Three-Day Freeze-Dried Kit, Repacked
A 72-hour emergency food block built from freeze-dried pouches, stripped of its cardboard and carried in a stuff sack.
- calories
- 570
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 127
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 9, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 12 min
- water
- 480 ml boiled
- cost
- $$$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Canoe / raft
- Eat in the bag
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried biscuits and gravy pouch | 1 pouch | breakfast, day one |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried granola with milk and blueberries pouches | 2 pouches | breakfasts, days two and three |
| Freeze-dried chicken fried rice pouches | 2 pouches | |
| Freeze-dried chicken and dumplings pouches | 2 pouches | |
| Freeze-dried beef stroganoff with noodles pouches | 2 pouches | |
| Olive oil | 3 tbsp total | one dropper bottle; the kit runs thin on fat |
| Hot sauce or a small spice kit | to taste | optional, and the difference between day one and day three |
Method
- Check the pouch for its own water line. Most of these want 1.5 to 2 cups; 480 ml covers the larger dinners.
- Boil the water. Open the pouch, pull the oxygen absorber out, and pour the water in.
- Stir from the bottom corners. Dry powder hides there and stays dry if you skip it.
- Seal the zipper and let it sit 9 to 10 minutes. Insulate the pouch inside a jacket or a cozy in cold weather or it will rehydrate unevenly.
- Stir again, add a spoonful of oil, and eat out of the pouch.
- With no stove, use cold water and wait 45 to 60 minutes. It works. It is not pleasant, but it works.
This is a store-bought 72-hour kit treated as a trail menu rather than a shelf item. The whole point is the arithmetic: nine pouches, about 3.6 pounds, and roughly 12 cups of water across three days. That is a known quantity, which is why the kit gets used for shoulder-season trips and boat hauls where you do not want to think about food planning at all.
The number to watch is 1,706 calories a day. That is enough to sit out a storm and not enough to walk on, so the oil and the extra carbs in the variations are not garnish. Everything here rehydrates in the pouch, so there is no pot to scrub, and cold water works if the stove fails, which is the actual reason to carry freeze-dried food in the first place.
Packing
Cut the cartons off at home. Nine pouches and a fuel canister fit in a small stuff sack at roughly 3.6 lb of food. Keep the empty pouches; they are your trash bag and they nest.
Variations
- Add a tortilla or a handful of crackers to each dinner. The kit is planned around 1,700 calories a day, which is emergency math, not hiking math.
- Split the two granola pouches across three mornings and carry a bar for the third. Stretches breakfast without adding weight.
- Drop a foil packet of tuna or chicken into the fried rice for another 20 g of protein.
https://www.battlbox.com/products/mountain-house-three-day-emergency-food-supply