UL 12lb packs? What are these guys eating

[Gambit McCrae]

OK so I see many posts on ul and sul hiking packs weighing 8 to 12 pound. I'm looking to save weight I'll be headed nobo march 1st so my pack is heavy 55 pounds. What are theses guys eating I have a big appetite so alot of weight is food any suggestions and also how many days should you plan for be resupply

If pack weight is as said, you are probably looking at gear upgrades to cut weight, which is pricey, but if your gunna be carrying it 2000 miles, it will be well worth it thru and thru

[Dogwood]

Option 2 and increase MPD avg. No days with absolutely no food if I can help it!

Absolutely, if hungry who says I can't have soup for a mid morning b-fast, oatmeal for dinner(even without water or made with tepid water), have a Ramen dry for snack, eat a Probar for dinner, etc

[Malto]

We got into a long discussion about running out of food when I was hiking the PCT. Assume you are 4 days from a resupply and are going to run out of food 1 day early. Would you:

1. Eat normally and have 3 "good" days and 1 "hungry" day. (or)

2. Start rationing immediately and eat less over 4 days to avoid running out of food knowing your energy level would be off for 4 days.

(yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes..... I know there are other options but these are the only 2 you have in this game....)

i would do a hybrid of option 2. I would cut the daily ration but I would heavily manage my carb intake to meter in the carbs during hiking hours. I would not, for example; eat a high carb dinner. I would save the carbs from that dinner to eat the last day. It's all about the carbs. And yes I have been in this exact situation. Doing this strategy kept me from bonking.

[garlic08]

We got into a long discussion about running out of food when I was hiking the PCT. Assume you are 4 days from a resupply and are going to run out of food 1 day early. Would you:

1. Eat normally and have 3 "good" days and 1 "hungry" day. (or)

2. Start rationing immediately and eat less over 4 days to avoid running out of food knowing your energy level would be off for 4 days.

(yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes..... I know there are other options but these are the only 2 you have in this game....)

I bet most who have hiked the PCT have had this discussion or this experience. In my group on the PCT, one hiker, in the middle of the Sierra with several days left to resupply, said he could eat everything in his pack right now, and we all basically agreed. But we all rationed it out.

When I'm in a long food-haul situation I typically underpack on food and water (I agree with training yourself to drink less, if you do it smartly) and put up with the hunger and thirst a few times a day, in the interest of a lighter pack and more miles per day. My goal on those hikes has been to average close to 30 miles per day (did a couple of 100 mile stretches in three days on the CDT), and I need a really light pack to do that. That knowledge came at the expense of a few mistakes, all on the heavy side.

I just realized I've never considered bringing too little food a mistake.

The PCT hike was the first time I'd ever, in nearly 50 years of comfortable Western living, gone to bed hungry. I keep reading statistics that over 10% of the world's population does exactly that every night. Doing it once or twice was a good lesson, I thought. It was one of the greater things I learned on the PCT.

[Dogwood]

One of the things I'm grateful for is realizing that as a U.S. citizen I was addicted to food and the incessant all consuming need for always having a overly satiated appetite. It's consuming in America! Look at the waistlines of U.S. citizens! Through long distance hiking I gained better control of not always having to feed this habit and obtaining that always overly satiated feeling. I now find it feels good to be a little hungry. After awhile I got habituated to better managing my food intake. Some of the things that keep me feeling fuller longer WITHOUT BONKING is drinking plenty of clean clear backcountry water(despite that were told the water is all contaminated), lots of complex carbs including lots of fiber with little to no empty cals(sugar cals for example), a higher % of daily GOOD fat intake in my diet when hiking, consuming a smaller number of cals at a time but more often through constant noshing throughout the day(the so called "drip method"), and by opting for OVERALL highly nutritionally dense trail foods(Notice I did not necessarily say the highest cal/oz food all the time). Nutritionally dense is NOT just referring to carbs(both complex and simple), fats(both good and so called bad), and protein. Food AND ENERGY is more than just those things!

[Del Q]

There is now bacon spam.............tried the turkey spam on last hike, not great

[Farr Away]

I understood the difference between base and carry weight, Malto. What I was asking was what items/systems Starchild is talking about that decrease your base weight, but increase your carried weight.

Decreasing base and increasing carry weight means you need to move something from one category to the other. For example, if you chose to go cook-less, you could decrease your base weight (no cooking system) and possibly increase your carry weight (no cook foods may have more water weight).

Obviously the scenario I came up with is not a given - some people choose to go cook-less, and decrease both base & carry weight.

-FA

[shaughnessey34]

If pack weight is as said, you are probably looking at gear upgrades to cut weight, which is pricey, but if your gunna be carrying it 2000 miles, it will be well worth it thru and thru

I did some shopping this week bought a bunch of new light weight gear. My final carry weight was 23.7 I will be relying on my dog to carry food which has done for the entire section of Maine