The amount and type of food you will need for a backpacking trip depends on the weather, how long you will be backpacking and how much food you are willing to carry. It's important to plan out your menu and food options ahead of time to make sure you have a well-rounded and pleasing selection of foods with you. Freeze-dried foods are an obvious choice, but in some areas, they're difficult to find and you may need to order online.
Choosing Freeze-dried Foods for Backpacking
You should have a variety of foods with you when backpacking, particularly on long trips. It's a good idea to have a mix of food for short and long-term energy. For example, Back Packing Guide explains that short-term energy is derived from carbohydrates, such as pastas or crackers, while high-protein foods like meat, cheese and eggs supply longer lasting energy. Purchase a variety of freeze-dried foods containing pasta, eggs and meat.
Things to Consider
One of the benefits of freeze-dried foods is that they are usually very easy to prepare, since they're often used by people without immediate access to electricity. Some freeze-dried foods just have to be heated over a campfire and eaten, others require adding water before heating. When packing for your trip, keep in mind that you will need to carry whatever you bring, so be careful taking many packages of freeze-dried food along. Choose foods that appeal to you so you will look forward to eating, and to eating enough to keep your strength up for the vigorous activity of backpacking.
Other Options
In addition to freeze-dried foods, stock up on foods like dried fruits and nuts for your backpacking trip. You may also want to bring along mixes for fruit drinks or cocoa to break up the monotony of drinking only water on your trip. Freeze-dried foods can be expensive, so consider stocking up on pouches of tuna and some cans of soup.
Essential Items
To heat freeze-dried foods, you will need to have a camp stove or small pan. Extra water for washing up afterward is also a good idea if you're not near a stream or other body of water.
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