Thanks for sharing. I’ve noticed that it is very difficult to avoid plastic packaging, especially with instant / dried foods. Perhaps you would consider a video about plastic-free backpacking/hiking? With everyone watching your channel and following you, it may be easier for you, Darwin, to gather everyone’s hacks and tips about cutting down or cutting out plastics. Just an idea. Thanks again.
@@scottb9937 Thanks, Scott. We have a couple of those 'bring your own jar/container/bag' stores opening in my area -- problem (nearly) solved.... don't even need to buy the ingredients plastic-packaged.
When I use to fight wildfire we would just pour a little water straight into the instant coffee packet and shoot it...didn't do it for the taste thats for sure haha
1977 carried one #10 can of Mountain House freeze dried beef stew as main dinner menu. Tahoe-Yosemite trail. Thanks for updating me how things are done in modern times
Just want to say thanks for taking the time to make these videos for people to learn from your experiences so they don't have to learn from the misery of mistakes out in the bush.
Great stuff, Darwin! I myself enjoy some of the options you pointed out, but I’ve found that I personally need more variety than that, and I just have a hard time putting down more than 1-2 bars a day. For me, if I’m not looking forward to a rewarding meal on the trail, it quickly stops being fun. More often than not, that means prioritizing taste and texture over calorie density and practicality, and having at least 3-5 different dinners to rotate between. You’re lucky that you can get by on less variety, it certainly simplifies things.
Yes, as we get older the value of nutrition comes into view. For health and longevity, but also efficient and effective fuelling for performance sake. This only improves with the heating of food! My doctor is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. She never tires of enlightening me as to the value of heating food and consuming it warm.
Your videos are very informative. I don't hike ,but I do backpack hunting in the mountains. So I use your info to help me decide ,foods, shelters, containers etc. Appreciate the time you take to talk to us👍
This is close to video number 10 of yours for me today, this is the one that made me subscribe. As a pescatarian and generally whole food eater off the trail, I struggle with the idea of fueling myself off of candy. This provided a ton of good and helpful information! Many snack foods I use at home and throughout life were mentioned. Didn't realize that I could stack these deep for backpacking fuel! Thanks!
I appreciate your getting healthy and efficient food sourcing. One comment: Disclaimer- I haven’t tried the complete cookie but word is, the chickory extract they put in it can make some of us bloated and gassy. Still looking for that other video ( more recent) one that was really really good in that you dialed it in even more. Great work Darwin.
Food is key to keeping morale high. I became a much happier thru hiker with a lightweight skillet by MSR. Only 7oz I think... being able to cook a quesadilla, pancakes, hash browns, etc. Absolute game changer and before long anyone hiking around me bought one too.
My father was in the military for a number of years and I live close to a base one thing I’ve been doing is gathering up MRE’s and breaking them down to use for food along with a collapsible cup saves up a good amount of space and food is warm.
Dropping hot meals to save a very small weight seems ridiculous to me.. Enjoy the trip man, enjoy the meals, enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning while taking in the view and the sounds.
Talos353 I know, right? Il gladly still carry my stove and alcohol fuel just so I can have a warm meal. Having that warm meal at the end of a long, strenuous day really feels good mentally.
The key part about what you said was that it seems ridiculous to you; he mentioned that some people will have allergies, or sensitivities. If you can't hack it -- don't. Enjoy the trail your way!
Thanks for the pro-tips! Your videos are super helpful and you have a great voice for explaining things! East to listen to and full of good experience. See you on the trail!
