Protein Bars - Energy For Long Hikes.

[+Phonedave]

They all taste like wet oats to me.

 

Typical on a day hike;

 

Some sort of "bar" - power, cliff, etc. just because they keep and they don't "Smoosh up"

 

An apple

 

Some trail mix of some sort - may be just rasins and peanuts, may be something else. 90% of the time it goes uneaten anyway.

 

Tuna - those vacum packed bags of it. Star-Kist I think. The Lemon-pepper is good. It's like 2.5 servings a bag. It's just a boatload of protein (that apple is for the carbs) and quite tasty. It also packs very well. I used to take jerky (or jeeze, landjager - mmmm try those on for size, if you want to talk about fat and protein) but it would just get too salty most of the time. I like the tuna better.

 

A packet of Gatoraide/Power Aide or some such glucose drink. Most of the time that goes unused as well. But it does help if I start really dogging it.

 

Water - depending on temp and length of hike

 

-dave

[57chevy]

Blueberry Pop-Tarts.  I can cache for an entire day and well into the night, surviving on nothing other than Blueberry Pop-Tarts and hot and cold caffeinated beverages.

 

Blueberry Pop-Tarts.  Accept no substitutes.

Amen... All hail the blueberry Pop-tart!!! You're preachin to the choir brother... I do occasionally have strawberry tendencies though.

[+WeHunt4Cache]

I prefer XS Energy Bars, and the XS Energy Drinks. The drinks themselves have 0 carbs, 0 sugar, minimal caffeine and enough energy to keep me up for a long time. The protein bars are very good and taste very much like a duncan hines brownie.

Edited October 29, 2005 by wehunt4cache

[dsandbro]

Clif bars are a bit more palatable than the other brands, but put that in context. All of them taste horrible, clif bars are just a little less horrible.

 

On the other hand, clif bars do not seem to be very effective on me. PowerBars however really do work for me, if I can choke one down without gagging. A PowerBar washed down with a half water bottle of Ensure (powdered, and mixed with powdered milk) will completely recharge me in about 15 minutes. Your results may vary.

 

I have also had some very good results with a banana, yogurt, and a handful of whole wheat crackers with a small plastic bottle of orange juice (Sunny Delight, or similar). But you need the means to keep them cool and unsmashed while out doing your thing.

 

Surf some backpacking, running, or bicycling websites for more info on nutrition and endurance. What you eat before and after sustained activity is as important as what you eat during. In fact, a good pre-hike diet lessens (but not eliminate!) the need for refueling during the hike.

 

A number of manufacturers sell supplements (e.g. eas.com, among others) that are very expensive and [probably] are better than you can do with real food alone. But -- is the extra few percent improvement in performance worth the hassle and price? For a professional athlete training for a competition maybe. Average guys like me --no.

[+MGtennis]

I eat Zone Bars and Balance Bars. They are wonderful and come in many different, great tasting flavors. Some even tase like Snickers! You should really try them.

[57chevy]

Pop Rocks and YooHoo RC and Moon Pies