High Sierra Topix

Hey folks,

Peanut butter is a wonderful thing to have in the pantry, but the tubes I've been finding at outdoor stores recently don't seem to hold it very well. I think back to the time of Gerry and "Gerry Tubes" (showing my age here, I guess), and they were perfect. The ones I've been able to find in the last 10 years or so are not nearly as strong, particularly the vulnerable clip that holds the bottom shut. When I did my JMT through-hike with my son in 2005 we had to throw out all the peanut butter that we'd put in our MTR cache because the tubes had burst and smeared peanut butter all over the insides of their second bag. (Thank heavens we were thoughtful enough to put the tubes in bags!)

Suggestions? I think the brand that I've seen most often is "Coughlin."

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and many other items packed single use. For long trips, that's a lot of garbage, but for 3-4 days, I find this much more usable than any leaking tubes. The biggest issue I had with the tubes was that the oil will separate from peanut butter and find a way out of the refillable tube.

I have also given up on the refillable squeeze tubes. They are just too unreliable.

There are some peanut butter brands that are in packets, including the ones that come from MRE meals. I do find these a bit expensive though when you can buy a full jar for two dollars.

One thing I have done in the past is make my own packets using a vacuum sealer such as "food saver" brand. Set the sealer for it's seal only mode. This will turn off the vacuum and allow you to divide up one of the bags into smaller packets. Then fill a pastry bag with peanut butter like they use for frosting cakes. Fill the packets you made and place them in the freezer to harden up a bit. Then seal the final side of the packets using the vacuum sealer.

Use to buy the skippy single serving squeeze it's, but can't find them anymore and since I've found I can pack my own using a foodsaver vacuum packer. Cut a small size, seal off one end, fill moderately, then seal off the other side. Was frightened to do this initially for fear the vacuum step would pull out the peanut butter into a horrific mess, but I found it works well and isn't that messy (the mess is usually on my part and not the vacuum packer). Often times I'll pack in some jelly in there too. Food for thought

I need to ask, why bother with tubes at all?
Plan to eat a bit more peanut butter and just pack an 8oz. plastic jar.
As long as you have fingers you can get all the PB out of one of those.

frediver wrote:I need to ask, why bother with tubes at all?
Plan to eat a bit more peanut butter and just pack an 8oz. plastic jar.
As long as you have fingers you can get all the PB out of one of those.

I took plastic jars on my last trip. Getting the last of the PB out is definitely an issue, but the bigger issue is packability in a bear canister: hard jars, even plastic ones, make efficient canister packing much more difficult. Also, the tubes get smaller as you use up the PB, while the jars don't.

Would snack size zip loc's (2.5"x6") single serve, fill yourself, fix that problem?
Fill ea. snack bag with PB and carry them in a larger freezer zip? To use on just
snip the corner off a snack bag and squeeze it out?
Or just get some PB powder and mix it up as needed.
And institutional food service often has larger sizes of of single serve items.

the problem with the snack-sized bags would be worse than the experience with the refillable tubes, depending on temp. If it's cold, you can't do what you suggest. Then, it's just best to make single-serving sizes and open the snackie. You can do the squeeze thing with the foodsaver bags. they're pretty beefy and can stand the pressure, even if it means standing on it and expressing it onto your pita bread.

hard jars, even plastic ones, make efficient canister packing much more difficult.

On the Garcia I've had for ten years, I've found small plastic jars really helpful in canister packing when done at the top. I fill the can, put in the PB jar, push on the jar top, and smoosh everything underneath until the jar squeezes under the lip at the top of the canister.

When I used to bring PB, I would use a really small Tupperware-type plastic container, which was easy to pack in the Garcia. It doesn't get smaller as you eat the PB, but it does get lighter, which is all that really matters.

I find those tubes to be an instrument of Medieval torture; I'd rather carry a 32 oz. jar of peanut butter than try to fill one of those again.