How to plan enough food for an expedition

[Tom_Ivan]

We have an upcoming expedition. 6 large men helicopter into the bush and dive for 9 days, maybe a spot of hunting but mostly just there for the diving. We all have different jobs to prepare for this.

I've been asked to arrange the food that we'll need.

Does anyone have any tips/advise on going about this? I figure I'll make a list of each meal for the trip, tally the total ingredient amounts and have a big shop. Is there any software that can help with this?

Summertime over here.

Thanks

 

[rx7diver]

small compressor is a lot lighter than 5,000,000 tanks.

Yeah, but you won't want one that's too small. Running a tiny (say, 3 SCFM, continuous-duty rated) compressor every day for a week to accommodate two large guys on OC (so, filling at least four to eight Al 80's per day, depending) will drive you, and everyone in camp, crazy! And, being remote, you probably ought to take a back-up compressor.

Lots of good suggestions in this thread. @lermontov, are you in the group with the OP, @Tom_Ivan?

Any chance you all will be able to do a dry run--say, primitive camping for a few days at a nearby dive spot?

rx7diver

 

[lermontov]

Yeah, but you won't want one that's too small. Running a tiny (say, 3 SCFM, continuous-duty rated) compressor every day for a week to accommodate two large guys on OC (so, filling at least four to eight Al 80's per day, depending) will drive you, and everyone in camp, crazy! And, being remote, you probably ought to take a back-up compressor.

Lots of good suggestions in this thread. @lermontov, are you in the group with the OP, @Tom_Ivan?

Any chance you all will be able to do a dry run--say, primitive camping for a few days at a nearby dive spot?

rx7diver

the compressor has been used on other trips so we know its adequate for the job, it will ben most;ty supplying the OC divers as the ccr are easy to fill. We will also have boosters to mix trimix, the cave is trending downwards so were expecting 35m plus depths yes im joining with Tom.
a dry run is probably not practical due to other life demands but every trip builds on itself fro future planning

NB I think Tom is out of town hence has not replied as yet

 

[lowwall]

well have one support crew filling tanks and cooking an general camp management -one guy has pulled out

Will he have some time to cook so it doesn't all have to be packaged?

I spent a summer working as a whitewater raft guide which included helping with the cooking. We cooked over campfires using a grill, griddles and dutch ovens we brought along. The easiest and most appreciated hot meal we made was a breakfast of bacon, eggs and biscuits. Biscuits are pretty easy to make in a dutch oven and you can do it with lard/bacon drippings so you don't have to worry about keeping butter cold. If you have folks that won't eat pork, you can use vegetable shortening instead.

 

[rx7diver]

Interesting thread to me, personally. The closest I've come to doing what the op describes is primitive tent camping, multiple times, on a remote finger of Bull Shoals Lake, AR. However, we would drive in (on jeep trails), instead of being dropped off by helicopter. And we would pull a trailer full of full cylinders and supplies (including shovels to use for the, um, latrine) at the start.

We sometimes would have access to a small boat that we could use to ferry empty cylinders to the closest marina (some distance away) to be refilled. But most times we would simply drive the empties back down the trail to that same Marina (an even longer distance) after a couple of days of diving.

We never needed to resupply (other than to refill the empties).

We would bring a lot of potable water (for drinking and cooking). And we would boil and treat lake water to use for doing dishes and cleaning.

Always only healthy meals cooked from scratch. (No prepared foods.) Always at least one meal prepared from fresh-shot (spearfishing) lake fish.

I once had an accident (tripped and fell and did a small tumble down a bluff) that required driving back down at midnight to the nearest town that had an ER (to sew up my forehead). Have the scar as proof!

If we could have taken a large enough portable compressor, those trips would have been even better, probably!

Can't wait to read this group's trip report!!

rx7diver

 

[Scared Silly]

As I have done multiple week plus white water trips. One pot meals are often the easiest. On a recent trip one meal was Thai curry from a restaurant. Just ordered a head of time and froze it. Could do the same with Indian and other ethic meals. Dinners like spaghetti where one makes the sauce ahead of time and freezes it (as previously mentioned) works well. For breakfast and lunch we often have people bring their own.

When buying for a group it is better to have at least two people doing the work so that food ideas are bounced around. One can plan a menu but then get to the store and have to adapt.

Regarding freezing and coolers. For long trips one should mark and seal coolers. That is "Cooler 4 - Day 7-9" That way they are not opened repeated by someone looking for a beer. And then covered with a towel or canvas that is kept wet - evaporative cooling

 

[clownfishsydney]

As an Australian who goes into the Outback on four wheel drive trips where there are no shops for a couple of weeks, it is easy to plan.

Just work out a menu for each day for all three meals, then work out what is needed for one of each meal (eg perhaps 1 steak each, some rice/pasta dishes in a pack for a dinner). Then add other things like snacks etc.

When I sailed from Sydney to Far North Queensland, we sometimes had to carry four weeks worth of food at a time.

 

[Tom_Ivan]

Thanks for all the replies. All sorted now.

Got a menu set. Mostly simple, high calorie, one pot/pan meals that can be made from mostly dried/canned food. Will have a freezer there for perishables. Water is drinkable in NZ bush without needing filtration.
Some extra treats etc.

Others in the group are arranging hardware such as compressors etc.

Just got to hope for good weather!