Chili Cup Dinner - Leave the Pots at Home!

My wife found these great boxed chili dinners at the grocery store. I was going on a really long backpacking trip by myself (about 12 miles in one day) and I knew that I needed to shave every ounce off of my pack weight that I could if I was going to make it. I decided to leave almost all of my cooking gear at home. All I brought was my 4 ounce stove, a half-empty canister of propane/butane gas, my stainless steel camping cup, and a spoon. The chili and dinner rolls were delicious! And I managed to shave about 2 lbs off of my pack weight.

Here’s how it worked. I emptied the contents of the box of chili into my stainless steel cup and placed the cup on my stove with the heat on low. Stirring if often so the bottom wouldn’t burn, I heated the chili until it was steaming (the chili is pre-cooked so all I had to do was warm it.) Then I ate the chili right out of the cup.

Clean up is easy, too! wipe out the cup with a piece of your dinner roll and then boil a little water in the cup to clean up what’s left. Boil a little more water and make some hot chocolate. Burn the chili box in your campfire.
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Bring the Booze

Here’s a little tip to bring some luxury to your next backpacking trip - bring your favorite wine. There are many brands and flavors that come packaged in mini plastic bottles that are easy to pack, fairly light weight, and unbreakable.

A friend of mine did this on our last trip. He cooled the wine in a pot full of ice-cold lake water just before dinner. It sure beats drinking warm lake water with your meal!

Leave a comment if you've done this or have another idea!

Tube Tents

I hate carrying a tent. I gave it up several years ago. When evaluating my backpacking gear and looking for things to leave at home to save weight, my tent stuck out as an unnecessary item. I know, tents are cool, and it’s nice to have a little privacy, but can you justify carrying the 5-7 lbs in the summer? That’s a huge percentage of your pack weight!

I’ve been leaving my tent at home whenever possible for several years now, but there have been a few times where it has cost me dearly. One night it dewed so heavily that when I woke up my sleeping bag was soaked as was the ground around me. Needless to say, I was a little cold that night. Another time it rained on us.

I would love to afford a Bibler Tripod, but can’t afford it at this time, so I began looking for an alternative. What I’ve come up with seems almost laughably simple… a tube tent. They are usually made of orange 4 mil plastic. Not very durable, but very multi-purpose. They can be used for a ground cover, wind shelter, emergency signal, or a 2 person tent. They only weigh 2 lbs, are very compact, and fold up to the size of a camp pillow. Best of all, you can buy one at Longs or Wal-Mart for about $10.

You will want to bring a length of nylon rope, some plastic tent stakes, and some clothes pins. String the rope through the tube and between two trees or use some sticks or trekking polls as tent poles. Use the clothes pins to keep the tent stretched out. Put rocks or gear inside the tent to keep the sides of the tent shaped like a triangle. The apex of the tent should be about 3-4 feet off the ground.

Using a tube tent is light-weight, cheap, serves multiple uses, and is an effective shelter in light wind and rain. Try it! You may find yourself leaving that expensive (and heavy) tent at home.