Amazon Prime resupply on the AT

[Greenlight]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Has anyone done this? Seems pretty cheap, with Amazon Prime free shipping, that is a pretty deep discount on Mountain House meals. Even adding in a box of honey buns, peanut M&Ms and Snickers bars, vegetable oil and peanut butter tortillas to amp up the daily fat and carb count, this would put a person at about $2,000 for "on trail" food for the entire thru-hike. AYCEs and zero day expenses would be separate, but dang...this may be the way to go for me. Beats spending the time dehydrating or freeze drying all my own stuff then having to pay to get it shipped. Best part is that Amazon Prime will have it there in two days, so the chance of starving between post offices or mail drops is nil.

BTW, you can get your peanut butter, mini-candy bars, and honey buns from Amazon Pantry and the shipping on that stuff is free, too. Need ziplock bags to repackage? They're on Amazon Pantry, too, they'll be in your box.

[Venchka]

You would have to look at all of the x day boxes and order different boxes to get some variety.
Did you check Walmart's prices?
Wayne


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[Old Hiker]

Amazon prime was amazing - used it a LOT to keep the wife from having to go to all the trouble.

Only problems I had :

a. Package stolen from Woods Hole Hostel mail box, but they keep (kept?) it unlocked, down the road. Refund and reorder was no prob.
b. EACH Mountain house package for 10 days in the 100 Mile Wilderness was sent in a separate package to a hostel. Still not sure why. Got some VERY funny looks when I picked them up.
c. My phone Amazon app and a computer Amazon had different credit card #s for some reason - computer card was invalid. Had to reorder from the Trail.

Make sure you have phone coverage (Verizon) and data to go to the internet. AWOL's guide was GREAT for address to mail ahead. Call the location first, though. Several have closed.

[Venchka]

MH Rice with chicken is worthless. Too many duds on the menu.
Wayne


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[PaulWorksHard]

Notice that it weighs 4.6 lbs and has 1850 calories per day for 5 days. Not nearly enough. I started at 3900 calories per day and ended up at around 4500 calories per day. That being said, amazon prime works great on the trail.

[Greenlight]

I bought a MH Breakfast Skillet from WalMart last week and it was under five bucks. I'm sure WallyWorld's corporate goons made MH drop their prices to get shelf space. I haven't checked weights though. I wouldn't be surprised if the WallyWorld packaging is a 3/4 serving.

You would have to look at all of the x day boxes and order different boxes to get some variety.
Did you check Walmart's prices?
Wayne


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[Greenlight]

I've heard about the Verizon issue on the AT and I'm still figuring out how I'm going to tackle that beast (I'm with Sprint at the moment) shortly before my thru. We'll probably switch to V around the holidays prior to setting out for Springer, when the "switch to X" deals are deepest. Verizon is still the stingiest carrier when it comes to doling out data minutes, but if they are the reliable network on the trail, I won't mind too much paying to play for a year.

Amazon prime was amazing - used it a LOT to keep the wife from having to go to all the trouble.

Only problems I had :

a. Package stolen from Woods Hole Hostel mail box, but they keep (kept?) it unlocked, down the road. Refund and reorder was no prob.
b. EACH Mountain house package for 10 days in the 100 Mile Wilderness was sent in a separate package to a hostel. Still not sure why. Got some VERY funny looks when I picked them up.
c. My phone Amazon app and a computer Amazon had different credit card #s for some reason - computer card was invalid. Had to reorder from the Trail.

Make sure you have phone coverage (Verizon) and data to go to the internet. AWOL's guide was GREAT for address to mail ahead. Call the location first, though. Several have closed.

[Greenlight]

Between the Blazes got me into the habit of boil-in-bag meals inside an insulated carrier, so at least my evening meal will be completely rehydrated before pulling into "camp" for the night. On your anticipated last rest stop before calling it a day, you take a few minutes to boil your water, pour it into your boil-in-bag, seal it and stuff it in the insulated pouch, and put everything back into your pack. When you get to camp, all you need is a spoon and you're eating like Hungry Jack.

Mind you, I don't want to spend seven bucks on a dud entree, but is it really that bad? I'll have to try one a and see. Cue up the GEICO commercial with the raccoon trying to get his buddies to eat something nasty. "It tastes like mango chutney and burnt hair."

MH Rice with chicken is worthless. Too many duds on the menu.
Wayne


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[H I T C H]

If you are going to use Amazon for your resupply, you could pre - load all of your mail drop locations in your address book. This might make things easier down the line. I have also heard of Amazon being used for gear replacement on the trail.

