Bought these to package up some meals for a 4-day backpacking trip, and they worked great! Will definitely continue to use these for all future trips!
I started crafting my own backpacking recipes recently, and after an overnight that wasn’t fun because we ran out of fuel from simmering food the whole time (not to mention having to spend time cooking, washing and carrying the weight of dishes, and just transferring from container to container), we decided to switch to a boiling-water only cook method. I tweaked the recipes a bit, bought these bags, and it all worked out fantastically! The bags are super lightweight, very durable, and reasonably priced. The physical design is fantastic, with a slick gusseted bottom that makes them easy to stand up and pour the food and water in, and they hold heat in as well as packages from legit backpacking food companies! (My food was still piping hot after a 20-minute boiling water soak! I wrapped my emergency blanket and sleeping bag around them at first, as I was concerned about the recipe having enough time and heat for rehydrating, but I think that was unnecessary, as these seem to hold heat great.) We even made tea from some wildcrafted rose-hips in a washed out bag, stuffed in the back stretch pocket of my backpack! I wouldn’t trust the zipper to be exceptionally watertight, but it seemed to work well upright and under a little pressure, even while hiking. Also, for the packaging side of things, the outer surface of the package is super easy to write on with Sharpie, which is great! (I always felt like ziplocks felt like they were tearing under the marker a bit, and writing on these was supremely smooth.)
The best part of switching to this method of food preparation, is you save SO much time and weight!!! Weight-wise, you can ditch all your camp cookware, large cooking pots, and simmer-friendly stoves. Bring a mug for measuring water and drinking out of, a small lightweight pot large enough to boil water in (I use the MSR titanium one), and a good small stove that’s great at boiling water fast (I previously used the JetBoil MightyMo, as it is specifically designed to have better simmer control, but for this last trip I switched to the MSR PocketRocket, as it boils water faster, and is a tad lighter). Time-wise, the savings are so much more than you’d think! You cook and eat out of the bags, with the stove and pot only used to boil water for the meal. This means, in addition to not having to carry the weight of your bowls and cups, You have nothing but your eating utensil to wash after each meal! No dirty burned in pans to scrub out, or greasy cups and bowls - just pack away the used bags in your pack, wash your fork/spoon, and you’re done! You wouldn’t think this would be too big of a deal, but if you consider a situation where you’re eating two cooked meals a day, that’s twice a day you have to go get and filter more water, get out your sponge and soap, go away from your campsite, and scrub everything. Switch to this method, and you get water once for the actual water you’re going to put in your food, and just pack away the clean pot and stove and the end of your day. It’s great! Yes, the food doesn’t look as nice eaten out of a bag as if you nicely plated it into a bowl or mug - but hey, it’s backpacking! :) The bags are wide and shallow, which aside from making it easier to fill and pack, also makes them easy to stir in and consume food from. Also, by only boiling water for your meals, you’re using less fuel, which is, again, less weight!
If I have one complaint about the bags, it’s the shipping cost. It’s not overall unreasonable, but adding 15 to 31 cents per bag to your order does push the cost up into the $1 range, which starts to seem a bit pricy when you’re ordering a large quantity of them. When you’re ordering a bunch of lightweight bags, it seems unnecessary to pack them in a big cardboard box - the packaging was nicely done, but IMO just throw them in a bubble-mailer, and ship them cheap! They seem durable enough, and as they don’t contain backpacking food, I’d rather have the cheaper shipping vs. the nicely made box!
Overall, these bags are fantastic however, and I’m super pleased with them!! Will definitely be ordering more soon, and I advise anyone who’s making their own backpacking meals to do the same ;)
