BWJ Home    General Magazine Description    Subscription Information    Sample Articles    Writer/Photographer Guidelines    Sample Color Photography    Advertising Rate Card    Back Issue Article Index   
Boundary Waters Journal

by Stuart Osthoff (published Spring 2004)

When I started working for an Ely canoe outfitter back in 1975, the order of the day was heavy, leaky aluminum canoes; heavy, leaky canvas tents; baggy, leaky army surplus rain ponchos; and freeze-dried foods. Today canoe camping is all about super-light sleek Kevlar canoes, lightweight waterproof nylon tents, high-performance breathable/waterproof rain gear and freeze-dried food. Every aspect of outfitting for wilderness canoe trips has seen tremendous advancements save one-the food. Freeze-dried food tastes just as lousy as it did thirty years ago.

Freeze dried remains the popular choice because it is convenient, lightweight and non-perishable. The fact freeze-dried entrees are woefully short on portion size, calories and taste has been accepted as a necessary evil by the masses. But not me. Ten years ago, after swallowing more than my fair share of Turkey Supreme etc., I got serious about finding a better way. And I discovered deprivation does not have to rule canoe country dinnertime. Our canoe trips now routinely feature fresh, delicious meals, not just the first night out but all week long.

Real meat-and-potatoes dinners you paddle,portage, prepare and savor in the splendid back country trulybecome food for the soul. You'll find yourself looking forward to mealtime and relishing each as a special treat. The new BWJ insulated food pack system is a simple, very effective way to enhance the overall satisfaction of your wilderness canoe trips.

It took many years of trial and error on the canoe trails to design and perfect a food pack system that really performed up to my expectations. I tried every type of plastic cooler on the market. All models big enough for a week's worth of perishable food for four are designed horizontally, requiring they be stood on end in a canoe pack. This makes them brutally uncomfortable on long portages and creates regular shifting of the contents. When opened, cooling efficiency is reduced and things like milk want to leak out when not upright. You can go with a Walmart $25 special. I've done it and lived to tell about it. But trust me, it was a major pain in the back.

After giving up on cheap coolers not designed for portaging, we built specialized fiberglass and Kevlar food boxes. But these proved too brittle when banged on the inevitable rocks while pulling up and down bear trees. And we've been through half a dozen models of specialized nylon food/portage packs.

Finally in 1998 we came up with a super tough poly food box that top loaded and fit into the vertical profile of canoe packs. Initially designed for standard dry food fare, the poly food box kept food from getting wet, crushed on rough portages and pilfered by squirrels, etc. Soon we inserted a foam liner inside the box and placed frozen water jugs in the bottom, packing frozen meats, fresh milk, cheese, fruits and vegetables in layers above the ice. While not air tight, with reasonable care, opening only as necessary and keeping it in the shade when feasible, we got five days of effective cooling with normal summer time temps in the 70s. For that one or two weeks a year when temps climb into the 90s in canoe country, you're looking at three to four days of cooling.

In 2003 we added a significant improvement to the fresh food system by designing a specialized insulated nylon portage pack to hold the insulated BWJ poly food box. The BWJ Nylon Insulated Food Pack encloses the food box in a second layer of 1/2-inch closed cell foam. Even the zip-open top is insulated. Now the effective cooling period with highs in the 60s and 70s (the majority of the paddling season) jumps to six to seven days and five days even in a real heat wave. This pack is super comfortable to carry with the foam-padded back, contoured/padded shoulder straps and hip belt and chest strap. It comes with lifting handles and stainless hanging rings. Even the steel gray color is designed to reflect the sun.

For a seven-day Quetico trip for our family of five, I use two food boxes. One with the double insulated box and pack described above for perishable supplies. This holds frozen steaks, polish, chicken breasts, meat for tacos and spaghetti, and soups, stews, hot dishes, etc., fresh frozen luncheon meats and cheeses, lettuce mix, cherry tomatoes, one gallon fresh milk plus misc. I usually have enough space for an oxygen pack of leeches to ride under the lid-cool and safe till we get to base camp the second night and they can transfer to Leech Lockers.

