Food to go.

So for those of us who haven't been called out in this recent spell of extremely cold weather, how well would we have managed if we had.

Many of us have some form of ready box/bag, with radio kit in, but how about food?

Do you have that ready to go, or would it be a last minute scramble making sandwiches of whatever is in the fridge or cupboard?

The self-heating ready meals you can buy from outdoor-sports stores etc. are good, but can be expensive.  What alternatives do you have?

I can't comment on the self heating meal referred to above although the
only self heating can I have sampled was OK in taste but apart from being
expensive was also extremely cumbersome and heavy if you have carry
more than one of them.

There is a wide variety of 'expedition type' food on the market now and
whilst still not particularly cheap, it is fine if you only need to have a
couple of days worth of rations an in an emergency 'go-box'.

One of the main [leaders ?] and perhaps most well known is the Wayfarer
brand. Based on British issue military ration packs these consist of 'real
food' in foil pouches that can either be eaten cold (not advised unless absolutely necessary) or rater boiled, still in the pouch in very quick time.
The menu selection that is available nowadays is quite varied consisting
of breakfasts, main meals and desserts. I think there is also a vegetarian
selection. These pouches seem to retail for between £3 and £5 each.

Another brand that seems to have recently made the mainstream market
is by Crosse & Blackwell. These again have real food in foil pouches but
instead of requiring a stove, heats up in an outer pouch that is activated
just by adding a small amount of water; much like the American Military
rations (MRE - Meals Ready to Eat). I have not sampled these but if you
don't have or want to carry a stove then this might be a suitable alternative for emergency purposes.

The final option of this type of 'expedition food' that is available are the
various dehydrated options. These have been around for some time and
whilst are very lightweight (maybe cheaper ?) do taste 'unique' and of
course mean that you need to add water therefore requiring you to have
access to a reasonable amount of clean water if you intend to be deployed
for any length of time. I am not sure whether this type of meal can be
eaten in its pouch or whether it does require mixing; if the latter then
this presents further problems as you will need some means of washing
up your utensils afterwards. The other two meal options can be eaten
straight from the pack thus less cleaning up.

There are of course many other 'self-help' options that could be designed
from supermarket shelves. One such brand is known as 'Look what we've
found' and is actually designed for normal household use rather than
expedition. The menus are again quite diverse and the beauty is that the
food again comes in a pouch that can be boiled in order to heat the food.
The downside is that availability is quite limited as not all the major
supermarkets sell them; you can buy online though. These are excellent
and I have used them on several major outdoor expeditions.

Having used much of the food in the foil pouches described above for
outdoor use and various expeditions, I can thoroughly recommend it for
use as emergency RAYNET supplies along with the supermarket option
described above if you want edible food that is lightweight to carry and
easy to store and prepare.

Originally posted by GW4KJW One of the problems with 24h supermarkets, is they're not open 24h at weekends. Due to the Sunday Trading Laws, they're only allowed to open for a few hours on a sunday.  There are also large (rural) parts of the UK which don't have 24h opening during the rest of the week.

Fortunately in Scotland, 24hrs means what it says. We also don't have the same problems with Bank Holiday Mondays.

Originally posted by GW4KJW It's worth grabbing a couple of boxes of 'Cup-a-soup' (4 packs to a box) and some of the dehydrated 'Pot' snacks.  In supermarkets (own brands) these can cost as little as 20p for a box of four soups and 35p for a pot-noodle type snack.  They take up little space and add insignificant weight.  Just remember to take a large flask of hot-water and dry ingredients for tea/coffee as well.  Military 'haversack rations' meal packs are better buys (Google) than self-heating tins.

 

A point to bear in mind is that the "Pot Noodle" and similar need boiling water, otherwise the carbohydrate is not cooked and you will suffer stomach pains. I tend to carry a small stove and cans of soup from Aldi/Lidl.

 

Originally posted by GW4KJW but I've seen similar in Innovations type catalogues  Gareth

Is that where you got your revolving tie rack with selection guide and handy ilumination device from??

I didn't think people actually read those things and they were just for collecting and placing in a bin bag, so as to give the dustman a hernia.

Ahhh....your obviously very rich and posh if you have one of these new moving picture boxes. Over here we have to make do with watching paint dry.

Getting back to the point, a few mars bars and a bottle of water is ample, just stick a few in the glove box of the car....