Backpacking Food:  Doing it Right  

Too often you see commercials and advertising that involves people eating fast food on the trails with their backpack and equipment on.  The fact of the matter is that these are just advertisements and backpacking food generally shouldn’t come from a fast food restaurant!  Backpacking food can be the most important thing you do to prepare for your hiking trip so you may want to learn a few tips on the correct way to carry and pack backpacking food so that it remains edible for the duration of your adventure. 

When planning your backpacking food you need to consider how long you will be out.  Hiking in the summer time in the wilderness may mean that you have to leave the ice cream bars at home.  But food keeps differently in the summer time than it does in the winter time so you need to make sure that you are backpacking food that will be able to withstand the conditions. 

 If you anticipate a change in the conditions during your hike then you will want to account for that as well.  Keep in mind the duration of your hike because backpacking food is like any other food, it will only remain appetizing for so long. 

Backpacking Food:  What You Should Take 

If you’re hiking in the heat, you need to be aware of what will spoil and what will not.  Things like beef jerky and dried fruit will probably keep the longest along with, believe it or not, granola bars as long as we are not talking 100 degrees or more.  For liquids your best bet will be water and that is probably true on any hiking trip but especially in the heat. 

Try and keep your water shielded from the direct sun and insulated from the heat.  It won’t be nice and cool when you go to drink it but at least you can try to keep it from getting to warm.  With all of the pollutants in the air today it may be best just to bring your own water or at least have a water testing kit if you plan on being able to refill from the natural water sources. 

If you’re hiking in the cold or cooler temperatures you’ll have more options as you don’t have to worry about things spoiling.  Fruits, vegetables, and possibly even breads can keep for almost a week out in the cold and longer if it is really cold. 

You will need to bring something to warm some of your food before you eat it and there are alternatives for hikers that need warmth to heat up food.  Try not to carry a propane tank on your back as that could be dangerous.  Liquids carried with you could be fruit juices or water. 

 

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