Dan's Outside

I go, I see, I do, I walk, I think, I like…

Quick-Cooking Oatmeal

Recently my breakfast mainstay has become oatmeal. This comes as something of a surprise to me since I long ago learned to dispise those little packets of instant oatmeal, and because I had adopted a no-cook breakfast routine built around granola and a bit of dried milk.

However, while getting ready for a long trip in 2004 I was concerned about getting all of my food into my Garcia bear canister. I realized that oatmeal packs smaller than granola. In addition it can be lighter, though extra fuel is required to cook it. However, when the main focus is how much food you can cram into a bear canister, fuel weight may be better than food weight since fuel does not need to be protected from bears.

***The basic recipe
is very simple. For me, a basic, minimal one-serving breakfast is:

  • 1/2 cup of quick cooking (not instant!) oatmeal. (Available at health food stores. I get mine from the bulk bin at Whole Foods.)
  • A pinch of salt.
  • Some sugar – to taste. (But extra calories are probaby a good thing in the backcountry.

Mix it up at home in small individual servings in ziploc bags. On the trail, combine the mix with about one cup of water and bring to a boil, then cook on very low heat for about 2 minutes. Oatmeal afficionados probably prefer to bring the water to a boil first and then add the oatmeal, but seems to me to be a less efficient use of fuel.

***Variations on the recipe
are possible and desirable – both to add calories and nutrition, and to add some variety to the menu on longer trips. Here are some of my variations:

  • Add a tablespoon or so of powdered milk for extra nutrition.
  • Add some chopped nuts. I like sliced almonds or chopped walnuts.
  • Add cinnamon.
  • Add some dry fruit. I like raisins or date pieces. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m sure that dried apple would be good, too.
  • The best thing is to camp where you can crawl out of your tent and pick a cup of wild blueberries… :-)

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July 26, 2005 Posted by | Commentary | Comments Off on Quick-Cooking Oatmeal

Saving Pack Weight – It Adds Up

I have a long pack trip coming up soon and I’ve been reevaluating and replacing equipment, as I always seem to do before long trips. In this case I’m not only succumbing to gear lust (though I’m not avoiding it entirely either… ;-), but I’m also trying to reduce pack weight a bit.

I have several reasons for this. First, it is always a good idea to remember that, as I believe Colin Fletcher pointed out, if you pay attention to the ounces the pounds will take care of themselves. In addition, I’m (surprise, surprise!) getting older and hulking monster 75 pound packs just aren’t realistic any more. On top of that, I have added better, and consequentially heavier, photo gear to my load and I need to reduce weight elsewhere to make up for this.

So, here are a few changes that I have made, along with estimated weight savings:

  • ***Western Mountaineering Flight Jacket
    – This minimalist down jacket purportedly weighs only 10 ounces. Hard to believe, I know, but it is amazingly light. This will replace a 1 pound light fleece jacket and perhaps another 8-10 oz layer, saving about a pound. (Taking a cue from my friend Owen, I will stuff the jacket into a very light Granite Creek compresson sack along with my sleeping bag, saving a few more ounces.)
  • ***No ground cloth
    – Since my tents last forever anyway – the waterproofing generally delaminates off before the rest of the tent dies – I can save almost a half pound by not taking the small nylon ground cloth that I usually carry with either my bivy sack or my one-person tent.
  • ***Mountain Hardwear zip-off pants
    – combined with a light pair of long underwear. This replaces the combination of a pair of light softshell pants, a pair of very light shorts, plus a pair of fleece The North Face tights. I haven’t weighed this but I would guess that it saves at least a half pound if not more. I also will plan the food much more carefully, with a goal of carrying almost no extra food besides a couple of servings of instant soup.
  • ***Carbon Fiber REI Trekking Poles
    – Supposedly about 11 onces, saving another half pound over my old “ultralight” poles.
  • ***Syl-nylon Pack Cover
    – Seems nearly weightless, saving perhaps 4 ounces over the lightweight coated nylon cover I used in the past.

  • ***Changes in my food plan
    – I now mix up some very tasty Quick-Cooking Oatmeal rather than carrying granola. It packs smaller (important with limited bear canister space) and is a bit lighter. The potential downside is the need for additional fuel, but this is minimal since this stuff cooks in about 2 minutes. (To anyone about to suggest even lighter pre-packaged instant oatmeal… don’t bother. I hate the stuff!)

All told, perhaps 2.5 or 3 pounds lighter? This should just about make up for the extra photo gear I plan to carry this year… ;-)

Some of my friends are now using extremely lightweight packs, mostly from Go-Lite. They seem to be doing fine with them, but I’m still not ready to trust the very basic design of these packs on longer trips – plus I like the excellent lightweight suspension system on my Mountainsmith Auspex, which weighs only slightly more.

July 26, 2005 Posted by | Equipment | 4 Comments