Backpack Meal Testing – How much food should you pack?

I would like take a short break from our meal testing series (see part 1, part 2, and part 3) to ask the question: How much food should you pack for a backcountry trip, exactly? That is an exceedingly difficult question to answer as there are many variables. Seasons matter, so it is warm or cold? Activity defiantly counts, so is this rough terrain or flat? Hunt style definitely plays a part, so it is spot and stalk or sit and wait? The most variable factor, however, is likely your personal metabolism and eating preferences.

There are literally thousands of blog posts, articles, and message board posters that have discussed this and similar questions for years. I want to take my stab at it, looking at it from the regular, every-day eastern hunter that wants to go west – but with a bit of an analytical tilt.

I will aim to examine this question from both a qualitative and quantitative viewpoint.

First, why is this topic even important? That is an easy answer for me: if you are carrying more food than you will eat, or your body requires, then you are carrying extra, dead weight. Every pound of extra weight you carry is energy wasted without cause, and detracts from our primary mission of finding and harvesting game.  I talked about my experience in Colorado in 2016 here. 

So where is a good starting point for estimating caloric value? The Mayo Clinic has a great calculator for estimating daily caloric intake, and is tailored to age, weight and activity level.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/weight-loss/itt-20084941

I tried it out for my age and weight and get 2,600 cal/day in order to maintain my current weight with a very active lifestyle.

Let’s stop here and do some math.

Density is defined as measure per unit of weight. We will be using caloric density, or number of calories per ounce as our main comparison metric. We have several series of blog posts now looking at different cook and no-cook backcountry meal options, including various snacks. The table below displays the items we haved used in our tests so far, and some that will be featured in future posts. Pay particular attention to the caloric density column.

Excluding the lowest values, I think a good starting point would be 100 cal/oz as the entry point. Keeping the Mayo Clinic guide as our base for 2,600 cals/day, I would need 26 ounces of food per day to maintain my current weight. That is 1.63 lbs/day of food, or 11.4 lbs over a seven day trip. Not too bad on face value.

What would happen if your meal plan was created using a much higher caloric density? Let’s use the same scenario with a 130 cal/oz density. That would mean I need 20 ounces of food per day to reach 2,600 cals. That reduces my food weight from 1.63 lbs/day to 1.25 lbs/day or 8.7 lbs over a seven day trip. A total reduction of 2.65lbs.

If you have never packed the mountains of Colorado, 2.65 lbs does not seem like much, but I have stood on the side of a mountain trail trying to decide what I could burn that would lessen my pack weight. Two pounds in the mountains is significant.

Now let’s jump in the way-out machine and ask an off the wall question: What if the Mayo Clinic calculator is wrong?

I think the question is more accurately framed by examining personal metabolism. What if you are hunting a really steep area and covering 5-8 miles per day? You probably need much more than 2,600 calories at that point….but there is a limit to how much a person can eat, in my experience.

Let’s do some additional math, but add a bit of a qualitative approach. Knowing that we want to have a very high caloric density, what if we looked at specific meals for specific periods of a day? We could use that to compare with the Mayo Clinic calculator.

This meal plan would equal 3140 cals per day, and 1.52 lbs. Caloric density is 128.8 cals/oz. Food weight over seven days is 10.69 lbs  if we kept this same meal plan over the week.

Feasible? Very much so, and while it is higher than the Mayo calculator, this would make sense based on the higher physical output levels in the mountains.  I know my metabolism functions best when I have smaller meals over a longer period, especially during heavy physical exertion periods. I think this would work for me, but I do have an issue with the evening meal. I have tested the Peak Pasta meal, and it tastes good, but there is LOTS of it. It is a 1000 cal meal. I am not sure I could eat the whole thing.

What about switching this plan up a bit, only looking at the highest caloric density foods we have tested?  This will assume  your body can withstand the same meal over and over again.

This meal plan would equal 2900 cals per day, and 1.38 lbs. Caloric density is 131.0 cals/oz. Food weight over seven days is 9.68 lbs  if we kept this same meal plan over the week.

Feasible? Absolutely, and one again matches pretty closely with the Mayo calculator considering a higher physical output in the mountains.

How about only looking at the highest caloric density no-cook foods we have tested?  Here is the plan:

Feasible? This may be a good meal plan for the hike in day, or hike out day. I am afraid that 2500 cals is not enough energy to sustain a good mountain hunt. While it would be fine with my metabolism and easy to prepare and pack, I think it needs some additional “oomph” if this was going to be considered a daily ration in the mountains.

Conclusion and Observations:  Caloric density is a real thing, and can save pretty significant weight in your pack with a bit of analysis and planning.  I thought many of the meals we would test would be better than the numbers show.  Test your meal plan and make sure it is palatable.  Ensure the calories you pack in are ones you can eat.

More taste test observations will follow next week, including the six-year-old opinion of taste on each cooked meal.  This will be fun.