Glad to see you are eating better. On my long distance bikes I take my own home made freeze dried meals. No sugar. Nuts and bars. As an older lady it made a huge difference.😀
If utter depression on trail and dreaming of town is your thing then take this advice. Food is often all we thru hikers think about. My morale changed greatly when I started sacrificing extra weight for sanity. I carried a lightweight skillet and routinely cooked hash browns, grilled cheese, quesadillas, pancakes, stir fry veggies, etc. It wasn't long before others did the same. With ultra light gear you can eat well and still pack under 40lbs. Suck it up. Old head hikers use to carry 70. Take adventure of technology and stop starving yourself. (Advice from a thru hiker)
Excellent video! Just recently started planning multi day hunting trips where I pack in the whole time and calorie intake is important so I needed ideas as to what kinds of foods could help me without going too crazy with it. Ive found videos like these from backpackers have been super helpful in many ways. Thanks for sharing!
I was in the I Will Never Give Up My Stove camp until my stove broke. It took me a while to make the leap, but going stoveless means more "just a few ounces" out of your pack - no fuel bottle/canister & fuel and no cook pot is more than just a few ounces. I won't deny that hot food has a strong emotional impact, but even on miserably rainy days, once I was swaddled into my down cocoon it didn't matter that dinner was cold. There's an environmental impact to going stoveless. If you use a canister stove, it's highly likely you cannot recycle the steel canisters once they're empty. The fuels are usually petroleum distillates. I have people carping at me for using a Smartwater bottle because it's plastic, but they're just fine with burning a carbon-based fuel.
Extremely helpful video! Like you I was originally just looking for calorie dense foods. Now I want nutritious and calorie dense. Thanks for some terrific suggestions...
I get it though. For me; it does get annoying to wait 5-10 minutes for the water to boil then an additional 15-20 minutes for the food to warm soak... eat then clean everything up.... sometimes can take up to an hour. Going stoveless can potentially lead up to 2 more hours actually on the trail each day.
@@domgifford7061 get a better stove that you basically dknt have to pack up and takes less than 5 mins to pack up and relax while you wait for your food to soal
Thanks for the video. I also eat virtually the same thing everyday at home which is homemade whole wheat bread, spinach, whole wheat pasta and spaghetti sauce, and bananas for a snack. I rarely eat oatmeal. The whole food-plant based diet I went on to lower my choletserol because I had a couple blood tests that showed my LDL bad choletserol was high. It worked: in 3 or so weeks it when from 120, elevated risk, to 65, ideal and what some doctors called 'virtually heart attack proof'. The switch lowered my intake of saturated fats dramatically and eliminated processed foods, so it's all plants. Weight dropped 50 pounds and stayed down. I don't ever eat the super rich foods because they are addictive. It works for me; no for everybody.
I'm really trying to find ways to eat healthier while on trail and this has been really inspirational! I ate pretty healthy on the AT but I need some more ideas of different things to try and I learned a lot from you! Thank you!
Fantastic video, Darwin. Appreciate this information. I too am a few years older than I used to be and really gravitate towards putting good fuel in my tank. This video gives me some great options. Safe hiking my dude.
I take this on all my trips and it recently served me well in the canyons of Utah in the snow. I take the weight and hike with a thermos on shorter trips to keep it hot all day. Magic Cocoa Mix 3 parts cacao powder 3 parts maple sugar 2 parts coconut milk powder 1 part vanilla protein powder ( I use a hemp/chia/pea protein blend) 1 part medicinal mushroom powder (cordyceps, lions mane, reishi, chaga, turkey tail) dash of pink salt dash of cayenne Make this mix as large or small as you want. If you plan on brewing it cold, make sure to run the sugar through a blender or spice mill first. This will give you sustained energy and you can add some of your coconut oil (If hot) packets to it. Coconut milk powder is available at health food stores or at Asian markets. Ensure that your mushrooms are extracts and not just mushroom powders, they are more efficient, sometimes 40:1 and more bioavailable. If the weather is cold, add ginger and cinnamon equalling one part. Thanks for the info Darwin,
I grew up on couscous, and I love bobos bars. When I hiked as a kid I got to eat Golden Bricks, basically a thick homemade granola bar witha ton of honey and butter in it, an inch thick. Gotta make those again, talk about dense, and calorie rich. Be careful with Lara bars for rocks.
