If cheap and light weight is what the OP is mainly focused on, then yes, can't agree more. Lol
Best Pack Food
- Thread starter -JoeDirt-
- Start date
Help Support Long Range Hunting Forum
Ua26fitter
Well-Known Member
Was just digging through some stuff and remembered another favorite meal this summer was Heather's Choice. The smoked Sockeye salmon chowder is great!! Not available all the time so I just stocked up on it since they have it.
I'm going to try the Bison Chili with this order.
I also like their packaroons for a snack.
I'm going to try the Bison Chili with this order.
I also like their packaroons for a snack.
brant89
Well-Known Member
Didn't read all the comments here, but my 5 day food list is as follows:
10 single serve packs of instant coffee
10 single serve packs of electrolyte mix
20oz of Barilla dried tortellini
10 packs of maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal
10 grape Uncrustable PB&J sandwiches
40oz of Mountain Trail Mix
This weighs a total of 6.25lb, yields about 2300 calories per day, and costs less than $60. Way cheaper than any pre-packaged meals, tastes great, and I usually end up with a couple packs of oatmeal left over.
10 single serve packs of instant coffee
10 single serve packs of electrolyte mix
20oz of Barilla dried tortellini
10 packs of maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal
10 grape Uncrustable PB&J sandwiches
40oz of Mountain Trail Mix
This weighs a total of 6.25lb, yields about 2300 calories per day, and costs less than $60. Way cheaper than any pre-packaged meals, tastes great, and I usually end up with a couple packs of oatmeal left over.
Last edited:
In my backpacking, I have actually trended away from expensive pre-packaged stuff and towards cheap and simple over the years. Maybe I'm lucky to have simple tastes. In any case I find simple things like oatmeal and pasta to be a lot easier to pack, and I'm always having to work with the very small volume of a bear cannister, so I now instinctively avoid anything that looks like it has bulky or heavy packaging. I like stuff in a thin, light plastic bag that I can open, take what I want, and re-seal.
I usually carry a small peanut butter jar full of pasta sauce and have pasta on night one. That is my luxury meal. Night two is usually the same type of pasta (from the same light plastic bag) but with mac and cheese powder. The next two nights is usually oatmeal and maybe some sort of rice dish (like zatarains red beans and rice). I carry sausage or cheese for protein, along with peanut butter ... you can get the little tubs or squeeze bags, but I have found that if you save a little zip lock snack bag (the type that has the foil lining) and just put the peanut butter in there, it's really flat and easy to pack and that sort of bag works well. It doesn't leak or have any seepage. I usually carry some salad or veggies for the first few nights and then have supergreens powder (again in a simple little bag with a twisty) for my veggies after that. Various granola/oatmeal bars and something salty (electrolytes) and greasy (fats) for lunch, a long with some small fruits for the first few days. Nuts are good too. Nutritious and pack well.
Also for protein I often take a pouch of salmon. The last one was Patagonia brand and it was good. A cheaper option is tuna pouches. That is great for protein and fats after you have eaten all your cheese or sausage.
In the end, the packaging is not taking up much volume or making it difficult to pack and weighs very little. This simple packaging can also be re-purposed if you need it (for example trash storage). And it makes it very easy to be able to customize how much you cook and eat at a time, as opposed to having to open and cook a whole package of something. And super cheap!
If you are doing longer trips, freeze dried stuff could be great, especially for protein and veggies. But for shorter trips, I just haven't found it to be worth the cost and often bulky packaging.
I did order a bunch of meals from Hawk Vittles at one point, and they were good. I liked some more than others. I thought they were better than the Mountain House class of meals.
I usually carry a small peanut butter jar full of pasta sauce and have pasta on night one. That is my luxury meal. Night two is usually the same type of pasta (from the same light plastic bag) but with mac and cheese powder. The next two nights is usually oatmeal and maybe some sort of rice dish (like zatarains red beans and rice). I carry sausage or cheese for protein, along with peanut butter ... you can get the little tubs or squeeze bags, but I have found that if you save a little zip lock snack bag (the type that has the foil lining) and just put the peanut butter in there, it's really flat and easy to pack and that sort of bag works well. It doesn't leak or have any seepage. I usually carry some salad or veggies for the first few nights and then have supergreens powder (again in a simple little bag with a twisty) for my veggies after that. Various granola/oatmeal bars and something salty (electrolytes) and greasy (fats) for lunch, a long with some small fruits for the first few days. Nuts are good too. Nutritious and pack well.
Also for protein I often take a pouch of salmon. The last one was Patagonia brand and it was good. A cheaper option is tuna pouches. That is great for protein and fats after you have eaten all your cheese or sausage.
