I’m going to skip ahead and chat about consumables and we’ll come back to shared gear in a future post as we are still hammering out the details surrounding who all is attending.
Previous Post: Trail Selection / Gear Selection
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So what is a consumable?
For most folks a consumable is food, water, or fuel. It’s the weight that will fluctuate throughout your trip. For a trip such as this I typically only count my food and water as consumables since I’m not burning through a significant volume of fuel to really showcase a dramatic loss of weight over a weekend. One could even argue that water could be somewhat standardized as a weight, since throughout a trip I’m typically going to be carrying 1-3L of water. I don’t include the weight of the water filter in this figure because that handy dandy little tool is always coming with me, even on long day hikes (the weight is nominal and it is LITERALLY a life saver).
But I digress.
So for these purposes we will be discussing Fuel, Water, and Food. As our three consumable categories. My basics for consumable purposes are as follows:
Fuel:
- 100g ISO Fuel Canister
- Fire Starter
Water:
- 1 L Water – in Smartwater bottle.
- 1 L Water – in Smartwater bottle.
- 1 L empty Sawyer water bag
Food:
- Day 1 –
- Snacks
- Dinner
- Treat
- Day 2 –
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Snacks
- Treat
- Day 3 –
- Breakfast
- Snacks
- Extra –
- Electrolyte Tablets
- Olive oil
- Hot sauce
- Emergency Food**
Here’s the thing with food, you know how earlier during the gear write up I discussed how we pack our fears, well mine must be “going hungry” because I will consistently bring way too much food. I’ve gotten a lot better over the years, but let’s chat first about where we can save weight and how we can plan for the correct amount of food.
First let’s determine what the right amount of food is:
You’re going to be hiking, and as of right now if you’re carrying my pack you’re going to be covering about 8.5 miles per day on average with an extra 25lbs on your back. That is to say that you will need some calories to burn. Over the years I have done considerable amounts of time where I adhere to a strict intermittent fasting protocol, and while this has allowed me to require less food, I cannot fully fast throughout the day as I would be able to around the house.
Fasting also impacts when I feel hungry and how easy it is for me to push past that feeling, so I do not choose to eat as much of a breakfast as a lot of folks, opting instead for larger snacks paced throughout the day.
There is also this calculator you can use to determine approximately how many calories you’ll be burning and therefore about what you need to replace.
A more detailed daily food list (I’ll update with the actual data later in this post):
Friday – Since we will be starting our hike around noon I’ll opt to eat prior to hitting the trail, less to carry and I start with a full stomach which forces me to hike slower and allow my body to acclimate better.
- Snacks: a granola bar; mixed nuts; fruit snacks
- Dinner: Dehydrated meal in a bag
Saturday – I’ll be on the trail all day so I will want a consistent flow of good calories, fats, proteins and sugars to keep my body moving.
- Breakfast: A protein bar, coffee, mixed nuts
- Snacks: Granola Bar, mixed nuts; beef jerky; fruit snacks, chips
- Lunch; A wrap (tortilla, cheese, hard salami, mayo, hot sauce, chips); fruit snacks, candy
- Snacks: Protein bar, mixed nuts
- Dinner: Dehydrated meal in a bag or reuse bag from Friday w/ a Knorr side and some jerky or spam
Sunday – No dinner planned today and I probably won’t stop to eat a full lunch, so we’ll want to pack a breakfast and some snacks to power our walk out of the woods.
- Breakfast: A protein bar, coffee, mixed nuts
- Snacks: Granola Bar, mixed nuts, beef jerky, chips, fruit snacks / candy.
Extras – No meal is complete without hot sauce and other condiments, I try to find packets to save on space and weight but If I need to bring a small bottle of the following I will. I learned at a young age that some people eat to live and other
ve to eat. I live to eat and as such I will carry extra food weight so that my meals are more enjoyable. Furthermore since I typically snack more than I do eat a full meal I bring extra snacks in case i find myself out in the backcountry longer than expected
- Hot Sauce
- Mayo Packets
- Mustard / Ketchup / Soy ETC depending on meal
- Peanut Butter packets
- Flask of Whisky
- Extra food:
- Extra Granola Bars, Nuts, Jerky, and fruit snacks
- Grits in a small bag.
- Extra pack of SPAM.
I know will be over packing my food, so I try not to bring a ton of extra survival food as I’ll likely also have extra snacks that I planned on eating on the trail but didn’t. As a parent I also typically bring extra food to share with people I’m hiking with, what’s funny is that most people will do this, so communicate before hand so that everyone isn’t intentionally bringing group snacks.
