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Peeper
02-01-2012, 11:04
I was wondering if anyone knows of a good place to get Mountain House meal pouches wholesale or in bulk?

RWheeler
02-01-2012, 11:25
You need to be an established business to get MH meals at wholesale. They don't offer bulk prices otherwise.

Slo-go'en
02-01-2012, 12:34
And if your planning on buying this for a thru-hike, you may want to reconsider buying 4 to 6 months of freeze dried food all at once. There is a good chance you will not be using it all. Or possibly even much of it. It seems those who buy the most food before hand are often those who quit the earliest.

jbwood5
02-01-2012, 13:12
Here ya go:

http://stores.ebay.com/QuintEssential-Outdoor-Fare/DEEP-DISCOUNTS-/_i.html?_fsub=1402300016&_sid=215882156&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

I guarantee that you will never eat another MH dinner if you even eat 1/10 of these. :D

FYI, you can buy smaller quantities by clicking on the tab on the left, but about $600 is generally as low as they go.

RyanK817
02-01-2012, 13:14
And if your planning on buying this for a thru-hike, you may want to reconsider buying 4 to 6 months of freeze dried food all at once. There is a good chance you will not be using it all. Or possibly even much of it. It seems those who buy the most food before hand are often those who quit the earliest.

...or if you do stay on the trail, you'll be sick of the meals you bought within a few weeks.

10-K
02-01-2012, 14:04
.......Or you'll die from a sodium overdose.

mrgadget921
10-13-2012, 21:03
good luck.... even when contacted @ shot show the best they would do is send a catalog....

max patch
10-13-2012, 21:17
Here ya go:

http://stores.ebay.com/QuintEssential-Outdoor-Fare/DEEP-DISCOUNTS-/_i.html?_fsub=1402300016&_sid=215882156&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

I guarantee that you will never eat another MH dinner if you even eat 1/10 of these. :D

FYI, you can buy smaller quantities by clicking on the tab on the left, but about $600 is generally as low as they go.

If my mental math is correct those prices are outrageously high.

You get 120 dinners and a like number of breakfasts for $1,585.

Costco and Sams sell a box of 10 dinners for $45. So 120 dinners would cost $540. Which means you're paying about $1,000 for breakfast.

Moot point - even if you complete a thru you won't want to eat these things every day. True story; when I thru'd I met a girl who quit her thru at Rainbow Springs Campground (about mile 100). She bought 5 months of MH and was trying to sell them to hikers as they passed by.

Cadenza
10-13-2012, 22:30
If I ever eat another Mountain House meal in my life it will be too soon!

Rasty
10-13-2012, 23:13
Check out packitgourmet.com and make your own. Buy the meats and vegetables from them and gets quick cook starches from the grocery store. You will save money, pack space and you will have much more variety. You also control the salt content.

Eat Mountain house for a week straight before you buy 5 months worth.

Marta
10-14-2012, 00:31
I ate MH for breakfast and dinner my whole thru-hike. I ordered from LDPcampingfoods. Back then they could offer a substantial discount for bulk orders. MH cracked down on all their retailers, though, so now your cheapest options are the big Costco boxes and occasional sales at places like REI.

Mailing yourself MH is definitely not the low cost option. (Resupplying at local grocery stores is definitely cheaper.) But it worked for me. I don't cook when I'm hiking--I just boil water. I don't like to have to wash dishes. You should try the meals before you go. The lasagna, for instance, is very gooey and makes a mess of your spoon. I'm not fond of sweet and sour stuff. The chicken breast with mashed potatoes are fantastic, though expensive.

i like the MH granola for breakfasts, either cold, or made with boiling water in the cold weather.

bamboo bob
10-14-2012, 10:18
I often get them at outfitters , end of season sales. $5 a pop is about as low as I've seen. They'll last forever. And i agree they get very boring so I only put them in maildrops. I find the good dinners all cost twice as much so MH is my go to. The secret truth about Long Distance Backpacking is that it's a series of 5,6, 7 maybe 8 day trips between resupply. And freeze dried, or grocery store, or crappy trail town pizza is never the highlight of a Long Distance Hike.

Wise Old Owl
10-14-2012, 12:35
.......Or you'll die from a sodium overdose.

They have three MH meals with lower sodium this year


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1zlztT4x6A

k2basecamp
10-14-2012, 14:09
Okay mountain house isnt all that bad. The beef stroganoff w noodles is excellent and I can eat that all the time. The chili mac with beef not so much. It actually tastes better cold. The chicken stew is pretty good. I have never bothered with the breakfasts.

snifur
10-14-2012, 15:19
check the hiker boxes from GA to ME. last year it seemed every other hiker box had a couple of them or something similar. me, i stick with snickers and reese's and vita sups.