Like you I can eat pretty the much same thing everyday. But something that I cannot get tired of is powdered milk. Goes a long way, extremely versatile, you can have a protein drink quickly, tasty adding whatever you want. Really is a lifesaver for me. While others will be grossed out by it. Everyone of course is different, but love to see the different options just to learn more. Then you choose for yourself.
Cool! I'm glad I found this vid (YT suggested it). I did 500 miles on the PCT last summer. I did the Poptarts + sugar candy stuff a LOT of the time. And I paid for it. Next summer I plan on doing another 600-700 miles, and I'll be eating MUCH better food ... including some of the bars you recommended.
Hi Darwin, this was a great video since nutrition is so important on the trail. I appreciate your comments about the healthy fats as I'm diabetic and eating tons of carbs and sugar even on a hike isn't a great idea for me so calorie quality and source are just as important as quantity. Good thing fats are more calorically dense then proteins or carbs. Thanks for sharing!
When I'm on the trail, I eat a ProBar or add hot water to some oatmeal and dehydrated fruit in a ziplock bag for breakfast. Mid morning I eat peanut butter cookies (Nekot) or an RX bar. For lunch, it's the Quest cookies or tuna in a sealed bag with a Payday candy bar and then I would take a caffeine pill. Mid-afternoon is Peanut M&M's and some beef Jerky. For dinner, its a Packit Gourmet meal (best hot meal food on the market) and then before bed, I eat some Oreo cookies. I mix it up sometimes, but this is usually what I have been taking with me and for a 5 day hike, my food bag weighs 5-7 lbs. The greenbelly bars are too heavy and allot of calories just for lunch (at least for me). My calories intake is not that much, however, I don't eat allot of calories off the trail.
''I'm not the one that believes that hot food warms you up''...of course it does, even hot water raises your core temperature. A hot drink/meal on the trail raises morale too, very important.
It’s been over a year since I’ve been on my last through hike it was just a little 30 mile one here in Colorado but you make me wanna go out on the trail again
I’ve never hiked more than 5 days at a time and plan on bumping that up significantly in the spring. I’ve never been on the PCT and am looking forward to it.
Did you find most of these foods while hiking, or did you send yourself resupply boxes? I'd love to see a video on how you went about your resupplies on the PCT :)
It seems as though he frequently goes into towns. He has mentioned in other videos that he often buys new/different supplies in towns and even packs out things like Subway sandwiches
"cold" soaking is a bit of a misnomer. Ambient temperature soaking is more appropriate. It's not as if you are pulling the soaked food out of a refrigerator, the food is at roughly air temp when soaked without heating the water. I tried this a bit on my last backpacking trip and was surprised by how much I was not missing boiled water in my rice side or BP/MH meal. Now, I haven't done a trip where I haven't carried a stove at all...mainly because I still love a cup of hot coffee in the AM. But ambient temp oat meal is just fine for me and I eat it at home even. There is something to be said for the simplicity of soaking. I've balked in the past, but I am gonna try the stoveless thing in the future
Thanks for the advise on the peanut butter. I normally like to take some tortillas with me and put some peanut butter on it but I never found a method I liked. Gonna try yours.
Good video, thanks. About the 2800 calories daily, that's pretty remarkable and awesome! My calorie burn rate not including exercise is 2200 calories as a 49 yo male at 140 lbs. My metabolism is higher than most people, I think. That would leave me 600 calories for hiking in your 2800 calorie daily scenario. Walking 3.5 miles per hour I burn about 55 calories per mile: a cronometer estimate based on age and weight. That's on sidewalks without a pack. At 30 miles, that's over 1600 calories. 1600+2200 = 3800 calories for 30 miles of walking. At 15 miles, that's 3000 calories, a little closer to your 2800. Thanks again for the video.
Extra calories or total calories. Your body alone burns calories from thermal regulation and conversion of energy and chemical reactions in the body. Average calculation is 15x lean body weight. Hiking extensively would burn even more calories and depending on your height and muscle mass, it could be significant.
