Bushwalk Australia

Hi... this is not an actual army "MRE" but its similar in concept.. my tweak on this one is to buy a "retort pouch" meal/dish made by a Korean company called "Ottogi", these can be found in a lot of Asian grocery stores and of coarse Korean ones... most are about $1.70- $2.50, you can reheat them by either 1. placing pouch in hot water, 2.opening and heating in a pot, 3. its fully cooked so you can eat it cold...
or as i have done spray paint one side matt black and place in the sun black side up!!!(some US MRE's have a similar black side)
before i stop for lunch i sometimes attach the pouch black side up to the top of my pack, depending on sunlight about 45min+ later its warm to hot.. have a Fresnel lens as well which I'm going to see if that speeds up the process...
You can also buy little snack sized "breads" in the Asian shops plus ham stix (like cheese stix), checkout Asian stores for their jerky and other items you can carry for food on walks....

I looks like a great idea. I will grab a couple next time I am near a suitable shop.

That does sound good. Im always up for no cook food

I like the fresnel lens idea. Perfect for total fire ban day walking.

Thank you !!

Sounds great; must check 'cos I find a lot of Asian food and prepacked has about a week's supply of salt and then one gets thirsty. But where on earth do you get a Fresnel lens? Other than in a lighthouse?

walk2wineries wrote:Sounds great; must check 'cos I find a lot of Asian food and prepacked has about a week's supply of salt and then one gets thirsty. But where on earth do you get a Fresnel lens? Other than in a lighthouse?

Online or from a rear projection tv.

You will need a frensel lens much larger than the packaging otherwise you are just concentrating the energy that would fall onto the packaging into a smaller area with no increase in energy input to warm up the contents.

Mark F wrote:You will need a Fresnel lens much larger than the packaging otherwise you are just concentrating the energy that would fall onto the packaging into a smaller area with no increase in energy input to warm up the contents.

hmm the one i bought on eBay is about the same size, it was an after thought after the 4th lot i had heated up on walks.. its one of the frame less ones you use to enlarge the print of books you read... only cost $2 so a bigger one is not a lot more... i was more thinking of the size in the pack...

perfectlydark wrote:That does sound good. Im always up for no cook food

Actually if you don't mind things tasting slightly "greasy" anything that's in a can or long life pouch that is "heat to serve" can be eaten cold, its more palatable warm or hot though...

and even on day walks i carry a micro gas stove unit...
both for just in case i end up o'nite and also for a quick cup of coffee or miso soup...

dnaylor wrote:

perfectlydark wrote:That does sound good. Im always up for no cook food

Actually if you don't mind things tasting slightly "greasy" anything that's in a can or long life pouch that is "heat to serve" can be eaten cold, its more palatable warm or hot though...

and even on day walks i carry a micro gas stove unit...
both for just in case i end up o'nite and also for a quick cup of coffee or miso soup...

yes true, im.no.stranger to eating prepacked foods on walks but i usually warm them up in some gently boiling water. I like the idea of colouring the package black and fixing on your pack! Would work well in summer, maybe not so much in winter when you want a warm feed

I have eaten all sorts of these dang things, (ex soldier) if you ever get the chance to purchase a British army ration pack or even more better an Irish army one, do so at all costs. They are all retort pouch food and come in such lovelies as Bacon and beans and chocolate pudding. Sick them under your arm pit for half an hour and bob's yet Uncle. I have a bit of a sick hobby, collecting and tasting other nations ration packs. The new Australian Defence Forces one isn't half bad either.

Arctic Camel wrote:I have eaten all sorts of these dang things, (ex soldier) if you ever get the chance to purchase a British army ration pack or even more better an Irish army one, do so at all costs. They are all retort pouch food and come in such lovelies as Bacon and beans and chocolate pudding. Sick them under your arm pit for half an hour and bob's yet Uncle. I have a bit of a sick hobby, collecting and tasting other nations ration packs. The new Australian Defence Forces one isn't half bad either.

Triffik Hobby where do we look to also collect please.
corvus

Its how the cook made the rissoles at Boarding School.

Under the armpit patties.


ok..Ill shut up now.