Saving Weight & Space
Other than making sure you only bring that which you plan to eat, the best way to shave weight is by repackaging or reducing packaging. Even dehydrated meals can have the air squeezed out of them. Nuts go in baggies, chips get the air taken out of their bags and/or resealed in Ziplocs (or reusable zipper bags). See below the size savings between the before and after photos.
This also impacts what sort of bag you’ll use to store your food cache in. Personally I prefer a roll-top dry bag or scent proof bag that I can do a PCT hang easily with. This bag selection could also impact what all you bring with you and how much you’ll need to repackage. Also don’t leave food in your vehicle. If you’re doing some backcountry camping you’re probably parking in an area where bears have been seen. In fact your food is more likely to be stolen in the front country than the back country.
Just the other week we were camping in Pisgah National Forest and a bear came through our campsite. While it just strolled past our setup it visited our neighbor. We found out the next morning that the bear had quite the feast, munching on steak, chicken, and all sorts of snacks. When asked how the bear got into the food they admitted to leaving their cooler out on the picnic table – not a smart move.
Most of us backpackers are smart enough to know that we don’t want to feed bears at camp and don’t want to make ourselves look like food providers to bears while in the backcountry. But front country campgrounds are busier and day use parking lots typically have trashcans and dumpsters full of delicious smelling garbage (to a bear). You do not want a bear getting a wiff of your Junior Bacon Cheeseburger and deciding that they should break into your vehicle to get it. Keep your car clean to avoid issues.
A few additional ideas for consumables.
As we get older and more experienced we will want to cover more miles while carrying less weight. Obviously by being conscious of the foods you are bringing you can easily cut down on a lot of weight, but what if you didn’t bring a stove, or fuel, or even a cook pot? It’s possible with cold soaking.
Now to be honest, I will not do this. Even in the summer if I’m at camp I want a warm meal, or at least a warm bit of protein on a cool salad. But a lot of my colleagues and online personalities swear by cold soaking as a way to simplify their loadout and carry less weight. They’ll do instant coffee in cold water, or mio energy in the morning, some cold soaked granola, I’ve even see folks cold soak a pasta meal that was freeze dried just to leave it in the sun to warm up.
No thanks. I want hot coffee even on mornings where it’s 80 plus degrees out, and granola and oatmeal need some heat (I’d also have to be starving to eat oatmeal, not my fave).
Freeze-Dried Backpacking Meals
If you haven’t tried one of these backpacking meals or if you haven’t tried one in a few years you’ll be pleasantly surprised (in my opinion) how delicious some of them are. I know that some bougie backpackers on youtube will tell you that some of the larger well known brands are not as good as some of the cottage industry suppliers, but I disagree. I’ve had several meals over the past year that I’ve picked up last minute at Cabelas or Wal-Mart that have turned out to be excellent. Even surprising Erin with their flavor.
So these ‘meals in a pouch’ are super convenient, but if you’re backpacking several times a year and/or with multiple people they can get very pricy very quickly. A quick scan of the options at your local REI or online will show you (hot) options ranging from $10-$17 per serving – OUCH! You can make several home cooked meals for that price. Even worse? I’ve spent $15 on several of these meals from some of the “better” brands and they’ve been downright terrible (I’m looking at you, Mushroom Risotto). So what is one to do? Well there are some less expensive options, first and foremost I’d stick with some of the larger brands (Mountain House, Backpacker’s Pantry) to save a bit on cost.
If you’re traveling as a couple or as a family several of these meals are 2 servings in one container. Look at the calories, fat, and protein on the label and determine if this will be enough to satiate you and your travel partner. If not, I’ve listed below some less-expensive food options that you may want to give a try.
I should also mention that if you get bit by the backpacking bug and decide to start doing a ton of trips with or without family you should consider purchasing a food dehydrator and making your own backpacking food. You can pick up a food dehydrator like this for little cash, and the bags you can cook in can easily be found online as well. This way you can make your favorite meals, dry them, bag them, and rehydrate out on the trail. This will undoubtedly save you money and give you the most control of the nutritional value of your meals while in the backcountry.
Less expensive backpacking food options:
So what are these less expensive options? I’ve listed out a few here that I think you’ll find interesting. If I’m going for a multi-day backpacking trip I’ll usually bring one of the traditional backpacker meals and then something else from this list for the other days. I am not typically going to eat massive diners while camping simply because I snack so much throughout the day, so for me to bring multiple Peak Refuel meals or something similar is overkill.
My favorite Less-Expensive meal: Charcuterie. Fancy name, yes; but much less expensive and probably more enjoyable than some of the store bought meals. I’ll bring a couple of bags of goodies: meats (pepperoni, hard salami, prosciutto); Medium to hard cheeses (Cheddar, manchego, drunken goat); Crackers (mixed); Nuts (mixed); Olives (black and green in the little Mario’s pouches). Pair with a tetrapack “bottle” of red wine and you’re set up for a delightful meal by the campfire that even the most discerning camper can enjoy.
Another thing I love about the Charcuterie is that it really compliments my snacks and other meals. Say I got a vegetarian backpacking meal for one night and brought charcuterie for the other night, I can easily bring extra meat to stir into my meal or eat alongside.
Knorr, Powdered Mashed Pots, Ramen, et al. Some of these have bags you can cook in too. Others, like tasty bite you can boil the whole bag and eat out of it. Why do this? So you don’t have a dirty cook pot. I know it’s called a cook pot but I cannot stand putting food in it. I try to only use my cookpot for boiling water, so that all I have to do is lick my titanium spork clean (that’s the definition of camp clean, fyi).
Recently at ALDI I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying their microwaveable pouches of vegetarian taco meat. This is a pouch much like the tasty bite or instant rice pouches that you can heat up and then put in a tortilla. I plan on trying this one night on the trail with a fresh tomato and some hot sauce.
There are tons of “recipes” online for these types of sides and meals. Try to pick them up at a dollar store or Wal-Mart to minimize cost. I’ve also re-used my freeze-dried bags the next day for stuff like this. This is all a delicate balance of weight and trash volume also. Remember that you’ll be packing out all of this garbage, not leaving it at camp, or burning it, or burying it. If you’re the type of person who leaves their garbage at a campsite you should close your browser now and find a new hobby.
I’m not kidding.
Bring an extra, empty, zip loc gallon freezer bag to use a trash bag, better yet – bring two. You’ll probably need them and the weight/bulk is almost non-existant.
As I mentioned earlier the game changer here is having condiments and add-ons to spruce these items up, especially if you are going for multiple days/nights. Also as mentioned earlier in this article, get a long handle spork, I prefer titanium, it’s not going to break, it’s super lightweight and reaches the bottom of those cook bags without getting your hands all dirty.
Frozen Food and Fast Food
It’s easy to look at all these backpacker foods and confuse yourself about why they are freezedried. Yes, they will be safe to eat after toting around for miles on end. Yes, they will be good 15 years from now. No, that’s not important. I don’t by these meals because they’ll “last forever” I buy them b/c they are freeze dried and therefore lighter in weight due to the lack of water. I had it in my head for years that food would spoil out on the thrall and that is simply not true, especially if you typically like to backpack in colder weather like I prefer.
You will be A-Ok bringing some fast food burgers or tacos on trail for a day 1 or 2 meal or snack. I’ve frozen whole packs of hot dogs and sausages and cooked them over the fire. All you need is a tortilla and some condiments for super tasty meal. Apples, oranges, grapes, peppers, cucumbers will all travel well. Don’t cut yourself short, you know what you like to eat and you know you need a variety of food options, backpacking isn’t going to be easy, but it doesn’t have to suck.
A final word on nutrition.
That brings me to the close of this article. You have to pay attention to your nutrition. Just because you’re out in the backcountry this isn’t an excuse to eat nothing but processed carbs and junk food. You’re putting your body through a lot, and if you’re in your 40s or older (like some of us) this is incredibly important.
Bring a multivitamin with you, or at least some Vitamin C tablets if you plan on being on trail more than a few days. I also highly recommend some sort of electrolyte mix. LMNT is great, but so are nuun tabs, I’ve even seen a handful of DIY options using sea salt, magnesium, and nu-salt (potassium). I will typically do some sort of electrolyte mix for every 5 miles or 1,000’ of elevation. I would do more if I wasn’t eating salty snacks that also contain magnesium and potassium.
Yes you need carbs, yes you need fats and proteins, but you also need fiber, and greens, and vitamins and minerals. I’ve seen folks who bring AG-1 capsules. Don’t sacrifice your health, that’s all I’m saying. Stay hydrated, eat right, and you’ll do even more than you thought you were capable of.
I’ll see you out there!
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