Non-perishable, but lightweight foods for backpacking
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midwesterner85 wrote: »Use your straw to drink out of your water container! You can fill it up with stream water and do that so you can keep moving. 48-lbs for 3-days is heavy. Good luck next time!
It was 48 lbs. for 6 days. Still pretty heavy. I brought more food than I really even needed and had clothes that I probably didn't need such as a wool hat and down jacket because I thought it would be colder. I always end up bringing too much.
I usually pack too heavy also! I have a friend who is into ultra-light backpacking and he was telling me some number and if I remember right he could do a 6-day on 25-lbs or something like that. I may be off on that but there are folks who have it down and can go light.0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »Use your straw to drink out of your water container! You can fill it up with stream water and do that so you can keep moving. 48-lbs for 3-days is heavy. Good luck next time!
It was 48 lbs. for 6 days. Still pretty heavy. I brought more food than I really even needed and had clothes that I probably didn't need such as a wool hat and down jacket because I thought it would be colder. I always end up bringing too much.
I usually pack too heavy also! I have a friend who is into ultra-light backpacking and he was telling me some number and if I remember right he could do a 6-day on 25-lbs or something like that. I may be off on that but there are folks who have it down and can go light.
Yes, that just makes me nervous. Also, I would have to add a couple lbs. for medical supplies on top of what others would pack... plus the low carb food options (which is why I created this thread). I did find that protein powder and powdered eggs are probably the lightest items. In hind-sight, I should have brought that for nearly all my food in order to get the most bang for my blender bottle weight. At least I brought a small and light-weight stove... but I never used it. I only ended up eating the summer sausage and nuts.
On the water topic, an ultra-light backpacker suggested the stuff (can't remember the name - maybe Aquamira?) that has 2 parts where you basically make bleach on the trail and add it to a water bottle. I've tried the bottles and just don't like it for a few reasons. First, I sweat a whole lot and I need a whole lot of water. So not having a good long-term filter is just plain devastating. To filter that amount of water every time I cross a stream is going to take way too long (5 min. to mix the solution before even adding to the contaminated water - then waiting even longer to drink it - in some places, crossings are infrequent enough that I would have to clean, drink, and repeat 2-3 times and lose a lot of time). Second, any system where I have to scoop water into a container first (this includes the Sawyer Squeeze filter) is sub-par to the Katadyn that can be used even from an extremely shallow stream. Third, I like having water right next to my lips when I want to drink - which is often. The bite valve is much better than having to try to reach back to my pack for a bottle (which for my current pack, that means taking it off completely).
Finally, I have a heavy pack at >6 lbs. empty. The first step if I really want to go ultra-light is to get a lighter pack... but I don't want to sacrifice more comfort than I gain with lower weight.0 -
Use your straw to drink out of your water container! You can fill it up with stream water and do that so you can keep moving. 48-lbs for 3-days is heavy. Good luck next time!
Only problem with that is you need to sanitize your bottles VERY carefully after or you can get nasty bugs from unpurified/unfiltered water left in lid crevices or inside bottle walls. Water is always the heaviest part of a pack. Tough to carry enough if you are in an area without readily accessible streams or lakes.0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »Use your straw to drink out of your water container! You can fill it up with stream water and do that so you can keep moving. 48-lbs for 3-days is heavy. Good luck next time!
It was 48 lbs. for 6 days. Still pretty heavy. I brought more food than I really even needed and had clothes that I probably didn't need such as a wool hat and down jacket because I thought it would be colder. I always end up bringing too much.
I usually pack too heavy also! I have a friend who is into ultra-light backpacking and he was telling me some number and if I remember right he could do a 6-day on 25-lbs or something like that. I may be off on that but there are folks who have it down and can go light.
Yes, that just makes me nervous. Also, I would have to add a couple lbs. for medical supplies on top of what others would pack... plus the low carb food options (which is why I created this thread). I did find that protein powder and powdered eggs are probably the lightest items. In hind-sight, I should have brought that for nearly all my food in order to get the most bang for my blender bottle weight. At least I brought a small and light-weight stove... but I never used it. I only ended up eating the summer sausage and nuts.
