View Full Version : Suggestion for a new section
After looking at the "Groceries?" thread, I wondered if a trail food section would be appropriate. Obviously there are others here, like myself, who are just starting out and need a little help in the what food to pack area.
I canoe but have not hiked much, if you don't count four years of Army service. The Army experience has probably been more of a deterent to my getting out there as anything.
MREs were in their infancy then and canned rations on there way out. Neither, in my opinion, were very palatable. That and a heavy rucksack and uncomfortable heavy boots have did little to encourage future incursions.
I have already picked up a lot from you guys and think that this may be what it takes to get me off my duff and out there again.
We have seen a little of this happening already and I have found it extremely helpful.
angrysparrow
04-18-2008, 11:18
There has been talk of expanding the categories in the past, but the powers that be really want to keep this site focused specifically on hammocks and not backpacking in general. As such, the existing 'non-hammock' categories were a compromise.
I would suggest you look at some other forums for more info about food on the trail:
The Cooking and Food Forum (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=32) at WhiteBlaze
The Backcountry Kitchen Forum (http://www.practicalbackpacking.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=24) at Practical Backpacking
and of course the great Freezer Bag Cooking (http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/) site
headchange4u
04-18-2008, 11:27
Ditto what AS said.
alex30808
04-18-2008, 21:00
I have to say that for the most part...ifn's it aint Hammockin...It aint happenin...LOL....I do greatly appreciate all the help EVERYONE has given me here on Hammock Forums...Thus the reason I posted the Groceries thread in the Non Hammock area. I have to say that the Freezer Bag Cooking site is a blast...and many of the ideas that have been shared here are also excellent...Thanks again for all the help.
riverkeeper
04-19-2008, 03:06
find the backpack cooking section in Backpacker forums
www.backpacker.com/community/
slowhike
04-19-2008, 12:48
i have to say, i have mixed feelings on how far our discussion could spread out here.
on the one hand, i feel kinda like i'm w/ my extended family here & i find myself sometimes wishing i could just ask you guys & gals about other stuff rather than going to less familiar, less friendly forums.
but on the other hand, i do understand that if we continue to spread our focus, at some point we'll begin to forget the main purpose of this site.
and when people (newbie or seasoned hammockers) come here looking for good, strait forward info on hammocks, they may have to wade through a lot of other stuff before they ever have a chance of finding what they came here for.
people already get overwhelmed sometimes by all the hammock talk (including all the DIY discussion) before they find the basic info they are looking for.
hopefully we'll keep looking for ways to simplify the basic info (hammock videos for one thing).
so i guess we should keep our focus here on hammocks & things directly related to the hammock like attrol & justjeff proposed when this site was being conceived<G>.
but we can still make mention of, or ask for references, to other stuff from the people here at HF. ...tim
How about making the Food section just a listing of links to all of the above and any others that members feel would be useful?
This way we don't have to get off track & can still direct others to other areas of interest & needs.
slowhike
04-19-2008, 19:37
How about making the Food section just a listing of links to all of the above and any others that members feel would be useful?
This way we don't have to get off track & can still direct others to other areas of interest & needs.
could be a possibility but lets wait until justjeff gets back & see what he thinks.
attrol can make changes if he sees fit, but i certainly don't want to be making changes that could be going against jeff's hopes & plans, especially while he's away serving our country.
in the mean time, we can just make references here in the "non-hammock" forum.
How about making the Food section just a listing of links to all of the above and any others that members feel would be useful?
This way we don't have to get off track & can still direct others to other areas of interest & needs.
Search some of the old threads where this was talked about. There are some really good points. What I can remember goes along with what Slowhike is saying.
This is the only truely hammocking message board out there. There is the yahoo list, but that works a little different. There are a ton of hiking and backpacking ones out there. If we start letting other topics in, we loose that nich. Then nothing is setting this board appart from all the others.
I think all that opening this up would do is make the information in one more spot. In the process this board would take a huge hit. I think most of us follow more than 1 board. Making a huge confusing mess if all hiking questions are going to get asked on multiple boards. Yes I find it anoying to see the same thing posted in different places. The record I saw was something talking up there thing on 4 different boards.
