Wise Food Storage

[Eclipse]

^ Not to mention the time overhead of eating in the field.

Take a SAREx, for example - when I deploy a Ground Team(s), I tell them to make sure they have the full gear and expect they will not
be back at base until EOD.  They go out, do a mission, then get redeployed elsewhere.

If you want to see a GBD's vein blow out of his head, watch him when he gets a message that "Cadet Timmy is hungry and didn't bring his lunch,
so we have to hit retail, which is 45 minutes away"  - That's a 2-hour plus stall in the mission because Timmy wasn't prepared.  (Or to blow out the other vein, Timmy brought lunch but decided he didn't like what he brought, so when they asked, he said he needed food - BT!@#$%DT).

As a road-warrior for both work and play, I find myself in a lot of places where preparation is key to comfort - Las Vegas convention centers, for example - "across the street" = 1/2 mile away, and on the other end is a $15 convention center burger (thank the Lord for back doors and roach coaches!). Or teaching motorcycle riders - I've got less then an hour and a range full of bikes that have to be put away between me and hitting McD's,
not to mention that most ranges are in the furthest back portion of a college campus, 10 minutes from the gate, let alone a restaurant.  Or I can light up the Jetboil, open my MRE, and watch the sun back the bikes while I enjoy my lunch.

There's simply no easier, simpler way to carry around a 1/2-way decent meal with little attention to it long term.  No matter where I'm going / what I'm doing, a couple MREs, my Jetboil, and some water means I've got some good eatin' no matter what gets in my way.

I'll take a chilli-mac or the tuna fish any day of the week over a Big Mac.

[GroundHawg]

Wise Foods have two options, Camping and Home foods. The camping do not last as long, and the Home packaging isnt mobile.
Keep in mind this is my opinion... Wise Foods are not good to the taste.
Mountain Home or MRE's are much better tasting. If you are looking for food for a survival situation and you need calories and not taste then Wise isnt a bad option, but if you need a mobile meal for a go bag or your GT gear, MRE's are a far better option.

[Noble Six]

I just found another option.  Monkey chow for grub on the go.  I stumbled across this little gem on youtube a few minutes ago.

Monkey Chow Diaries: Day 1

[Woodsy]

Guys, all good and valid comments.  I don't see the likely possibility of a milti-day mission camping out in the woods anymore, but that's just my opinion. 

One of my major pet peeves as a PAO is seeing the organization misrepresented to potential members.  That new member joins up, then after a year or so wonders why he hasn't marched halfway across the state in the worst weather conditions in 100 year history to pull a baby out of a burning airplane, eating berries and hunting his dinner all the way...

[Eclipse]

Two issues, with above.  The times I have eaten them in quantity during week long missions, etc., there were in urban disaster areas, not the woods. Hungry is hungry, and if you're moving ahead of your logistics, or potentially going out where there is no infrastructure and you might get stuck in the field, they are vital.

Second, as a PAO, represent what is happening in your area, and then find out why you aren't doing the other missions.  Its a valid point, but if your collateral and information are all localized, it's a non-issue.

[Duke Dillio]

Guys, all good and valid comments.  I don't see the likely possibility of a milti-day mission camping out in the woods anymore, but that's just my opinion. 

One of my major pet peeves as a PAO is seeing the organization misrepresented to potential members.  That new member joins up, then after a year or so wonders why he hasn't marched halfway across the state in the worst weather conditions in 100 year history to pull a baby out of a burning airplane, eating berries and hunting his dinner all the way...

I might also point out that the Fosset search which was not that long ago was a multi-day mission with bases that were fairly remote.  There were search and rescue teams that were out for several days in the woods.  That search was more of the exception versus the rule due to the high profile nature of the victim.  Then, there was the Conne search and the search for the Kim family both in Oregon. 

My major pet peeve as a GBD is that we are losing out on missions like this because there are some in CAP who say things like what is posted above.  I have been told on more then one occasion that when the wing alert officer gets a call for assistance and GT's are requested, they tell the client that we don't have any ground teams.  They believe that in the era of cell phones and 401 beacons that ground teams are not necessary because we can "do everything from the air."  In fact, in my wing there was a push to issue all DF units to aircrews only because the higher ups thought that we don't need ground teams.  As such, there are very few qualified ground team members.  When I arrived in 2009, there were about 7 people qualified at any GT level and two of them were IC's who hadn't done any GT training in over 10 years.  Since that time, I have trippled that number to about 20 members and I have trained five or six GTL's.  Another unfortunate result of this attitude from up high is that the qualified GT's that we do have a located in a small area in the southwest corner of the state.  As it stands right now, we can cover less than one-third of the state and that is in a fairly populated area whereas we do not have any resources to cover the vast majority of the unpopulated area of the state where a likely multi-day mission would occur.  Regardless of the political and cultural atmosphere, we continue to train because it is better to have the ability and not need it then need it and not have it.

[Duke Dillio]

So to get back to the topic, I received my free sample from them a couple of days ago and tried it last night.  They sent me a two serving pasta alfredo packet.  The package was pretty nice looking.  I think that it would not be quite durable enough to throw it in your pack for 6 months but you could probably put them inside a ziplock bag and be fine.  Following the directions, the package requires 4 cups of water which might be an issue depending on your location (i.e. probably not something you want to use for GT missions unless you are in an area where there is water).  You boil the water and then have to wait for 12-15 minutes after you add the contents.  There is a dehydrator packet inside which was kindof a pain to get out of the bag.  There is an ample supply of food inside the packet (I finished the two servings but I am kindof a pig...)  It tasted pretty good for something that will last for 25 years (so they advertise anyways.)  I had to add a little hot sauce to give it a flavor that I like but it tasted fine beforehand.  It came out thick and creamy as an alfredo should, not soupy like some that I have tasted before.  I did not try cooking it in the packet which may be an option.  The real downside is the amount of water that it takes.  I believe that it would be an excellent product for an SHTF type of situation but not so much for CAP ground teams.  I am planning a ground team exercise for next month so I plan on ordering some of their camping food and taking it with me to give it an evaluation in the field.  All in all, not bad at all.  I have tasted worse...  And unfortunately, there is no pound cake.....