Hammer Perpetuem

I use Perpetuem regularly when backpacking and fastpacking and love it. It really gives me a good bang for the buck as far as my energy levels go. I have used the Cafe Latte the last couple of years for breakfast to get up and moving in camp quickly. It has a bit of caffeine as well, which is a nice bonus for me. I just mix mine with about 12 – 14 oz. of water and it works fine for me. I haven't, and probably won't, try the solid tabs as that method of ingestion has no appeal to me.

I use Perpetuem while cycling. I like the cafe latte one with the caffeine boost. I generally use it during the last leg of a longer ride (say last 10 miles of a century).

Mainly though, I use Heed…I use this every other water bottle (once an hour)…with a Fizz endurolyte tablet added. I also use this hiking. I like the melon Heed and the grapefruit Fizz…a nice change from plain water…100 calories and some sodium/electrolytes.

While we're on a Hammer kick, I also use Hammer Gels (I like the espresso, huckleberry, or raspberry) for a quick kick while still moving on the trail.

-Mark in St. Louis

For some strange reason there is almost an isolation of much of the BPing community when it comes to fueling for higher intensity events. Some of the cutting edge endurance nutrition is done in the field of cycling. Why cycling instead of BPing? Money.

Perpetuem is nothing more than Maltodextrin and protein. I started using Perpetuem after a snowshoe trip in the Sierra, see thread below. When I put together my resupply plan for the PCT I considered taking quite abit of Perpetuem but the cost and taste made me look elsewhere. I ended up mixing up my own using Maltodexrin, Electrolytes and flavoring. It tasted better, was way cheaper (less than $2/lb) and contained electrolytes which I quickly discovered were critical for me.

So if you like the taste then yes it is an excellent source of fuel for hiking or snowshoeing.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=32242

Make sure to try it out before your trip. Most people find some brands/flavors are easier on the stomach than others. Also, mix/water ratios vary widely on user preference. I usually like mine more watered down than the manufacturer recommendation.

When do you start sipping it, just before you start the trekk or an hour before the start.

Well actually it is food so you treat it no differently. If you normally get moving and eat 1st breakfast on the move then do the same with this. I would also second the try it before committing. It took me several tries over a variety of conditions to nail down my formula. Even after thru hiking I modified the ratio of mix to water and now make up 32 oz. bottle with about 900 calories, enough for three eating hours or six real hours because I alternate 1 hour of Malto and 1 hour of other junk food. I now pack out the 900 calories in a 20oz water bottle. For an upcoming 4 day high mile speed hike I will have 8-12 of these bottles.

Another consideration you will have to deal with is water. Depending on your snowshoe cadence you will have to consider when you will have water.

Greg,

Would you mind posting a recipe for your mix? or just the ingredients? I'm not even sure where i'd buy maltodextrin and electrolytes for a powdered mix.

I've been using the Perpetuem on some trips the last couple years and it definitely seemed to keep my energy levels up a bit. I usually would take a mid morning break about 2 hours after I start hiking and would add 2 scoops to a 32oz bottle of water and then do the same thing mid afternoon. I just drank at the same rate I'd normally drink water. I also ate regular snacks during the day, so the Perpetuem wasn't my only source of calories. This probably isn't the optimal way to use the stuff, but it worked well enough for me.

I tried the solids as well (caffe latte flavor), but I had a lot of trouble getting them down.

Hammer products seem to work well for lots of folks, for others (like me), not so much. I haven't used their products for hiking/backpacking, but I have trained and competed in endurance events (open ocean long distance paddling) while using their products and found that they didn't agree with my stomach. It got to the point where I preferred to not drink anything rather than continuing to drink my prepared drink mixes. This didn't do my energy levels any favors but my stomach sure felt better.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that there are lots of options out there for similar style products from other manufacturers. I recommend you try out one or two, on a very limited basis first to see what works for you and what doesn't. Once you've found something that you think you like and respond well to, you can then try building up your usage of it and relying on it more and more to provide your needed energy for a given activity.

I've found that Succeed products work well for me. I supplement their drink mixes with Carbo-pro powder and/or eletrolyte and sportlegs tablets when needed. I find these mixes to be much lighter on my stomach and much more mild in flavor.

I don't have any affiliation with any of these companies; just wanted to share my experiences as I've been down this road and tried a bunch of different similarly-marketed products.

Here is a link to the recipe for the electrolyte mix
http://Postholer.Com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=0c27e1217754393469697436b3ce066e&entry_id=19697

As far as the maltodextrin I would suggest googling carbogain and picking up a few lbs to start. If you go all in you can order through Honeyville or skid more ( listed onion my journal). for 50 lb bags.

I flavor using crystal light. You can use anything. In a 20 oz. water bottle I put flavoring (1l worth of mix), 1.5g of electrolyte mix and then fill and vibrate getting as much maltodextrin powder in as possible. When I use it I pour the whole bottle in a 32oz gator aid bottle and fill with water. This is triple strength. Normally you would mix about 300 calories in with a liter of water to get the perfect cocktail that hammer talks abouts, osmorarity or something like that.

From this base mix you can also add protein. You will have to play with this. I originally had protein but I had to hold my nose to drink it. I wasn't going to do that for my whole 98 day hike. So I made the recipe above and it tastes like a sweeter version of crystal light so I enjoyed drinking it. I have never faced a situation where I could drink my Malto. That is so different than the snowshoe trip above or other hikes and snowshoe trip at elevation where I couldn't eat anything. I once did a 40+ mile three day snowshoe trip in north Yosemite and could only eat 1300 calories. I had to fix that issue and my apical Malto mix worked for me.

Hope it works out, let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks for the sources and the link. I look forward to experimenting with this stuff.

I used Perpetuem on couple of hikes and was happy with the energy it provided. However it is kind of pain remember to keep sipping the water.

Now if I want to make this at home, I understand it takes some Maltodextrin and flavor. However I would like to add some protein and electrolyte. Can I add like Whey protien and Emergen C to the mix. What should be the ideal measure for each pound of Malto.

the Perpetuem "formula" includes :

maltodextrin
soy protein isolates
soy lecithin
flavors
plus a bunch of minerals and elctrolytes

the ratio is :
fat 2.5 grams
carbs 54 grams
protein 7 grams

I'm sure you could use whey protein instead of soy protein

the Hammer recovery mix "Recoverite" uses a maltodextrin whey protein mix and it works great.

when I do long runs I take a swig of my perpetuem mix (5 scoops per 20 oz water) every 20 minutes, but I carry the bottle in my hand so its pretty easy to remember.

Can you please state the proportions in grams/oz/pounds please.

if your asking me that last question I'm not sure what you mean.
I do not mix my own, I use the real (expensive) perpetuem.