Going stove-less...anyone doing it???

[Lawnboi]

A hot meal is something I wont go without for a week or so. A weekend or a few days its doable. But after a while I just want something that is cooked.

If I were to go stoveless. I wouldn't necessarily go stoveless, id just get one of those UL wood burners that weigh mere ounces. That and 1 or 2 meals to heat up is enough to keep me motivated and focused rather than being sick of eating cold food the whole time.

Id actually like to pick up one of those little stoves to try out, for weekend trips and stuff where speed of boiling is not a big deal.

 

[actionshooter]

More power to you guys who can do it. Maybe for one night, but when the weather is bad or cold, I'm looking forward to that hot meal half the day.

 

[Becca]

Remember we hunt for fun, so if you take out all the things you enjoy just to lighten the load then it's not worth it.

So true! Obviously saving weight is important, but a few comfort items can make the trip so much more pleasant, and in turn make me more motivated to hunt harder and stay in the field longer. For me, the ability to make hot food and beverages is essential to my morale.

I very rarely use the stove midday, except in terrible weather for a hot cocoa or instant potatoes....but breakfast and dinner its a must have. hot coffee to start the day off, and a hot entree to end it

 

[fillthefreezer]

im with litlebuf, i only do one boil a day for mtn house and mashed potatoes for dinner, i roll out of the bag and just snack all day until then, i think i would be hard pressed to make up my calories with things i would eat that dont require cooking.

i also find it funny for some that are saying if only going 1 or 2 days they could do it,
if im only going overnight im probably bringin a steak or chili or some other real food

 

[Halleywood]

For those that want to try out a wood burning stove on the cheap google "nimblewillnomad". He has an easy to make stove design that weighs around 6 oz and packs down flat. I built one and have tried it at home a few times and it worked well. It takes a little longer to boil water but I thought it was pretty cool option. Best part is it costs about $15 and little bit of your time.

 

[luke moffat]

For those that want to try out a wood burning stove on the cheap google "nimblewillnomad". He has an easy to make stove design that weighs around 6 oz and packs down flat. I built one and have tried it at home a few times and it worked well. It takes a little longer to boil water but I thought it was pretty cool option. Best part is it costs about $15 and little bit of your time.

They are a cool idea IF you have stuff to burn. Many times on sheep and goat hunts you are well above the tree and brush line with nothing to burn. But certainly a cool idea.

 

[actionshooter]

im with litlebuf, i only do one boil a day for mtn house and mashed potatoes for dinner, i roll out of the bag and just snack all day until then, i think i would be hard pressed to make up my calories with things i would eat that dont require cooking.

i also find it funny for some that are saying if only going 1 or 2 days they could do it,
if im only going overnight im probably bringin a steak or chili or some other real food

For me, If I'm only going for 1 night I take a day pack as its a summer scouting trip, not hunting. Even then I have always taken a stove, but that's the only time I wouldn't. Most of the time my partner and I share a stove, does that count as not bringing one?

 

[Yellowknife]

Heck, my little canister stove stays in my daypack most of the summer. I always say that just because I'm in the field doesn't mean I am supposed to be miserable, and the occasional hot lunch and a mid day cup of coffee never hurts moral. When I can't bring the canister stove for some reason on short trips, an Esbit stove, a single wall Ti mug, and maybe a few twigs gets me living in style.

Overall, my goal is to be able to function in the wilderness as efficiently as possible both when hunting and working. Sometimes that means lightening the load I carry, but I can ALWAYS work better if I can stay warm, eat well, and get some sleep... so I try not to lose sight of that.

Yk

 

[Halleywood]

They are a cool idea IF you have stuff to burn. Many times on sheep and goat hunts you are well above the tree and brush line with nothing to burn. But certainly a cool idea.

Indeed.

 

[stephen b]

I usually at least bring a small solid fuel stove. My old BSA (Boyscout) solid fuel stove weighs 1.25 oz and that and some Esbit fuel or other type of solid fuel weighs very little. Add a 3-4 oz cup and your in business. I like my coffee or even black tea for a pick me up in the AM. For dinner I could be OK with out hot food for part of the time. But for less than about 9-10 oz all up (stove, cup and fuel) I can have something hot 2x a day for about 5-7 days. I often go the solid fuel route in the early season since even a small canister itself is over 8 oz.

I usually always have some type of solid fuel in my fire kit anyways.

