

Vek, you sound like you weigh the contents of your pack like I do. When I put it on it's either too heavy or it's not.

What kind of can opener are you packing? A p38? How can that be convenient? A MH pouch is tear open.

You warming up your soup in the can or packing/using a pot? You can eat right out of the pouch with a MH meal - no clean up except licking the spoon! And one only needs a 600 Ti cup and lexan spoon to get by.

Disposal: You have a tin can to dispose of with food odors/residue. One can burn the MH pouch or seal it back up and pack it out.

I used to pack in a few cans of water packed chicken breast meat but the foil packets ended those rations. I don't miss canned food at all except for when I'm sick at home then its Campbell's chicken noodle soup time!

MtnHtr

For a can opener I have one of those twin-handled turny-knob things that spin/slice the top of the can lid. Similar to what you'd have in your kitchen, only smaller/lighter. OR the cans have a little pop-top lid that you don't need a can opener for.

I use a pot to heat my food up (because we aren't savages who just eat right out of the can now are we?). I also have a knife, fork, AND spoon. Crappy stainless steel ones too.

Disposal: Yup, jump up and down on the cans a few times, squish em good, then throw them all in a ziplock bag. OR loan one to your friend because he forgot to bring his coffee mug.

The thing is I've never really bought into the ultralite stuff anyway. Packs are heavy regardless. Humping stuff anywhere generally is uncomfortable. So I just pack what I need, and off I go. If my pack is too heavy, I maybe dump a few cans for a ziplock bag full of pene pasta and some rice/granola. If my pack feels about right, off I go. Speed depends on how heavy the pack is that day.

And I fully admit I pack differently when I'm going up a mountain vs. if I'm in elk/foothills country.

At home, we use a can opener my wife ordered at a Pampered Chef party: Smooth-Edge Can Opener Its pretty slick I have to admit, you should try one sometime.

MtnHtr

Mtn Hunter,

That's pretty much exactly what I have! Only strip off all the plastic and cool looking stuff, and imagine it being made out of some crappy chinese pot metal instead and looking like you bought it at a garage sale for 50 cents.

It's nice and light though, and sure beats using a p38.

I never brought a can backpacking in my life. Boy Scout camping was different. You back up the truck to the campsite, drop the quartermaster box, and you can eat all the canned food you want. You're not carrying it. My backing days were before freeze dried Mountain House meals and I couldn't really afford them when they started becoming common. I started with my interest in tall ships and the fishing fleets. Foods commonly brought on board ship interested me. I ate a lot of rice and beans with curry powder. Salted pork, dried beef, dried fruit... I'd enjoy eating fresh caught fish wherever too.

Even if I wanted to eat canned food I think I would put the food in another lighter container and carry 1 small bowl to heat them up in. Just getting rid of the cans themselves would save a ton of weight.

if you like cans check out the microwave dishes in the grocery. just put in boiling water for 5 min and eat out of the dish then burn the dish. save some wt and no pack out either. also the flat dishes pack slightly better than round cans.

I'm going to have to disagree on this point. You don't have to buy into the total "ultralight" thing to keep your pack lighter and therefore more comfortable. If you like humping more weight, I guess that's another story, but it certainly isn't necessary,nor will you suffer when it comes to eating or other aspects of camping. By that logic, tote a 10 lbs. tent and a 6 lbs. sleeping bag because you're going to be uncomfortable anyway. It's absolutely your choice, but it doesn't HAVE to be that way and isn't an intrinsic part of backpacking.

CCH,

My apologies, as I guess I should have clarified that point. What I meant to say is while I don't like carrying heavy crap as much as the next guy, I certainly don't mind packing a few extra lbs for either safety or comfort sake. I carry a 6lbs 2 man mountaineering tent, just because I like being able to not have to ever worry about the weather. I also carry a bit of extra fire starter, as well as waterproof matches, plus probably 4 bic lighters stashed in different parts of my pack, because I am always guaranteed to lose a lighter.

Not going to disagree that a 30lbs pack is much comfier than a 50lbs pack (especially going up mountains), but I do like my comforts I suppose.

Also, I'm not disputing that Mountain House and such don't work, or work well for that matter. The army got rid of c-rats for a reason... I was just seeing if anyone else humped canned food around for convenience sake, or if I was the only one crazy/dumb enough to do that