PowerSwitch

If bugging-out on foot, it's important to maintain energy levels. This will reduce muscle tiredness, avoid light-headedness, allow you to concentrate better and provide an emotional boost.

Here's a list of possible, non-perishable foods you could have prepared and ready to carry, together with their calorie-content per gram of weight:

Roasted peanuts - 6.00 cal/g
Crisps - 5.47 cal/g
Oats So Simple - 5.4 cal/g
Sugar - 5.0 cal/g
Powdered milk - 4.6 cal/g
Instant noodles - 4.4 cal/g
Peperami (long one) - 4.2 cal/g
Kit kat (2 finger) - 4.2 cal/g
Cereal bar - 4.2 cal/g
Plain porridge oats - 3.6 cal/g
Weetabix - 3.4 cal/g
Savoury rice - 3.2 cal/g
Cup-a-soup - 3.1 cal/g
White bread - 2.7 cal/g
Instant potato - 2.5 cal/g
Banana - 1 cal/g

Not an exhaustive list, I know, but hopefully illustrates the wide range of energy contents of different foods. So, it's much lighter to snack on peanuts and crisps rather than trying to take a sandwich for example! Also, noodles are more efficient than rice.

Specialist backpacking foods will tend to have higher cal/g ratings than the noodles, etc, mentioned above, but they are a lot more expensive.

If you're walking all day, on relatively level, firm ground, with a mid-weight pack, you're going to burn through 3000 calories plus. Of course, you don't need to replace all these, as many of us generally have some excess fat reserves However, it is important to provide some fast- and slow-release carbs to stave off some of the problems mentioned above.

Over a short 4-5 day bug-out episode, balanced nutrition isn't important. It's all about calories and fluid intake.

Hope this is useful.

Yes, IMHO people worry far too much about a balanced diet.
In the short term calories and fluids are indeed the first priority.

We have packets of Uncle Ben's rice and ready-made vacuum sealed curries from the local Indian shop in our BOBs. They provide loads of calories and salt, and take only a few minutes to prepare and eat.

There's latterly a huge range of foods available in lightweight, small vacuum-sealed pouches e.g. a new range of soups which are pretty tasty but contain far too much salt for anything but occasional use. There are also pouches of tuna that are very light and quite acceptable, and instant cous-cous, rice and so on. Paté and other meat products are also available in lightweight ringpull cans. There's even a pouched cappucino coffee with sugar already added. A selection of those, some oatcakes and some sweeties should give a very acceptable and easy to use 24-hour ration pack.

featherstick wrote:We have packets of Uncle Ben's rice and ready-made vacuum sealed curries from the local Indian shop in our BOBs. They provide loads of calories and salt, and take only a few minutes to prepare and eat.

There's latterly a huge range of foods available in lightweight, small vacuum-sealed pouches e.g. a new range of soups which are pretty tasty but contain far too much salt for anything but occasional use. There are also pouches of tuna that are very light and quite acceptable, and instant cous-cous, rice and so on. Paté and other meat products are also available in lightweight ringpull cans. There's even a pouched cappucino coffee with sugar already added. A selection of those, some oatcakes and some sweeties should give a very acceptable and easy to use 24-hour ration pack.

Ainsley Harriott instant cous-cous. Yumm!

Tarrel wrote:Ainsley Harriott instant cous-cous. Yumm!

That's the stuff. Each of our BOBs includes a plastic lunchbox so that the couscous can be soaked and then just heated through in a cup, saving time and fuel. Mix in your tuna or sardines and Robert is your parent's sibling.

In fact I've inspired myself - I shall go and rotate the rations and build up a lightweight 24 hour ration pack at the same time.

Great suggestions! I had just bought some AH Instant cous cous, some small tins of smoked mackerel pate, and some of the dried Chorizo that keeps for months.

Have got plenty of chocolate and Tracker bars at home to add for eating-while-cycling, I do really fancy some salted roasted peanuts now though!

I remember lack of salt being an issue on long cycle rides in the (distant) past so plenty of salty foods for me. Plus I always used to carry two bottles - one water, one sugary drink.

Although I love the cous-cous, it's not great on the cal/g front. I found I needed two packs to "re-fuel" me when I did the hike across Scotland. Nice for "luxury bugging-out" though, and, like the old army saying goes, "any fool can be uncomfortable"

Yeah, the couscous is about 1.5 c/g - I'll try it out for taste as well though

My preliminary notes from yesterday have a "cals?" next to couscous. IIRC there's a past variation too, it might be worth checking that. In any event, I'd plan to add a pouch of tuna/some chorizo/spam to the couscous.

Army ration packs contain a "sundries" section too - chocolate, chewing gum, toilet paper, drink powder. Might be worth including if weight allows.

If the food is for eating whilst walking/cycling to get out of a city and back home, bear in mind that it's better to avoid fats and proteins, and focus on sugars and more complex carbohydrates. Think about what marathon runners eat, e.g. fruit, cereal snack bars, etc. You need quick release energy that you can nibble on every 30-40mins while on the move. Having something more substantial to eat before going to sleep is a good idea though I guess.

http://evaq8.co.uk/EMERGENCY-FOOD-RATIO ... cuits.html

500g pack contains 2,500 calories, 5 calories per gram.
Keeps for years, needs no preperation
One pack is said to feed one person for 3 days, but that is presuming little activity.
Much more would be needed if hiking or otherwise active.

They taste quite good, but a bit dry.
Would be improved by the addition of butter or jam, both of which also contain a lot of calories in a small weight/volume.

Lard. You cannae beat it!

adam2 wrote:One pack is said to feed one person for 3 days, but that is presuming little activity. Much more would be needed if hiking or otherwise active.

And that's the key - hiking or cycling could be burning up to 500 calories an hour (obviously having a bike is advantageous here). Water needs would be higher too...