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       Packed and ready...I think?
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Date/Time: 03/28/2024 10:10AM
Packed and ready...I think?

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Previous Messages:
Author Message Text
Northwoodsman 06/24/2018 10:29AM
Welcome back! It sounds like you had fun. My last trip was much like yours. I had a good menu all planned out and it was on the heavy side to begin with. On the way up my buddy and I stopped at the grocery store to pick up the few remaining items and of course we left with much more than we planned on. Then we stopped at an outdoor equipment store to pick up a waterproof phone case and left with even more food. To top it off we stopped at the Trail Center and left with even more freeze dried meals, snacks, and desserts. When we arrived back at the bunkhouse the night before our entry we once again went through all the food meal by meal. We took out 10 lbs. and stashed it in the car. Every day we found ourselves eating lunch and snack, not because we were hungry, but because we didn't want to carry it back with us. We still arrived back at the EP with a LOT of extra food.


Our new plan is - eat a good size breakfast with plenty of protein. Snacks for lunch (sausage, cheese, M & M's). A FD meal for dinner (split a 2.5 or 3 serving one between 2 people). No desserts, bread mixes, or anything you have to simmer like pasta, rice or soups (to save on fuel). Everything is also coming out of the original packaging before we go and placed in freezer quality zip-locks with the directions written on the outside. The packaging isn't heavy, but it's bulky. Breads are easy to cook over a fire or on a stove, but the ingredients are heavy. The only fresh foods we will bring is one apple per person for the day we enter. It always a nice treat to have with lunch, we base camp so the first day is the only tough day.


Several years back I really cut back on clothes.



Rs130754 06/23/2018 09:20PM
Well I made it back. We ended up dumping a ton of stuff, but still had too much. The foil alone cut a bunch of weight. I never even got into my second set of clothes. With the quick dry stuff I could have worn my sleep clothes and then washed and dried my other set. The three pairs of socks came in handy as they took longer to dry. I will also definitely be paring down the cookware and food for sure on future trips. Taking the calories into account would help immensely. I might even shave enough to splurge and bring in a chair.
GearJunkie 06/18/2018 09:43AM
You wont regret bringing that much food
boonie 06/18/2018 07:46AM
I'm sure you'll have way more than enough food, but I don't know how much you guys will eat. I didn't know how much I would eat in the beginning! I didn't have any kind of structured way of figuring it out either and brought lots of extra food out, but have gone through the process and now know, so I can offer some suggestions to shorten the learning curve. Keep track of what you eat and don't eat, what you use and don't use, how much you carry out. Write down notes each time.


As Northwoodsman and others have noted, taking too much food is a near universal experience. Since you're leaving tomorrow, there's only so much you can do in the time left, but a couple of your comments about it - making a menu & food outfitting - suggest options.


The food outfitting would likely result in more food than you'd eat too, but look at the various dehydrated meals and see how much food they contain in calories per serving. Keep in mind that 2 servings may be a meal for one. Make a menu from the products you are taking, making an estimate of how much of each you'll use. Don't take what you don't think you'll need.


For example, 2 boxes of the couscous in my pantry makes 9 servings of 230 calories each, 2,070 calories total. I'd eat 1 serving as side, I'd use 1-2 servings a meal, depending on how much additional food I was adding to it. That's a lot of cheese, probably a lot of dehydrated baked beans too.


I probably took twice as much as I needed in the beginning and I'll bet that's twice as much as you need.


You can also ditch the packaging, which adds more weight and bulk than you might think. Write down or cut out the directions if you need to. You're right - you definitely have way too much aluminum foil! That's a sheet 10 feet wide by 12 feet long! Just decide the maximum number of sheets you'll use, tear those off and pack them. Leave the rest at home. Likewise the shop towels as mentioned.


I take dehydrated and calorie dense food like the others, and YMMV, but for comparison for 5 days, I'd have 4 breakfasts and 4 dinners plus 5 lunches/snacks. I eat the first day's breakfast before I enter and the last day's dinner after I exit. I think of that as 4 1/2 days of food, or 9 days for two of us. That would come to ~5 lbs., including packaging - 10 lbs. for me and my brother. There'd be some snack stuff left maybe. We'd be satisfied, but not stuffed; there would be no leftovers besides the snack stuff. It averages about 2,300 calories per day. Even at 1 1/2 - 2X as much, it would be 15-20 lbs. (like Northwoodsman's) My other equipment is pretty minimal - just a small pot, stove/fuel, mug, cozy, and spork - which would weigh ~ 1 1/2 lbs. for two of us. The food would be in an Ursack or a BearVault; if the BearVault, it would add 2 1/2 lbs. There would be no separate food pack, so for 2 of us for that time, it would weigh 15-20 lbs. Keep in mind that I have gradually over quite a few years reduced it to a minimal amount of weight and bulk, which would be unrealistic for your first trip, but I think your 30 lbs. would be realistic.


Water filtration is similar. I wouldn't take an extra set of clothes - just an extra pair underwear, socks, rain suit, necessary layers (fleece, etc.), and accessories (hat, gloves, buff, etc.), camp shoes, dedicated sleep clothes - base layer, socks, cap. I would just wear the same quick-dry pants and shirt the whole time.



