3000 Calorie Reserve Ideas?

[Alec Muthig]

My race (www.arrowheadultra.com) is less than two weeks away and I'm working down my last minute prep list. The race rules state that we must start and finish with 3000 (or more) calories in reserve as emergency food.

So far my choice is:
(2) sticks of butter (1600 calories)
(1) large bar of Hershey's dark chocolate (1150 calories)
(1) general energy bar to top it off (250 calories)

Better ideas? The fudge recipies listed in these threads would probably work well. (In a similar race, a friend carried 1000 calories of olive oil – and hoped he didn't have to drink it.)

[James Pitts]

fat has 9 cals/gram and carbos and protein have 4 cals/gram so a block of solid fat is probably the way to go… have a good source of blubber?

[Alec Muthig]

I'll have to check the freezer… :)

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Problem with the fudge is ya would want to eat it ;-)
Hello brick-o-lard. Hehheh!!

[Robert McGaughey]

I've been told that some serious mountaineers eat butter rolled in brown sugar. Butter for the calories in very cold weather and brown sugar to make it more palatable. Just a thought in case you really have to end up eating the butter! :)

PS I believe olive oil is very calorically dense. Maybe 400 calories per tablespoon?

[b d]

At about 250 calories per ounce lard isn't a bad choice for a "reserve". But I would go with peanut butter at about 200 -220 per ounce, and neither butter or lard were I seriously going to rely on the reserve. Olive oil runs around 247 calories per ounce, but storing it would be the issue. When I was a scuba diver with some pros who did it all the time we used to drink olive oil for our skin, to protect from salt water, and for energy and warmth when down over 50 feet. bd

[J R]

Carry a "3600" Mainstay bar.

I dont have one handy to weigh it… but its fairly light, compact, tightly packaged, and has 3600 calories packed away into nine 400 calorie "meals".

They wont leak, melt, or squish all over.

They taste like lemon sawdust, so you wont WANT to eat it… meaning you'll have it if you need it, and if you HAVE to eat it, its still better than sucking on a stick of butter.

[Brett .]

Alec; good luck on the race, but remember why those safety rules exist. Why not carry something you could actually eat if necessary; the Mainstay bar is 2.67oz. I could not choke down a mouthful of butter or oil; just the thought makes me gag. :)
Let us know what the race is like when you finish?

[Alec Muthig]

Thanks! I am Mr Safety, usually opting for safety rather than weight… surprisingly, I actually like butter. Never ate a whole stick, but have been known to eat a tablespoon of the stuff when it's out for baking. Mmmmmmm. I will look at the Mainstay bars though (although I thought Mainstay was a dogfood brand. :) )

[Gene .]

Alec try cocnut macaroons…according to the ones I'm eating now they have 170 calories per 2/ half dollar sized ones. You can really abuse them packing-wise, and they will taste good! Making your own is easy too.

[Moe Dog]

I'm sure this comes a little too late for your race, but…
You might try macadamia nuts – they have about 200 calories per ounce and I would consider far better tasting than just butter or olive oil.

[Ann Denny]

Alec, I'm with you on the butter thing. With just a little bit of carb (like cashew nuts or something), and a bit of sea salt to make it palatable, its a really good energy boost.

I'm very into traditional foods, and am soon going to try making my own beef jerky and pemmican. They are the ultimate trip foods, kept native american hunters on the go.. its good enough for me!

Am so glad to have come across this forum..
hello everyone!

[mark jernigan]

pemmican is beef fat and jerky mixed together last forever no cooking you can buy it at http://www.uswellnessmeat.com

[James Pitts]

i thought it had dried berries in it as well.

[cat morris]

Not one to be into beef fat, I rely on Bear Valley Meal Pack Pemmican:

http://www.mealpack.com/products/fruit_nut.html

[James Pitts]

I mean that's 'pemmican' as in a brand name, right? It's not pemmican as in the food. I have been interested in pemmican after reading a history book a few years ago but short of making it myself I never thought to be able to try some. I tried that link where it was said you could buy some but it doesn't work.

[cat morris]

Sorry- can't get it to create a hyperlink. However, if you just copy & paste the http it will take you right to Bear Valley Pemmican Meal Pack.

[James Pitts]

Sorry cat. I was talking about the earlier reference to pemmican being for sale at "www.uswellnessmeat.com". There doesn't seem to be a web site at that address.

[James Pitts]

Correction to the URL…

http://www.uswellnessmeats.com/

They do indeed sell what they call Pemmican. Cool.

[Anonymous]

Do any of you remember those compact rectangular shaped bacon bars wrapped in foil that were sold in the mountaineering shops a few years ago? Actually I haven’t seen these for years. These bars were very greasy, crammed packed bacon bits firmly shaped into a cube or rectangular bar. They were sold as emergency rations and they were actually very tasty but super-loaded with calories.

[Sam .]

>Do any of you remember those compact rectangular shaped bacon bars wrapped in foil that were sold in the mountaineering shops a few years ago?

John, haven't seen those bacon bars in many years. I'd never find it now, but I had worked up a recipe for Clam Chowder that used that crumbled bacon.

Cooked it on a Coleman Peak One and probably carried a 60 lb pack. Good old days? Yeah, they were.

[Anonymous]

Yeah Sam, I guess we have kind of dated ourselves with this piece of nostalgia.

[Adam Rothermich]

I've never heard of bacon bars but I do love bacon. Any one have any additional information? I'm intrigued…

Adam

[Lance M]

At the risk of dating myself also, 'Wilson' brand Bacon Bar comes to mind. A quick Google search comes up empty. Broken apart, the bacon was like the moist bacon crumbles you would put on a green salad but much saltier so that (I speculate) it didn't require refrigeration. I haven't seen Bacon Bars for decades.

[Sam .]

>Do any of you remember those compact rectangular shaped bacon bars wrapped in foil that were sold in the mountaineering shops a few years ago?

Did a little research. June Fleming mentions bacon bars in her book "The Well Fed Backpacker." Original date of print was 1976. I looked at my copy (1986 rev), and she also mentions a "meat bar." Seems like I remember a beef bar too, but it wasn't that tasty.

Well, I'm going to go make a cup of Russian tea with some butter buds.

[Author]

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