What are your favorite lightweight backpacking foods?

[Serafim]

I usually go with oatmeal, ramen, and trail mix as my staples, but I am doing a 7 day backpacking trip with my friends, and I can't live off of that stuff for that long.

What are some of your favorite (lightweight) backpacking foods?

 

[jason]

I've heard of packets called "goo" that are concentrated protein and sugar for energy. I hear they taste really bad, but that is one solution. Trail mix is always good.

Pumpkin seeds are a good thing to take if you do not like sunflower seeds.

I love to make smoked beef jerky. That always goes over well also.

 

[Barney]

For first two or three days I prefer usually prepared sandwiches because they can last only so long. Oatmeal and brown rice are good choice for longer journeys because they have good slow-burning carbohydrates that provide constant supply of energy.

I used to carry some compressed foods and some protein bars but they are expensive and they are not that compressed

 

[treker09]

I have used the freeze dried army food packets before and they are surprisingly good. How about some fresh fruit as well like apples or bananas? Being a southerner grits are always a hit too.

 

[HereToday]

Peanuts in any form are a favourite of mine. I like mixing peanuts and raisins, taking a mess of peanut butter and honey/jam sandwiches, and peanuts in trail mix and energy bars, and (confession) peanut M&Ms! I also like dried apricots and hot chocolate mix to take along with my tea bags.

 

[Buster]

I like macadamia nuts for fat and protein. They provide long term energy that burns slowly. I also like those little fruit snacks that we put in my kids' lunch for school. They are a quick sugar and carbohydrate boost.

 

[katharina]

I have used the freeze dried army food packets before and they are surprisingly good. How about some fresh fruit as well like apples or bananas? Being a southerner grits are always a hit too.

Some of the MREs are pretty good, yes. My favorite is a trail mix that has a lot of dried pineapple... I really like that stuff. :tinysmile_fatgrin_t It's a tropical-type mix although I realize that more nuts would be better protein. I usually choose a mix that has the pineapple *and* some nuts... cashew is the best!

 

[Chris]

I adore freeze dried fruit. It's lightweight and you can reconstitute it with water if you wish to have cooked fruit. But one cannot live on fruit alone-although I've tried it. You need nuts also for the protein they provide. And yes the MREs aren't bad, especially if you've been hiking all day long and are hungry. They are easy to carry and aren't too awfully expensive. Have a good journey and have fun!

 

[Camoguy]

I love the MREs they have now. They have really spiced things up lately. There are a lot of options and variety now, much more than times past. I just go to the
Army surplus and load up.

 

[Newanderthal]

MRE's are good as long as you get rid of the extra packaging. There's only about 100 lbs of cardboard and plastic per meal that could be tossed before the trip.

My favorite is instant brown rice, dried summer sausage, and a 1/2 tsp of brown gravy mix. Toss that in my little pot with some water and heat on my alcohol stove. 7 minutes later, supper is done.

 

[hummingbird]

Beef jerky and trail mix. I love it. I have to have a lot of peanuts too because I love peanuts-just my preference. Peanut butter and crackers are also a good choice. Carry the peanut butter and crackers separately until you get ready to eat it. Add in a small bear shaped container of honey and you can have honey peanut butter on crackers. Mmmmmm good!

 

[coolbuddy]

We just returned from our 2 days camping trip. I still have the lists of food I packed the other day. I brought 2 packs of oatmeal, 2 packs dried mango, 3 cups of instant noodles, 5 pakcs of 3in1 coffeemix and banana chips. These food are very convenient to carry.

 

[RoughRider]

Dried fruit is always a favorite of mine. I could eat dried pineapple forever if I had to. I also like coconut and banana chips. But just about any dried fruit and nut mixture I like. I also carry M & Ms for the quick sugar boost if I'm on a longer hike.

 

[FernGully]

I haven't gone out for longer than a weekend, but I took those cheese cracker sandwiches and my almond and raisin mix and energy drink or flavored water. If I want something more substantial I'll fish.

 

[calanta]

Its trail mix hands down, always has been always will be (unless the trail mix people come out with something new). Right now I am lucky since my local store tends to have this on sale a ton or the supplies to make your own.

 

[sh4d0wm4573ri7]

Rice hot cereal ramen as you mentioned and a foil or two of one each tuna and chicken to add to noodles sausage cheese crackers. I dehydrate my own mostly so It depends on my mood . I have rice hardtack bouillon cubes cracked corn bannock mix as my staples

 

[Amelie]

I always take trail mix but my favourite is a great big slab of Kendal Mint Cake. Just one square helps me through sugar and energy lows.

 

[donbar]

I focus on calorie-dense food like hard boiled eggs for protein and fat (leave 'em in the shell until ready to eat!), canned Vienna sausage, hard salami and cheese, and mixed nuts. Beef jerky is nice but expensive!

 

[LUV4NATURE]

ok this is my stuff it's called peanut butter balls, is a mix of cornflakes(any kind), peanut butter, corn syrup and sugar. u heat up everything but the flakes, then mix it all, don't let it cool to much, scoop a big tablespoon and make balls. let then cool off and put them in zip locks bags. is the best if u like PB of course.
ps. use butter in ur hands so it doesn't stick to them.

 

[Grandpa]

Whoa..... all of the above ideas are great for a day hike or overnighter but seven days? You have the right idea serafin, a better variety is necessary. I usually alternate breakfasts with your oatmeal and freeze dried. ( I prefer Mt House Scrabbled eggs with Ham. The eggs and bacon have the eggs and a few little specks in the bottom they call the bacon, but the eggs and ham have a LOT of ham as well as some peppers etc to spice it up.) I usually plan 3-4 packets of oatmeal per meal and then just use what my appetite says is enough, usually two packets. I also plan 2 out of 3 main evening meals for freeze dried alternating with ramen for the 3rd. I still buy the serving for two packets but split it between two meals. I also carry 3 or 4 extra ramens as just in cases. I love Mt houses' Chicken Polynesian and Sweet and Sour Pork entrees. Friends prefer some of the other menus. For lunches, flat breads, flour torts, pita breads etc coupled with premixed chicken salad, tuna salad, ham salad (bumblebee makes these in little sets with crackers but they need a little more bread for me) I also break down a large bag of trail mix into the snack size ziplocks, one for each day for trail snacking. I usually throw in a couple of energy bars for day hiking, prefering snickers marathon flavors. For beverages, the gatorade packets work well as well as wal-marts GV drink packets. I also throw in several cocoa packets, preferring two packets in a 16 oz mix. Following this general menu plan, My typical food sack for 10 days including cook kit, stove and 2 fuel cannisters will be around 15 lbs, and usually have enough left over for an emergency day or two. For me, MRE's are way too heavy for any long hike. The commercial freeze dried meals also have way more flavor as well as more calories. If you are a coffee or tea drinker, the singles work well as well as freeze dried.