cubic inches????

[twsmith001]

so im planning on doing maildrops, and buy planning i mean i got all my drops all figured out and days i will need and stuff....and for simplicity sake for the person back home i was going to use priority mail large flat rate boxes. so i was wondering how many cubic inches is one days food take up???? i seen alot about calories and and poundage so i was wondering if anyone knew the awnser to this.....i know imma weirdo and think of the strangest things.....by the way if anyone is wondering a large flat rate box is 792 cubic inches...i know way too much time on my hands. if anyone has an awnser to this it would help me out alot....and i know that everyones milage will vary depending on what they have but atleast ill have a starting point. thanks in advance guys and gals.

[brian039]

In case you didn't know, it's way cheaper and easier not to do mail-drops. Every town/hostel has a very adequate selection when it comes to supplies and all the resupply points are spaced out by 1-5 days. On average, you'll be hitting a town every 3 days. People only do mail-drops when they have a special diet.

If you do require mail-drops then the large rate box is big enough for a 6-7 day resupply. I've done a 5-day mail-drop and had room left in the box for what I would guess would be another day or two. Sorry I don't have specs on the cubic inches of my food though :).

Anyways, hope this helps. Think about the whole not doing mail-drops thing if you don't have to.

[map man]

My bear vault is 700 cubic inches and I can cram almost 20,000 calories worth of food in it. That's five days worth, for me. My 4,000 calories a day is more than most people eat on the trail, though. I think most folks go with 3000-3500 calories a day on the trail and then gorge in trail towns.

[twsmith001]

thanks guys that was excactly what i was looking for, and yeah looking at postage rates i understand there is a huge diffrence in price...several hundred dollars diffrence and that would buy a lot of town burgers and pizza...but im not starting my through hike till next year so i can defer the cost over several months by proper planning and be able to purchase most if not all i need while i still have a source of income....that was my initial thought anyways(plus the added bonus of motivating me to stop smoking so i have more money to spend on trail food and postage, which will actually pay for itself many times over for a pack and a half a day smoker) that was my consideration in doing maildrops mainly im bad at saving money(hey its made to spend anyways) but i do i have stock monies and whatnot to give me spending money along the way.....and not haveing to buget for food will mean i will only have to spend on the extras which will be nice and hopefully outweigh the downside of add time hassles and frustiations associated with maildrops.


oh and im a really picky eater so most of the food people eat on trail i couldnt stomach so.....

but thanks again like i said your replies were really helpful.

[Dogwood]

how many cubic inches is one days food take up???? i seen alot about calories and and poundage so i was wondering if anyone knew the awnser to this.....i know imma weirdo and think of the strangest things. - Twsmith

Nobody can answer that for you because too many variables exist that can effect the volume of one day's trail food!

I will tell you that if you eliminate packaging materials by bagging up and portioning out trailfood, and think about compressibilty and density you can reduce the volume of your trailfood. For example, cous cous, quinoa, rice take up very littele volume if you bag them up into baggies yourself compare to something like potato chips, large pretzels, etc.

[gunner76]

Set up an account with the post office online and you can order Priority Mail boxes shipped to you door for free. Do the postage on line for the priority mail boxes on line and you get a price break.

[RevLee]

Relying on maildrops will affect your schedule. Invariably the days the natural pace will get you the post office are Sundays. You will have to slow to get there by Monday, or speed up to get there by noon on Saturday. Mailing to outfitters or hostels is more convenient, but be sure to call in advance to make sure they will accept them or are even still open.

Another potential issue is leftovers. My son had to bail out after 100 miles last year with bursitis, and I did a little over half the trail. I still have a couple of boxes of leftovers.

[Blissful]

Relying on maildrops will affect your schedule. Invariably the days the natural pace will get you the post office are Sundays. You will have to slow to get there by Monday, or speed up to get there by noon on Saturday.


I have done 50 maildrops over the course of 2 hikes. Sunday arrival only happened three times and I picked up my box Monday AM before my hike and enjoyed my Sunday nearo day in town. I had one time it would have arrived Sat PM, so you can call ahead to have it bounced ahead with Priority mail and buy in town in that case if its too late to stop the drop from coming. No big deal.

I have also bought all my food too. Buying everything entails lots of time in planning, extra money, extra foot miles, sometimes a hitch. I like to buy fresh for cheese, bread etc but to buy everything was pain and expensive unless it was a big grocery store (and if a wally world is nearby, buying can be better). With a drop you go to the PO or hostel, pick it up, and its there. Nice, and I have more time to rest and get off my feet to recuperate.

[JAK]

Using oatmeal as a standard for measure, because it is my main staple, and I estimate my food as being roughly 1 pound per litre, and this 1 pound per 64 cubic inches. That would be about 12 pounds for 792 cubic inches. For me that would be about 12 says in summer, 8 days in spring/fall, and 6 days in winter.

[twsmith001]

thanks again for the replies guys.....and yeah there is a sams club here in town....i can get for $30 and some change two 24 2 oz packs of trailmix (290 cal each) and two 48 1 oz packs of planters peanuts(170 cal each)....have good prices like that on candy and many other things as far as snacks go....the main meals i havent looked into yet but if you guys want(as in there is a sams club near you) when i find thoose out i can relay the prices to you guys.