weight of food?

[Amy Bithiah]

How much does the food you carry in your pack typically weigh?

[Clint Hewitt]

Depends on a few factors. But I typically shoot for 2 lbs which is more then I need on shorter hikes But I know is adequate.

Time Length of trip.
On longer trips your metabolism will start to pick up and more food will be needed

Level of exertion.
A trip with little elevation gain is going to require less food then one with alot. How hard you hike will also affect what you carry.

How big of a person your are.

How fast your metabolism is naturally.

Source of calories.
Fat has 9 calories per gram to protein and carbs which have 4.

Body Fat Stores.
If you have some extra "food stuffs" it can supplement your pack carried food.

Winter v Summer
Winter may require some extra food to stay warm.

[Bob Gross]

If you do a good job of stripping off the unnecessary packaging, you should be able to get your food weight down around 1.5 pounds per day. If you are a big person doing lots of miles, then that will be closer to 2 pounds per day. If you are a small person and if your total pack weight is not excessive, then you may get the food weight around 1.3 pounds per day. If you make poor choices for food, then add 50% more weight.

I just load up my bear canister with about 6 pounds of food, and then I weigh it as one item, and that is typically around 7.6 pounds.

When the food won't fit into that bear canister, I move up to a larger bear canister and repeat the process. Once the loaded bear canister goes to 12 pounds, then I have a problem and I need to plan a different route for fewer days.

–B.G.–

[Rusty Beaver]

1 pound per day.

I'm 6' and 150lbs with a reputation for being a porker. I use a mix of Mary Jane bulk meals and meals I concoct at home from foodstuffs purchased at the grocery store. I also dehydrate all my own fruit…for the satisfaction of it and to keep the weight down via moisture content (my dried fruit is 50-80% lighter than store purchased).

[Sumi Wada]

I'm a 5'2" woman, weigh about 140lb. My food almost always comes out to 1-lb per day. I dehydrate my own meals.

That's for 3-seasons; I'm not a winter backpacker but would probably take a little more in winter if I were.

[Anonymous]

"How much does the food you carry in your pack typically weigh?"

19-19.25 oz/day for trips up to 10 days. I'm 5'7", weigh 137#, and hike on average 9-10 miles/day with occasional days up to 18 miles as the situation requires.

[Daryl and Daryl]

I'm 67 years old, go 8 miles a day or 4 hours, whichever comes first and weigh 185 lbs. 1.5 pounds per night in the woods works for me.

When I was 25 years old I would do twice this amount of hiking and would carry 2 lbs per night in the woods.

I usually lose a couple lbs of body weight during a 5 day trip with this amount of food.

[James Marco]

For average hiking (<20mi per day, ~4-5k elevetaion change) I bring about 1.5lb per day. Adjust down for easier conditions or if you are smaller than 5'9" 175#, and up if you are larger. Duration makes you eat less for the starting week, then more. About 1.1pound per day for a week or so. About 1.7 pounds per day there after. This is only a ROUGH guide. As I get older I find that 1.7lb's per day is too much. Age, metabilism, activity, etc can all vary by as much as 50%.

[Ben Wortman]

I have been getting by with about 1.5 per day. I eat mostly freeze dried meals and granola/energy bars.

[Hiking Malto]

On short trips it could weigh anything, I have even taken in beer, steaks and baked potatoes. For a more "normal" trip with straight optimized BP food, I will take closer to two lbs a day (4000 calories.) That would be for a 25-30 mile day and I'm 6'2" 187.

For my thru hike I was closer to 3-4 lbs a day (6000-8000 calories a day) for mileage of 30+/day. But I was eating close to daily calorie expenditure, something I don't even attempt on a ten day or less trip.

It's interesting if you look at my pack weight when I left the Mexican border. My pack weighed 24 lbs consisting of 8 lbs food, 8 lbs water and 8 lbs gear. We obsess with the gear portion on this site and there was much bigger lightweighting opportunities in more efficient food and water, especially water.

[Bob Gross]

"We obsess with the gear portion on this site and there was much bigger lightweighting opportunities in more efficient food and water, especially water."

Can't you just take freeze-dried water to save some weight?

–B.G.–

[Anonymous]

"We obsess with the gear portion on this site and there was much bigger lightweighting opportunities in more efficient food and water, especially water."