[Venchka]

I bought a MH Breakfast Skillet from WalMart last week and it was under five bucks. I'm sure WallyWorld's corporate goons made MH drop their prices to get shelf space. I haven't checked weights though. I wouldn't be surprised if the WallyWorld packaging is a 3/4 serving.

It's always good to verify sources. Walmart sells the same package as REI. Walmart has a better selection of single serving meals.
No way you'll get mid 4 figure calorie intake with freeze dried meals
Wayne


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[Greenlight]

Thanks Venchka! Yeah, I'm looking for it to make up about half of my calories. Amazon Prime Pantry can supply a lot of the rest cheaply. The usual high carb, high fat hiker trash fare...and the balance is easily obtainable from any convenience store or grocery along the trail. I just want to simplify as much as possible, and if I can a lot of the calories I'll need shipped exactly where I want, when I want (there are always screw ups along the way, too) I figure it'll cost less money, consume less time, and generally keep me happier to let Amazon do the heavy lifting.

It's always good to verify sources. Walmart sells the same package as REI. Walmart has a better selection of single serving meals.
No way you'll get mid 4 figure calorie intake with freeze dried meals
Wayne


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[ARambler]

It's always good to verify sources. Walmart sells the same package as REI. Walmart has a better selection of single serving meals.
No way you'll get mid 4 figure calorie intake with freeze dried meals
Wayne
...

Walmart has started to sell the tiny single serve Mountain House meals. Look at weights.

[saltysack]

Yuck....I can't imagine trying to choke down MH for months at a time! I couldn't eat it for 6 days on the JMT....I ended up giving away the 10# can of MH lasagna from resupply bucket at a MTR last year....


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[Cheyou]

Yuck....I can't imagine trying to choke down MH for months at a time! I couldn't eat it for 6 days on the JMT....I ended up giving away the 10# can of MH lasagna from resupply bucket at a MTR last year....


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ha ha ha me to. It's easy to resuply on the AT .

thom

[Skyline]

Would this be useful for post office mail-dropping too? Does Amazon use USPS? Or UPS and/or FedEx? Because UPS won't deliver to post offices in my business experiences.

[Odd Man Out]

So that got me thinking. Not into MH meals, but like to make curried lentils and rice. With Amazon Prime you could get:

27 oz red lentils for $4.76
32 oz of basmati brown rice for $5.09
25.5 oz of extra virgin olive oil for $10.52
3 oz curry powder for $3.71
16 oz of dehydrated diced vegetables for $12/93
(all the above is organic)
48 Qt Ziploc bags for $6.98
26 oz salt for $0.89

I could make about 11 servings of Dahl Baht for $45 and have left over olive oil, salt, vegetables and bags for the next time.

[Old Hiker]

Hey, Greenlight !

Few things from above:

1. I switched my Verizon plan to 3 gig data before I left - barely used over 1 gig max on the Trail. After my hike, I phoned to see what was available and ALLEGEDLY a 1 gig plan over the phone (not on the internet) was $45 plus taxes, fees, yada, yada, yada. You have to ask for that plan. Again, allegedly. I did not look it up.

2. Mountain House - amazon is ABOUT the same as Wally; however, look for the PRO-PAKs, not regular servings. Pro-paks are vacuumed sealed to reduce size and are ABOUT the same nutrition as a regular MH.

3. MH rice and chicken: 3 servings at 270 cals per serving and 6.38 oz per package. This is NOT the pro-pak, though. NOT in my opinion a dud. I had this one a LOT for a hot lunch. You can do cheaper with Minute rice and canned/pouch chicken, but you still have to shop.

4. MH Granola with blueberries - 500+/- cals per pouch. This with a Belvita bar or Pop-tart was a fairly decent breakfast. 1/2+ cup water and I added powdered milk or Nido to mine for extra cals and protein. Good no cook breakfast or no cook supper. You can cheap out with 1 box of Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats and get almost the same protein and nutrition. 1 box was about 3 meals for me.

[Venchka]

Walmart has started to sell the tiny single serve Mountain House meals. Look at weights.

Right. Started like 2 years ago. Single serving meals. For one person. Me. Under $5 in east Texas.
Wayne


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[Starchild]

Have to agree with MH rice with chicken = not a dud, very good freeze dried wize.

[ScareBear]

MH is.....not my first choice in dehy foods....

That said, Backpacker Pantry has some very tasty high-cal, high-protein meals, but about 20 percent more $ than MH.

We always supplement dehy meals with some peanut butter/olive oil/ghee to up the fat and caloric count. Same for trail bars at lunch...add peanut butter....breakfast is always blueberry granola with powdered milk, hot...Amazon Prime Pantry would work for my trail diet...if they carried BP...