Fredt4
10-14-2012, 15:41
In 2011 I picked up 5 mh dinners from the hiker boxes in Georgia alone. Obviously someone had a few too many.

snifur
10-14-2012, 15:53
i dont think that someone had too many i think they prolly decided MHmeals were not that good and just got tired of them fast after eating them day after day after day after day and well you know how it is. i dont mind them, but i would prefer a reese's smashed between 2 honeybuns rolled in a nutella slathered wrap. (which is infact what i eat often while on the trail.) hey, dont judge me!

Sman
10-14-2012, 16:01
http://www.survival-warehouse.com/food/2_person_basic.htm You can by some ten oz bags for about $3.50 look for (2 Person Basic Survival )

10-K
10-14-2012, 18:42
One thing about Mountain Hiouse meals... The last about 30 seconds in a Hiker box.

Rasty
10-14-2012, 19:17
I need to start selling y'all good food or teach a class. Better taste, costs less, less packaging, less sodium and more variety!

Sarcasm the elf
10-14-2012, 19:31
I need to start selling y'all good food or teach a class. Better taste, costs less, less packaging, less sodium and more variety!

If you ever get that class together sign me up! What I'd really like for someone to make a pocket guide or better yet PDF guide of things to get when doing a supermarket or Convenience Store resupply. I always end up with a bag of really random stuff when I try to shop for trail food without a list... Probably because I spend most of the time in the store staring at the rotisserie chickens and deli sandwiches.

Marta
10-14-2012, 21:17
One thing about Mountain Hiouse meals... The last about 30 seconds in a Hiker box.

That has been my observation, too. For all the bad mouthing they get online, on the trail they are considered mighty fine eating. All those mode made meals people brag about languish indefinitely, while the MH meals are snapped up with glee.

snifur
10-14-2012, 21:33
even oatmeal gets "snapped up with glee"! that just means there are many a hungry hikers who are budgeting expenses with their caloric requirements. i have seen loose rice in a hikers box poured into a baggy. seen rogue homemade jerky that was not sealed lifted from the hikers box. i have even seen the cheese and broth packets from hikers box combined to make a thick sodium filled hot drink. its all about needs.

Tuxedo
10-14-2012, 22:47
Living in Chicago area a section of town has about a mile of India and Pakistani stores, trust me no need for pre-packed foods like MH or ramen. Buy some goods in those groceries the base pasta is Sipa Vermicelli (http://www.hashems.com/store/pasta-and-grains/sipa-cut-vermicelli-shiariya) these noodles can go in the pot soon as the water is warm add pasta and flavor/meat of choice and 2mins later as soon as it boils stir cover and let sit for 10-15mins. The pasta doesn't need cook time after boil if you can cover. Sick of pasta? Cous Cous and fine cut polenta/corn meal will do too. The flavor is up to you and nearly limitless. Meat can be the foil packed tuna, Chicken and beef options although no longer available is the prepacked Jack Links ground beef that was my fav.

The cons= you have to do mail drops for resupply, you pretty much can only use burner with simmer cooking option, although I think its easy to do this you need some kitchen sense to make a good meal and practice makes perfect.

Skyline
10-14-2012, 23:05
The occasional Mountain House (or similar) meal is a much-appreciated luxury for many LD hikers. But every night? You'll get tired of them, if not sick because of them, in just a few weeks.

You have time to do this test:

Go to an outfitter, or buy from a site such as Campmor, just two weeks' worth of what you're thinking of buying for the Trail. Eat them every night at home. Don't supplement with anything else. This will take willpower, but for a fair test you've got to stick to the plan.

After two weeks, if you think you can stomach another four weeks of these meals, you may be one of the few who can tolerate them over the long haul. But I'm betting you will learn a valuable lesson and it will have only cost you the cost of 14 meals at retail. That is, if you even get to Day 14.

snifur
10-14-2012, 23:21
and the $115 you spend in MH meals for 2 weeks of just dinner would fill my tummy for all my meals and snacks for the same time frame. and i will enjoy mine more.

Rasty
10-14-2012, 23:34
One thing about Mountain Hiouse meals... The last about 30 seconds in a Hiker box.

That has been my observation, too. For all the bad mouthing they get online, on the trail they are considered mighty fine eating. All those mode made meals people brag about languish indefinitely, while the MH meals are snapped up with glee.