On the water topic, an ultra-light backpacker suggested the stuff (can't remember the name - maybe Aquamira?) that has 2 parts where you basically make bleach on the trail and add it to a water bottle. I've tried the bottles and just don't like it for a few reasons. First, I sweat a whole lot and I need a whole lot of water. So not having a good long-term filter is just plain devastating. To filter that amount of water every time I cross a stream is going to take way too long (5 min. to mix the solution before even adding to the contaminated water - then waiting even longer to drink it - in some places, crossings are infrequent enough that I would have to clean, drink, and repeat 2-3 times and lose a lot of time). Second, any system where I have to scoop water into a container first (this includes the Sawyer Squeeze filter) is sub-par to the Katadyn that can be used even from an extremely shallow stream. Third, I like having water right next to my lips when I want to drink - which is often. The bite valve is much better than having to try to reach back to my pack for a bottle (which for my current pack, that means taking it off completely).
Finally, I have a heavy pack at >6 lbs. empty. The first step if I really want to go ultra-light is to get a lighter pack... but I don't want to sacrifice more comfort than I gain with lower weight.
I use a large gravity fed water filter. It filters a lot of water very quickly without any pumping! It works great in groups. Just scoop up a large amount of water and hang from a tree. Doesn't work well in shallow water sources or trying to get in-between rocks.0 -
canadjineh wrote: »Use your straw to drink out of your water container! You can fill it up with stream water and do that so you can keep moving. 48-lbs for 3-days is heavy. Good luck next time!
Only problem with that is you need to sanitize your bottles VERY carefully after or you can get nasty bugs from unpurified/unfiltered water left in lid crevices or inside bottle walls. Water is always the heaviest part of a pack. Tough to carry enough if you are in an area without readily accessible streams or lakes.
Yep, don't want to forget and take a drink out of a non-filtered bottle but it is an option if water sources are far apart and you need to carry water and the only thing you have is a straw.0 -
canadjineh wrote: »Use your straw to drink out of your water container! You can fill it up with stream water and do that so you can keep moving. 48-lbs for 3-days is heavy. Good luck next time!
Only problem with that is you need to sanitize your bottles VERY carefully after or you can get nasty bugs from unpurified/unfiltered water left in lid crevices or inside bottle walls. Water is always the heaviest part of a pack. Tough to carry enough if you are in an area without readily accessible streams or lakes.
Yep, don't want to forget and take a drink out of a non-filtered bottle but it is an option if water sources are far apart and you need to carry water and the only thing you have is a straw.
Water crossings were not terribly far apart, but I was sweating enough that it didn't take long to be thirsty again. Most of the water crossings were very shallow, though. They were small streams created by snow melting from above, so it was only running as quickly as the snow could melt. Leaning down with the heavy pack wasn't working, so I had to take my pack off and on again each time I drank; which meant I passed over a few opportunities just because it was just a pain to do that.0 -
We don't refrigerate our eggs, do you guys? Eggs I imagine might be difficult to carry.0
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getfitchelle wrote: »We don't refrigerate our eggs, do you guys? Eggs I imagine might be difficult to carry.
Eggs are difficult to carry, but powdered eggs in a freezer-grade plastic ziploc are easy to carry. The freezer-grade plastic bags can withstand very hot water. The plan was to put powdered eggs in a bag, then heat water and pour enough into the bag to re-hydrate the eggs. Seal it up and mix by shaking / rolling the bag. It's best to have a handkerchief or gloves because the bag will feel hot. When fully mixed, open it up and eat out of the bag (bring a spoon).0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »canadjineh wrote: »Use your straw to drink out of your water container! You can fill it up with stream water and do that so you can keep moving. 48-lbs for 3-days is heavy. Good luck next time!
Only problem with that is you need to sanitize your bottles VERY carefully after or you can get nasty bugs from unpurified/unfiltered water left in lid crevices or inside bottle walls. Water is always the heaviest part of a pack. Tough to carry enough if you are in an area without readily accessible streams or lakes.
Yep, don't want to forget and take a drink out of a non-filtered bottle but it is an option if water sources are far apart and you need to carry water and the only thing you have is a straw.
Water crossings were not terribly far apart, but I was sweating enough that it didn't take long to be thirsty again. Most of the water crossings were very shallow, though. They were small streams created by snow melting from above, so it was only running as quickly as the snow could melt. Leaning down with the heavy pack wasn't working, so I had to take my pack off and on again each time I drank; which meant I passed over a few opportunities just because it was just a pain to do that.
Carry your water so you don't have to stop often. It would be worth it to carry enough to go at least a couple of miles at a time. I drink a lot when I hike also, probably about a 16 oz bottle for every 1.0-miles going up and about 1/3 of that going down.0 -
Bumped - and @baconslave can we add this to the open threads page?1
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