View Full Version : What does your food weigh?
Rightfoot
09-07-2012, 14:35
With all of the discussion regarding base weight and the quest to reduce extra ounces, I am curious what the weight of your food is. I tend to carry too much food but I love to eat and have a little variety. Granted you can carry very diferent foods based on the length of your trip but given a 4 - 5 day resupply option, what does one days food weigh? What types of foods do you carry (fresh, can, pouch, freeze dried, dehydrated) etc...
A day's worth of food for me is about 1.5 pounds. This would include a cliff bar, a granola bar, 4 tortillia's, precooked bacon, salami, cheese, a handful of M's and some PB. I don't cook or dehydrate anything.
jakedatc
09-07-2012, 14:52
High calorie to ounce ratio..
Breakfast: poptarts and/or cereal w/ powdered milk
snacks: PB crackers, PB filled pretzels, nutty bars, granola bars, trail mix
lunch: PB or nutella on sandwich thins
Dinner: pasta sides with french friend onions or tuna pouches, instant potatoes.
garlic08
09-07-2012, 15:43
Just under two pounds per day, though my planning formula is more like one pound for every 10 miles. I happen to hike about 20 miles per day, but if I hike more, I eat more. If I hike less, I eat less. Two pounds of food gives me over 4000 calories, typically.
I go cookless. Main staples are muesli made with rolled oats, walnuts, dried fruit; tortillas with cheese or peanut butter; instant mashed potatoes; salted tree nuts like cashews; crackers, fig newtons; as much fresh fruit and veg as I can fit. I didn't do any maildrops on the AT, just bought as I went. I did not lose any weight on the AT. I supplemented that heavily with town food when possible.
Good question. Fine tuning packed food is a good exercise for many in reducing pack weight. Less food carried is less effort expended, and thus less food needed. It's sort of a spiral to some extent. On the AT, I was pleased so many times to hike into town having eaten my last cashew five or ten miles ago. With no water and no stove, cook kit or fuel, those days were wonderful. It took years to lose my fear of running out of food, and carrying the extra day's rations just in case, but after a few hungry days on the PCT I realized I wasn't going to blow up if I went to bed hungry. It's actually a valuable lesson, to experience something most of the world has to deal with.
I don't know. I carefully selected high calorie density food and pack as much as I can force myself to eat, which still isn't enough. The final weight is what it is. I don't take food out to hit some arbitrary number.
OK, I'm heading out on the AT for a 4 night 5 day trip next week. My food bags is setting here and it weighs 2 and a quarter pounds(on a fish scale). Whats in there is 4 mountain house suppers, 8 snickers bars for lunch, 1 small bag of gorp, 8 packages of instant oatmeal, 8 little packages of instant coffee, creamers, sugars.
Kerosene
09-07-2012, 17:28
...but after a few hungry days on the PCT I realized I wasn't going to blow up if I went to bed hungry.Agreed! You might not be able to hike as far or as fast without food, but for a trail like the AT I don't bother to carry extra food beyond the snacks that I inevitably carry too much of.
I seem to average 26 ounces of food per hiking day, with a typical menu below:
Breakfast: Oatmeal, raisins, breakfast bar, bagel chips, cider
Lunch: FlufferNutella or Tuna & a cheesestick in a pita pocket
Dinner: Freeze-dried dinner (works for my weeklong section hikes), hot chocolate
Snacks: Jolly Rogers lollipops, Starburst Jellybeans, SweeTarts, medium Snickers, gorp, Gel Shots
yellowsirocco
09-07-2012, 17:29
OK, I'm heading out on the AT for a 4 night 5 day trip next week. My food bags is setting here and it weighs 2 and a quarter pounds(on a fish scale). Whats in there is 4 mountain house suppers, 8 snickers bars for lunch, 1 small bag of gorp, 8 packages of instant oatmeal, 8 little packages of instant coffee, creamers, sugars.
That just sounds depressing. Where is the feast on your first night out? No fresh fruit for the first couple of days? How about some fresh bread? I mean your menu sounds fine for the last couple of days, but at least eat good on the first night.
1.5 / 2 lbs a day.
Where the weight savings come in is not carrying too much because you *might* run out. Spending $500 on a cuben fiber tent to save a pound and ending every hike with 2 lbs of food left over makes absolutely no sense at all.
Drybones
09-07-2012, 18:36
OK, I'm heading out on the AT for a 4 night 5 day trip next week. My food bags is setting here and it weighs 2 and a quarter pounds(on a fish scale). Whats in there is 4 mountain house suppers, 8 snickers bars for lunch, 1 small bag of gorp, 8 packages of instant oatmeal, 8 little packages of instant coffee, creamers, sugars.
