Food Planning

In the pull down menu above, you can find various worksheets to help you pick menus and then create shopping lists.   

Good backpacking food is:

• light weight but packs densely.

• last for days without cooling.

• requires minimal fuel to cook.

• provides calories.  

• provides nutrients and fiber.

• is easy to clean up

• tastes good

Avoid:

• cans and containers.

• foods with high water content - water can be added on the trail.

• food that has to cook a long time.  Stove fuel is heavy.

• respect allergies, cultural, or religious requirements.  (Currently in T80:  no peanuts.  no cashews.   no pinenuts.  no pork.  caution with eggs.)

How Much:

• 1.3  lbs of backpacking food per scout, per day (3 meals per day), works well.   Weigh your total food and adjust with snacks. 

  • • Example:  5 scouts on a 3 day trip (9 meals) will need a total of    5 scouts    X    3 days    X    1.3 lbs per scout per day  =    19.5 lbs of backpacking food.

• strive for foods which contain 125 cal/oz = 4.4 cal/gr   

• A hungry scout might want ~3000 cal/day or 1.5 lbs/day = 680 grams/day.   

• Here’s an example for a heavier person, hiking a long distance, with a lot of vertical feet:

• A 160 lb person has a base metabolism of approx. 2,400 cal/day.

• 10 miles hiking at 120 cal/mi is an additional 1,200 calories.

• Assume 3,000 elevation gain is another 600 calories.

• Total caloric expenditure: 4,200 cal/day ~ 1000 grams ~ 2 lbs.  This is more than a scout typically needs.