Commercial Backpacking Meals

[MazzHunter]

I am preparing for my first scouting trip this summer as I am packing in to the back country for the first time in CO for OTC archery. Getting ready to order some Paleo Meals and Heather's Choice meals. These meals are around 500 cal which seems a bit low for all day hiking.

My question is do you find they are filling enough to hold you or do you need multiple meals or supplement with other food?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Southern Elk]

I have always eaten mountain house while backpack hunting and the ones with 2 servings have always filled me up. Be sure to take a lot of snacks. You will get hungry while hiking because you will be burning a ton of calories. Make sure to take snacks that you enjoy eating. There's nothing worse than being stuck out in the backcountry for several days eating food that you don't enjoy. I usually pack a few snickers bars just for that reason. I also take some kind of water flavoring such as Gatorade packets. I get tired of drinking water and want something with some flavor.

 

[MThuntr]

I like paleo meals to go and found them filling

A lot of guys around here know my distaste for Heathers choice. Something about here food makes it hard to keep down for me and I've never finished a meal Her packaroons are good though.

If you're worried about being hungry bring an extra snack. I like Pro Bars but cliff bars and candy are probably as good

 

[Speeddmn]

I use mountain house, prefer the mac n cheese! Also any of the pasta ones are a-ok for me. Trail mix, wilderness athlete, mtn ops, Gatorade flavorings also help a ton. Don't forget a water filter, incase you run out.

 

[pre6422hornet]

I absolutely love Mountain house breakfast... Granola and blueberries with milk ( just add cold water), and the eggs, bacon scramble thrown into a couple tortillas really stick to the ribs!

I always pack a small package of tortillas. Whether for breakfast, lasagna at dinner, Caribbean chicken ( Backpackers pantry) is alot easier to eat in a tortilla. Plus it is a little extra calories.

I no longer eat power bars, cliff bars, etc... I agree with Southern Elk you gotta have stuff that tastes good and you like. And besides being awesome, Snickers bars have a very high Calorie to oz ratio. I pack alot of Gorp as well. Great to munch on. I usually will throw in some Swedish Fish as well to keep me happy.

 

[utahminer]

To keep costs down I usually take a Peanut butter, honey and bacon sandwich on a bagel for breakfast (they keep for days and are packed with calories. I picked this trick up from Cameron Hanes' book). For lunch a couple packages of Ramen with some flavored tuna (I love the thai flavor) or salmon and a Mountain House for dinner. I also really like the Idahoan instant mashed potatoes (I thought I was crazy, but a couple other people that I know have tried them while backpacking and have backed up my opinion). As other's have said, you can burn calories faster than you realize so I tend to over pack on food. If you are going for multiple days you will need to keep pushing food and water of you will wear down quickly. Have you looked into water? I am new to CO, but backpacked a lot in Utah. Many of the places, where I hunt, it was hard to find water; So, water is a bigger deal. Sometimes I will pack in a couple of gallons to keep from dropping thousands of feet to refill water.

 

[Redman]

I have always eaten mountain house while backpack hunting and the ones with 2 servings have always filled me up. Be sure to take a lot of snacks. You will get hungry while hiking because you will be burning a ton of calories. Make sure to take snacks that you enjoy eating. There's nothing worse than being stuck out in the backcountry for several days eating food that you don't enjoy. I usually pack a few snickers bars just for that reason. I also take some kind of water flavoring such as Gatorade packets. I get tired of drinking water and want something with some flavor.

You need no other advise than this...

 

[MazzHunter]

Yes, I have checked into water as I have talked to the local game biologist about the specific area I'm going into. They confirmed there should be water avialable as well as I have seen creeks on Google earth with Oct images. I'm using a Sawyer inline filter system.

 

[MazzHunter]

I have seen many negative reviews on Mnt House not being good or causing upset stomach (squats). I know some are probably on the other side of that review and have no problems. I was going to get Wilderness Athlete recovery packets as well.

 

[npaden]

For the number of people who use mountain house compared to the other brands, the complaints on mountain house really seem to be few and far between. I like it. Some things like Chili Mac are going to cause GI issues whether it is mountain house brand or not.

 

[MThuntr]

I don't mind mountain house and on occasion it can be found on sale for like $3-5 which is less than 1/2 the cost of Heather's choice or Paleo-meals-to-go and twice the serving size. I used to complain about Mtn House salt content but then a physical therapist friend suggested that salt content helps replenish some of the salts lost in exhausting hikes. The only mtn house I absolutely refuse to eat is stroganoff otherwise I'm kind of partial to sweet and sour pork and lasagna.