My experience is that you can get by with much less on a 4-5 day hike than a long distance hike. For 4-5 days I'd probably carry 1.5 pounds per day and most likely not eat it all. Once I get past a couple of weeks I need much more to stay health and keep from losing too much muscle weight...leason learned the hard way.
bamboo bob
09-07-2012, 18:39
Regardless of how I plan, and switch this for that etc. I end up with 1 1/2 pounds a day. Some eight day stretches are a groan but it gets lighter every day so I never worry about food or water weight. The goal is to walk into town empty.
jakedatc
09-07-2012, 18:43
That just sounds depressing. Where is the feast on your first night out? No fresh fruit for the first couple of days? How about some fresh bread? I mean your menu sounds fine for the last couple of days, but at least eat good on the first night.
that is not a lot of food.. change the snickers to 2 /day for snacks along with the gorp or 1 after dinner and add something for lunch. tuna packet or PB on a pita, tortilla, sandwich thin..
Yelllow, fresh stuff you said is pretty damn heavy. first day, breakfast, snack or something sure but a single apple probably weighs more than my stove so after day 1 you are not helping yourself. it is also not very calorie dense.
yellowsirocco
09-07-2012, 18:49
Yelllow, fresh stuff you said is pretty damn heavy. first day, breakfast, snack or something sure but a single apple probably weighs more than my stove so after day 1 you are not helping yourself. it is also not very calorie dense.
Stop overthinking things. It isn't about calorie to weight ratio, it is about quality of life. Sitting at a vista with an apple is so much more satisfying that trying to shove down some oaty-nutty-junk. I have brought an entire bag of apples on the trail before and loved every mile I was carrying them..
jakedatc
09-07-2012, 19:11
Stop overthinking things. It isn't about calorie to weight ratio, it is about quality of life. Sitting at a vista with an apple is so much more satisfying that trying to shove down some oaty-nutty-junk. I have brought an entire bag of apples on the trail before and loved every mile I was carrying them..
Or... I can see 3 more vistas. 5 days for me is 75mi over fairly steep stuff.. how about you?
my quality if life is not hardly feeling my backpack even fully loaded and being able to enjoy the walk between overviews, vistas, mtn tops, campsites not dreading them. on a 5 day trip you'll be back in town soon enough to get fresh food.
This is like the "which sleeping bag should I take" thread.
If you want to carry a bag of apples, carry a bag of apples. Enjoy!
If you place a higher priority on carrying a lighter pack and tweak your food based on caloric content vs weight, that's fine too.
Gosh.. you'd think one way was better than the other.. :)
I came to love carrying a whole box of Rice Krispy Treats. It was like eating air and oh so sweet.
Damn the fig newtons and fresh fruit!
Eating a whole tub of cake icing with a titanium spoon upon hitting the first grocery store in town was fun to.
Your body learns to adapt. Now let the vegans chime in and tell me how nutritionally deviant I am.
jakedatc
09-07-2012, 21:26
I came to love carrying a whole box of Rice Krispy Treats. It was like eating air and oh so sweet.
sold.. they might be in my pack next weekend lol i also like Drakes Apple Pies.. though they are fairly heavy but damn tasty.
the thing i've picked up in my backpacking and long-ish bike riding is that you need to pack things that you will eat. Like others said i'm not as hungry the first few days so packing stuff that you will eat even if you aren't that hungry is important so you still get calories.
Leanthree
09-07-2012, 22:51
I probably average ~120 calories/oz or 1920 calories/lb. From there, I normally need 5,000-6,000 calories/day depending on my mileage and terrain which is about 2.5-3 lbs per day. I have tried the standard 2 lbs per person per day but either get sick of peanut butter and olive oil or I get totally starving and unhappy. (for reference, I am 6'1, 185)
coach lou
09-07-2012, 23:35
sold.. they might be in my pack next weekend lol i also like Drakes Apple Pies.. though they are fairly heavy but damn tasty.
the thing i've picked up in my backpacking and long-ish bike riding is that you need to pack things that you will eat. Like others said i'm not as hungry the first few days so packing stuff that you will eat even if you aren't that hungry is important so you still get calories.
