Mountain House Pro-Pak Vacuum Sealed Meals?

[lazy river road]

I just picked up like 10 of the MH double serving meals for 40% off makeing them like $3 a piece which isent so bad. I dont have any experiencec with them but I plan on useing them on my 3 day hike coming up next month to test um out for my longer hike this summer.

[ARambler]

One of the weird things about MH is that the Pro-Paks normally contain around 500 calories, and are supposed to serve one. The larger packages that supposedly serve two assume that each person will only eat about 250-300 calories. Even if I'm laying around the house, reading novels and petting the cat all day, that's still not enough dinner for me. In other words, two servings contain about the same number of calories as one Pro-Pak serving. Fuzzy math.

Yeah, Sweet and Sour Pork is 550 cal for one, or 2 times 260=520 for two.
The weights are 4.06 oz and 6.01 (total) oz. So the 2 servings are really 1.5 servings or one big serving. I like this 1.5, approx 6 to 7+ oz size better than 4 or 8+ oz.

I can't explain the fuzzy math.

The Walmart FD option is good idea if shopping on the trail (although I can't think of too many). Don't just go to the food dept.
Rambler

[Praha4]

Lasagna is my favorite. MH Pro paks are the best. Easy to fix, high calories.

[Tuckahoe]

I guess I am gonna feel stupid here. But what is the difference between the pro pack and the 2 serving packaging? The only difference that I can see is the (with the beef stew for example) .24 ounce difference in weight. Otherwise I see the same portion/serving for less cost with the pro pack

[sarbar]

One of the weird things about MH is that the Pro-Paks normally contain around 500 calories, and are supposed to serve one. The larger packages that supposedly serve two assume that each person will only eat about 250-300 calories. Even if I'm laying around the house, reading novels and petting the cat all day, that's still not enough dinner for me. In other words, two servings contain about the same number of calories as one Pro-Pak serving. Fuzzy math.

That is because the Pro-Pak is 16 ounces versus 20 ounces for the regular 2 person meals. Not much of a deal!

[sarbar]

Lasagna is my favorite. MH Pro paks are the best. Easy to fix, high calories.

That is thing though - they are NOT high calorie. If one eats a lot of FD meals they need to up their calories by adding oil and or more veggies (or meat) to the meals. Fiber wise they are awful.

A single serving of a FD meal is in most cases not enough food for most hikers - you have to have other foods with it (crackers, bread, soup, nuts, etc) to fill up.

[KnittingMelissa]

While I love the convenience of Mountain House, they really aren't that filling for the price. I bought a few on sale a week or so back to try out flavors (and, well, it's easier to just boil water after coming home from a long, hard day of studying than think about cooking), and even then a two person serving just doesn't fill me up all that well. I usually end up snacking later before I go to bed.

While they are convenient, they are not the end all of camping food, especially not at that price. But, buy a few, try them out, and see how you like them. They are convenient in that you just boil the water, but they need more than just them alone for a meal, especially if you've actually been physically exerting yourself all day instead of just sitting around in a library.

But I love me that stroganoff and beef stew. Oh those are some good flavors.

[Dogwood]

Since we are beating up on serving sizes, cals/serving size, wt, and cost of MH ProPacks and 2 person size MH meals, and yes, I too note some fuzzy math ocurring, has anyone considered that many of these stats for MH meals are in the avg range for dehydrated meals? Some companies have decided that a dinner size portion of about 4 oz and about 420 cals is sufficient for dinner. I don't know about everyone else but 400 cals for this 200 lb hiker after a 35 mile day isn't going to cut it, and certainly not suitable for many hikers to eat consistently for dinner on a thru-hike and expect to maintain a decent body wt. Likewise, I notice thru-hikers thinking they are going to constantly eat a packet of Ramen and 3 oz packet of tuna of about 300 cals for dinner and somehow not eventually resemble Casper the Ghost.

I find it more cost effective to buy dehydrated meals at a discount and to sprinkle them in over the course of a hike. I open some up and add a bit of something to them to increase the caloric intake and tweak the serving size - like add a spoonful of EVOO to the Pasta Primavera meals or a bit of TVP, turkey jerky, fish jerky, sausage, cheese, pasta, rice, cashews, walnuts, almonds, etc to stretch the meals out. Buying some dehydrated meals don't make financial sense to me either. I find it less expensive to buy some Black Bean or Lentil Soup Mix in bulk and add a packet of Lipton/Knorrs noodles or rice to them and some chopped dried tomato bits and dehydrated onion, chives, or garlic than buying these kinds of dehydrated meals. When I buy dehydrated meals it's because I know I can easily tweak them nutritionally, extend the number of meals rather easily, or because I can't or will not find their listed ingredients easily myself. As long as you are willing to put some time into making trailfood you can certainly save money on the food itself.

For example, I just bought 12 MH meals at REI for $46. All these meals are 2 person sizes accept for 3 Pasta Primavera ProPacks. I concentrated on buying meals that offer the most amount of cals per oz of food. If you ever see a tall hiker wandering around in the REI food section w/ a calculator and digital scale it's probably me! I'll add about $6 of additional food like Knorrs sides, EVOO, TVP, nuts, coconut, sesame seed, flax seed, sunflower and pumpkin seeds to those MH meals and eventually get 18 dehydrated meals of about 5-5.5 ozs each and 620 cals or more for each dinner. Cost of about $52 for 18 dehydrated meals not subtracting my roughly 10% REI kick back. Eventual costs of about $2.70 for each dinner. I can live with that in my trail budget if I don't rely on prepackaged dehydrated store bought meals every night for dinner. I can also afford, body wt wise, to eat those only ocassional lower calorie less expensive Ramen and tuna dinners if I sprinkle them into a week long resupply where I'm making up cals elsewhere.

Now, to get that food to where and when I need it. That's another thread.

[Mountain Wildman]

These guys are about the cheapest I have found for Mountain House.
Propaks $4.79 regardless of quantity.
http://www.survival-warehouse.com/fo...cking_food.htm

[gunner76]

In the 70's Mountain House meals came in a red package and were labeled meal for two people. The military version of Mountain House came in a green package and were labeled meal for one.

[Monkeyboy]

Stick with the two serving packs. Cheaper and just as good.

However, I did enjoy the beef stroganoff propak.