View Full Version : How to reduce food weight....
Here is my food list for this weekends 4 day hike. Its about 3300 cals and 6 lbs for the trip at around 1.5lbs per day. I was wondering what kind of techniques you guys use to keep your cals up and weight down. I ask because for this weekends hike with food water and a little booze my pack weight is 18lb 7oz which im happy with dont get me wrong but 6 lbs of that is food which if possible id really like to bring down that number so I can get my pack weight down a few more lbs.
Breakfast
carnation meal replacement
Cereal
Snacks
2 Baby Ruth Mini
Lunch
2 Tortillas
2 stripes Joes Ultralight Moose Goo
Snacks
2 Baby Ruth Mini
Dinner
Instant Mashed Potatoes
TVP
Dehydrated Non Fat Milk
Olive Oil
bigcranky
05-21-2009, 14:26
Four days, three nights = 3+ full days of food (assuming you will eat breakfast on the first day and dinner the last day off the trail.)
I truly don't want to project my personal preferences on you, but I would not be happy eating what you are bringing. I generally bring 2 pounds per day, because I do like to eat, and I like some variety in my meals. So I would also have 6 pounds for those 3 food-days.
For example, while I like instant mashed potatoes, they need cheese and bacon and butter, and I'd rather have them one night instead of all three. And I like candy bars, too, but I prefer to bring four or five kinds of snack food an alternate -- gorp, pretzels and cheezits, Combos cheese crackers, dried fruit, jelly beans, Clif bars, hard candy, M+Ms, Nabs, chocolate covered espresso beans, etc.
So it's really personal preference. Your best bet is to do the hike and see what you like and what you don't and tweak it for next time.
Happy trails.
Sounds good. This is a tweaked version of a tweaked version that was tweaked. I dont need variety i just need flavor so i put lots of oil and spices in my mashers. Still to heavy though
I carried only one pound of food per day for a six day section hike and even that was too much, factoring in a supressed appetite. Other people like to eat a lot and well, and I understand that.
Like you, I was also looking to seriously reduce the weight of food, which means I weighed everything, including every little snack. High calorie, low weight winners were Frito-Lay Munchos (like potato chips), dry-roasted split soybeans, dried bean flakes and couscous.
I purchased the lightest bulk cereal I could find from the health food store. It was a granola type, but made with coconut, crisped flakes and clusters and it was very light. The granolas were heavy by comparison.
It helps to remove wrappers, cuts down on your garbage too.
Thanks for the reminder about moose goo. Have to make some if I can figure out how to carry it. Calorie dense and delicious.
put your moose goo in one of these.
http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___23124
I carried only one pound of food per day for a six day section hike and even that was too much, factoring in a supressed appetite. Other people like to eat a lot and well, and I understand that...
I find this to be true as well. After 10-12 days on the trail my appetite really picks up and I can't seem to eat enough, but for the first 5-6 days I almost always take more than I eat even at 1.5 pounds per day. I could do quite well over a 4 day hike on 1 pound per day I think.
bigcranky
05-21-2009, 19:12
Man, as soon as I hit the trail I am starving. All the time starving. Though my kid won't eat anything for the first week, so everyone is different.
Blissful
05-21-2009, 19:34
The same thing every day is boring. And mashed potatoes, ugh. :)
Pack different food for each day. Have fun with it. Meals should be fun, esp on just a weekend jaunt. DOn't get hung up so much about weight for only 4 days. Looks like you might be a veggie person so look up in search for threads that talk about food options for vegetarians. And I'd pack some munchies big time. And nuts.
Ad you could cut the weight by leaving the booze at home...
Wolf - 23000
05-22-2009, 09:43
jrnj5k,
About 70 - 90% of my entire pack weight is food/water. There is lightweight food out there but it is more important to keep your strength up then to skip out. Also if you just worry about eating lightweight food you are limiting your self big time, after a while your body will get sick of eating the same food over and over again. It can even be unhealthy.
On a long distance hike my suggestion is this, carry the same food weight between food stops. If you carry 10 pounds between resupply points of a 100 miles, continue to carry the same weight even on the shorter resupply points of 50 miles - you just eat a little more.
I'll explain. Most hikers will lose large amount of weight on a thru-hike 25 - 40 pounds and are still always hungry. The reason is this; if you skimp on food everyday even a little you never give your body a chance to regain those calories (except in towns of course). On my thru-hikes, I will only lose 2 - 6 pounds total. My belief is this, on the shorter stretches while everyone is still skimping on food, I'm eating a little bit more than I normal would be. When I come into town, I am no where near as hungry as most hikers are and are not losing the weight either. It is cheaper than spending tons of money at restaurants and healthier too.