I think we should go back the other way. Going back to only hammock talk. In all the starting threads helpful hints were dropped when it got too bad. If we let one other topic in then all of them are going to come in. Plus then it wouldn't be a hammock forum and the name would have to be changed.
Knowledgeengine
04-20-2008, 12:10
I am going to have to go along with everyone else. WhiteBlaze & PracticalBackpacking have ample food boards. I do not see a need to dilute what we have here. I like catching the occassional food related thread, but prefer it to be just that. When I come to hammock fourms I know it's going to be all hammocks...all the time. Sorry couldn't resist that one.
HappyCamper
04-20-2008, 12:21
I appreciate the focus on hammocks! I know answering questions can take a lot of time and focusing on hammocks allows the experienced people to spend their time helping others with hammock info that we simply can't get anywhere else. I always appreciate their quick responses to my questions.
I can get other camping/hiking answers at other places, as mentioned above.
The links suggestion is a good one and will help lead people to where they need to go to get camping/hiking answers.
slowhike
04-20-2008, 14:03
thanks yall. i have to agree w/ the last 3 posts.
if we let conversations about the other aspects of camping/backpacking (& all kinds of other things) to go on at length, we will loose our main objective here at Hammock Forums.
one thing we could do is to have a well written explanation of why we keep the focus on hammocks here that is always available on the home page so that it's easy to see or to point people back to if they have missed it.
alex30808
04-20-2008, 21:18
I have to say that I dont frequent other "Hiking/Backpacking" forums...Yeah...I got a membership over at White Blaze...but I dont know anyone over there...Hammock Forums is "HOME" for me...and in my quest for light weight culinary cuisine lead me to ask yall...who else would I ask about great hammocking foods than the ones who hammock? lol...
Thanks again for such a great community of folks.
I would suggest that any thing "Non Hammocking" be post in that catagory...I belive that covers the bases.
slowhike
04-20-2008, 22:20
here's a demo on my favorite way to eat supper...
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/files/2/5/P9020034.JPG
alex30808
04-21-2008, 06:22
Just so I could know...last night I took one bag of "Success" rice, one cheesey taco mix and about a cup or so of ground beef (left overs from tacos the other evening) and put them in a gal. zip loc bag...I added 2 cups of boiling water and removed the air...I wrapped the bag in a few dish towels and set it on the counter...It took about 20 minutes for the water to absorb...I then spooned the "Burrito" mix onto a warmed shell and that was supper....I now know what to expect when on the trail...I am thinking about dehydrating some burger to see how it re-constitutes in this mix.
headchange4u
04-21-2008, 08:02
Dehydrated beef reconstitutes very well with the Freezer Bag Cooking method.
I have to say that I dont frequent other "Hiking/Backpacking" forums...Yeah...I got a membership over at White Blaze...but I dont know anyone over there...Hammock Forums is "HOME" for me...and in my quest for light weight culinary cuisine lead me to ask yall...who else would I ask about great hammocking foods than the ones who hammock? lol...
Thanks again for such a great community of folks.
I would suggest that any thing "Non Hammocking" be post in that catagory...I belive that covers the bases.
I'm not trying to single you out on this one, just taking the opposite view. I just think that once it starts it would get out of control.
Plus do we really want a large non-hammocking group coming to the site and talking about non-hammocking things? It wouldn't be at first, but would come with all of the threads showing up on Google searches. Then it would turn into the mess that is WB instead of the great resource that is HF. Sorry to Rock and Troll on this, just calling it like I see it.
Maybe like was suggested in a more liberal links section listing a lot of non-hammock resources and things they discuss.
alex30808
04-21-2008, 18:51
I dont feel singled out...lol...I agree with the statements at hand and would not want to see this site degraded to that of other forums. I appreciate the value of one's ideas here and know 100% that if I have a question...hammocking or Non hammocking...that there's a place for it here...I agree that the forum is where it needs to be and no addition needs to be made.