Safe Catch Tuna
Test Series by Kurt Papke
Tester Information
| Name: |
Kurt Papke |
| Age: |
63
|
| Gender: |
Male |
| Height: |
6' 4" (193 cm) |
| Weight: |
225 lbs (102 kg) |
| Email address: |
kwpapke at gmail dot com |
| City, State, Country: |
Tucson, Arizona USA |
My backpacking locales have been a combination of Minnesota, where I
have lived most of my adult life, and the Southwest where I moved to
take a new job in 2009. I have always been a "comfort-weight"
backpacker, never counting grams, but still keeping my pack as light
as easily attained. Pouches of tuna are one of my go-to meals
on the trail.
Initial Report
Product Information
| Manufacturer: |
Safe Catch, Inc.
|
Provenance:
|
The company is headquartered in Sausalito,
California. The tuna are wild-caught, but the
manufacturer does not indicate where they are fished
from. The labeling indicates "Packed in Thailand".
|
Model:
|
Elite single serving pouch
|
| Year of
manufacture: |
2017 |
MSRP:
|
US $35.99 per case of
12 with free shipping in the continental USA
|
Warranty:
|
Not stipulated, but they do document a return
policy on their website
My tuna arrived on May 13, 2017 and has an expiration date
of June 2018, so the shelf life is roughly one year
|
| Manufacturer
website: |
https://safecatch.com
|
Materials:
|
Skipjack tuna
|
Size:
|
One size pouch available only
|
Quantity tested:
|
16 total, 12 pouches/case
|
| Weight: |
Listed: 3 oz (85 g)
Measured: 3.1 oz (88 g) with pouch packaging
|
Dimensions:
|
4.45 x 6.22 x .39 in (11.3 x 15.8 x 1.0 cm)
|
Nutritional info:
|
The pouch indicated it contained 1.5
servings, but I can't imagine sharing 1/2 pouch with someone
else, so the following is for the entire pouch:
Calories: 90
Calories from fat: 7.5
Total fat: 0.75 g
Cholesterol: 30 mg
Sodium: 345 mg
Potassium: 450 mg
Protein: 21 g
Saturated fat, trans fat, carbohydrates are all zero
|
Initial Inspection
From the package labeling and the manufacturer's website, the
salient features of the product are:
- Wild and sustainably caught fish
- Low mercury levels. Each fish is tested for mercury and
the standards are 10x what is required by the FDA
- Packed raw as steaks and cooked only once in the packaging for
improved flavor and Omega-3's.
Summary
I am looking forward to get the Safe Catch Elite Wild Tuna into the
field and actually tasting it.
Things I Like So Far:
- I like the ethics of sustainability, and the guaranteed low
mercury levels so I don't have to worry how much I consume.
Things That Concern Me Upfront:
Long Term Report
Field Experience
Date
|
Location
|
Trail
|
Distance
|
Altitude
|
Weather
|
Meals used in
|
| May 25-30 |
Monument Valley and Canyonlands NP in SE Utah |
Canyonlands
|
5 mi (8 km) walked, extensive Jeep travel
|
3900-6200 ft
(1190-1890 m) |
Sunny, very windy with blowing dust,
temperatures 50-85 F (10-29 C) |
- Plain tuna sandwich
- Potato soup to make a chowder
|
| July 29-August 6 |
San Juan mountains
between Durango and Silverton, Colorado
|
Various |
45 mi (72 km) total across 7 hikes |
8000-12,500 ft
(2440-3810 m) |
38-75 F (3-24 C)
Sun, rain showers, high winds |
- Tuna/bacon sandwich (see top picture below)
- Chowder again
- Tuna ramen
|
| September 2-10 |
Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
|
Falls
Chain |
About 80 miles (130 km) paddled, 25 double
portages |
1380 ft
(420 m) |
39-75 F (3-24 C), clouds, high winds, rain,
then sunny |
Plain tuna sandwich
|
| September 28 - October 1 |
Mogollon
Rim, north of Payson, Arizona
|
Various |
3.4 miles (5.5 km) hiking
8 miles (13 km) mountain biking |
7000 ft
(2130 m) |
Daytime temperatures around 75 F (24 C),
nighttime around 38 F (3 C). Mostly sunny and breezy. |
Plain tuna sandwich
|
October 6-8
|
Gila Wilderness, New Mexico
|
Jordan Springs
from TJ Corral
|
14 mi (22.5 km)
|
5590-6300 ft
(1700-1920 m)
|
20-80F (-7-27 C), sunny
|
Plain tuna sandwich
|
Canyonlands
This was an epic 6-day tour of Monument Valley, Valley of the
Gods, Gooseneck State Park, and Canyonlands NP White Rim Trail by
Jeep. I used three packets, one for a lunchtime
sandwich, and two in a seafood chowder soup dinner:
I really enjoyed both of these meals. The tuna sandwich could
have used some fat, maybe a packet of mayonnaise, as the tuna can be
a bit dry tasting all by itself. In the seafood chowder that I
made with Idahoan potato soup powder I added some olive oil (it is
visible in the lower photo above), and this was absolutely
perfect. The portions worked out well - one packet is enough
for a lunch, and two for dinner made a filling meal for me.
