I ate dehydrated backpacker meals for several meals in a row for the first time on my BNR trip. I had always just carried the extra weight to avoid eating them, but figured food was an easy way to save me a bit of pain. Not that it mattered since we ended up canoing the whole way, but I figured I’d stick with them for the five people that read this site.
I was expected MRE quality food that I basically had to choke down and drown with a liter of water per bite. They were surprisingly edible, and some were downright tasty. I had meals from Backpacker’s Pantry and Mountain House. I mostly picked meals with rice, since, well, I like rice. The pasta ones did not sound too incredibly appealing to me, but my dad took a couple of them and said they tasted just fine.
The BP meals won out over MH in my book, for a few reasons:
-BP’s packaging allows them to lay flatter and therefore pack tighter than MH.
-The BP meals tasted better, with less of an overwhelming sodium kick in the teeth.
-They add a multi-vitamin concoction! I am bad enough about giving myself the proper nutrition at home, so it was nice to be in the middle of nowhere and have a meal that at least gave the appearance of keeping my body’s chemistry in check.
Both companies still lack a bit in flavor and have way too much sodium. I could also do without the bulky packaging. I have a Nesco dehydrator on the way, so hopefully I’ll be able to give some good reports on dehydrated meals and snacks soon. Watermelon leather, here I come…