Never used the food packs-I suppose that is a throw back from my backpacking days and the investment that i have made in my foodsaver and dehydrator...I would hope that it would be the BOMB for 400 smackers....You could by a pack frame and affix a cooler to it. I have great luck and am completely content with the cheese in my pack after ten days and I actually enjoy dehydrated sweet potatoes more than fresh...but that is me and my backpack days and I like good food...it is part of the adventure for me and the people that i travel with. To each their own....what ever turns your crank-the pack frame and the cooler maybe half ;) Heck why couldn't one just pick up a barrel harness and affix it to a cooler-or poly cyano foam a barrel-inside of course and bedline the inside of that?