I did a little experimenting with beef jerky, weight, and protein. My results are below.

The way I eat is focused on getting enough protein to maintain muscle mass and energy. My body basically needs about 35g of protein per meal (average) to be happy. Other than that I also keep it happy with fruits and veggies. Because of this, I was curious about calculating the protein per ounce in the jerky I make at home. Here is what I came up with:

I bought exactly 1 pound of sirloin. After trimming the fat it was 13.5 oz of sirloin.

I dried it down to exactly 5 oz, resulting in a weight of only 37% of the raw meat (could have dried it even more)

There are 6 oz of protein per raw oz of sirloin. Quick math - my jerky should have roughly 16g of protein per oz. I think I could have dried it a few more hours to get it up to maybe 20g or so per oz, but I was being impatient and wanted to eat it. For comparison, a small 3 oz package of tuna in the foil pouch is 20g of protein - 3x the weight for almost the same protein content.

At any rate, jerky is a *great* source of protein out in the wild. It'll keep for the length of most any trip with no concerns, and who ever gets tired of eating jerky.

It can be more cost effective if you make it yourself. This was organic beef, so it was more expensive and thus would be a bad example of saving money (effectively $19/pound since I paid $6 to make 5 oz of jerky). Also, you can't compare your final price per pound with the jerky at a meat shop because you may dry it out more than they do, effectively making the price per final pound higher. I know my jerky is drier than most any store bought or meat shop jerky.

The biggest reason I make it myself is to avoid all of the crap that most places put in their jerky, such as MSG and misc odd preservatives. You don't need all the preservatives if you don't need it to keep for half a century. The salt and spices will easily keep your jerky for over a month.

Here is my own recipe for mildly spicy jerky:

Per Pound of Meat

2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (sometimes more if I want it hotter)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. apple juice
3/4 tsp liquid smoke
several small spashes of habanero pepper sauce