San Juans
This was a 9-day car camping trip to the mountain trails between
Durango and Silverton Colorado. We hiked every day that we
were not driving to/from Tucson, and stayed in the same group
campsite (Chris Lake) the entire week. I had the tuna
primarily for lunches; I had planned to make a few dinners as well,
but we ended up doing some group dinners on the campfire so a few
tuna packages came back home with me. Here's what I had:
OK, OK, there's a lot of bacon on the pita with the tuna in the top
picture, but I was hungry that day and it tasted pretty good.
I think the tuna chowder (made with a 1/2 package of Idahoan potato
soup) is becoming a staple with me. The ramen with tuna was
pretty darn good - very easy prep and quite filling.
All of these meals were decent. I need to find something to
lube up my tuna sandwiches though - I really like tuna salad, so if
I can find some single-serving mayo packets that would be just the
ticket. The bacon was good, but still a little dry.
Quetico Falls Chain
Paddle
This was an 8-day paddle and portage up the Falls Chain to Lake
Agnes and back. We alternated lunches between tuna and peanut
butter and jelly. I wish I had some mayonnaise with me to
juice up the tuna a bit, but when I am paddling and portaging for 8+
hours day I will eat just about anything. The following photo
shows a typical lunch break on a PB&J day - that would be me in
the back, barefoot with the wide-brimmed hat. Not a bad little
lunch spot!
Mogollon Rim Hammock
Hang
This was a 4-day "hammock hang", i.e. a car camping get-together of
hammock enthusiasts. We were based out of the Long Valley
campground up on the Mogollon Rim, the edge of the Colorado
Plateau. Activities included hiking, cycling, and consumption
of far too much food and drink around a campfire.
I made a tuna sandwich one day, and to juice it up a little bit put
some leftover barbecue sauce on it. I would not recommend this
combination.
Gila Wilderness
Three-day camp/hike in high desert and sloshing through the Middle
Fork of the Gila River to some nice warm natural springs. We
stopped and had lunch on Saturday at the start of the river walk - I
took this photo from the log I was sitting on while munching my tuna
sandwich:
Not a bad lunch view! I didn't have anything with me to add
fat to the tuna, but this time I did double up on the bread which
made it much more tasty. I think in my prior sandwiches I had
too high a tuna/bread ratio. It also made for a more
satisfying lunch.
Summary
Safe Catch tuna packets can be a key component of a healthy,
delicious lunch. They pack easily, are indestructible in my
food bag, are easily dispensed from the pouch, taste good and are
appetizing in their appearance. I wished I had made more
dinners from it - I was hoping to make a tuna noodle Alfredo, but it
just didn't happen.
There are many flavored tunas on the market now that make for a more
flavorful sandwich without the necessity of sourcing and packing
additional ingredients. I would recommend Safe Catch diversify
their offerings to make it easier for people to make a "turnkey"
lunch. This might dilute their purity claims a bit, but if
done with quality ingredients I think this would make the product
easier to consume.
Thanks to BackpackGearTest.org and Safe Catch for the opportunity
to contribute to this test.
Read more reviews of Safe Catch, Inc. gear
Read more gear reviews by Kurt Papke
|