How true! Excellent point.

[Sumi Wada]

>> Can't you just take freeze-dried water to save some weight?

You bet! Just add water to rehydrate. ;)

[Mark Verber]

Three seasons, typically 18oz (typically do 15-25 miles each day with 3-5k elevation change). In the winter I typically bring close to 2.5lbs.

–Mark

[David Wills]

+1 to Greg. Glad to see someone admitting to bringing 3-4 pounds of food per day for thru-hiking and trying to match their caloric expenditures. I know I'm not alone now.

[John S.]

I did not right the article posted below : ).
http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/outdoor-medicine/backcountry-nutrition

"Backcountry Nutrition: How Much Food Should You Carry on a Backpacking Trip?

by Paul S. Auerbach, MD
Jan 9, 2012

This is another post derived from a presentation given at the 2011 Annual Summer Meeting of the Wilderness Medical Society. Liz Edelstein, MD gave an excellent presentation on nutrition in the backcountry. This is an “underserved” topic, in that nutrition is not emphasized enough in traditional medical school education, and there is a fair amount of misinformation about the topic. What follows is some of what we learned.

The three basic food groups with which we are familiar are proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. For the immediate energy needs, fats and carbohydrates are the main sources. Cutting through all the explanations, Dr. Edelstein informed us that for backpacking, a diet should be composed of 50 percent carbohydrates (500 to 600 grams per day) with “constant carb snacking,” 35 percent fat (200 grams per day) and 15% protein (65 grams per day). Different nutrition bars provide different ratios of these nutritional components, so it’s important to read the labels carefully.

How much food should you carry? On a standard trip, carry 3,500 food calories per person per day, which is approximately 2 pounds. In very cold weather, you might need 5,000 calories per day, which is approximately 3 pounds. If you wish to be more precise, for a routine backpacking trip, carry your weight in pounds times 22 to determine the number of calories you should carry and consume per day.

I loved to hear how good food improves morale, because I like to eat so much. Life is good when your food tastes good, you have enough to drink, you eat sufficient fiber to avoid constipation, you are able to avoid extreme hunger or fullness, and you ger to eat in an enjoyable social setting."

[Buck Nelson]

Some people, likely most, who carry 1 pound of food a day are going to be really, really hungry, and almost everyone will be losing significant weight if they are doing any kind of miles.

Most people who carry 3 pounds or more per day are going to find they have lots of food left when they get home.

Yet those amounts of food are perfect for some people as we've already seen.

I agree with what John Shannon posted: if you don't know how much food you require, you're not going to go far wrong by bringing 2 pounds of carefully chosen food per day, then adjusting on future trips based on the results.

[Rusty Beaver]

That's good info but are calories like water in that "X" amount always weighs the same? In other words, one might have 3500 calories that weighs 2 pounds whereas the same amount of calories for another person may only weigh 1-1.5 pounds. I believe it depends on what type of food those calories are coming from and to what extent they were dehydrated. I may be missing something though.

[Jerry Adams]

Of course you got 5 calories per gram of carb and protein and 9 calories per gram of fat, but you need some of each. You can have a little more fat to reduce over-all weight.

Plus you have other stuff – fiber, etc, but you need fiber too.

[John Vance]

I have found my food weight has been dropping over the years. For trips of less than 10 days I am at 17.5 oz and I add a bit more if going longer, but I don't add the food to the initial 10 days, just those beyond.

I have found my need for calories really dropping off over the years and quite often have to concentrate on eating the days food allocation. My 13 year old son can't seem to carry enough food so my food weight goes up on trips where he accompanies me.

One the PCT and CDT I carried 2.5lbs or so as it depended on what food was available at various food stops. I could hike for days on sugar back then but not now. I was also teased a bit for my everpresent jar of peanut butter I ate with a spoon. I also carried a large Gallo dried salami and ate so much of both I can't stomach either now. Well, unless the peanut butter is with chocolate.

[Greg F]

I shoot for around 125 calories per ounce and about 3500 to 4000 calories per day which works out to about 2lbs per day. I am 6,3 200 lbs. At that caloric density i dont have to be. To picky about what i bring. I also subtract a pound from the total number of days to account for not needing a breakfast on the first day or a supper on the last day.

