Owner's Review: Bumble Bee Ready to Eat Meals 
10 September 2005

Contents:
Tester Biographical Information
Product Information
Field Conditions
Summary

Tester Biographical Information    <back to top>

Name: Kathleen Waters
Age: 54
Gender: Female
Height: 5'4" (1.63 m)
Weight: 128 lb (58 kg)
Email address: kathy at ring dot com or TheMiddleSister at usaring dot com
City, State, Country: White Lake, MI USA

Backpacking Background: My husband and I started hiking in 1998 on a gorgeous fall day, starting with Mt. Hahn located just north of Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Since then, we have returned to Colorado, mostly to the Vail Valley area twice a year, both summer/early fall and winter to play outdoors - we snowshoe in the winter.

When we are home in Southeast Michigan, we make it a point to hike 2 or 3 weekdays, usually 6 to 8 miles (10 to 13 km) and then one whole weekend day. our weekday hikes generally take place in the Pontiac Lake Recreation Area, which is a decent mixture of moderately steep hills and flat terrain, heavily wooded. our weekend hikes can end up being anywhere!

Product Information from Manufacturer    <back to top>

Manufacturer: Bumble Bee Seafoods, LLC
Website: http://BumbleBee.com
Varieties: Tuna Salad Original with Crackers, Fat Free Tuna Salad with Crackers, Tuna Salad Kit with Mayonnaise and Crackers, Seafood Salad with Crab and Crackers, and Chicken Salad with Crackers.
Size as Packaged: 6.38" x 3.5" x 1.75" (16.21 cm x 8.89 cm x 4.45 cm)
Weight as Packaged: Tuna Salad Original with Crackers - 3.5 oz (99 g)
Fat Free Tuna Salad with Crackers - 3.5 oz (99 g)
Tuna Salad Kit with Mayonnaise and Crackers - 4.8 oz (136 g)
Seafood Salad with Crab and Crackers - 2.75 oz (78 g)
Chicken Salad with Crackers - 2.9 oz (82 g)

Nutritional Information:
Nutrition facts for each variety can be found on the manufacturer's website.

Product Information from Reviewer

Bumble Bee ready to eat meals are available in most grocery stores here in Michigan. They are not marketed as backpacking meals nor are they even promoted as in-camp meals. I stumbled on them two years ago, tried them and now, regularly buy them for my hiking trips.

The Bumble Bee ready to eat meals come pre-packaged in a plastic and cardboard outer container which holds a small, 2.75 " x 1.4", (6.99 cm x 3.56 cm) can of tuna, a 2" x 1" (5.08 cm x 2.54 cm) foil pack of crackers and a tiny, but adequate 3" (7.62 cm) plastic spoon. The whole package weighs about 4.5 oz (128 g).

Field Conditions    <back to top>

On any daylong or overnight hike, I pack one or more of Bumble Bee's ready to eat meals. These hikes have taken place in southeast Michigan, the Michigan U.P., southern Florida, and various locations in Colorado. Temperatures have ranged from 34 F (1.11 C) to 95 F (35 C) and elevations from sea-level at Everglades National Park in Florida to over 13,000' (3962 m) on Mount Elbert in Colorado. (oT- Ice prevented us from summitting - darn!)

If I am doing any more than a 6-hour hike, I have found that I need more than one of the many energy bars on the market. While the bars are terrific nutrition-wise, they are just not satisfying. No matter how small the bites I take or how slow I chew the bar, "lunch" (or worse yet - dinner) is over just way too soon for me and I'm left craving more.

Bumble Bee's ready to eat meals are perfect for me - easy and lightweight to carry, easy to open, tasty and filling.

Removing the outer plastic and cardboard container and ditching the spoon - which I do if I'm on an overnight or more hike - shaves off .5 oz (14.17 g) and saves space in my pack while hiking and of course, reduces the waste material I have to pack out. The only negative to this method is the care needed in packing the crackers so that I don't end up with nothing but cracker crumbs! I usually store the crackers inside my cookpot or in an outside pocket of my pack. If space in the pack is not an issue, I leave the outer package intact.

The cardboard/plastic package requires a quick rip of the cardboard to open and the tuna/seafood/chicken salad can has a pull-tab, peel-back lid. Because the Bumble Bee products are salads (except for the "Tuna Kit" product), I don't need to be especially careful about yanking back the lid. There is no oil or water to splash out. The foil cracker package is easily torn even though at high altitudes, the package tends to puff up.

Since the varieties I have tried are salads, when the ole tummy starts growling, I only need to find a place to plop my derriere down to eat! No preparation is needed other than spreading the tuna/seafood/chicken on the cracker. No mixing, measuring, no nothing! The "con" to this ready-mixed meal is that it is a bit on the bland side - not really up to my palate's taste, which has been badly spoiled by my chef-son, Shawn! However, atmosphere is a big part of any meal and the Bumble Bee ready to eat meals are still pretty tasty.

The roughly 3 oz (85 g) of meat in the cans surprisingly goes a long way. I usually have meat left over in the can after I've piled it on the six crackers and I happily dig the remains out of the can and eat it solo.

I have found that my taste buds and my stomach are content after eating Bumble Bee ready to eat meals and I don't experience hunger pangs as quickly as after an energy bar meal.

I have had no problems with spoilage due to high/low temperatures and rain hasn't affected the crispness of the crackers. The salads must be refrigerated after opening, which could be an issue on the trail. However, I've never not finished the entire meal in one sitting.

Summary    <back to top>

Bumble Bee's ready to eat meals are a great alternative to energy bars for my lazy hiking style when I want healthy food that's quick, nutritious and tasty. I really like all three varieties that I have tried - Tuna, Seafood and Chicken salad - and heartily endorse them as a good alternative to energy bars, sandwiches and the like for those times when I don't want to or can't cook a hot meal.