Canned Food

[lsylvain]

I started to do it the other day at the grocery store but my wife was embarrassed by her husband putting cans of tuna on the produce scale so I had to stop, so I thought I would ask here.

At one point does buying canned tuna and chicken become lighter than buying foil packs? And most definitely spam as it comes in those thin walled cans. (picking one up is what got me thinking about this) There are 4 of us going together, so we kind of have a bulk option to consider. It may very well be lighter to bring one big 30 oz or so can than 5 or whatever foil packs.

[Trailweaver]

Go to the grocery store without your wife, and wear a disguise. . . or you could buy one of each, take them home and weigh them in the privacy of your home, and then go buy the one that's lightest in bulk. The heavier ones can be eaten from home, right?

Husbands and wives do have a realllly heavy load to bear, don't they? (in my case, husband.)

[kayak karl]

The cans have more water in them. Just something to think about.

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[The Cleaner]

Also some hikers don't pack the empty cans out. I burn the smell out in a fire and then put foil trash in them.Flatten them with ax or rock and out they go.....

[Tipi Walter]

There's no mention of the length of the trip. 3 days? 7 days? For a short trip it's a-okay to take canned food---beans, chilis, refried beans, soups, whatever else. What could it matter? The weight is negligible for a short trip.

[Tipi Walter]

Also some hikers don't pack the empty cans out. I burn the smell out in a fire and then put foil trash in them.Flatten them with ax or rock and out they go.....

Your post reminds me of a time I was backpacking the Horse Cove trail and set up camp by this "redneck" firepit---lazy or just dumb??

[The Cleaner]

Your post reminds me of a time I was backpacking the Horse Cove trail and set up camp by this "redneck" firepit---lazy or just dumb??

How about criminal? I guess I'm lucky that the side trails near the AT here are not used by many hikers.

[kayak karl]

i met a few that even in a town with slim pickin's for resupply would rather go hungry then carry a can. some things like canned spam and ham can be put in zip lock before leaving. i refuse to do that with tuna and sardines i always take a can of fruit cocktail with me for first night. i save the can for a cup, i don't carry a cup.
PS. I don't think you were planning to leave the cans in fire pit.

[The Cleaner]

If I came to a camp with that many cans there I'd build a fire and burn the cans till charred then flatten them. Pack out some and leave the rest for others to pack out. At least the food odors would be gone and the critter attraction factor would be gone too.

[sfdoc]

Aren't there any recycling bins or opportunities along the trail, or is recycling carried on only on the Northeast? Just asking.

[Tipi Walter]

If I came to a camp with that many cans there I'd build a fire and burn the cans till charred then flatten them. Pack out some and leave the rest for others to pack out. At least the food odors would be gone and the critter attraction factor would be gone too.

Good idea but I still had 10 more days of the trip to go and I wasn't hauling other people's trash. Dayhikers usually/almost always find such messes and haul them out.

Aren't there any recycling bins or opportunities along the trail, or is recycling carried on only on the Northeast? Just asking.

Recycling bins on the trail? Heaven's sake no and let's hope there never is. I mean, it is a wilderness area.

[squeezebox]

Sometimes the trail magic folks offer trash cans. So often you don't have to haul the trash to far. As far as not carrying other people's trash, excuse me but you actually are your brother's keeper. If we all carry out a little trash it will slowly go away. Let's all help out the trail maintenance folks.
I live in a low income (low intelligence) neighborhood, and they are always throwing beer cans in my yard. Who has to clean them up? I do!
Thanks for letting me rant!

[Tipi Walter]

Sometimes the trail magic folks offer trash cans. So often you don't have to haul the trash to far. As far as not carrying other people's trash, excuse me but you actually are your brother's keeper. If we all carry out a little trash it will slowly go away. Let's all help out the trail maintenance folks.
I live in a low income (low intelligence) neighborhood, and they are always throwing beer cans in my yard. Who has to clean them up? I do!
Thanks for letting me rant!