Just my $.02
Wolf
JTCruiser
05-22-2009, 10:06
Do I read correctly that you are packing 3300 cals for the entire trip, not per day? That would be too few for me. Also, I would add something fresh, just my taste. I usually pack an apple or an orange to eat the first or second day out. I know it's heavy, especially the orange, but man it tastes good. The packaged mini-carrots you can buy will last the entire trip and don't weigh much. Also, hard-boiled eggs in the shell usually last me two-three days if it isn't too hot. I also supplement my evening meal with packed tuna, salmon, or chicken, which go into the noodles or rice I cook. So my calorie count is somewhat higher, but even at this, I still lose weight on a trip. My food weight usually runs about 2lbs/day. More than worth carrying to eat well. Just my opinions, ymmv. Good luck.
chefbrian1
05-26-2009, 00:28
Great post. I am heading out for a 30 day hike in a few days and have a huge box of food for the trip. I am at the point where I need to figure out how much to take and how to plan out my meals.
My food is all lite weight due to dehydrating veggies and meat. The lost of appetite during the first week on is something I did not consider and I planned on taking 2 pounds per day which comes to 3000-4000 calories give or take.
My basic menu is:
Breakfast:
Bagel with peanut butter and honey or chocolate hazelnut butter
snack:
trail mix of nuts, raisins and M & M's
Lunch:
crackers w/ pepperoni and cheese or nut butter
snack: beef jerky (homemade)
snack: trail mix/or cookies
Dinner: one of these or a variation
1) Mac n cheese w/dried veggies, dried chicken or foil tuna and ghee butter
2) Two ramen w/veggies, chicken or foil salmon w/ coconut oil
3) noodles with dried indian sauce (tomato and cream based dried into leather) w ghee butter and dried veggies
4) minute brown rice with chicken or tuna (foil), dried veggies w ghee butter sauce,
5) beans (dried black bean) and hash brown potato with salsa leather butter and cheese.
dessert??
mkmangold
05-26-2009, 01:41
The same thing every day is boring.
Ad you could cut the weight by leaving the booze at home...
Or, you could cook with Everclear...
Or, you could cook with Everclear...
Yeah, yeah, boyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
A little everclear, a little kool aid- You got yourself a party:banana
LaurieAnn
05-26-2009, 08:06
Please don't get offended at what I am about to write.
I couldn't eat that type of menu because, for me, it would get mundane pretty quickly. I also don't find it very nutrionally sound.
For three of us on a four day weekend the menu would look much like this...
Day One
B - Harvest Oatmeal Bars
S - Dried Fruit and Almonds
L - Tuna Salad Wraps
S - Dark Chocolate
D - Chicken Stew with Dumplings
D - Caramel Apple Chai (this is a hot tea that doubles as dessert)
Day Two
B - Muesli with milk
S - Dried apples and cheddar
L - Roasted Tomato Dip and Pita
S - Pepperoni sticks
D - Black Bean, Corn and Sweet Potato Soup
Day Three
B - Blueberry Maple Granola with Nido
S - Gorp
L - Citrus Lentil Salad
S - Homemade Energy Bars
D - Minestrone
D - Chocolate Moosey Mousse
Day Four
B - Homemade Energy Bars
S - Frunola Bars (these are purchased from Kettle Valley)
L - Black Bean Dip with Pita
S - Smoked Almonds and white cheddar
D - Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
This menu uses an alcohol stove and all the breakfasts and lunches do not require a stove making fuel weight nominal. Many of the foods are made and dried at home and many of them have a high calorie to lower weight ratio.
Man, as soon as I hit the trail I am starving. All the time starving. Though my kid won't eat anything for the first week, so everyone is different.
Yup, I'm like you. I have breakfast, 2 morning snacks, lunch, 2 afternoon snacks and dinner all supplemented by a big bag of potato chips.
wannahike
05-26-2009, 08:43
Bagels are heavy and bulky, I found these and they packed well, lasted the week and tasted great.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VaY2Xar_q7o/SY3yUoJVqPI/AAAAAAAAOws/Vq-1IX-UXOI/s1600-h/DSC_0582b.JPG
Here is my food list for this weekends 4 day hike. Its about 3300 cals and 6 lbs for the trip at around 1.5lbs per day. I was wondering what kind of techniques you guys use to keep your cals up and weight down. I ask because for this weekends hike with food water and a little booze my pack weight is 18lb 7oz which im happy with dont get me wrong but 6 lbs of that is food which if possible id really like to bring down that number so I can get my pack weight down a few more lbs.
