The real difference is that if it is dehydrated you "don't" have to cook it. It is already cooked at home. My wife and I will every now and then use the Mountain House brand of dehydrated food and we always save the bag that it comes in. We clean them and then just re-use them. We checked with REI about re-using them and they said that it was totally safe to do. Every now and then we throw the old bag away and start using a new one and they work great. That is the big difference though is when you dehydrate the food it is already cooked and it does speed up the preparation time in camp...Hope that helps...Happy Trekking...sabre11004...

The first step that you take will be of those that get you there !!!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />