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Backpacking food doesn't necessarily need
to be light. You can find your weight savings in other areas if
you want, and even bring heavy foods like fresh fruit and
vegetables. The real point is to bring what works for the type
of trip you take, and bring what you personally need to enjoy
the trip.
Backpacking food doesn't necessarily have to be healthy.
You can eat 60 granola bars in five days with no ill effects. It
kept my pack light , and was very convenient. Of course, since I
supplemented my food with berries and other wild foods, it
probably wasn't all that unhealthy - for a short trip.
Naturally, the longer the trip, the more important it becomes to
bring healthy foods.
We are all different in our needs. You don't need cooked meals
to be happy, but you may. There is no one-size-fits-all solution
to the question of what kinds of backpacking food to bring. You
have to balance for yourself the issues of weight, health,
taste, and cost. The following are some important factors to
consider in doing this.
The Lightest Backpacking Food
The lightest food is generally that which has the most calories
per ounce. Pure fat wins by this measure, followed by high-fat
foods (butter), low moisture carbohydrates (granola bars),
concentrated proteins (beef jerky), and then bread, fruit,
vegetables, etc. For example, nuts have 50% more calories per
pound than pure sugar, because of their high fat content.
Even if you are trying to go as light as you can, this doesn't mean you
should subsist on stick of butter. You have to have something
besides calories - like vitamins, fiber, protein, and enough
variety to keep you happy. Still, even if you need cooked meals,
healthy foods and want every meal to be different, there are
ways to reduce weight.
Start looking at the information on the labels. Find many
healthy foods you like, and then from those choose the ones that
are higher in calories for their weight. In this way, you get
the variety and tastes you want, you get what your body needs,
and you keep it light. I like to first get all the lightest
foods that will be relatively healthy, and then maybe add a
treat or two.
How much food do you need to bring? This depends, of course, on
your metabolism, your plans, and the time of year (you'll burn
more calories in winter). For most trips, I plan for about 3000
calories a day. I'm 6'3", and 165 pounds. This may not be enough
calories, but it's no disaster to lose a pound or two on a
weekend trip (it comes back quick enough).
What does this mean in terms of pack weight? That depends on the
foods you choose. With high-calorie foods like tortilla chips
(2100 calories per pound) and mixed nuts (2700 calories per
pound), I can get by with about 20 ounces of food per day. This
means that for four days of backpacking I'll carry around 5
pounds of food.
To reduce the amount of food you carry, you can also eat a big
meal before you leave. You'll be carrying the weight of the meal
inside you, of course, but at least it will be centered instead
of on your back. Athletes use a technique called carbo-loading,
which involves avoiding carbohydrates for several days, and then
pigging out on them the day before an event. This causes your
liver to store up to a couple pounds of carbs, ready to used.
This is for the fanatical ultralight backpackers.
You can cut weight if you know which berries and other foods to
eat along the trail. I've eaten 500 calories in raspberries
during a break while hiking in Colorado. Fishing can supplement
your backpacking food as well, if you enjoy doing that.
You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned freeze-dried foods. They
can be delicious, but I don't like to cook, and I don't like to
pay restaurant prices for a meal on the ground. Other than those
two problems, and the fact that with the over-packaging they are
often heavy, I have nothing against them.
First, try to at least bring foods that aren't too unhealthy.
Then, just before you leave, eat a good salad. Eat another
healthy meal right after you get back. If also eat some berries
and herbs along the way, you can concentrate on bringing only
light backpacking food, and your health shouldn't suffer.
A more obvious alternative, is to spend some money. With enough
money, you can feast on backpacking foods that are
nutrition-packed and calorie rich. These include bee pollen, ,
raw nuts and seeds, molasses, dried papaya - I could go on, but
you get the idea.
Key Points
1. If the food is one of the most important parts of the trip,
find your weight savings elsewhere.
2. You can find ways to carry less weight, even with healthy and
tasty foods.
3. With backpacking food, lightweight generally means that which
has more calories per ounce.
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In addition to aspirin or other pills, consider DMSO for regular pain in
your shoulders, neck or back. You can find this liquid at stores
which sell natural treatments. Carry some in a small plastic
container. It penetrates and gets into the muscle so quickly,
and into the blood where it is released in the lungs, that you
may get a garlicky taste in your mouth less than a minute after
rubbing DMSO on a sore muscle .
Out of mosquito repellent? The leaves of elderberry bushes
can be used for an insect repellent. They are crushed and rubbed
on your body or placed in your clothing. Carry uncrushed ones
for later use too.
Tyvek, a house-wrap you can find wherever they sell construction
supplies, is waterproof and breathable. It can be used to make a
bivy sack, as a tarp, or as a ground cloth. Run it through the
washing machine to make it soft and pliable.
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