It works out to be about 5 lbs for a 3 day weeked and around 13 lbs for a week. With these numbers i usually have enough left over for 1 extra meal if i have to stay out one extra night.

I find if i try to push calories per ounce above 125 I find the meals just arent appatizing anymore

[Mobile Calculator]

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[Ike Jutkowitz]

This is a topic I think about quite a bit when planning trips, as my food and water weight frequently exceeds that of my gear. I've enjoyed the diversity of opinions on this thread, particularly those from the long distance hikers.

Most of my trips are only 3-5 days in length and average 30 miles per day. I'm 5'8, 150 lb. I carry approximately 1.25 lb food per day (2200-2500 kcal) for 3 season hiking, and about 1 lb 9 oz (3000-3200 kcal)in winter. Mealtime is one of my favorite parts of the day, and I always bring a small stove because I like hot meals for breakfast and dinner. I generally am very satisfied with my portion sizes.

For short trips, I bring whatever fresh foods I like, and don't bother weighing it.

Some strategies I use to keep down consumable weight on high-mileage, goal-oriented trips include:
1. Never carrying more than 1/2 liter of water (except in winter or arid places)
2. I bring 1 day less food than the anticipated length of the trip. The morning of the trip, I'll usually binge on greasy food, which usually holds me (along with some snacks) until dinner. The final day, I eat sparingly in anticipation of the post-hike celebratory dinner. I recognize this may be controversial for some, but I'm fairly comfortable with the idea of going hungry for a day or two if needed. I am also an experienced forager.
3. The week or two before a trip, I increase my caloric intake and taper my exercise schedule to put on some weight. I generally average 1-1.5 lb/day weight loss during the trip (providing 1500-2000 additional calories/day). Fatigue has not been a problem for me, and lost weight usually comes back pretty quickly within a couple weeks.
4. I bring mostly home (or bought) dehydrated foods, supplemented liberally with olive oil. Snacks are mostly higher fat items(eg. macadamia nuts).

[Anonymous]

"The three basic food groups with which we are familiar are proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. For the immediate energy needs, fats and carbohydrates are the main sources. Cutting through all the explanations, Dr. Edelstein informed us that for backpacking, a diet should be composed of 50 percent carbohydrates (500 to 600 grams per day) with “constant carb snacking,” 35 percent fat (200 grams per day) and 15% protein (65 grams per day)."

Wow! That works out to 4060 calories, John. Did she relate that amount to a person's body weight and hiking pace? Was it meant to cover the entire caloric expenditure for a day? Did it factor in the type of terrain, e.g. flat, hilly, off trail, high/low altitude? Lots of questions, I admit, but I'm super curious to find out the context for her recommendations. Potentially very useful information.

edit: I just read the article, which is identical to what you posted. It looks like whatever context she may, or may not, have provided is not included. Too bad, as without it I don't know how to evaluate her recommendations in relation to my specific situation. So near and yet so far…. :=(

[John S.]

Hi Tom. I don't know where her numbers come from and do seem generalized (not specific to how much work you do). They are not too different from Brenda Braaten's article on Thru-hiker:

http://thru-hiker.com/articles/PackLightEatRight/snacks.htm
"How many Calories do I need?

If your load is less than 15% of your body weight and terrain is gentle, your caloric needs are not significantly different from normal (i.e, 2500-3500 Calories for active females, 3000-4000 Calories for active males). If, however, you are carrying 25-35% of your body weight over difficult (uneven/steep) terrain, you will need extra calories (500-1000, give or take). Body reserves will contribute a significant portion of your energy needs during the first few weeks of a thru-hike, but as bodies become leaner, dietary intake becomes more crucial.

How many pounds of food should I take?

If you choose a balanced diet with 30-40% fat, pack 1.5-2 pounds dehydrated food/person/day for easy-moderate hike; 2-2.5 lbs./person/day for moderate to difficult conditions.

For a long duration hiker, boost the fat to 35-40% by selecting foods that are calorie dense (that is, above 5.0 Calories per gram, See Fat), which means choosing high fat foods. Besides keeping your pack weight down, your food will taste better and your breakfast will hold you longer since fat slows down digestion, giving you a more even distribution of fuel being absorbed. (Note that the recipes are given with a "Plus Fat" option for long duration hikers.)"

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