Hey guys I'm going on a 3 day solo backpacking trip next weekend. There is a solid chance of rain. Any tips for backpacking in the rain?
Also any idea for lightweight hot meals to make while on the trail? I've been making Ramen but I'm thinking I might want more variety.
>>786494
Make sure every individual object in your pack is waterproof. Zip-lock baggies are good for this, or dry sacks if you've got them. Then line your empty pack with a large contractor grade clear garbage bag, and pack with all the waterproofed items as normal. Gives you limited redundancy in case your pack fails to be sufficiently waterproof.
Gather fuel ahead of time before it rains, and put it in a garbage bag. Carry it with you if necessary. You don't want to be stuck in a situation where you can't start a fire because you can't find any dry tinder/kindling. Carry extra garbage bags for keeping other shit dry. Only a few grams, and out of the box they're incredibly compact.
Don't set up camp in a bowl-shaped area if you can help it. Depending on how much rain you are expecting, the applicable regulations (if any) of the place you'll be camping, and the lay of your campsite, you may want to consider digging a small trench around your tent to direct water away. You don't want water running under your tent and soaking through the floor. Some places forbid this sort of thing though.
A good gore-tex shell (hooded jacket and pants) is invaluable. Gore-tex socks are also available, but might not be to everyone's liking. If you're in Canada, CPGear's "stealth suit" is a phenomenal piece of kit. Very light, durable, breathable, and completely waterproof. I can't say enough good things about it.
>>786494
If you dice potatoes into 2 cms cubes aprox it takes literally 5 minutes for them to be cooked. You can add whatever you want to them or mash them if you want to.
>>786494
>lightweight hot meals
Vermicelli & a tube of sauce (not a can) - Vermicelli cooks in 4-5 minutes, and a tube of sauce will be thicker and more concentrated than a can, and has less trash to haul out. Make sure you also have a little plastic bottle of olive oil (easy to find a small plastic bottle at a dollar store). You can also bring a baggie of dry parmesan.
Kraft Mac & Cheese - Ditch the box and put the noodles in a ziplock. Put the sauce in another ziplock with a teaspoon of skim milk powder. Use olive oil instead of butter.
Uncle Ben's Ready Rice - It's already cooked so all you have to do is boil the entire pouch for a bit. Make sure to tear a corner first. Don't use this as a staple because it's not particularly calorie dense. Chicken flavor with Tabasco is great.
Instant oatmeal. Brown sugar flavor is best because it's got more calories. Takes 2-3 packets to make a meal. You can also switch it up by using instant steel cut oats with brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins. Very filling, very calorie dense.
Idahoan Instant Mashed Potatoes. Really filling, and warms you right up. Kinda salty though, and you might want to break one package down into two meals using snack-sized ziplocks. You can also consider adding skim milk powder.
"Libby's Seasoned Beef Crumbles" is an alleged ground beef packet that requires no refrigeration. All kinds of stuff you can do with that, like hamburger helper or trail tacos. Just open a corner of the packet and stick it in boiling water to warm it up. Might want to try it at home first because it might not agree with you.
If you don't want to cook, make nutella sandwiches with white flour tortillas. Nutella keeps for a month or so after opening with no refrigeration, and tortillas will keep for a week or more.
Make sure everything especially the tent is waterproofed completely.
Take a quality tent, a good one will weigh basically nothing and yet keep you totally warm and dry in any weather.
I'd recommend MREs since it's only 3 days and you can heat them while sitting in the tent and be really comfy as you enjoy an effortless hot meal. Apparently the american MREs are shit so that might not be great but European ones are delicious.
Don't let your boots or clothes get wet, it crushes morale when you start the day freezing cold and uncomfortable.
>>786555
American MREs are actually pretty good, but they're expensive as hell. Unless you've got a buddy in the military who can scam them for you, I wouldn't recommend them.
>>786494
Backpacking in the rain licks balls. Pick a day when it's not raining.
>>786494
Get a poncho that is large enough to cover your pack.
Also get one of the light Euroschirm umbrellas, for light spray and so you can hike with the hood down when it seriously pours.
Your legs will get wet eventually, depending on your trousers you will not give a fuck.
Mine dry very fast.
You can thank me later.
>beef jerky
>water
>dehydrated vegetables
makes for a damn good beef soup/stew if you add a little flour
>>786996
You can also add dehydrated mashed potatoes instead of flour. Guessing the taters have more nutrition than the flour.
>>786579
Are they expensive? When I was in, it was rare NOT to be offered an entire case of MREs to take home every time we went out to a range or got back from a field training.
>>787048
Because you were in the fucking army and he literally said it's expensive if you AREN'T IN THE ARMY