Nice thing is that today we have have lots of lightweight options. A small canister stove like a PR or a Soto weighs less than about 3 oz; when before a light stove was 5-6 oz.

 

[ohhiitznik]

I could probably go stoveless. But I choose not to. I do love me some PB Honey and bacon though!

 

[tradair1980]

I could make it a few days on cold food but probally will never try it , unless I have too. And then again if I have to then, I guess I could go as long as I have to survive

 

[Buckman]

I am on the opposite end of the scale. I make chile and freeze it. Its ungodly heavy. But it puts a bounce in my step to know that's whats for dinner the first two nights

 

[Backstrap]

I'll second Swat and Justin's comments. I love my coffee too much and this is supposed to be fun. That being said, I have gone two days early season without a stove (and coffee) and lived off pre-made peanut butter and bacon sandwiches. They last pretty well and are calorie dense.

 

[Sundodger]

I have done it, not bad at all, in fact I prefer it quite often. Keep in mind I am super tolerant of eating boring food for long periods of time so YMMV. I really don’t like cooking while fishing or hunting because it takes too much time. I would rather eat something cold and fast when I leave camp long before first light and don’t get back until long after dark. Quite often even when I am car camping I am too tired and lazy to bust out the stove I brought and just eat cold food anyway, or at best leave the can of chili on the dash or exhaust so it’s sort of warm.

My breakfasts tend to be protein mix, dried fruit, and pastry’s. Lunch is bagel, peanut butter, dried meat, dried fruit, dried veggies, protein bar, candy bars. Dinner ends up being MRE entrees, tuna pouches, dried fruit, dried veggies, and candy. My elk hunts in November I will bring the heater for the MRE, after hiking tons of miles in the cold and wet a warm meal is nice.

This year for my early season hunting I am going to measure out some weights and bulks and see where I end up, probably going to be no stove.

 

[unm1136]

I can see the desire...But I like to eat. I even look forward to a couple of MH meals when I go out, but my home made dehydrated mexican beas, rice and beef are WAAAAY better. I also like drinking hot tea before bed, and when I was a kid I slipped into runoff stream at about 9000 feet and warm drinks saved me. For my birthday last week my wife basically threw a dart in the local sportsmans warehouse, and now I have a true backpacking stove...A jersey mesh sleeve holds my X-Mug,two small pans, a stove, lighter and 110g fuel cartridge...9.7 oz, less than $60. For another $20, she could have gotten a pot that was almost 1l, with the heat exchanger bottom, for 2.5 more oz. Current setup is smaller than a 25 oz can of Fosters (I almost referred to it as the Fosters Oilcan, but I just had a birthday, and oil hasn't come in cans in decades!).

If you are going to give this a try, check out the recipe I just posted in the cooking forum for Prarie Pâté. I am making it this week, and have a couple of tweeks that I will be doing to get it over 150 kcals/oz. The recipe came from a famous outdoorsy chef and it was published in Bon Appitite magazine.

pat

 

[Z Barebow]

I did this on my first elk hunt and NEVER again. I felt like I was in a Russian gulag. Cold granola mix and cold MH meals (Beleive me, they don't rehydrate well even after an hour of soaking in cold water)

I carry and Esbit stove and burn 2 cubes a day to boil water. Cupping a pot of hot oatmeal in the morning and eating a HOT MH meal after a long day of hunting is one of the simple pleasures in life.

 

[Mike7]

If going more that a couple of days, I don't seem to save any weight by not taking a stove (at least if you carry the non-cookable food items that I like to eat), and with the speed of the canister stoves, there doesn't seem to be much time savings. I think the wood burning stoves are fun for summer backpacking, but when I am cold, wet, and tired and putting up bivy camp in the dark, I like to have hot food ready now as I'm getting into my sleeping bag...and not be searching for dry wood or nursing a wood stove.

Even my cheap cooking setup just totals 3/4 lb with fuel for over a week (PR stove w/case 4 oz, 1 L Snow Peak Ti Pot 3.8 oz, homemade roasting pan lid 0.2 oz, and 4 oz fuel canister 8 oz). If I have to take down my food bag from its hang in a tree in the morning anyway, it sure seems nice to have some warm oatmeal when it only takes an additional 3-4 min to cook. And there is no cleanup if you cook in the bags...just seal up the bag after eating and run it back up the tree or throw it in your pack.