for food you want army rat packs, 24 hour pack, all precooked so just needs heating if you want it hot and you can still use the water for a brew. about 4k calories in one small box so good for a couple of days at least with a couple of energy bars thrown in. lots of menus and the spotted dick and custard is lovely after after a long hard day 😀

http://www.surplusandoutdoors.com/shop/army-surplus-uk/army-miscellaneous/new-british-army-current-issue-687979.html

water wise just take some iodine tablets/netralisers and coffer filter papers to remove any sediment and you can happily get water form any source in the wilds no problems at all. You should easily be able to get 2-3 days of kit into a 30 litre rucksack including all your sleeping gear or you just haven't got the nack. 😉

Top tip re food, find your bivvy spot, leave most of your kit there, cycle to nearest pub, eat and drink, cycle back to bivvy spot to sleep 🙂

<mistyeyed>Will never forget the push up Cardingmill Valley at 1am after 6 pints and a curry</mistyeyed>

Cheers tazzy! You've confirmed that I wasn't being stupidly optimistic in my plans!

That food looks spot on, similar to the sort of things I've been looking at but all put together in 1 package and much cheaper! Thanks!

no worries mike_check, I'm one of those odd types that's been biviying for years so have all sorts of tips learned for experience in crappy weather up bloomin big mountains. Army choccy pud in a bag is still good soul food even when eaten cold, zipped up fully in a bag in a thunderstorm sitting on a small ledge 😯

mike_check where are you based? if you are midlands area do you want to borrow a superlight mountain equipment down bag/integral thermarest combo that packs to sod all for your trial run?

taz

Super lightweight sleeping bag and a lightweight duvet jacket is my prefered combo choice.

Good food tip I've used is to take packs of flavoured cous-cous. You can pour boiling water into the pack, leave it for a few minutes and then it's ready to eat…. only utensil needed is a plastic chippy fork or teaspoon and there's no washing up.

If you don't mind the extra bulk, a jetboil is awesome for hot water/drinks

Top tip – don't pay for a titanium cup, use a cheap plastic one. It'll be lighter and wont burn your lips when you drink from it. Obviously no good if you plan to cook/boil and drink from it though.

Special Brew…….for the lager connoisseur

Tazz.

How big is that ration pack?

Tip get some tyvek material and make a groundsheet, cheep, light and waterproof. good if you are under a tarp
Have a look at ebay

I agree with the Special Brew.

comes in cardboard box about 10"x10"x4" all the bits are packed individually inside so can be distributed around a back pack no worries, also normally come with coffee,tea, water steri tablets, face wipes, yummy chocolate barsx2 biscuits, all weather matches etc..

absinthe in a hip flask is a better bang for the volume/weight than special brew and you have lovely if somewhat odd dreams 😉

C'mon stu we know how much you really need to keep that figure sweet …………………..

tyvek makes a good tarp too 😉

i got an eyelet reinforcing kit from the ironmongers and turned some tyvek into a nice tarp

im in the duvet jacket and light bag camp.

i was too warm when i car bivyed (that is bivying outside the car because theres **** all room for a tent)up at strathpuffer -10 comfort synthetic bag , rab bivy bag , thermarest and a ATG 650 fill down jacket – great nights sleep though

summer time i use a ajungaluk tundra combined with a pair of altura winter cruizers and a down 650 fill vest if its a cold night – no thermarest. the vest also makes a good pillow if stuffed into a dry bag and the dry bag is covered with a buff – stops face sticking to it

tazzymtb How heavy? I have eaten ration packs years ago – they were very heavy for the amount of calories as nothing was dehydrated. Lots of packaging in that lot as well. I could put you together 4000 calories of tasty food that is all dehydrated – thats what I use when light camping. 4000 calories is hardly a days worth if you are cycling

also some very good info on http://www.bushcraftuk forums