Food Planning Using Pounds Per Person Per Day

Great article Mike. Wish you did stuff like this once a month at least. However, as I tweeted before, where is your fantastic artwork? I can't begin to describe how much more fun it is to read an article with your artwork as I have to really look at the pictures to see what you did to relate it to the article and what your great sense of humour did to make it that much more fun to look at. Wish I owned a publication that could hire you to draw and write full time.

To Tom J. Hart:
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THanks for the kind words!

Just so you know – There is a book due out within a month or so. THere is a good chapter on cooking and recipes. The book will be heavily illustrated, but cooking illustrations are sorta dull. Lot's more in the bear camping chapter.

Here is a link:
http://ultralightbackpackintips.blogspot.com/

_________________________________________________________________________________
Note to the BPL web-master:
If this link is unwanted self promotion, just lemme know and I'll delete it promptly.

Hi Mary

I would love to see some of your recipes. I am with you – one pot, and no dishwashing. But I could use some variety in my meals and am looking for some ideas.

I would love to see some of your recipes for simple backcountry cooking. In fact I think a recipe exchange for one pot meals that only require boiling water would be one of the most useful features of Backpacking LIght.

> My goal is to … walk out of the mountains with absolutely ZERO food.

Could be awkward if you were held up by a flooded river for a day … or someone had an accident which halved the speed of walking.

Cheers

Reply to Roger:
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Your question gets answered. Scroll down to the sub-head:

But What if You Run Out of Food?

peace from Idaho,
Mike C!

Hi Mike

Yes, I read that. But some people suffer from hypoglycemia, and can't afford to run out of food. Others (not me) suffer from diabetes, with similar problems. Life just isn't that simple.

Cheers
(edited for spelling)

> "STEP 3 – Carefully review how it all worked AFTER the trip is over.
> Keep exact records about how much was left over,
> what was enjoyed, and what felt unsatisfying. Use this info
> to fine tune your next trip."
>
> Personal experience is everything in this field. No magic recipes.

Makes too much sense… pfffffffzzzzt… computer explodes!

Reply to Roger:
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About the very real issues surrounding hypoglycemia and diabetes, I feel that I addressed (though not directly) the individual metabolism of the prospective hiker.

There was info in the article addressing the amount of food to take, under the sub heading:

Factors that will increase your body’s need for more food. and the final bulleted point was: "Heightened baseline metabolism"

With the added advice: "If you know you need to eat more than the statistical average Joe, take more."

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I'll also add that running out of food on a long expedition can be a profoundly GOOD experience. I've done it plenty of times with young students, and they end up learning a great deal about themselves. I don't advocate it, but it CAN be very rewarding.

"I'll also add that running out of food on a long expedition can be a profoundly GOOD experience. I've done it plenty of times with young students, and they end up learning a great deal about themselves. I don't advocate it, but it CAN be very rewarding."

Yeah, I understand.

Actually, I am diabetic. Running out of food can be very bad… I slow down to about half my pace and have a lot of trouble concentrating…even setting up the tarp is a chore if my blood sugar is down in the 40's. Like you say, Mike, I always bring a reserve of candy specific to me and the diabetes. Not everyone has it, soo, I do not list it, nor normally mention it. This is simply to bump up my blood sugar when I get too low. It is only about 600Calories, but fast acting and will not last long.

If you have diabetes, you already know to check, unless you can feel it. Use simple common sense and prepare for this and allow for the extra exertion. High or Low blood sugar is bad. Make sure you know what the score is. Where is the help when you need it? On the trail, probably not there. If you don't keep track, you could end up in a world of hurt. You are responsible for keeping your body going. This goes double if you have diabetes. Quadruple if you are out solo.

Sadly I now suffer from hypoglycemia and have had to make some changes to my backpacking diet accordingly – running out of food would be very bad for me. I also mostly hike solo, so I don't take any risks.

I do however agree with Mike that for many people in many situations running out of food won't be the end of the world. I would imagine that anyone doing a Thru Hike is likely to experience this at least once. For shorter hikes, hopefully, after a bit of experience, most of us can get our food dialled in so we are carrying no more/less than we need.

Interestingly as a Scout we were always made to carry "emergency rations" of some sort – Kendal Mint Cake was the food of choice (yuk). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendal_Mint_Cake.

"I'll also add that running out of food on a long expedition can be a profoundly GOOD experience. I've done it plenty of times with young students, and they end up learning a great deal about themselves. I don't advocate it, but it CAN be very rewarding."