So, I'm going to add 4 lbs of trash to my already-heavy 80 lb pack? And then carry it for 10 more days? No way.

[Slo-go'en]

Before there were foil packets, there were cans. An empty tuna can weighs 1 oz, not a big deal.

Back in the spring of '89 I woke up to 6" of wet snow on the ground at Bald Mountain shelter, a little south of Erwin, with the snow still coming down. There was another guy in the shelter who had hiked up from the road the day before.

As I got ready to leave and hike through the storm, the other guy said he wasn't going anywhere until it all melted. Then I saw he had at least 15 pounds of can goods stacked against the shelter wall!

[Abatis1948]

Your post reminds me of a time I was backpacking the Horse Cove trail and set up camp by this "redneck" firepit---lazy or just dumb??

Two times in the last two years, I have hauled trash down from Preacher’s Rock. The first time I spoke to four Georgia Tech students who could have been stepping off the covers of Backpacker Magazine with their top of the line clothes and equipment. They informed me they spent the night in the area behind the rocks at Preacher’s. Their cans were still warm when I picked them up. I guess my point is being “Hiker Trash” crosses all socioeconomic boundaries.

[Tipi Walter]

Before there were foil packets, there were cans. An empty tuna can weighs 1 oz, not a big deal.

Back in the spring of '89 I woke up to 6" of wet snow on the ground at Bald Mountain shelter, a little south of Erwin, with the snow still coming down. There was another guy in the shelter who had hiked up from the road the day before.

As I got ready to leave and hike through the storm, the other guy said he wasn't going anywhere until it all melted. Then I saw he had at least 15 pounds of can goods stacked against the shelter wall!

Sounds excellent. Let's hope a nanny-state helicopter didn't come in and hover over the shelter and make him leave.

[Abatis1948]

I have hiked passed sights like Tipi posted many times. I have also hauled many pounds of trash off the trail. Sometimes you have to leave others trash for some other Good Samaritan.

[Tipi Walter]

Two times in the last two years, I have hauled trash down from Preacher’s Rock. The first time I spoke to four Georgia Tech students who could have been stepping off the covers of Backpacker Magazine with their top of the line clothes and equipment. They informed me they spent the night in the area behind the rocks at Preacher’s. Their cans were still warm when I picked them up. I guess my point is being “Hiker Trash” crosses all socioeconomic boundaries.

Once on the first day of a long trip I entered the Bald River wilderness and saw two backpackers leaving and I offered a big friendly hello. Big mistake. A couple miles later I got to their camp and found their campfire still burning and piled high with wet smouldering trash and under a rock by the firepit I found 12 empty beer cans. Next time I see someone hiking out I'll have to stop and instead of saying hello I'll just say,

"Okay miscreants, what kind of crap did you leave back in camp??"

[bamboo bob]

I make it a rule to pick up ten pieces of trash a day. But only in the back country. Not near trailheads. Not at shelters. Not cigarette butts. I've converted a lot of hikers too. At least they say they're converted. Litter is a pet peeve of mine. One unintended consequence of dump laws such as charging for mattresses and construction trash at the local dump or transfer station is an increase in such things dumped at trail heads. Tires too. In CT, in VT, in FL. Not so much on the AT though.

[lsylvain]

Go to the grocery store without your wife, and wear a disguise. . . or you could buy one of each, take them home and weigh them in the privacy of your home, and then go buy the one that's lightest in bulk. The heavier ones can be eaten from home, right?

Husbands and wives do have a realllly heavy load to bear, don't they? (in my case, husband.)

That's the plan. Just go by myself and figure it out.

I'm figuring comparing packed in water and packed in oil. Packed in oil has over double the calories than packed in water. I'm also figuring that I wouldn't drain the tuna in many cases just dump the whole can in a vat of mac and cheese or whatever, there should be some calories in the water and there is about 20 calories extra per oz if you don't drain the oil. Which takes 30 or so calories per oz for foil packs to around 80 calories per oz canned in oil. The can could weigh twice as much and it would still be more calorie dense than the foil packs.