In the end, the packaging is not taking up much volume or making it difficult to pack and weighs very little. This simple packaging can also be re-purposed if you need it (for example trash storage). And it makes it very easy to be able to customize how much you cook and eat at a time, as opposed to having to open and cook a whole package of something. And super cheap!
If you are doing longer trips, freeze dried stuff could be great, especially for protein and veggies. But for shorter trips, I just haven't found it to be worth the cost and often bulky packaging.
I did order a bunch of meals from Hawk Vittles at one point, and they were good. I liked some more than others. I thought they were better than the Mountain House class of meals.
Last edited:
Hey I'm out there still and I keep it simple. I'm not a thru hiker but I have read and listened to a lot from that crowd (AT, PCT, JMT, etc.) and they tend to be more on the simple side as well, and they get down to brass tacks. They are focused on making sure they have the right fuel to allow their body to cover a lot of mileage and elevation every day and recover and do it all over again the next day. They all have their flavor preferences ..... it's not like they just eat flavorless gruel for energy, but they are focused on efficiency and not on frills. There is a podcast called Trail Correspondents where they actually interview tru hikers on the big trails while they are en route and talk to them about things like food. It's great to hear what those folks have to say because you know they are serious.
One thing I can tell you for sure .... there is not just one formula for everyone. Different people like different things when it comes to food selection. The other is that after a while out there you'll wish you had some fresh fruits and veggies. After being aggressively harassed about a banana that was visibly poking out of my bag on the JMT (not joking), I gave some mandarins to a girl who was doing the whole trail and she nearly cried out of gratitude.
One final thought ... I do like prunes for getting some of the benefits of fruits without having to carry them (bulky, heavy, and perishable).
W
Wyo37
Guest
Instant mashed potatoes, couscous, canned chicken (foil packets), spam singles, tuna, summer sausage, hard cheese, etc.
This reminds me that the instant potatoes are a staple for the thru hikers. A lot of them experiment with different types of flavor-adding packets to mix with them. I seem to recall someone using like some sort of enchilada type packet or something? I also remember a weird one like mixing the tuna in there with something else. Your backcountry appetite might be very different from your kickin back at home appetite. But the good news is that generally stuff tastes a lot better when you have been exerting yourself and sweating all day.
Paulyester
Member
I love the Mountainhouse meals. You can get them on sale for a pretty good price at Kroger's or Sierra sometime. I've also started dehydrating some of my own meals.
Just wanted to update this ... I decided to try the backpacker meals again to see if they had changed since I moved away from them years ago. I bought a Peak and Mountain House biscuits and gravy meal as well as a Good-to-Go chicken gumbo meal (I think it's vegetarian). I also got a Peak Southwest Pork meal but haven't eaten that one yet.
Frankly, I didn't like any of them all that much. I'd rather make my own oatmeal, pasta, red beans and rice, mac n cheese, etc. I actually thought the MountainHouse was better than the Peak. Maybe the other meals are better. I'll try some more.
I personally am going to continue on the track of finding food I can cook on my backpacking stove, and more efficient ways to cook and pack them.
Frankly, I didn't like any of them all that much. I'd rather make my own oatmeal, pasta, red beans and rice, mac n cheese, etc. I actually thought the MountainHouse was better than the Peak. Maybe the other meals are better. I'll try some more.
I personally am going to continue on the track of finding food I can cook on my backpacking stove, and more efficient ways to cook and pack them.
dfanonymous
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2016
- Messages
- 2,012
This last year I had a buddy who recommended pinnacle foods.
I've only had a handful of them, but so far they are good. Kind of low on calories but they taste fine enough.
I've only had a handful of them, but so far they are good. Kind of low on calories but they taste fine enough.
Montana'eer
Well-Known Member
Have you thought about making your own? In years past I have backpacked with potato powder, lentils and dried meats. Use a Nalgene to add your dinner portions with some water early in the day, they hydrate before dinner- cook it up, rinse the Nalgene and repeat. Personally we got lazy with the food and just opted for Mountain House- but you can do some pretty good self made meals.
A friend of mine way back about 30 years ago hiked the whole Appalachian Trail eating lentils, potatoes and dried meat, with dried fruit and nuts as lunches and snacks. He lost a crap ton of weight, and didn't much care for lentils anymore- but he did it, lol.
This guy has some interesting recipes. We have a dehydrator, and we pulled 70 lbs of potatoes from our garden this year. We're going to try and dehydrate our own to keep in our truck camper and for hunting.
Potato Bark | How to Dehydrate Mashed Potatoes for Backpacking Meals
To make potato bark, mash potatoes with vegetable or chicken broth, then spead thinly on dehydrator trays. Recipes for several trail meals.
www.backpackingchef.com
Dirtscoots
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2017
- Messages
- 52
Instant mashed potatoes and add water hash browns are so cheap I haven dabbled in the potato world of dehydrating. But that does look good I may have to try
