What food to take on a hike - our layout and a list of food for a hike
Almost every tourist who starts hiking is faced with the question of what food to take on a hike. Because the more you take, the heavier the backpack, and the less, the more likely you are to stay hungry. It is clear that everyone has their own optimum, but still I want to share our layout of the food with which we went to our first hike to Altai. This layout was given to us by our friend, an experienced hiker, but we slightly altered it for ourselves, since we eat more than him and love sweets.
I want to make a reservation right away, the layout is partially vegetarian, but this does not in the least prevent any person from using it. Or, alternatively, remake it for yourself.
What food to take on a hike - nuances
- The food on the hike is not exactly what we used to eat at home. The main criterion is weight. For example, instead of bread, you can take crispbread, instead of regular cheese - dried cheese or at least harder, instead of vegetables and fruits - dried vegetables and dried fruits. That is, preference is given to everything dry, as it is lighter..
- I recommend to everyone a mixture of Italian dry vegetables (onions, carrots, parsley, celery), which is sometimes sold in supermarkets. On its basis, it is good to cook buckwheat or some soup.
- We do not take semolina and pasta, because this is the most useless food.
- Instead of oatmeal, it is convenient to take oat muesli, because they are already with nuts and dried fruits, as well as sugar. It remains only to add water, and, for example, milk powder.
- As a rule, we do not take canned food with us because of their severity. In addition, banks, ideally, should be taken with you, and not burned, which is also not very convenient..
- It makes sense to take spices with you on a hike, packed in plastic bottles from under some vitamins or from photographic film. I would also recommend taking not a metal bowl, but a plastic container with a lid, this is more versatile. You can always close something, well, hold it comfortably with your hands, not hot. More detailed list of things for the hike read the link.
- Porridge and everything that is loose must be put in several plastic bags (3 pieces), otherwise you will then collect everything in a backpack. Better yet, plastic bottles of 0.5 and 0.6 are suitable for this, or solid non-disposable clothing bags, or even rag bags (in the sense of putting plastic in a rag bag).
- If you go in a group and are going to cook together, then discuss the list of food in advance so that the main part coincides on the spot..
- Despite the fact that it is believed that nature requires a lot of calories, I eat a little less on the hike than at home. Since at the computer you can grind a lot of things and not notice.
- If the hike is short 3-5 days and not very difficult, then we usually do not think too much about what food to take on the hike and carry as much food as we want.
- To save cooking time, porridge can be soaked in advance. For example, if you leave buckwheat soaked in water overnight, then in the morning you can not cook it at all, heat it up at the most. At the same time, gas / firewood is also saved.
What food to take on a hike - Italian mix
What food to take on a hike - dry bread
Spices, tea, salt and plastic food tray
Camping food list
We have the following basic alignment - about 400 grams of food per person per day + optional snacks (additional sweet, squash caviar, fruit). This is enough for us, but we eat, accordingly, not to the dump, but in such a way as to remain slightly hungry. If you eat meat, then you can add another 100 grams of stew per day (in this case, you can remove something from the sweet, or you can leave it).
Here is the Excel file with our layout. To recalculate for the required number of days, you just need to change the cell with the days. Column «per day, kg» does not mean real consumption per day, since today for the evening you eat buckwheat, and tomorrow rice. Likewise with sweet and other positions..
Our standard meals are as follows:
- Hercules with dried fruits in the morning + tea / cocoa.
- In the afternoon, only snacks in the form of cookies, kazinaks, chocolates, dried fruits, nuts with water or, less often, tea.
- In the evening, buckwheat / rice with dry vegetables or lentils / soybeans (or with mushrooms, if found along the way) + cheese with bread + tea / cocoa (sometimes).
The calculation of food for a hike is as follows:
- Buckwheat / rice 80 grams at a time
- Hercules 50 grams at a time
- No more than half a chocolate / half a kazinak for a snack or for a tea party.
- Alternation of additives to porridge, not all at once. If dry vegetables, then without a loaf of cheese, or tea without sweets, and vice versa.
Camping Food List - Layout