Bushwalk Australia

Lachlan B's thread on Shiit mushroom and noodle stir fry for walking which came in at 239g for two people got me thinking, what weight for meals do people aim for?

I dehydrate my own meals and aim for 200g per person, which appears in line (I think) with commercial meals.

I actually aim for about 800g per person per day and this covers everything, including breakfast, coffee, mid morning snacks, lunch, soup (afternoon tea), entrée (usually cheese and salami), dinner and chocolate.

Hi Zac,

On multi-day walks ( 20 to 30 days ) I aim for a total of 600 to 650 grams per day.

I dehydrate all my meals, and this has sustained me through rugged Tas South West terrain / vegetation.

Paul.

There's no reason to assume that what is sufficient for one person will be so for another. Caloric requirements vary tremendously. And the food composition (e.g. fat%, moisture%) has a large effect on the weight for a given energy content.

I compared food requirements recently with someone I met on a walk. I was eating 700-750g/day. She was eating 250-300g/day. It was the right amount for each of us.

Paul, thanks, what is a basic menu on your walks?

Orion, very true and I agree that the weight of food is individual in terms of needs, I guess I was trying to get a ball park area to see if there was some weight reductions I could make i.e 200g a day for 5 days is a kg lighter in terms of pack weight. If I can do that without reducing enjoyment i'd be happy.

I don't think there's any magic. Once you reduce moisture, fiber and packaging weight as much as you can the only other options are to increase fat content. Or consider ethanol, in moderation of course. In high concentration (think barrel strength as a minimum) it has a reasonably high mass calorie density.

The big question that nobody can answer is what you need. You may not even be able to figure this out for yourself as it will probably vary significantly from trip to trip as your body changes and as specific trip demands change. I've got a ballpark value for myself. It's around 3500 kcal (15000 kJ) per day. It only works for 1-2 weeks for me on "typical" trips, then I get hungry. But some people have more efficient metabolisms and/or more on board fat to burn. They can do with less.

In terms of weight, with mostly dry 40% fat content food I carry about 700-750g per day. For 1-2 weeks max.

It's not very useful information though, not without knowing age, gender, mass, body composition, typical pack weight and miles per day or some other metric of difficulty.

Orion, I disagree that it is not useful info as I think it provides a starting point for people to then adjust based on their needs and the walk at hand.

I know my 800g has a few luxuries especially on shorter easier walks but these fats and proteins do come in handy on longer walks.

Paul wrote:Hi Zac,

On multi-day walks ( 20 to 30 days ) I aim for a total of 600 to 650 grams per day.

I dehydrate all my meals (make my own jerky), and this has sustained me through rugged Tas South West terrain / vegetation.

Paul.

G'day Paul,
I also Dehydrate many of my meals however I am intrigued as to where you do your up to 30 days walks with that almost 19kg of dehy food plus other essential equipment I know the weight of food reduces ,do you organise "food drops" and what would be your starting pack weight be for a 30 day walk be please

Hi Corvus,

26 days from Melaleuca to Hells Gates

23 days from Coal Head to junction of Ouse & Shannon Rivers.

Yes, we did food drops on both these walks. Pack weight to start was 30.5 Kg. Food, normal gear and extra survival gear - carabiners, ropes, tapes, comms etc.

Zac - Daily food is - Breakfast= Oats and 1 hot drink. Mid morning = nuts and sweets. Lunch = 1 Foil packet of tuna and 2 cheese sticks. Mid afternoon = Nuts & sweets. Evening = a dehydrated baked meal, 2 cheese sticks, 2 hot drinks and 4 ( small ) squares of chocolate.

As said, we all have different requirements - this works for me.

Paul.

zac150 wrote:Orion, I disagree that it is not useful info as I think it provides a starting point for people to then adjust based on their needs and the walk at hand.

I think it needs context. That woman I mentioned, she only ate 250g per day.

A personal starting point is easy to find with just one trip. Add up all the food weights and kilojoules before and after, then divide by the number of days.

Paul wrote:Hi Corvus,

26 days from Melaleuca to Hells Gates

23 days from Coal Head to junction of Ouse & Shannon Rivers.

Yes, we did food drops on both these walks. Pack weight to start was 30.5 Kg. Food, normal gear and extra survival gear - carabiners, ropes, tapes, comms etc.



Paul.

Thanks for that info Paul,those walks would be beyond me now at 68 and come to think about it even when I was fitter 30 years ago

Orion wrote:

zac150 wrote:Orion, I disagree that it is not useful info as I think it provides a starting point for people to then adjust based on their needs and the walk at hand.

I think it needs context. That woman I mentioned, she only ate 250g per day.

I've done that, but not consistently. Certainly not on longer trips. Two to four days maybe, but not any more.

Great weight loss regime and time for the beach upon return!

Interesting mix of meals ,for what it is worth at my age I find that I can get by on this.
Breakfast 2min Noodles + Cup of Soup and Cup of Earl Gray Tea 117 gm .
Lunch Hans Striker bar 15 g, All Natural Oat Slice 106gm,two Picon Cheese Triangles 28 gm and water.
Afternoon snack Tasti Protein Bar 45gm and water. which takes me to just over 200gm including packaging so in my case I believe that I would be not be able to get down to 200gm per day total.
Evening meal not included.

Yeah, on shorter trips it's not uncommon for some people to eat very little. Lots of people lose their appetite at altitude and don't want to eat. But even without the altitude effect, many people just don't feel the need to eat that much at first.

I guess we can add weather to the effect on calorie intake as well.

I know in winter I shared a hut with someone who was going ultra light; in the morning he mentioned he felt the cold more that night and felt his dinner hadn't provided the calories needed to burn as energy (create heat).