Does dehydrating count as preservation? Looking for options to dehydrate food for home use and hiking.

Hi all, I recently did a 7-day hike and realised how expensive it is to buy freeze-dried food.So i'm thinking to buy/acquire a dehydrator somehow.

Anybody have experience with what brands to look for, and what kind of food to try first?

I'm planning to use it for making food that we can prepare on a hike, preferably just by adding hot water. I also want to have some stored at home as 'emergency' meals for when we are too tired to cook!