Camping and Backpacking GEAR thread

TacoGlenn's "way past the expiration date" Clif Bar test – Part Deux

In my ongoing quest push the limits of camp food expiration dates- https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ing-gear-thread.340757/page-370#post-17080381

I found a couple of old Clif Bars dated “31 Jul 08” deep in the bowels of an old backpack. Both chocolate-almond fudge.




First the drop test- solid double bounce every attempt off a plastic table from a 6” drop.

Opened the packet, time to possibly subject the olfactories to rankness; but surprisingly, while there was a bit of an “off” smell, all in all, not to revolting.

Cut test (table knife)- very solid, had to apply a lot of pressure and rock the knife in order to get through.


Taste test- took 3 medium-sized bites, surprisingly not too bad, no following ill affects. The taste- a bit “off”, but tolerable. Delicious, certainly not, but there are worse things; if I was in hell and the only edibles the Devil offered me was a choice between a bowl of Brussel sprouts or a “way-past-the-expiration-date” Clif bar, I’d choose the latter.



What’s next? I still have the other Clif Bar from ’08. I think there’s a 20 year past the expiration date test in the offing, stay tuned.

 

Man, those things get stale. Nothing I hate worse in the backcountry than a stale meal of any kind. I had some repackaged freeze dried meals from last summer that I took on a backpacking trip this spring and I had to gag it down. Anything with any kind of grains/starch that gets exposed to oxygen (bagged bars included, given enough time) has a particular tone to the palate that I just can't stand anymore. Did I die? No. Did it give my body fuel? Yes. Was I miserable while eating it? Hell yes.

Stale grains/starch/food tastes like pissed-on hamster cage shavings to me. Yuck.

 

Oh yeah, I'm back from my trip to the Sierra. I'll gather up pics and a short write-up later when I have some time. Basically I had to cut the hike 3 days short (backpacked for 3 out of 6 days) due to awful smoke conditions in the backcountry that caused my eyes to glue shut overnight and I couldn't take the constant smell of wood smoke any longer. Also, every night I got a dusting of ash on my tent and gear which was a trip. I closed the gap of the miles that I wanted to accomplish on the JMT from a 2015 bypass that left 11.5 miles of trail to finish, but missed out on revisiting an old part of the trail that I really wanted to fish. I spent the remaining days in the Mammoth Lakes area fishing the lakes basin and some other local waters and still getting in some good hiking and fishing though, so it was still a great trip. Just more hotel time than I planned for.

Here are the smoke conditions at 9am on the morning that I bailed at Shadow Lake. This isn't fog...

 

I tasted some "Good-To-Go" meals at a trade show Saturday.
https://goodto-go.com/
"Chicken Gumbo" and two I do not see on their site.
Corn Chowder and a Kale 'something'.
All 3 were really good and had great ingredients.
Recommended.

The Kuju Coffee .... Angels Landing.
https://www.kujucoffee.com/products/one-cup-pocket-pourover-angels-landing
Unremarkable.
I did a pour over at home with a Hario Kettle.
50 grams of coffee every 30 seconds poured in 15 second increments.
Total water was 300 grams.
The strength was ok. The bag weighed 16.5 grams, so there is not much coffee in each package.
But the flavor was not there.

I will try a dunk brew next time.
But, I assume the purpose of the wings is the pour over.
For now .. Not Recommended.

Mt Hagen Organic packets are MUCH better.

$35 Mount Hagen 25 Count Single Serve Instant Coffee Packets - 4 Pack | Organic Medium Roast Arabica Beans | Eco-friendly, Fair-Trade [4 x 25 sticks/1.76oz/50g]

https://www.amazon.com/Mount-Hagen-Organic-Instant-25-Count/dp/B001NN531Y

Ken

 

@Seabass, are you still liking your Altra Lone Peak 3.0 Neoshell Mids? They are $90 on Backcountry right now and I am about to pull the trigger, I think. I went and found your post praising them and just wanted to make sure you haven't found any weird stuff about them as you have used them.

 

Well, I'll start off by saying that I retired them and never took them on any long hikes after testing. While they were very comfortable and stable, that Neoshell doesn't breathe very well in warmer temps. My feet got hot and I worried about skin deterioration and blisters for multi-day hikes. I bought them thinking that I'd take them on the JMT last year to deal with the snow better, but decided to go with the Altra Lone Peak 3.5 mesh lows instead. I was very happy with that decision and haven't looked back. Same traction, same zero drop, but the 3.5's are a lighter shoe that breathes much better and keeps my feet cooler. My ankles are strong so I'm ok backpacking with a low shoe. If you deal with rolling ankles when hiking, you may want to still consider the Mids, but see if they have the mesh version instead of the neoshell unless you routinely hike in cooler wet conditions.

 

Oh yeah, got this done in Mammoth Lakes to celebrate being 100% done with every inch of the JMT. Looks a little uneven in the pic from the swelling but it's healing quickly and came out really smooth.

 

Thanks! That was my concern.

 

Take a look at the Altra Superiors too. Ive been using them for maybe the last 50 miles or so, and no blisters at all. They breathe very well. I also took them to Kanaraville falls and hiked in them soaking wet for about 5 miles. They dried in my camper shell in about an hour. Albeit, it was over 95 degrees or so in Utah at the time.

Dude congrats, and thats badass.

 

Also look at the new Altra Timp. Not as much unstable cushion as the Superiors, but just a bit more cushion than the Lone Peaks. I haven't personally tried them them yet, but a lot of the long distance guys are using them now.

 

My buddy actually has these. I should probably ask him about them.

 

Free to a good home! Brand new and unused coffee press for those using JetBoil. You can see which models it's compatible with on the bottom left corner of the packaging.

Let me know if anyone wants it and I'll send it out.

 

if it's still available i'll take it

 

You got it! PM me a name and address and I'll get it to you.

 

Thanks for the recommendations on the stove guys worked great paired with my jet boil. Now does anyone recommend a strip of battery less, I've found a lot on Amazon just seeing if anyone had suggestions. Needing something to hang from my tent and in my camper shell

 

These things are hilarious and I've had 2 sets of them for years that I hang under my EZ-up awning by just draping them across the support bars. Great conversation piece and they put out decent but not blinding light. Plenty of light for a tent or camper.

https://amzn.to/2KOQb3u

 

they seem pretty big? but i would totally put those up in my tent lol maybe not my camper though

 

Bought a set of ENO Helios straps several months back and just tested them this past weekend.

For straps not much bigger than 550 cord and what looks like a hokie way to adjust them, I was super skeptical (I weigh 250lbs).

Not only were they a cake to set up and adjust, they held tight all night. I’m picky on my hammock setup cause I like it tight enough you can play it like a string instrument lol.

If you are a hammock camper, go pick a set up. It’s a cheap way to really cut down on size and weight.

 

Each light is only 2" tall with a single LED in them. The whole string is only about 6.5' long

 

I start section hiking the 804 mile Arizona trail on 10/06 South to North. I am a working dude so will be getting this done on my weekends off and one 3 day weekend I get at work a month. The majority of the passages I will do as 1 to 2 night overnighters to reduce drive time/trip totals.

My basic kit is a combo of lightish weight and comfort

Gregory Zulu 55L backpack

Big Agnes Copper Spur HV2UL 2 person tent
TNF furnace 35 bag+liner for cold nights at higher elevations if needed
REI insulated inflatable sleeping pad. (might replace to foam pad if the pricky stuff in the desert leads to too many leaks)
MSR Pocket Rocket 2 stove and 1.3 ceramic pot
Nemo 4oz Fillow Pillow
Black Diamond spot headlamp
Black diamond 3oz lantern for the tent
Sawyer squeeze filter + extra smart water bottles. Water availability sucks on the AZT we will probably have to cache water in advance in a lot of spots.
Camelback 3L bladder
Solar 20,000mah battery cell to keep my phone/gps charged up
La Sportiva Wildcat 3.0 trail runners

My base weight including pack and first aid +survival supplies not including water and food is 13.3lbs

For the few dayhike passages well be doing
Osprey Manta 36L loaded up with water and first aid stuff along with my goretex rain shell that goes with me all the time.

Once I am done with this moving on to bigger mountain stuff. High on my priority list Rainer, Whitney via mountaineers route. 5-6 other western state high points including AZ #1 and #2 while snow covered.

Me up on Battleship mountain in the Superstitions earlier this year