Although calorie is a metric unit, I assume you are measuring body weight in US pounds, so Joe Smith's 140 lbs x 15 = 2100calories, which agrees well with his "not including exercise 2200"
Buddy of mine thru hiked the PCT a few years back. He said that he was almost always at a deficit on calories since he wanted to carry less weight. I don't think I could do it myself. I need my calories.
great video. the problem for me is not calories but the sodium. i sweat a lot on the trail and drink lots of water so i know i am losing tons of sodium. i know this because i cramp a lot in the legs when i dont have enough sodium. the food i choose are usually salted nuts, ramen, beef jerky, pepperoni etc. i will certainly add some of your ideas to my food list. thanks
thanks for the video, definitely helps to have some ideas on other foods to try. it's constantly a struggle for me to get enough calories on the trail. i'm a picky eater anyway, but now i've got some hope that maybe one day i'll find that perfect go to meal that'll get me through my travels :)
Looking at the ingredients on Mountain Inn meals, I notices a lot of Sodium, Potassium, Iron, Protein--the essential electrolytes to prevent medical disaster.
a friend ate like that on a rescent trip around the lakes, 5 days 4 nights he ate cereal bars and cous cous / rice dehydrated veg. sure he had a pocket rocket stove, 100g gas canister and a titanium pot. meanwhile i carried my 5 tonne trangia, 500g gas botte and ate steak, bacon sandwiches, sausage and eggs, risottos and dehydrated rice puddings with nutella. heavy? sure, but worth every ounce as i sat chomping on bacon butties in the howling wind and rain while my marra ate an energy bar and rice n tuna flavoured with a mcdonald sauce sachet.
Food is the only category worth carrying a little more in. I know its not ultralight, but with my 5lb base weight, I pack out fresh fruit/veg, at least a pound or two of deli meat, a little cheese etc.
Great video I did try the couscous, cooked and I really liked it. I added some freeze dried vegetables and gravy mix. Will be added to my food bag. thanks
Great input. I carry emergen-c but have only used it when I get a scratchy throat. Makes sense it would be good to have some to give an extra boost of c even in good health! Thanks!
I'm a woman, 175cm and 65kg. I go trekking every once in a while and I'm always afraid that I'm not carrying enough food so I counted how much I eat on a normal day, not trekking. I had never before that nor sense counted calories. On a day to day life, living in a city I consume 2700-2900kcal a day and maintain my weight... That' explained a lot, why my portions were always twice the size to my friends' and while trekking I eat a lot more.
Very well done my friend, this was very helpful. Trying to put together my dietary plan for my 10-13 resupply boxes my buddy is sending me. Thanks there’s a few things in this video is like to try. Cheers
Excellent video bro and lots for me to “chew on” for my distance/elevation trail foods. I’ve got a couple big (for me - small compared to the AT or PCt) trips planned for the year and food is a huge part of my planning. I hate the idea of cold breakfast/dinner but I almost never cook at lunch and I’ve been wanting some good recommendations for bars etc. Cheers from the PNW brother!
Ever try this? Pemmican cakes, lean beef mixed with fat and blue berries, cranberries and cherries. One cake has between 700-800 calories and weighs 4 ounces.
Hey Darwin, thanks for the amazing videos i just finished binge watching the pct videos and now just finished watching this one but you should do a video of a basic cost breakdown for the pct thru hike because i remember you mentioning cost of the A.T. But with it being out west I'm sure it is different. Again thank you for these videos 🏕
Awesome video. I like the food choices. Our bodies find it hard to shift from glucose to fat burning. It looks like the cous cous and complete cookies have more glucose for fuel but with all those miles I think it adjusts. Healthier eating is always good. As far as plastic waste goes. Unless you're going to kill it and eat it. It's going to come in some form of a container. Just carry in and carry out. LNT. Simple. Thank you.
