Going Stoveless
I'm considering going stoveless in my quest for the ultimate ultralight outfit. I would appreciate any ideas on dinner meals that don't need a stove to prepare.
"Chainsaw" GA-ME 2011
Bratwurst on a baguette. Or just hot dogs and buns. Hot dogs keep forever. Steak and potatoes wrapped in foil is good for the first night out. All this is cooked over the campfire of course. Don't forget to toast your bread by the fire as well.
Is this going to be for a thru-hike or just a small trip?Originally Posted by Don H
I did several stoveless hikes this summer and as far as weight goes it's a wash for me.
The big advantage that I found to going stoveless was removing the stove futz factor, having one less thing to keep up with and being able to get going earlier in the morning.
p.s. I didn't answer your question, I know.
When I hike stoveless, I kind of forget about meals as such. I just eat every couple of hours, whatever I want out of my food bag. There is no breakfast, lunch, dinner. Available in the grocery store that you don't have to cook are: Rolled oats, nuts, raisins, powdered milk, tortillas or bagels (easy bread to pack), cheese, sausages and lunch meats, peanut butter, crackers, cookies, instant mashed potatoes (soak a few minutes in cold water), ramen (eaten dry or soaked), fresh vegetables and fruit, candy bars, muffins, pop tarts, Little Debbie brownies, cans of cake frosting--just walk up and down the grocery aisles and imagine.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
I forgot instant refried beans and corn chips. Lots more I'm not thinking about, I'm sure.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
I agree with this. During my Long Trail hike this summer, After futzing with a stove, setting up a caldera cone, waiting for water to boil, waiting for the meal to rehydrate, I've decided that cooking is too much hassle, at least during summer weather. Especially when getting to the shelter at dark. A hot meal wasn't neede as much as I thought .I did several stoveless hikes this summer and as far as weight goes it's a wash for me.
The big advantage that I found to going stoveless was removing the stove futz factor, having one less thing to keep up with and being able to get going earlier in the morning.
p.s. I didn't answer your question, I know.
Therefore I'm going stove less from now on.
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Last edited by Deacon; 09-07-2012 at 18:48.
instant refried beans huh where would you get this
+1 to that.
I really enjoy the flexibility it gave me with my meals. As garlic says, you can reach into your food bag and eat what you want when you want instead of leaving town with x number of b-fasts, x number of lunches, etc.
Other benefit is you cat eat very quickly and have virtually no dishes to clean. I think I saved about an hour a day if I cooked 2 meals compared to going stoveless. Who wouldn't want an extra hour to power out more mileage or enjoy more time to sit by a lake/chill at a Vista?
I've gone stoveless and since I ONLY boil dinner water it always sounds good to get rid of the stove and fuel. But when it's cold even in September in Maine or August nights in VT I really miss the hot meal. I may try it again in New Mexico next spring.
Everything is in Walking Distance
10-K, you bring up a good point. Do you save weight by going stove less? Seems like maybe the weight you save on the stove you gain on the food. Moist ready to eat food weights more than dried food that needs hot water to rehydrate.
As far as the futz factor goes, I use a Pocket Rocket. I quit using my home made alcohol stove with windshield and pot holder set up because it was so many pieces and a hassle to put together. Also it wasn't getting the water hot enough in cold weather.
This will be for a 1 week, 100 mile section.
Some foods I'm thinking of for dinners:
Peanut butter and Craisins
Tuna salad
Chunk chicken
Spam
Sausage and cheese
All the above on flat bread or a tortilla.
Mashed potatoes
Stove Top Stuffing? (can you just add cold water and make it rehydrate?)
Oat Meal
There's got to be more.
"Chainsaw" GA-ME 2011
I do hot dinner only. i find it to be the best of both worlds. sometimes i'll add hot chocolate packets in there to be used at night or that odd morning where something warm would be nice. i take a few ounce weight hit for bringing my pocket rocket instead of my alcohol stove to eliminate the "futzing" light, lid the pot, boiling in <5 minutes. no pouring, windshield, liquid fuel.. just instant on and off. 1 100g canister lasted the entire LT
Plenty of good options here...pretty much just buy of more of what you normally buy, outside of those things you normally cook. And remember, it's possile to eat instant mashed potaties cold--they don't need to be cooked...we just use hot water because that makes them taste better.
And as far as ultra weight advantages, personally I look at ultralight backpacking as not just a function of weight, but of simplicity and efficiency.