On the second box I remove the foam liner (to gain some space) and put it into its own BWJ nylon insulated food pack. All the other dry foods: cereal, rice, pasta, gorp, cookies, candy, jerky, potatoes, apples, eggs, staples & misc. go in here.

Of course, living in Ely we can leave our perishables in the freezer/fridge until the truck is loaded, and we head to the landing. When we put in at Beaverhouse or enter at Crane Lake and tow down La Croix, our food is exposed to a day of heat before we start paddling. I recommend just packing your food in the poly box/food packs when you leave home if the drive is one day or less. If two days or more, put the perishables on ice in regular coolers and transfer to the insulated food box/packs at the landing. I use these same poly food boxes to drive twenty hours to elk hunt in Colorado (they are a perfect fit on horse panniers) and this strategy has worked well despite some very hot weather.

Just to show the range of effectiveness with the BWJ Insulated Food Pack System, consider three trips I field tested it on in 2003. A five-day trip in early May to Argo with two people, one gallon of ice in the box/pack and temps in the 50s. On day five when we got back to the truck, there was still a one-quart size chunk of ice in the jug.

A seven-day trip in mid-June to Bentpine with four people, two gallons of ice in the box/pack and high temps in the 60s and 70s. The sixth night the last of the ice melted so the last morning we filled our water bottles with the cold melt water mixed with Tang and drank it on the twelve-hour paddle/portage from Bentpine through Badwater to Beaverhouse.

A three-day trip in late August to Good Lake in the BWCAW with nine people, two gallons of ice in the pack and high temps from 95 to 100 degrees on all three days. Because the trip was so short, I didn’t go to any great lengths to conserve the ice. The third afternoon the ice was all but gone, so we drank the cold water on the trip out to the road.

On three, five or seven day trips, with groups of two to nine and high temperatures from 50 to 100 degrees, you’ll learn to manage the system to get the most out of it. In the past few years, we have converted hundreds of BWJ readers to our real food style. We have not had a single insulated poly food box or nylon canoe pack returned by a dissatisfied customer. I’m very, very confident you will love this food pack system too.

If your canoe trip is longer than a week during hot weather, put in some freeze dried for emergency back up. If you end up having to actually eat it, you’ll have all the proof you need that packing real food is the best way to go.

Going out and purchasing, assembling and repackaging food supplies for a whole group for a wilderness trip is a hassle whether we’re talking freeze dried, fresh or some combination. To some it’s like climbing a mountain. Compulsive planners actually enjoy it. I’ve gotten packing gear and food for canoe trips down to a science. I can do everything for our family of five for a week to Quetico in two hours. With five-year-old Taryn helping, call it two and one-half hours, tops. Even if it takes you five times that long, there is one inescapable, cold hard reality. Reconstituting your dinners with water produces a meal you can subsist on. Cooking real food kept fresh on ice produces a meal that does much more than fill your stomach. It fulfills your soul. And that's really living.

Fresh Food Menu with the BWJ Insulated Food Pack System for 4 people-7-day canoe trip.

2 1-gal. plastic jugs frozen water Breakfast: 1 1-gal. plastic jug milk, serves 4 for 5 breakfasts/cereal, 1 lb bacon, 1 lb sausage links, 2 dozen eggs Lunch: 5 1/2-lb packs deli luncheon meat, 1 1/2 lbs sliced cheese, 3 lb apples Dinners: 4 Ribeye steaks (2 lbs) 1 1/2 lbs polish delights 1 1/2 lbs ground beef (spaghetti sauce) 1 1/2 lbs ground beef (taco meat) 1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken breasts 6th dinner to be fresh walleye Misc: 1/2 lb butter, 1 lb premixed salad, cherry tomatoes, shredded cheese, mini carrots.

All dried foods go in a second poly food box pack: Cereal, oatmeal, granola bars, bread, cookies, jerky, candy, gorp, tang, kool-aid, rice, dried potatoes, fish mix, hot chocolate/cider, fruit cups, staples.