Saturday 13 June 2009

Getting ready For The Off

In just under a week Paul and I heading up to the Lakes for a couple of nights and days in the hills. It’s the first time we’ve been out together since the November trip and I’ve really missed watching him burn food on his Jetboil. Loose plan at the minute is to head up to Coniston after work on Thursday night and go from there.

As usual for me lately, they’ll be some new stuff making an appearance on this trip. I’ve just bought some new Inov-8 Roclite 318s and my first home dehydrated meals.

These are my first Inov-8 trail shoes and the main sway to these over any other were the weight and grip. I currently use my loved but loathed Merrell Chameleon Wrap Slam GTX which let me down on the grip front every time I use them. I’ve coped (even during winter) but I can’t be confident on wet terrain, especially the old arch enemy – wet rock. Annoyingly nothing I’ve tried in the past few weeks fits anywhere near as perfectly as the Merrell’s so the Inov-8s need to prove themselves on that front. In the grip department though these look mean and I’ve a good feeling about them.

I’ve also been busy getting to know my cheap and nasty dehydrator which has produced very good results. I’ve been on about making my own meals for the hill for a while but only recently have I got around to it. I’ve gone for a Chilli Con Carne for the first trial and its worked really well. I’ve tried it with Smash and it tastes good after a pinch of salt.

Pour and Store Bag

I found these little “Pour and Store” bags when I dropped into the supermarket at lunch during the week. They are made by Poly-Lina and are ideal for storing and then rehydrating the meal at camp. I use mine with a ‘freezer bag cooking’ style cosy which means I don’t dirty my titanium pot. They are slightly heavier than your bog standard freezer bag but are more resilient and re-useable as a result.

8 comments:

James Boulter said...

Those pour and store bags look good. Home dehydration is the way to go - a least you know what you are eating and you can make the portions the size you want them. Where did you get them? May try out with a homemade cozy.

Marcus said...

Hi James

I came across them in Tesco but I suspect you can pick them in other shops too. You only get 6 in a box for around 90 pence (I can't recall exactly) but you can re-use them.

baz carter said...

Nice one Marcus. Try cooking then drying rice to go with the chilli - it only takes about four hours or so to do. You can add it to the bag with the chilli in for a complete meal.

North West Media Man said...
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James Boulter said...

I will have to keep an eye out for them - easier to backpack with one pan and save on the washing up!

Marcus said...

Baz rice is my next trial so I'll let you know how I get on. Does it rehydrate easy enough?

James, they are perfect for the cosy style cooking and as there is nothing worst after camp food than washing up i'll be using them as much as possible. I just like being able to drink a tea or hot chocolate whilst waiting for the food to rehydrate. Ahh the simple things!

Joe Newton said...

I brought a box of the Poly-Lina 'Pour & Store' bags over with me when I moved. They are nothing short of genius. They stand up by themselves and resist the attentions of spork tines when you're trying to remove every last morsel. I've reused the same one probably a few times more than is truly hygienic!

I recently made a reflectix cozy for them and tried Mike Clelland's couscous recipe from his Groovy-Biotic article over at BPL. It was fantastic.

Marcus said...

I couldn't agree more about the resilience. I've used one twice now and I think there's at least another couple of times left in it yet. The only problem I've found is the staining from tomato based foods.