Breakfast
carnation meal replacement
Cereal
Snacks
2 Baby Ruth Mini
Lunch
2 Tortillas
2 stripes Joes Ultralight Moose Goo
Snacks
2 Baby Ruth Mini
Dinner
Instant Mashed Potatoes
TVP
Dehydrated Non Fat Milk
Olive Oil
All that stuff looks pretty dry, so if it is the right number of carbs and the mix of protien/carbs/fats/fibre that you want all you can do is reduce packaging weight before you go. What you can do though is figure out which items have the most moisture. Try to avoid stuff with more than 10% moisture, but some stuff is still worth it. I think you've already done that.
Personally I take a low fat diet on short trips, and burn body fat. So I get by with a pound of food per day, mostly carbs and protien for about 1500-1800 calories, depending on how much fat there might still be to make up for any moisture and fibre. Gotta have some fibre, and there will always be some moisture. On top of that I burn about a pound of fat a day, so there is another 3500 kcal right there. You likely burn up a little muscle also, which sounds worse than it is, but a pounds of muscle, which is 75% water, gives another 500 kcal. Then of course pig out before you go, and pig out when you get back, and 4 pounds will go 4 days. Beyond 4 days might be pushing it, for me that is. I would want to be more careful on a longer trip, or in winter. You have to figure out for yourself how much you burn, but its the same sort of idea.
chefbrian1
05-26-2009, 09:14
Bagels are heavy and bulky, I found these and they packed well, lasted the week and tasted great.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VaY2Xar_q7o/SY3yUoJVqPI/AAAAAAAAOws/Vq-1IX-UXOI/s1600-h/DSC_0582b.JPG
Thanks for the heads up. finding a good bread to take has been the trickiest part of my plan for calories, that will keep and weight.
Phoenix7
05-28-2009, 12:38
I would think taking some salt would be important too. All that salt lost from sweating...
Wolf - 23000
05-28-2009, 12:45
I would think taking some salt would be important too. All that salt lost from sweating...
Phoenix7,
Most food has salt in it. You don't need extra salt unless it something you normally add to your food.
Wolf
You need some salt. I get alot in the skim milk powder I bring.
I drink the equivalent of 1-2 litres of milk per day while hiking, which is 1200mg.
If likely to be sweating alot of salt you could carry extra as jerky. I like about 100g of jerky per day, but not with as much salt as commercial jerky. For homemade jerky you don't need any salt, but 3g of salt (~1000mg sodium) per 100g jerky wouldn't be too bad if you wanted it to serve as you only big source of sodium. I don't need that much because of the skim milk I carry, and because I usually have the ocean next to me. One cup of seawater will give you 2500mg of sodium, which is alot, too much really. One tenth of a litre per day is safe, probably best combined into a litre of water, and boiling it also if you can.
Sports drinks are ok, but I don't like using them because you could just make your own and they tend to have too much salt for hiking unless you water them down. Of course you don't need to drink all your water that way, and probably shouldn't. Gatorade Endurance Formula contains 200mg of sodium per 8oz at full strength, so it would contain about 800mg of sodium per litre. One or two of those a day ain't bad. Best to know exactly how much sodium you need, which isn't much, and then maybe some extra if sweating, but that isn't usually that much either. If you have it on hand you can always take more.
If you routinely drink alot of gatorade while hiking, and eat alot of commercial jerky, and trail mixes with added salt, and other packaged foods like soup mixes, you are probably getting WAY too much salt.
Most 'natural' food doesn't have much sodium in it, unless its added. Exceptions are things like milk, which alread has plenty of sodium, which makes sense if you think about it. For most hiking I think 1000mg to 3000mg per day seems about right, with the upper limits being for days with alot of sweating. A typical marathon race in summer might need that much. There can be extreme events that require more, but they aren't routine.
Interesting stats on sodium intakes:
http://www.annecollins.com/sodium-rda-diet.htm
UK Sodium RDA
The US sodium RDA of less than 2,400 mg is higher than the UK Recommended Nutritional Intake (RNI) whose upper limit for sodium is 1,600 mg.
Sodium RDA - Lower for Those with Blood Pressure
People with high blood pressure should consume less sodium as recent research has shown that people consuming diets of 1,500 mg of sodium had better blood pressure lowering benefits. These lower-sodium diets also can keep blood pressure from rising and help blood pressure medicines work better.
Sodium RDA - National Research Council
The National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences recommends an approximate daily range of 1,100 to 3,300 mg of sodium for adults.
Sodium RDA - American Heart Association
The American Heart Association recommends that for every 1,000 Calories of food consumed, the sodium intake should be 1,000 mg and should not exceed the 3,000 mg limit.
Sodium RDA vs. Average Intake
The average intake in the United States is between 4,000 and 5,000 mg of sodium per day.
No Specific Sodium RDA for Children
Specific recommendations regarding sodium intake do not exist for infants, children, and adolescents. However, since eating habits and attitudes about food formed during childhood are likely to influence eating habits for life, moderate intake of sodium is suggested.