You'll have fun and learn a lot! :) Let us know how it goes.



billconner 06/18/2018 06:21AM
We plan one less dinner than nights out, knowing we'll eat lunch food at least one evening. We don't fish. Seems like you have two dinners for each night.


I only take on pants and shirt in addition to what I wear for 10-12 days. I take 3 dish towels - very light and compact and do better than paper. A pouch of chicken or tuna is all the meat we'd use for a dinner and you have 8! Plus all that other meat.


I work better from a menu - a list if meals - even if we mix it up and change order.


Biggest weight savings are always shelter, sleep system, and packs.


You do have a tarp?
NotSoFast 06/18/2018 05:56AM
That's a lot of aluminum foil. Looks like a lot of meat, too, especially if you figure to catch some fish. The shop towels don't weigh much, but they're probably bulky, and it's hard to see how you'll use a whole roll in five days.
pswith5 06/18/2018 05:46AM
Where ya staying? Maybe me and a couple friends will join ya to help eat all that. :)
cyclones30 06/17/2018 10:48PM
Your main meal is supper, looks like you have a pizza one night, steak, chicken and rice, fish.....that leaves a ton of stuff for lunch and or snacks. I'd cut some of those extra items like I mentioned earlier. Or the remainder of anything else you'd consider supper since you seem to have those covered.
cyclones30 06/17/2018 10:40PM
My wife and I just got back from 7 days as just the 2 of us. We ate fish twice, had a bit of extra food left.


To get to similar amounts as we took for 7 days....leave out a pack of tortillas, some tuna, one potato package, one rice, and more. I'd either take the potatoes and rice or couscous and red beans, not both. Leave out one summer sausage, some cheese. I'd say you had enough in the original list for 4 for 7 days, and that's not including eating fish.
Rs130754 06/17/2018 10:14PM
I think it would have worked better for one person to put together a menu rather than both showing up with stuff to add to the bag. I thought if we could get it to 30# we would be doing okay. It does include all cooking gear and water filtration, but still, it is too much. I remember our guide from a college backpacking trip "ounces make pounds" as he sawed our toothbrush handles in half.
Northwoodsman 06/17/2018 09:51PM
It looks a little excessive. That should easily be enough food for 4 guys. For 3 guys for 5 days our food weighs in at 16.3 lbs., but we also bring mostly dehydrated or freeze dried food except for bagels, tortillas, cheese & sausage. You never know until you try it. Don't force yourself to eat more food than your body needs or that you desire and weigh how much you bring out. I realize that your weight probably includes the equipment, but it is still almost 5 lbs. per person per day. As far as what I see most people cutting back on for their next trip is usually food, followed by redundant equipment. I think I have only seen one or two people ever comment on being short on food, and I think those people were counting on eating fish at least once a day and they weren't cooperating.
Rs130754 06/17/2018 08:27PM
We are leaving tomorrow for entry on Tuesday and just packed our food bag. Everything fits in the CCS food pack and the frozen stuff is in an insulated 2 bottle wine tote. All this comes in at 52 pounds. I think we have way to much as we were hoping to eat fish too. This is for 2 of us for 5 days. We each brought some things and then sorted it based on what we thought we would need. What would you eliminate? Add? Thinking food outfitting would have been lighter and offer insight as to what to bring next time.
Food Pack Contents:
8 pouches tuna
3 pouches chicken
1 pkg pepperoni
2 8ct. flour tortillas (1.25# each)
3 pouches instant potatoes
3 pouches instant rice
1 jiffy crust mix
1 squeeze bottle pizza sauce
1 tube tomato/basil concentrate
2 4.5 oz packs ova easy
1- pouch dehydrated hash browns
small jar ghee
small Jar Peanut Butter
2 boxes coucous
1 box red beans and rice
1 container tang
single serve coffees 6
hot chocolate packs 3

Frozen items:
2 Ribeyes (Huge 1 3/4" thick)
2 Summer sausage
1 dry Italian salami
3 cups mozerella
2 8oz mild cheddar cheese blocks
2 cups dehydrated baked beans
2 jars pasta sauce with TVP (dehydrated)
1 pkg three cheese rotini
Dehydrated carrots/peas (snack bag sized)
Beef Kielbasa

Expedition Fry bake
8 cup bush pot
2 sporks, spatula, flipper, small whisk
camp suds/scrubby
HD Aluminum foil 120sq. Ft (I think TOO much)
Roll of shop towels (too much)
Kovea Spider 2-8oz isobutane canisters
4 qt. open country pot

For clothes we each have to complete sets and are wearing one in. Two sleeping bags and pads. Alps Mountaineering Lynx 4 tent. Two fishing poles each 3-3700 boxes for tackle. Head nets, first aid kit, bug dope, and fire material. Also, a Platypus 4L gravity and life straw for on the lake re-hydration. Sorry for the length but man it feel much smaller when looking at a spreadsheet. Thanks to all who offered advice and suggestions the past several months. I think this is the friendliest forum I frequent. Posts are not cut down and ridiculed because someone asks a question that may be known to more seasoned forum members. The first sip will be to all of you Tuesday night. Safe travels and godspeed.