Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Greg wrote:

Elleth wrote:....though how to get it smaller and still have room for a couple crackers and a cordial I've not yet figured out...

I think one of the tricks with size is that it takes a great deal more mass of wafers made using the techniques and foodstuffs available to US in this day and age to create something that has ANY sustaining properties than it would have in 3rd Age Middle-earth, given the superior knowledge and plausibly magical materials at hand....

I think this is an interesting question. Can we make a dense, high-calorie, shelf-stable emergency food that fits the parameters? I The first thing I think of is current emergency rations that provide 400 calories in a 1/2"x3"x3" block.

I’ve been considering trying these: https://www.frontiersurvival.com/homema ... rs-recipe/
It doesn’t have the number of servings this recipe makes, but the video showed a batch of 14 bars. Using that number, you would come out to roughly 300 calories per bar. The ingredients aren’t super traditional, but neither do they include Jello, which most seem to.

Brian

I'm afraid my last ditch bag contains a ridiculous level of elvish wizardry



To contribute to the food discussion though historically you'd be hard pressed to go past dried fish. The USDA puts it at 371 calories per 100 grams compared to 470 calories per 100g from the modern ERbar ration pack.

I had the joy of trying various types of Harðfiskur (hard dried cod) in Iceland last year and while it's no surströmming it's still pretty rough. The locals advise smearing it with butter and then chasing it with an aniseed vodka called 'Black Death' to get the taste out of your mouth (neither help)
Still it's what the vikings used for long sea voyages so it's got it's merits - It can be stored in a pouch and keeps quite well. It can be eaten dry or made into a fish slurry/paste that can be eaten straight or smeared on bread. And of course it weighs next to nothing.

Hah! I didn't see this when I replied to BrianGrubbs' post just now. I'll just copy and paste what I wrote there:

As for contents, I feel like if this is STRICTLY an emergency supply, not a whole lot is actually needed in terms of sustenance, because in desperate situations just a little can go a long way. But like you've said, the people of Middle-earth probably also had access to more effective emergency rations. With that in mind though, it only gives me more reason to consider sticking with a strictly modern first-aid kit inside my own wallet - including some more souped-up modern emergency rations, possibly. Since once again this wouldn't be something I would be opening up very often, if at all, it would be a great place to keep all that stuff that didn't really fit in with the rest of my period gear.

Eofor wrote:I'm afraid my last ditch bag contains a ridiculous level of elvish wizardry

Same here



the most questionable items here are probably the phone and Mylar blanket, also here's a dark secret: my water bottle is usually filled with lucozade

Eofor wrote:I'm afraid my last ditch bag contains a ridiculous level of elvish wizardry

Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology. I'm right there with you:

Items: a couple of granola bars--basically candy, but it's what I had on hand last time I re-packed this. for "cordial", I've got caffine-infused water sweetener. Useful for combatting altitude sickness, fatigue, and overcoming the paradoxical aversion to water that can accompany dehydration. Finally, my own personal Beacon of Gondor, to call for aid when needed.

Eofor wrote:I had the joy of trying various types of Harðfiskur (hard dried cod) in Iceland last year and while it's no surströmming it's still pretty rough. The locals advise smearing it with butter and then chasing it with an aniseed vodka called 'Black Death' to get the taste out of your mouth (neither help)

I'm quite surprised by this. I loved harðfiskur--found the flavor to be pleasant and mild while I was hiking Laugavegurinn. I've never had the opportunity to try surströmming while I lived in Sweden, but where hákarl was as foul as advertised harðfiskur seemed quite nice to me.

A downside of harðfiskur is that it's basically pure protein. Important as that is for protracted exertion, it doesn't replenish your glycogen reserves as well as carbs, nor is it as energy-dense as fats. For example, macadamia nuts have 717kCal/100g, about twice what harðfiskur does.

Vacuum-sealed macadamia nut or pecan cookies, maybe with some kind of whole-grain flour for a slower burn and/or spiked with some protein, might be a good bet.

when im planning to involve myself in a camping/bushcraft type adventure [close as i come so far to trekking out in ranger kit] the emergencies i'm likely to face are the same as if i were out rangering and disaster struck. few things mean disaster, like a chop into flesh or an unexpected dip into the cool drink, but they're pretty universal. im packing an emergency kit like this: modern humanitarian aid ration [MREs in the cold, they have a heater] (de-volumized, repacked, and vacuum sealed; 1/day of event), robust trauma kit w/ modern bloodstopping agents like hemostatic guaze and tourniquet, 5x mylar sheets, robust modern fire kit (my ranger kit [while lacking an appropriate fire steel specifically] is powerfully robust on its own), signal kit with chem lights and bright colored bandanas. all this vaccum packed and to be left inside the shelter (or at the vehicle if that sort of event). i survival and bushcraft too much to do anything unprepared; shelter, ground cloth, bow&arrows that can take game, light trapping kit, all of my ranger kit is emergency hiking/camping kit as is, the only thing it truly lacks are modern assurances like camp pad/mattress, mylar, and ferro rod.

would the bare minimum of this vac-pak fit in any pouch that could be deemed a 'wallet'? most probably not; my PSK has fire, mylar, snare/fishing, signal to a minimalist extend, and that would be the closest thing to a 'need wallet' i carry. now, if i were to go full ranger and have to replenish all stock, the need wallet would consist of dried cod (as mentioned, whatever dried food particle you were capable of producing. game can be dried in much the same way), fatwood, and birch bark. the thought of having to pare down from unopened vac-paks of survival goodies during a "well turds..we gotta stay another night....thank toast Darvin brought extra eats!" to "man...those orcs chased us forever!....what did you manage to pick up before we ran?.......fish it is...." is an ugly ugly feeling lol.

I carry a first aid kit and a wilderness survival kit with some modern supplies (mirror, whistle, fish hooks, a fire starter and saw). I will admit that my needs wallet is not really meant as a standalone full survival kit, but rather a modern gear supplement to the other gear on my belt/person.

As far as calorically dense foods go, I have had great success with pemmican. It is calorically dense, lasts for ever, and sort of tastes good (or at least, tastes no worse than modern power bars). I think I roughed out the calories to approximately 3000 a pound, but that was a while back so I'm not entirely sure. The only reason it isn't in my needs wallet is that the last time I put food in there I got fire ants in it while I slept, which was not fun.

How did you get good tasting pemmican?! Mine taste like old candles.

Lots of dried cranberries and apples. My problem was the texture, and a big part of that is my meat to tallow ratio was off