Got to agree with this. Stay light. Take a couple extra super noodles maybe.
Spec me hiking food
- Thread starter mufcmark
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Got to agree with this. Stay light. Take a couple extra super noodles maybe.
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Then your meal plan listed above will be fine.
Herein lies your problem...
Throw the trangias off a mountain and buy a sweet pressure stove
jk, they are good... but can take forever.
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Malt Loaf
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Malt Loaf (squash the loaf flat so it takes up less room) for snacking or peshwari naan and always home made trail mix (nuts, chocolate, sweeties, salt).
Main meals try to get hold of some ration packs which are always good or waitrose do some similar boil in the bag style ready meals that are a good alternative when rat packs cannot be had.
Also bin the trangias and buy a gas stove, MSR pocket rocket is nice and small and lightweight and will fit with a can of gas neatly in a mess tin. Trangias are more trouble than they are worth.
Emergency rations are always a 4 or 6 pack of snickers with a couple of hot chocolates taped to it job done.
Main meals try to get hold of some ration packs which are always good or waitrose do some similar boil in the bag style ready meals that are a good alternative when rat packs cannot be had.
Also bin the trangias and buy a gas stove, MSR pocket rocket is nice and small and lightweight and will fit with a can of gas neatly in a mess tin. Trangias are more trouble than they are worth.
Emergency rations are always a 4 or 6 pack of snickers with a couple of hot chocolates taped to it job done.
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Herein lies your problem...
Throw the trangias off a mountain and buy a sweet pressure stove
jk, they are good... but can take forever.
That's kinda why I asked what he was doing as I assumed it was a DoE expedition, which means he'll be carrying enough equipment to house a small army (at least in weight).
3 Day hike will easily fit into a 40L bag and weigh at max 15kg with a day or twos worth of water... I'm guessing his bag is nearer 70L and 30kg if previous DoE kit is anything to go by!
EDIT: And yep, Pocket rocket all the way, pair it with a Primus EtaPower Pot and you're laughing. Light, small and cooks stuff faster than a home gas stove...
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cant beat the army ratpacks! very nice meals!
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So true, for Ten Tors all I ever took was a 45L bag which is more than enough for 2-3 days, yet when I saw people on DofE it was always huuuuuge bags and still carrying sleeping bags and roll mats on the outside of their rucksacks (pro tip: never do this).
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I do that... Sleeping bag on the outside, but it is in a waterproof stuff sack and a 3 season down bag. No way will it fit into my 35L bag with photography equipment...
See your problem there is you are using a stuff sack. If you fold your sleeping bag it will pack muuuch smaller and use a flat mat rather than a roll mat.
Always pack flat rather than rolling and you will save so much space.
edit: although it is a 3 season down bag so probably rather large in the first place.
I'm sure I've tried folding things in the past but I'll definately give it a try, thanks.
TBH though it's more an issue with the bag size, I carry a small tripod, DSLR and 3 lenses as well as walking stuff which means a 35L bag really is too small to have everything on the inside.
TBH though it's more an issue with the bag size, I carry a small tripod, DSLR and 3 lenses as well as walking stuff which means a 35L bag really is too small to have everything on the inside.
Another vote for malt loaf. I take a few with me when I'm out. It compresses down to near nothing and at almost 1000 cal/loaf it packs a punch!
Chorizo is really good if you need meat, it can easy survive a weekend without a fridge, you can stick it in sandwiches for your lunch, or fry it a bit with some rice and pasta for dinner.
Something really good I learnt in Yosemite was "big wall paste"
Mix together in a big tub: Peanut butter, Trail mix, Honey, Smarties and a bit of flour to reduce the stickiness. You can either eat it as a snack, or spread it on pita bread/tortillas for lunch.Doesn't sound great, but it's a good pick-me-up, especially at 10am on Sunday morning when your socks are already wet and the rain hasn't stopped since 8pm Friday.
On the subject, don't underestimate the importance of chocolate as a mental feel-good food.
Chorizo is really good if you need meat, it can easy survive a weekend without a fridge, you can stick it in sandwiches for your lunch, or fry it a bit with some rice and pasta for dinner.
Something really good I learnt in Yosemite was "big wall paste"
Mix together in a big tub: Peanut butter, Trail mix, Honey, Smarties and a bit of flour to reduce the stickiness. You can either eat it as a snack, or spread it on pita bread/tortillas for lunch.Doesn't sound great, but it's a good pick-me-up, especially at 10am on Sunday morning when your socks are already wet and the rain hasn't stopped since 8pm Friday.On the subject, don't underestimate the importance of chocolate as a mental feel-good food.
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Muffins / malt loaf. Anything with lots of carbs.
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If he can store them properly yep
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I'm hoping to get my kit in a 50L bag and under 15Kg for 6 months of hiking. It's proving quite hard though due to the amount of water needing to be carried, and some parts of the hike will require ice axes and crampons. But yeah, when I did the DOE my rucksack was huge and heavy and could have been made much lighter. Ultra light backpacking is the way forward.
6 months in one go? What you up to? What photog gear are you taking as well? Just go by dry weight to begin with (ie without food and water). How much water? If it's mountains it shouldn't be too bad I would have thought as you should be able to resupply from streams?
All depends on the tent... Poles would sit nicely attached to the back of your bag, rest would depend on the tent and what they are made of.
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Yup. I'm hoping to do the Pacific Crest Trail next year. Mexico to Canada. It's 2650 miles over 4.5-6 months, averaging about 20 miles a day. I can walk 20 miles a day. I can carry 20-25Kg of kit. But doing both of those at the same time, while in hot conditions, up a mountain, for days on end. My weight needs to come down!
At the moment my dry weight is 8.8Kg. Or at least it is for the start sections, before I add bear canisters, ice axe and crampons. The desert sections will also need 5-8 litres of water a day which adds significant weight. Add on to that enough food for up to 8 days at a time and the kit gets heavy.
At the moment I have a spreadsheet trying to work out my kit list etc, and I am slowly shedding the odd gram here and there, but there is only so much I can lose, and unfortunately water weighs what water weighs. It's not like I can buy or find light water, lol.
Once I get into the mountains I pick up the extra kit, but I can also carry a lot less water and just rely on the water filter and rivers. If I can get my average kit down to 15Kg I will be a happy man. Also trying to keep the GFs kit to under 10Kg.
As for camera kit, unfortunately the DSLR stays at home. Am going to buy a point and shoot or some sort of range finder (Nikon Evil when it comes out?) to keep the weight down without compromising image quality too much. Well excited by the idea of the trip though. Just need to battle through paperwork and visa fun first though.