PM inbound to MazzHunter

 

[LopeHunter]

Do not wait until on the side of the mountain to test your meal choices!!! Eat one of each variety every other evening until have decided on what works for you. I find them all salty and not that interesting. Hot sauce can help. Adding some instant potatoes can help. Payday candy bars are nice as do not melt or smash easily compared to a Snickers. All other candy bars are too many empty calories in my opinion. I pre-bag cashews in one cup quantity. I do the same for granola mix. Do the same for golden raisins/cran-raisins mix. When I stop to glass, I snack on cashews or one of the other items. I usually toss in a bag of Fritos as they eat fine even if smashed or get stale plus are decent fire-starter material in a pinch. I take instant via coffee and is quite good for instant.

Again, do a trial run on any main meals as some people have "interesting" reactions to some of the meals.

 

[Titan_Bow]

If you are really humping up and down the mountain, and covering lots of ground, plan to be taking in alot of calories. There are calculator burn calculators out there, but I would say, if hunting and hiking hard, in high altitude rugged terrain, I would say plan for 3500 to 5000 calories per day minimum. Peanut Butter bacon bagels, homemade granola bars, homemade pemmican style bars, 2 serving mountain house, etc. are all good ways to get there. I like the tuna and salmon packs, but keep in mind, they are relatively low in calories, so keep that in mind. When you plan, make sure you are specifically counting calories for each day

 

[Deleted member 16014]

I wouldn't want to be tied to a stove for every meal, being flexible is a lot of what makes backpack hunting an effective style. I usually use one mountain house or similar at some point in the day, but it might be in the afternoon or 10pm when I get around to eating it. Beyond that it's really just learning your body and what you prefer to fill in gaps. You will nearly always be in a calorie deficit on a backpack hunt unless you're eating the entire time.
If you're hitting it hard you will also feel crappy pretty often from heat, cold, over-exertion, temporary dehydration, etc. so figure out now what you can still eat while miserable. Otherwise you might carry around 2 lbs of something that you can't choke down.

 

[Redman]

Altitude has a funny effect on my body. I never get hungry no matter how hard I am hitting it, but it seems I can't get enough to drink. I usually loose about 10lbs in a week of mountain hunting. I make sure I eat all of my meals because I know my body needs the fuel. I never feel fatigued, sick, or have an upset stomach. My head feels funny from the altitude but that is it.
As for food I take carbs, calories, and protein in the lightest form possible. Power bars (or the like), jerky, trail mix, instant oatmeal packets, tortillas, peanut butter packets, and Mtn. House 2 serving for each night. Water, Gatorade packets, and instant coffee to drink. I carry a 3 liter Platipus bladder and 1 liter Platipus bottle and stop every chance I get to filter water when I am low, like I said drink plenty of water.

 

[MazzHunter]

just another question.....Is Wildness Athlete or Mnt Opps worth the money over Gatorade packs?

 

[utahminer]

just another question.....Is Wildness Athlete or Mnt Opps worth the money over Gatorade packs?

I wish I could provide some feedback, but I haven't ever used the stuff. I do try to throw in some sort of flavoring from time to time because drinking that much water out of a bladder gets pretty old in a hurry.

 

[TheNorthStar]

As long as your not wearing a flat billed Mtn Ops hat on the side of the mountain. Easiest way to spot a douche bag dude-bro.

Nuun tablets work great for replacing electrolytes.

Check out Green Belly meal bars too. They're less than delicious but they're better than just edible and they're loaded with calories.

 

[BlakeA]

just another question.....Is Wildness Athlete or Mnt Opps worth the money over Gatorade packs?

Yes.

Try Emergen-C. You can get it at any CVS or Target. Good stuff and not full of sugar like Gatorade. I use it year round.

Wilderness Athlete's hydrate and recover is a very good product as well.

 

[MThuntr]

just another question.....Is Wildness Athlete or Mnt Opps worth the money over Gatorade packs?

I like to flavor my water sometimes and Gatorade is probably one of the cheaper options. I got a free sample of Wilderness Athlete at the BHA rendezvous. I was good and there were several flavors. I'd drink it.

I've had Mtn Ops and didn't like the flavor and I fell for their marketing a couple years ago and it makes me cringe