I'd agree that it could be, but I have some reservations. For me, it would depend on how long the party had to go without food, the weather, the body type of the different members, the terrain, to name a few. Inadequate food under one or more of these conditions could spell big trouble, but particularly in the case of a very lean individual.

Ryan J. and I (and some others) were discussing body fat/food/performance earlier on another media channel. Ryan indicated that on a trip where he was around 7% fat he was eating 4 lbs of food a day at 135 cal/oz (~8640 cals), and still had to fend off harsh cravings. I'm probably a bit under that currently and am afraid to take any trips longer than 1 or 2 nights until I can put some fat back on (man that sounds bad..putting fat on). If I ran out of food on a longer trip right now, it would likely turn dangerous very fast.

"I'm probably a bit under that currently and am afraid to take any trips longer than 1 or 2 nights until I can put some fat back on (man that sounds bad..putting fat on)."

It's a mind game, Chris. You've already proven to yourself that you can take it off. For a guy that loves to backpack as much as you, it would be a shame to let that be a limiting factor. And I can tell you from experience that it definitely can be dangerous if you are already lean, especially off trail. Don't let it happen to you is my advice.

Here's my advice.

The important thing is NOT to take more food than you will NEED. Food weight should be scrutinized just like any other thing in your backpack.

If you are a diabetic or hypoglycemic, it's imperative that you plan ahead and take exactly the food you will need – and factor in the most extreme circumstances. Safety dictates diligence!

But – for the rest of the camping community, just be aware that it's very easy to be lax when prepping your food, and the longer your expedition, the more exacting and strict you'll need to be!

Tom-

You're completely right. It's all in my head, and I think I developed a fat phobia somewhere along my journey. I'm getting better though, especially this last week, about eating more and paying less attention to caloric content while not in the backcountry. If I want ice cream, I eat it. I figure I've earned it at this point.

Mike,

"If you are a diabetic or hypoglycemic, it's imperative that you plan ahead and take exactly the food you will need – and factor in the most extreme circumstances. Safety dictates diligence"!

I plan the food that I take by the number of meals in a day. I mix and match cook and no cook meals depending if I'm getting a late start on the day or if I'm trying to make a certain point on my hike before dark. I have never really planned what I take according to pounds per day.

I do however always carry mints, hard candy or something else sugary because I tend to be exercise induced hypoglycemic. I nibble my way through the day on what would make most dentists cringe. :-)

I love hiking! Being in the back country with very low blood sugar and no really quick source of a boost is not fun.

Party On,

Newton

" I'm getting better though, especially this last week, about eating more and paying less attention to caloric content while not in the backcountry. If I want ice cream, I eat it. I figure I've earned it at this point."

I am really happy for you, Chris. This is going to free you up for a lot of adventures you've had to forego up until now. There is a whole different quality to longer duration hikes that is addictive, IME.

"The important thing is NOT to take more food than you will NEED."

But maybe with a half day's ration in case of emergency for three season hiking, and a full day's ration, or even 2 if in a remote location, for winter camping?

"Food weight should be scrutinized just like any other thing in your backpack."

A huge +1

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Thanks for sharing your knowledge in a great article Mike!

The 1.4 PPPPD model has worked very well for me. I really enjoyed your Thai peanut and pesto sauce concoctions on the 2009 WT2-LDB in the Winds. I think we had a brick of Parmasan cheese that ended up in many evening meals too.

Like Snapple, I'm constantly on the prowl for new "better stuff," if for no other reason than to keep meals interesting. Saving a few surprises for the middle or end of the trip also helps me look forward to those meals. A couple of Walkers short bread fingers and a strong cowboy coffee late afternoon is just plain rejuvenating.

For some reason on day five or six of a trek I always lose my appetite for food altogether and find nothing appealing for a couple of days. I usually force down what food I can stomach and wait for my hunger to return; it always does. Could consuming chlorine dioxide treated water reduce bacterial flora in the gut and slow digestion? Has anyone else out there had a similar experience?

There is so much to agree with (and learn from) in this article. Some years ago I planned a trip using 2.0 PPPPD as a guide (based on Colin Fletchers complete walker) and was trying to give food away and hiked out with several extra pounds. I since then revised my guidelines to 1.6 PPPPD and found that worked pretty well for me (but I am thin as a rail and eat like a horse).
Trimming to 1.4 PPPPD over 6 days would save 1.2 pounds, which is significant and worth a try!