The packaged meals come with instructions.

grayfox
10-15-2012, 10:21
If you ever get that class together sign me up! What I'd really like for someone to make a pocket guide or better yet PDF guide of things to get when doing a supermarket or Convenience Store resupply. I always end up with a bag of really random stuff when I try to shop for trail food without a list... Probably because I spend most of the time in the store staring at the rotisserie chickens and deli sandwiches.

I have a generic list that lives in my wallet. If I buy what is on the list then I end up with balanced meals and not just a bag full of snickers bars. But, get the rotisserie chicken first--think of it this way, you save a lot of fuel because it is already cooked and you satisfy a craving which is good because it is hard to think clearly when you are hungry. Buy the chicken, eat it, and then go back in to shop.

Take a small notebook to make shopping lists--you might as well make a list because food is all you think about anyway.

Astro
10-18-2012, 20:32
Okay mountain house isnt all that bad. The beef stroganoff w noodles is excellent and I can eat that all the time. The chili mac with beef not so much. It actually tastes better cold. The chicken stew is pretty good. I have never bothered with the breakfasts.

Funny thing I love the Chili Mac w/ Beef (the favorite of both me and my son), but do not care for the other two you mention.

Mags
10-19-2012, 00:49
In late Spring, Costco will sell in certain areas a 10 pack of Mountain House meals for $40.

Personally. I don't like using them too much but I must confess to grabbing one every so often when I am lazy and/or heading out of town at the last minute. For $40, not too bad of a price to keep some meals on hand for last minute trips.

(Even 'no cook ' meals requires a trip to the grocery store at times. OTOH, I always have oatmeal in the house. Throw some oatmeal, nuts and dried fruit in a ziplock, add a Mtn house meal and some misc snack food and I can pack for a quick overnighter on a half hour notice. And I have! :D)

camojack
10-19-2012, 04:10
I eat a lot of those Mountain House meals (breakfast and dinner) when I'm staying at my cabin in Alaska.

They're not bad for what they are, but I do find that I'm getting tired of them after about a week.

There's a nice selection of them available at the Walmart in Kodiak, FWIW. :cool:

eagleJ
10-19-2012, 05:50
I found good prices here http://www.thereadystore.com/

SawnieRobertson
10-19-2012, 12:41
MH Turkey Tetrazinni is good, hot or cold. I use Zone bars during the day. Beef Stroganoff for breakfast is great fuel as well. Unfortunately, most MH meals are not what we would label as delicious, but they do give us the nourishment we need until we can get to the next restaurant meal. Oh, and I buy bulkish from Campmor.com.

Wyatt
11-06-2012, 16:04
If you are looking into on Mountain House or other, similar meals, then I'd suggest reading this freeze dried meals review article (http://realisticpreparedness.com/dehydrated-emergency-meals-review/), since the people who make some of those things aren't exactly honest in their advertising. Some are good, some are awful and their idea of a "serving size" can be just nuts.

Skyline
11-06-2012, 16:32
Good link, Wyatt. It pretty much confirmed what I already thought about some of these products--but there was some new, specific information there.

When out for a long hike, I've experimented with quite a few different food scenarios and Mountain House-type meals turned out to be my least favorite. Having said that, having one once every few weeks was somewhat of a luxury and I appreciated that diversion.

I've been stuck on mostly organic Mary Jane's cook-in-bag foods for awhile, but find I must add dehydrated veggies and/or protein for a truly nutritious meal and taste/texture to my liking. These can be pricey by themselves, and the add-ins make them more so. My supply of Mary Jane's is now depleted, so I think next time out, likely next year, I'm going back to Knoor's (formerly Lipton's) dinners and adding my extras to those.

Creek Dancer
11-06-2012, 17:44
If you are looking into on Mountain House or other, similar meals, then I'd suggest reading this freeze dried meals review article (http://realisticpreparedness.com/dehydrated-emergency-meals-review/), since the people who make some of those things aren't exactly honest in their advertising. Some are good, some are awful and their idea of a "serving size" can be just nuts.

One thing they never warn you about is that eating a lot of Mountain House meals will give a hiker some wicked gas. Jus sayin'...:D

colonel r
11-06-2012, 18:01
I buy the bulk cans and subdivide into meals.

Works well for freezer bag cooling.

Col

colonel r
11-06-2012, 18:02
that is, freezer bag cooking.

atbackpacker
11-06-2012, 18:04
if you google "karst sports" they usually have good deals. we use them for scouts once in awhile. if you don't mind eating dehydrated ...try hawk vittles. imho they're better than MH.

Skyline
11-06-2012, 23:53
One thing they never warn you about is that eating a lot of Mountain House meals will give a hiker some wicked gas. Jus sayin'...:D

Not to mention the Runs.