Need a little help here.

[dennishoddy]

Dennis don't let 'em bust your chops! Whatever allows you to enjoy the hunt is game.

Nothing wrong with staying warm and belly full. You don't have the freeze your butt off and get cotton mouth to call yourself a hunter. Work hard or work smart. Or, do both.

A hot cup of joe, or steaming mug of soup never tastes better than it does in the blind, it's part of our tradition! (though we use old WWII canteen cups)

LOL, I always keep my big boy pants on, and I used to kind of think like swamprat that if I didn't suffer a little, it wasn't a complete hunt.

Done with that now. I'm at the stage of hunting that if I get one OK. If not, I had a good time in the field.

Got some great ideas from everybody, and kind of think about breaking out the thermos again, and a cooking pot to get it really hot.

Back in the days of being a poor GI I had to leave Ponca and Drive to Ft Monmouth NJ with a guy that enlisted with me on the buddy plan. We didn't have a pot to pi$$ in, and warmed canned food on the intake manifold for something to eat as we sure couldn't afford to stop to eat somewhere.

Blew a clutch plate in Indianapolis Indiana, and had to replace it on the side of the road with a used unit. Day two, the standard transmission locked up in third gear. 3 day trip on warmed canned food. What a trip.

 

[WTJ]

Take a look at a Jetboil stove, and possibly hydro-flask bottles or stainless nalgene bottles.

http://www.hydroflask.com

http://www.survivalresources.com/Products/Survival_Products.html

 

[subprep]

I spent 20+ years sitting on a 2X10 in the crotch of a tree, climbing on scrub limbs to get there. I've earned my time in a box blind. I only use the heater to warm food. I like it piping hot. Getting warm from the inside is just as important as getting warm on the outside when the temps get into the low 20's or lower.

I've done the thermos thing. Stainless steel Stanley's. Its luke warm by noon when exposed to low temps. I had some wide mouth thermos's designed for food, not drink, but the liner was glass, and they always got broke somehow.

I take some energy bars, and Gatorade, but nothing beats a hot soup or stew. (home made) Tried the progresso and the Cambels ready to eat stuff. Its about as nasty as the Chef Boyardee.

My sausage and potato soup would be awesome, and I can season it the way I want

I know one more thing to carry would suck but is there some way to extra insulate your thermos? For instance I have a crockpot and a 9x13 dish that came with an insulating jacket to carry them in for potlucks etc. They really do work and keep the food very warm. Maybe a soft pack insulated lunchbox with the thermos inside and a couple of handwarmers activated and tossed in? I dunno?

 

[Repubiman]

Dennishoddy....stick with what you like to eat. Really thermos is the way to go. When I was
Working in the oilfields I'd take hot soup or stew or chilli and heat it to boiling and put it in a
Thermos for lunch. If you did that and it wasn't quit hot enough, you could do what we did. Pour
it in a pan or can and heat it up a bit with a small bottle of propane with one of those BernzOmatic
torches screwed onto the propane bottle. They make a great tool to heat up food with. But if you want
to go cheap and bypass taking a thermos or small pot to reheat it in, you can directly heat up canned
food with them just be sure to open the top with your can opener so it doesn't swell up and or blow up!

 

[EFsDad]

I always dump it in a bowl and use my microwave.

 

[dennishoddy]

Thanks for the great Ideas folks. I've learned a lot about some products out there.

 

[becker_atc]

Do you pre-heat your thermos? I do that sometimes for coffee. Fill it with boiling hot water once or twice before you put what you want in it. Less heat absorbed if it is all ready hot when placing hot food or drink in it. Simple thermodynamics...Everything wants to reach equilibrium a cold thermos will take some heat away from hot food.

I learned this off an old railroader that packed 2 thermoses of coffee any time he got on a train. seems to keep stuff warmer longer

 

[24T_missilejock]

Do you pre-heat your thermos? I do that sometimes for coffee. Fill it with boiling hot water once or twice before you put what you want in it. Less heat absorbed if it is all ready hot when placing hot food or drink in it. Simple thermodynamics...Everything wants to reach equilibrium a cold thermos will take some heat away from hot food.

I learned this off an old railroader that packed 2 thermoses of coffee any time he got on a train. seems to keep stuff warmer longer

I do this with my coffee cups out of the cupbord. Warm them up with hot water from the sink. keeps my coffee hot, longer. I learned it from my sister that learned it while waiting tables. (She said she got bigger tips if the coffee came piping hot)