Unless, yall want to hear an idea ive had for a bok?

We are all aquiver,al.......

vicrev wrote:We are all aquiver,al.......

Right then, full of arrows are we?

I dunno, Vircrev, where the inspiration comes from.

Some call it inspired, while others demur insipid.

What shall we write about?

I was once a cook, did Drysdale House and all...but sadly, I was deemed a fitter and turner....

Which, I thought was ok, as a country lad should be multi skilled...

Until I was told..it meant "fit it in the pot, and turn it into &^&^(*&O("

aloftas wrote:Its how the cook made the rissoles at Boarding School.

Under the armpit patties.


ok..Ill shut up now.

No no no I started it with my Tommy armpit this and Tommy armpit that.

with regards to heating meals
not so much for hikes but sneaking meals into the police microwave helps on searches, especially cold and wet ones

other than that I use a chemical heater sometimes, or a rock, or a black car

So dnaylor, what's the verdict on these Ottogi ones? How are they?

I've been hunting around various Asian groceries in town and in Box Hill, and haven't found any that stock them. A few stores had the Ottogi brand of curry powders and noodles, but not the ready to eat heat in pack meals.

I'll try a few more of the Korean groceries in town - one store said he would check with his supplier for me.

Hi All,

Just want to provide some more MRE options for you guys, depending how simple or gourmet you are after.

We have biltong and jerky from The Biltong Man, gourmet meals from Happy Camper Gourmet, and ration bars from Mainstay Rations.

Here is where you will find the food! www.serendipitysupplies.com.au/product- ... dy-to-eat/

Let me know if you have any questions, always happy to help with options.

Ok, I couldn't find these in any stockists, but I found some online (from NSW and QLD):

• http://www.myasiangrocer.com.au/search. ... gi&x=0&y=0
• http://www.buyasianfood.com.au/index.as ... Submit.y=0
• I found some over in NZ for our New Zealand bretheren as well http://qmarket.co.nz/en/search?controll ... rch=Submit

Both the ones in Aust charge for shipping so I made order to Melbourne and try some out:



The first one I tried was a curry (hot), it is really just mainly sauce. There were 8 small cubes of potato and 2 very tiny meat bits but the sauce was nice and spicy. I had it with two bread rolls, but I guess you could do this with a bit of rice and some dehy veg and mushroom.

I also tried a beef curry, and that had more ingredients in it, but only tiny bits of meat. Not sure if these would be handy for walking as a self contained meal though.

I gave the black bean sauce (jjajang) one a go as well, and it is mainly sauce again, so like the first curry not so nice by itself. Didn't take a pic, but there was not much to see. Mainly a black sauce.

The meatballs were nice, and I could see it going well in a pita bread loaf. I'm assuming the same for the "hamburg" which I have not tried yet.

The bowl in the pic has a diameter of 19cm for reference.

I'll try out the other chicken and pork ones soon. I did also pick up a "hash" version which looks like the curry/black bean versions, but with veg instead of meats. I've yet to try that one out.

Things I found:

• It is a bit big for my solo pot, but folding the top over it fits in about 400-500ml water. And I can use the hot water for a cuppa after.
• The hole in the top corner is handy for a stick or chopstick to retrieve the sachet from a hot pot.
• I found three minutes in boiling hot water wasn't quite enough for my liking as a hot meal though. It was just a bit luke warm. But they can be eaten cold as well, so I think I might get some more of these meat type ones rather than the sauce ones as a lunch meal.

Quick update on these Ottogi MRE retort meals.

Took them to NZ after Christmas for a walk. Mainly had them for lunch in pita bread with some leafy veges (kale/spinach). I took the chickeny bits, the meatballs, and the hamburg.

Tried the underarm/in jacket technique, while walking in the rain, but that was a bust. It wasn't really warm at all, and better off having it cold.

I also tried strapping a pack to the outside of the backpack in hot sun, and while I didn't have paint one side black, it did get a bit warm, but not really hot enough even after 4-5 hours walking in 30 degree heat with no shade. The reflective surface does stop it heatup as quickly. So it was still not quite a hot meal. But happily to say, they can be eaten cold and were ok in a wrap.