Any suggestions on good high calorie/low volume food options that can be stored for prolonged periods of time in a car that is cookless and won't melt in the heat of summer?

I think the cookless part will be the hardest obstacle to overcome.

Hence, tapping into the collective of the BPL community. There are only so many Cliff bars that I can force my family to ingest.

Dennis,

..."food options that can be stored for prolonged periods of time in a car that is cookless and won't melt in the heat of summer"?

Just remember that anything stored in a car during the heat of summer will be cooked no matter what unless you leave the motor running and the A/C turned on.

What about an Esbit stove and tabs? Hopefully they wouldn't smell up the car as long as they are sealed. Then pick your favorite dehydrated meal(s) and add a 2 liter of water with a "grease pot". BTW REI sells a $2.00 very long handled spoon for those dehydrated meals a.k.a. Mountain House.

I live in SE Louisiana and keep a bail out bag in each vehicle. Nothing ready to eat survives the summer time heat. Trail bars crumble and melt. Foil packed tuna and salmon which are already "cooked" are very suspect to me after being heated and reheated in temperatures inside a parked car that can reach in excess of 110 degrees or more.

I'm sorry that I contradicted your original parameter of non cook food but I just can't really think of any and was just trying to offer a workable solution for both of us.;-)

Party On,

Newton

Maybe something like Perpetuem by Hammer Nutrition? It's something like 95% maltodextrin (sugar) and a bit of fruit flavoring. I'd think the heat wouldn't harm it much. Most normal foods would degrade faster unless oxygen and humidity were removed.

Dennis,

MREs survive in desert temperatures and they come with their own water based "chemical heater" for warming.

Strip out all of the packaging and carry some bottled water for drinking and the "heater". You will need the cardboard box that the main meal is packaged in because it is part of the heating system design. I think the heaters only take something like 1 to 2 ounces of water to produce enough heat to warm the meal until it is actually hot to the touch.

Everyone knows the old joke about Meals Rejected by Everyone but some of them are actually pretty good. I ate quite a few of them in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Party On,

Newton

In our cars we carry a shoe box (plastic type) with a simple canister stove, fuel canister, plastic utensils, used butter tubs with lids for bowls (small ones), a tea kettle, a lighter, hand wipes, etc and then for food either commercially prepared meals (I would not eat them except for under emergency...lol!) or ramen packets - things that take heat pretty well. You could also carry instant hummus mix and crackers with a long shelf life, instant rice meals, etc. But you do want to move the food through every 6 months or so for best shelf life.

I should add that in our main vehicle, my van, I also carry a massive gallon freezer bag full of assorted bars for Ford since he is always hungry! And for anyone else hungry.....

we always keep dark chocolate with an 80% or more cacao level in the car... if there is any melting, its nominal. Any of our long drives usually are to a trailhead or canoe put in and there is generally a day of extra rations in the packs too.

The MRE's are a decent idea. I should get hubby to put a couple in his work van. Today's drive to work is 700 km or so. With the snows we get during the winter months there is always the potential of being stranded. How are the MRE's with freezing temps? That's usually our issue.

MRE's stay flexible in a wide range of temperatures. Doesn't mean I would eat them IMO unless I was starving though. Not all are bad...but like anything you lose some of the good parts for long shelf life.

I have canned soups that can be eaten straight from the can in worst case scenarios. The most basic campfire would work if you wanted them heated and the post on an Esbit stove is perfect.

I see more foil-packed/non refrigerated foods available in grocery stores, much like MRE's. Pasta and rice dishes come to mind.

Foil packed tuna is an easy one, peanut butter, Spam, canned and dried fruits, nuts, Sailor Boy Pilot Bread, rye crisp, beef jerkey, sardines,

If you can break out of the cookless requirement and can heat water, good ol' hiking dehydrated dinners and foods from the grocery store open up the possibilities and will make for more palatable meals. A cheap pot from a thrift store will do. Don't forget a can opener. or better yet, a Swiss Army knife with an opener.

I would have a water purification method and some storage, not to mention all the bottled water possible.

A big cheap blue poly tarp takes little room if just stored flat on the trunk floor. Add an axe and/or saw and some fire starting stuff. BTW, road flares are the best fire starter ever made.

Dale seems to have this down to a science.

What are you driving these days Dale? ;-)

Seriously Dale does have many good suggestions regarding food, equipment and supplies. Gerber makes an axe/saw combination.

If you don't think you need the axe Home Depot has a folding pruning saw by Fiskers that should take care of small firewood cutting chores.

+1 on the road flares for fire starting needs.

Party On,

Newton

I'm afraid to leave food in my car because of Ursus Americanus.