Jake, I think your starting to turn to the ultra load side:rolleyes:
jakedatc
09-08-2012, 00:06
my apple pies are too heavy? but they are so tassssty. my last weekend hike (before LT) my friend looked like he was going to knock me out and steal it from me :P
(otherwise i dunno what you mean)
Hairbear
09-08-2012, 07:14
does anyone else hit that i couldnt eat enough stage on around the afternoon of the third day?im bad about that stuff cant cook fast enough so you burn your mouth on a little still crunchy noodles.i would rather carry a little more than be hungry,and weak,sometimes i can feel myself shaking a little inside.is this blood sugar issues
ten pounds a week seems to work for me. Always includes a half pound of tortillas and a tote sack of gorp of some kind.
coach lou
09-08-2012, 07:49
my apple pies are too heavy? but they are so tassssty. my last weekend hike (before LT) my friend looked like he was going to knock me out and steal it from me :P
(otherwise i dunno what you mean)
That is why I took 2 pieces of mud pie when I hiked with Hikerboieeeee!
my food bag weighs 8-10 lbs thats with Breakfast,lunches,Dinners, and snacks enough food for 6 days.
Kerosene
09-08-2012, 17:33
does anyone else hit that i couldnt eat enough stage on around the afternoon of the third dayMy appetite is typically suppressed until Day 8 or so when it starts to kick into high gear, so I rarely go hungry on my annual 7-9 day section hikes. Of course, that doesn't stop me from chowing down on something I've been craving when I reach town.
Hairbear
09-09-2012, 07:59
That is why I took 2 pieces of mud pie when I hiked with Hikerboieeeee!with his leg going out you could have run in circles in front of him and ate them both ....grin
hikerboy57
09-09-2012, 08:11
the crazy part was he didnt break it out until the second night.carried it for a day and a half!
Every time I see the title of this thread I want to post:
300 lbs, what's it to you?
Wise Old Owl
09-09-2012, 08:39
Stop overthinking things. It isn't about calorie to weight ratio, it is about quality of life. Sitting at a vista with an apple is so much more satisfying that trying to shove down some oaty-nutty-junk. I have brought an entire bag of apples on the trail before and loved every mile I was carrying them..
Planning is an important part of any trip - you don't want to carry too much or not enough. Its also important to avoid things that crush or if its a powder - it must remain dry in the pack, some here have mentioned packing failures and going hungry after a rain storm in the past. I don't see that as over-thinking, however a small group have done the trail on High calorie, fatty junk food alone.
coach lou
09-09-2012, 08:44
the crazy part was he didnt break it out until the second night.carried it for a day and a half!
I never showed you the Marine Corps issued refrigeration unit I sometimes carry. When I winter hike, naturally I don't need to carry it.
hikerboy57
09-09-2012, 08:47
met a guy named shelter stu in the 100 mile,had hiked in 7 bottles of wine,as well as a taylor guitar, out of abol bridge.
no chocolate cake though
coach lou
09-09-2012, 08:52
met a guy named shelter stu in the 100 mile,had hiked in 7 bottles of wine,as well as a taylor guitar, out of abol bridge.
no chocolate cake though
Chocolate is on top of my food pyramid.
Last New Years, Sherrie and I went to Riga Shelter, I brought the Cake and a bottle of Asti'.:D
Monkeywrench
09-09-2012, 09:34
Depends on whether I'm just out for a weekend, or thru-hiking. A coupe months into my thru-hike I would often leave town with a 15 lb food bag, containing something like:
- 1 jar peanut butter
- 1 jat Nutella
- 1 box dry cereal (poured into a zip-loc bag)
- 1 envelope dry milk
- 3 or 4 packages Carnation instant breakfast
- 6 English muffins (or a package of tortillas, or some other form of bread)
- 3 packages beef jerky
- a very large bag of gorp
- 3 or 4 Lipton side packages (depending on number of days to next town)
- 3 or 4 foil packs of tuna or spam singles (one for each dinner)
- 1 package pre-cooked bacon (yum! makes sandwiches more palatable)
- 3 or 4 giant snickers bars
- 3 or 4 tea bags (one for each evening)
- 1 box of some kind of crackers or other snack food, emptied into a zip-loc bag
If I planned for 4 days and managed the section in 3, I would be ecstatic on the last day because I would have twice as much food to eat.
colorado_rob
09-09-2012, 13:43
Just another "vote" here... I need 1.75 pounds a day of fairly high caloric (relatively high fat) food per day to not lose too much weight on a long trip. I'm a 185 pound male. My wife, at 125 pounds needs about 1.5 pounds per day. This includes packaging, but we keep that as light as possible (dehydrated meals all go into small zip-locks, for example). We shoot for 135 calories per ounce on average, probably more like 125-130 when it is all said done (again, including packaging). This means about 3600 calories for me, 3100 for my wife per day. During a re-supply, of course, we eat like pigs to try to recover the (hopefully) modest weight loss due to inevitable slight calorie deficit.
Just our tried and true little method.