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Hi Everyone!

I'm heading off hiking for a couple of weeks and hate the idea of regressing to the standard pasta+oats/granola+refined sugar kind of diet. However, the food needs to keep up with the punishment it will receive in my pack as opposed to the refrigerator.

It must:

*Last about 7+ days in a pack (it's winter over here in Oz so temps should be no higher than 15 degrees C / 59 degrees F where we're going)

*Be fairly robust, ie not fragile

*Quick to cook, say, less than 30mins, and obviously not require an oven!

I figure the extra energy will more than make up for the extra weight. For reference, I'm a fairly fit 22yo male who'll need a decent amount of energy to hike for 6-8hrs a day. A certain amount of pre-hike preparation is OK but it would be easier just to grab things off the shelf and repackage as required.

Cheers Guys!

Dave

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I bring homemade elk jerky and a jar of coconut oil – The Quilt May 8 2011 at 4:03
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in general most meat that has been dried or cured properly can go for long periods of time without refrigeration (a week is fine). Prosciutto, speck, hard salami like Columbus Ciacciatore (or Creminelli's better but more $$$ salamis), beef jerky, and of course pemmican are all great options. Pemmican is a particular favorite because it has so much fat that it really keeps you going nicely for hours, also hard salami is pretty fatty and great too. Additionally i take some non-squishy fruit, some nuts, a bit of good low sugar chocolate, some tea, hard cheese, maybe potatoes for the fire. – tartare May 8 2011 at 7:17
Hey tartare: do you have any recipes for pemmican? – PersonMan May 8 2011 at 20:35

11 Answers

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Pemmican! Make your own (http://www.dannyroddy.com/main/2009/5/10/upping-production-or-how-i-have-become-a-one-man-pemmican-fa.html), or buy some from US Wellness Meats. I recently saw some Banff Film Festival films and was sorta shocked by the "foods" brought along on expeditions. Massive amounts of time and fuel spent to make substandard processed foods, when a month long pemmican powered expedition would be EZ.

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pemmican is aces! – tartare May 8 2011 at 7:24
I've tried pemmican a few times, but I really just think it's icky. I don't really like jerky either. Good thing I don't hike or camp much! (ever) – sherpamelissa May 8 2011 at 15:06
dannyroddy.com/main/2009/5/10/… – oak0y May 8 2011 at 16:21
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Sherpamelissa, you can try various curing/drying/seasoning of meats, you might make jerky you like, but not like commercial stuff. Dried/smoked fish is pretty good too. But for portability, speed, energy and nutrition density, and with all that expedition/camping/hiking entail, pemmican is the best food to make food prep/storage a breeze. From ancient times to European travelers exploring the North American West, pemmican has been a pretty proven foodstuff. – Tim Rangitsch May 8 2011 at 17:06
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You could make a coconut pemmican-like substance with taking shredded coconut and mixing it into either butter or coconut oil.

For protein, I'd see if you can make your own beef jerky, and go light on the salt.

You could also mix up some whey protein and coconut oil, to get a stable protein source.

If you've got a hard container, you could bring boiled eggs along. As long as the shell isn't cracked they keep for two to three weeks.

The only problem is that I see all of this stuff getting a little boring after two or so days.

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When I go on climbing trips I like to pack a mix of toasted unsweetened coconut, walnuts and raisins. Makes a great tasty snack :)

I use this type of coconut and toast it myself in a frying pan: http://www.amazon.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Unsweetened-Shredded/dp/B000ED9LIU#sf

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go careful with the raisins – DudleyP May 8 2011 at 10:37
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When I travel I always take coconut oil "cookies", canned sardines, cooked hamburgers or hotdogs, cheese slices, hard boiled eggs, some nuts... can last a couple of days

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Coconut oil cookies? Are they just disks or pieces of solid coconut oil? – Lila May 8 2011 at 15:05
Just made some. Formula is one half kilo of melted coconut oil, stirring in slowly about 25 grams of pure cocoa powder, ground: cinnamon, goji berries, linseed, sesame seed, coconut flakes, rose hips, almonds, macadamias, walnuts and cream. You can make your own formula really. I just experimented travelling with these, because normally I store in the fridge, and they worked out without melting. It is springtime, mind you. might travel with some ice if I needed to. Summer weather might be prohibitive. – eric May 8 2011 at 20:30
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Make your own 10 dollar Jerky maker offered by Lex Rooker.

http://www.willowglyn.com/heather/jerkydrierinstructions.pdf

The jerky will last your two weeks.

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Anything raw vegan. Fruit, nuts, seeds, salad greens, etc.

EDIT: That wouldn't cover everything, but at least it would be a start.

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It seems to me like most raw vegan stuff won't keep for 7+ days in a pack.. – Crate May 8 2011 at 7:39
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Not totally sure here, but are there enough calories in most common raw vegan food for what he's doing? – James May 8 2011 at 7:55
lol vegan. beef jerky! – Nutritionator Feb 24 2012 at 14:57
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I always suggest the same thing to similar questions, something I heard in an early Robb Wolf podcast, and that is to melt coconut oil and pour it into a jar of nuts and dried fruits (and whatever else you want) and let it solidify in there and you can just spoon it out when you want it. very calorically dense snak

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Very interesting indeed! Thanks for sharing greta :) – Dave B May 8 2011 at 23:51
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I soak and dehydrate nuts, almonds, walnut, pecans, brazils, etc. Soaking makes them easier to digest. I also make my own jerky - simple enough - tamari, pepper, garlic powder and ginger powder. Go easy on the tamari, it can get salty. My jerky lasts a very long time, months for sure, but I usually eat it within 3 months so I don't know the actual shelf life. Then there is pemmican. Made properly it lasts indefinitely. I made mine in the traditional native American style, just tallow and dried meat, no berries. Adding berries will cause the pemmican to spoil. It would need to be consumed more quickly. But adding berries will also make it more palatable.

I hope this helps!

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I love the little packets of Justin's nut butter. They transport really well and won't go bad if you don't use them. You can find them at Whole Foods and some Target's here, but I don't know if they are availabe where you are at.

My favorite on the go food is my own trail mix of unsweetenened coconut flakes, any raw nuts I have on hand, unsweetened dried cranberries and either dark chocolate chips or unsweetened carob chips. It really calms a rumbly tummy for awhile!

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New Frontiers also carries the nut butter packets, although I'm not sure how widespread the chain is. There's a couple in calif at least. I got 3 for my trip to europe, going to get more. only downside is they are like 80 something cents each. – RR Jul 1 2011 at 0:45
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Smoked salmon or trout. Smoked eggs, tuna poached in extra virgin olive oil. Jerky. Almonds, pistachios. Plantain chips fried in red palm oil. avocados.

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http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/irish-bannock/Detail.aspx

That recipe man. substitute whole wheat flour, instead of all-purpose, and subtract the tblsp of sugar and your golden. great all around nutritional food. great carbs and protein. I like to throw some flax seeds in there as well.

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Substitute whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour? Are you aware you're at paleohacks.com? – Casey May 8 2011 at 4:12
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lol.......he has wheat brain.......lol – The Quilt May 8 2011 at 15:34
Thanks anyway Oliver, but I was after more paleo inclined foods than ones based on wheat flour. – Dave B May 8 2011 at 23:54

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