Cold-Soaking on Trail: When It's Worth It and When It's Just Sad

Rae cold-soaks half her trips and cooks the other half. After enough nights both ways, the answer to “should I ditch my stove?” is genuinely “it depends.”

Where cold-soaking wins

Trips under 5 nights with mild weather (50°F+ at night). Saved 380g of stove + canister + cup; food still tastes fine because everything is heat-tolerant.

Long thru-hikes where you're moving 25+ miles a day. The 15 minutes saved morning + evening adds up.

Fire-restricted zones where stoves with adjustable flames are also banned.

Where it loses

Cold weather. A hot meal at 35°F is the difference between sleeping and shivering. Don't cold-soak in shoulder season.

Group trips. The morale hit of watching your buddies eat hot mac and cheese while you have lukewarm couscous is real.

Anything dehydrated that takes >30 minutes to rehydrate cold. Most freeze-dried meals fail this test.

The peanut-butter-on-everything cheat code

Cold-soaked instant mashed potato + peanut butter + Sriracha is the unofficial PCT thru-hike dinner and it's actually good. Looks horrible on Instagram. Don't care.

Bottom line

If you're hiking solo in summer for under a week, try it once. If you're carrying for a partner who likes hot dinners, just bring the Jetboil. The 380g is worth the relationship.