I stopped cooking in June 2005, midway through a thru-hike. Stoveless for me means less weight, less volume (no stove, pot, fuel or accoutrements), only one food bag (spoon/spork inside), no clean up after eating, no need to re-fuel, faster meals, and as Garlic pointed out, without a stove, the concept of meals goes out the window and you just eat all day long--albeit in smaller quantities each time you eat. This results in a steady flow of energy throughout the day, which is a good thing.
I never see them in trail towns, but if you plan ahead of time you can buy them on line. I hear Walmart might sell them, but I don't go there. I did a quick search: http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...l_89q1gwqkvl_e You have to soak them for 10 or 20 minutes.
The "futz factor" for me is not only messing with the stove every day, but having to find fuel at resupplies. That's one less thing I need to do in town when I'm trying to take a nearo and get out of town. It's easy enough on the AT, but on the more remote Western trails where I developed my hiking style, it's more of a problem.
Another minor advantage of stoveless is safety. There have been a few wildland fires started by stove accidents out here. And I've personally seen one bad scalding injury and a few minor burns from stoves. And some gear ruined. I know, you'd have to be a klutz, but it does happen.
I've never liked cooking and especially not cleaning up very much, and doing it in the rain or snow in a cloud of mosquitoes is just plain miserable in my book. Some hummus and crackers, tortillas and cheese and some cookies or fruit from the comfort of the sleeping bag, watching snow blow over the tundra outside, is just fine.
The weight issue only comes into play at the end of the resupply. It's just as heavy on the first day, but by the fourth or fifth day it feels like you're flying.
It's not for everyone, every time, but it's fun to try and it's one more tool to add to the toolbox if you like it.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
As usual Garlic is a wise man. I am especially in agreement with walking up and down the aisles looking for good and different stuff you might not have thought of.
My staples for 5 stoveless months on the AT last year were:
Muesli (preferred) or granola cereal for breakfast
All manner of bars, Little Debbies, Snyder's flavored pretzel bites, peanut butter & Nutella (no bread, spooned straight out of the tin) for snacks
Sausage/pepperoni and cheese (if the heat didn't destroy the cheese) for lunch
Instant potatoes with cold water and sometimes tuna, or more of the same stuff from above for dinner
Like Garlic said, meals were sometimes a foggy concept. Any of those snack or lunch items could and did constitute any of the other meals at some point. Like him, I chose it not for the weight so much as the simplicity. Eating breakfast and dinner in my tent while other people have to stand outside in full rain gear just to deal with the bugs feels pretty nice.
The cons, I think, are the weight and the potential to waste food. Had I been more scientific, I maybe could have gotten a very good sense of how much food, in weight/calories, I needed per mile, and resupplied accordingly. But it never worked out that way. I almost always bought more than I needed in town, because, as mentioned above, stoveless shopping can be pretty improvisational--and this is the bad side of it. I remember one time, along MA2, I threw away at least a pound of food right before I walked into the woods because it had just been building up over the last two weeks or so. Maybe that's a function of me rather than of stoveless hiking in general, but it seems like the potential for having extra food is higher when meals are a vague guideline.
The weight savings also are nonexistent. If even one meal a day can be dehydrated, I think that makes up for the weight of, say, a cat stove and a few ounces of alcohol, when you compare it to having all no-cook foods. In my shorter hikes now, I'm going with this setup (alcohol stove), and I think I like it better than stoveless. But I haven't been out for more than three nights since thru-hiking, so who knows if I'll get tired of stoves again when I go on long hikes in the futuer.
"Hahk your own hahk." - Ron Haven
"The world is a book, of which those who do not travel read only a page." - St. Augustine
http://www.scrubhiker.com/
Okay, here's what you do:
If you study a Ramen Noodle square you'll notice you can shuck it open like an oyster (in half). Just use your spoon handle to wedge in between the fold and crack it open. Snap!
Lay the two sides down and spread peanut butter or nutella over them then form them together sandwich style.
Voila! Ramen Noodle Sandwich!!!!!!!
Last edited by Spokes; 09-07-2012 at 21:16.
"Fish Camp Woman.... Baby, I like the way you smell"
- Unknown Hinson
I've been cookless for the last couple of years, but early this year I had a trip that made me wish I had a pot. A pot can work for water treatment, but on my trip I wanted it for melting snow.
Hard boiled eggs,(best used first day). Cous Cous, Instant potatoes,Waffles,Lipton sides is even bearable cold.
Getting lost is a way to find yourself.
My meals are gorp and a custom meal replacement shake, which I doubt is what you're looking for.
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