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Freeze Dried Meals for Backpacking and Camping

Fairly lightweight, actually good-tasting, easy to fix meals for camping. See full product details below.

$10.99


These are the popular freeze-dried meals found in most backcountry pantries - in your case the backpacks we rent.

Mountain House, Backpackers Pantry and other dehydrating companies take just about any food imaginable, dry it out, and package it in a foil pouch. You just add boiling water at camp - typically 2 cups - seal the pouch back up and wait about 10 minutes for it to reconstitute to its edible form. The pouches we carry are the "two-serving" size, but in reality each pak is for one person - about 600-700 calories per container. You can eat right from the pouch.

There are dozens of flavors and food preparations out there, but we just carry a few select ones we know taste pretty darn good and are popular with hungry hikers. The ones listed here are what we have on our retail floor.  If we've run out of anything, we will let you know.  

See more photos and instructions on our dehydrated meals, and here are a few pointers to consider if you're new to dining on freeze-dried food:

• We're not talking fresh gourmet here, but after a long hiking day with our backpacking rental gear these meals do hit the spot.

• Take some variety, even if not all are your favorite. The same ol' same ol' every night gets boring, even when backpacking.

• If you're going to be out more than 5 days, and you've rented a standard-size bear canister, you should remove the food from its original packaging and put in baggies - the original pouches take up too much room in most cases. You can keep one pouch and reuse it as a "bowl" of sorts for the other meals as well.

• Several food choices with Mountain House and Backpacker's Pantry have a lot of sodium per serving. No big deal after a long day of exercise in most cases, but if it matters to you, take note. Some paks might have a day's worth of sodium in it by itself.  But, we do have some food choices that are friendlier for those sodium-averse, vegetarians, and those with gluten problems.  Check out relatively healthier options from Peak Refuel, Right on Trek, and Fernweh.

• You will need some type of stove and fuel to boil the water needed to rehydrate the food. Rent our canister stove as an example.

All in all, these meals are a good tasting, convenient option for backcountry adventures. We do suggest supplementing with other food choices if out for more than 4 or 5 days. See more on food preparation and dining in the outdoors

Learn more in the video below:

Weight 0.4


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