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Shroomism said:
The idea is to get the most calorie-packed, nutrient-dense food per ounce as possible...
I find some people eat like shit on the trail, while others eat like kings...
I follow the eat like a king philosophy. Because your body needs it.
If you starve your body, it will punish you for it.

I personally avoid anything "instant" or made with bleached white flour.
Things like ramen, instant oatmeal, 'minute' rice, generally all starch and no nutrients. "Nutrient-Void" foods I call them. go with whole grains.
The only exception is maybe those fancy freeze dried just add water meals which I might have once in a while
but they are expensive and it's better to just make your own dehydrated meals
If I have oatmeal it's steel cut oats. Soak in water for an hour or two before, cooks up in about 10 mins, throw in some raisins and honey

Trail mix (Gorp) is a major source of calories and fats.
I make my own with a variety of super nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews, sunflower/pumpkin seeds, dried fruit, chocolate (70%+ cacao), etc)
I throw hemp seed into my trail mix for a super boost. best plant based protein you can get, one of the single most nutritious foods on the planet for humans.
Shit, you could live on just the hemp seed alone, and healthily... but I need some variety.
Nuts & Seeds are one of the best sources of calorie dense foods.

Beef & Salmon Jerky are excellent. Tuna in the foil packs is a necessary for me.
I always bring Peanut Butter & honey. Calorie packed and nom nom nom
Any form of Nut butter is good as a nutrient dense food. (Almond Butter, Hempseed..)
Flatbread. Keeps for a longer time, doesn't get smashed, and so you can make tuna pitas and peanut butter and honey sandwiches
Cheese. I crave cheese on the trail (for the calcium, I think..and the opiate release). Who the fuck doesn't love cheese?
So I usually bring some cheese with me. A nice hard/firm cheese is the safest bet as it will stay good longer.

You especially need to get your vegetables and greens on the trail, but that can be exceptionally hard.
If you have a dehydrator, you can make your own dehydrated veggies/beans soup for pennies, prepare beforehand, and then just add to boiling water.
Things like seaweed, kelp, spirulina, kale and other "supergreens" are super nutrient dense and a very good idea. I found these dried kelp chips that I love.
Oils. I usually bring a small thing of Olive Oil with me. Add it to anything pretty much, tons of calories and healthy fats.
I know backpackers that will just drink a shot of olive oil for a calorie boost

Fruit is an absolute necessity. But you can't just bring whole fresh fruit, it would weigh 500 lbs. That's why you bring dehydrated fruit.
A dehydrator is worth it's weight in gold for creating your own backpacking meals.

It can be a bit of a challenge to get sufficient calories on the trail, but if you plan ahead it's not that hard.
Spending a ton of money on freeze dried, sodium loaded "backpacking meals" is just not an option IMO
Neither is living solely off Cliff Bars. Energy bars and candy bars, should just be a thing you eat sparingly,
You should be eating good "healthy" food throughout the day, also drink PLENTY of water.
But when backpacking especially, that's a good excuse to eat like a king.
The KEY is to plan your meals in advance and get the most lightweight, nutrient-dense, calorie rich foods possible pretty much.
Also I guess it's generally accepted when it comes to backpacking that SIMPLE carbs are more the desired form rather than complex carbs.

Instead of eating a couple big meals, I eat a bunch of little meals and snack steadily throughout the day
This also helps stabilize your metabolism and blood sugar and ensure you don't get a "crash".
I think the saying goes, snack early, snack often?
An example of my backpacking meal routine would look something like this:

breakfast: oatmeal / granola / rice with raisins/honey/fruit
snack on GORP. Swedish Fish.
lunch: pita+peanut butter or tuna, dried fruit, cheese/crackers
snack2: jerky & GORP
dinner: homemade "premixed" dehydrated veggie soup / couscous&veggies / pasta / beans&rice
snack3: dried fruit. kelp chips, high fat crackers, Red Vines / chocolate
Powdered Emergen-C drinks or similar electrolyte mixes for flavor and Vit C (plain water gets boring)
whey-protein or hempseed protein drink (mix w/ water)


The best way to eat on the trail, (and also the only way to really get 4k+ calories a day) is to snack often, consistently throughout the day, with smaller meals in between.
You can get as creative and crazy as you want. I suggest a dehydrator if you want to be for real deal about it.
If you make your own meals, it may take a bit of thought and preparation but it pays off.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=13490
http://www.adventurealan.com/food_general.htm
http://www.backpackingchef.com/
http://sectionhiker.com/long-distance-backpacking-meals/

Following these and similar methods, 5,000 'healthy' calories a day is attainable

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Sardines are good too.. the one I get are already deboned. At least I think they are I eat them whole anyway.

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Real CA Milk said:
Thanks for the response..... how do you go about cooking beans and rice n the trail?

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Real CA Milk said:
Thanks for the response..... how do you go about cooking beans and rice n the trail?

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Ieponumos said:

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Real CA Milk said:
Thanks for the response..... how do you go about cooking beans and rice n the trail?

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Penny stove.

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Shroomism said:
If you don't want to make one, the guy on that page who makes them, sells a whole penny stove kit for $20. (Last I checked)

I would highly recommend one. They are a lot more durable than you would think.
They cook as fast (or even faster) than many fancy $100+ gas backpacking stoves.
Extremely fuel efficient.  A capful of denatured alcohol is enough to boil a pot of water.
And you can get fuel pretty much anywhere. Denatured alcohol is best, and can be found at any hardware store. (like $10 a gallon..)
You can even use HEET or multiple other white fuels. But denatured is the best, cleanest burning?, very efficient for a penny stove, cheap and readily available

Or just get a regular backpacking stove. Then carry 2+ lbs of weight just in the stove assembly and have to buy fuel or get your canisters refilled all the time.
Penny stoves main advantages is that they are super lightweight, takes very little space, and boil water as good as any other stove out there, usually on less fuel. But the main thing is the fuel is easy to get anywhere. They are also SUPER simple to operate, and pretty much no moving parts so it's hard to mess them up.

I ended up ditching my $140 MSI Whisperlite (how much it cost when I got it) for a penny stove. Just saying.
The "lightweight camping stove" was even a pain in my ass. So clunky, so many moving parts, shit would break and you would have to find replacement parts. Pretty much had to carry a 'stove repair kit'. Not to mention the fuel, which you would either have to buy new canisters or get your shit refilled at a camping store.

Penny stove is fucking awesome. Pour in alcohol, light. No moving parts to break, just a couple tiny holes and it produces a nice steady flame.
The only 'major' downside is you have little control over the intensity of the flame, there's no low/medium/high. It's just medium/high.
Perfect for boiling water and good enough for cooking most anything.

The only thing I haven't been able to really cook on my stove, is a big giant ass frying pan for bacon&eggs. But a regular frying pan works fine.
But that's car camping. No one is taking bacon and eggs and massive cast iron frying pans backpacking, unless they are crazy.
And in that case you can just use one of those big ass $40 coleman stoves, or cook it on the fire. (Never cook titanium or aluminum on the fire).
And I don't recommend an aluminum pot for health reasons. You can research if you want. Some people don't care, I err on the side of caution.

I pretty much use one pot for everything. I have a MSR non-stick Titanium Pot, the lid is deep and doubles as a frying pan.
Very similar to this one, but I only have one pot/lid, my stove and most of my kitchen stuff fits inside it when I'm packed up

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