Food Hacks Every Backpacker Should Know

One of my hacks is, eating a backpacker meal on the first night of my trip and then use the packaging from that meal to rehydrate future meals like ramen or a knorr rice side. Keeps the pot clean and rehydrates well and easy to eat out of.

Great advice to eat with a spoon rather than fingers when unable to properly wash your hands. Norovirus is no joke!

For reducing the size of packaging and removing air. Make a pin hole, with either a pin or the tip of a knife, then slowly squeeze the air out, then fold up. A pin hole will let air out, keep moisture out, and keep food in, even things like powdered potato will no leak if you fold the bag so the hole is innermost/covered. Saves on ziplocs, and the time decanting.

Most important lesson I learnt, bring food you like and want to eat. It might be different than from your day to day but you will learn over time what works and what not.

I know they often don't do as well view-wise as gear vids, but for someone who already has a pretty dialed kit, tip videos really are where it's at. Much appreciated <3

When refueling that small butane canister – stick the small canister in the fridge and the large canister in the sun to warm up. You will thank me later.

Good call on eating with a spoon - most people who think they had ghiardia on trail actually had dyssentary. Waterborne illness is out there, but it's actually pretty rare. Like if you test water sources. But everybody's eating with dirty hands after pooping in the woods. Not hard to do the math.

My personal food hack is what I call Chicken Butter! It's a blend i make at home consisting of chicken bone broth powder, freeze-dried powdered butter, and iodized salt (sometimes I add black pepper). I use this to add flavor to any rehydrated dish as needed. The butter adds a nice creamy consistency, the chicken adds a savory flavor, and the salt is, well, salt. But it also adds about 100 calories per tablespoon, plus healthy gelatine and collagen, which is important for your aching joints out there. On its own, it can be a nice broth to stimulate your appetite. It's a winner for me.

Eating chips with your spork is genius! Immediately implementing this for my upcoming trip.

I will take my flip fuel device on trail with me. Hiker boxes almost always contain partially used fuel canisters.

i tried the daily food bag idea once, no i prefer to package my food by meal type. brkfst, lunch, dinner, snack. this allows me to be more flexible on meal choices every day. if you bring 2 pieces of foil, you can use one for a lid and one for a wind screen. i weigh my small canisters after my trips to see how much i use. certain trips i will carry the medium size can, sometimes the small. on overnighters, i simply carry 2 partially empties and use them up. i have long taken freeze dried meals, open, dump in a bowl, add rice/ramen and dried meat, split in half and then put into food grade stand up mylar bags. one sided clear lets you see what you have but i also write on them the type and how much water to add. also, only heat coffee and hot chocolate water to as hot as you can drink. it doesn't need to boil. calories are great but make sure you get enough protein.

My favorite breakfast: An envelope of Carnation Essentials with 1/4 cup Nido whole milk powder and 4 Walmart brand oatmeal cookies (300 calories). I eat this while I’m packing up. Quick, satisfying, nourishing, and mess-free.

I add olive oil to anything that can take it. Most decent foods can easily meet the 100:1 ratio so I personally prioritize protein. For example, gorp and nut mixes can take you close to 200 calories/oz and have a ton of protein. Using the fuel transfer adapter also reduces waste in the landfill which is particularly important to me.

I take a small dyneema made dog bowl and eye dropper with dawn dish soap for hand washing.

Wind, even a breeze of a couple of miles per hour, significantly degrades the efficiency of an exposed canister stove. For less than an ounce of weight, I use a Flatcat Gear Ocelot windscreen fitted to my stove. It helps me stretch out my canisters much longer (and more reliably) on long hikes. I’ve tried a lot of stoves and screens over several thousand miles, but just haven’t found a better combination for me than a Pocket Rocket Deluxe with the matching Ocelot and a titanium mug.

Thanks so much for this! I was literally just sitting with all my food spread out trying to figure out what I’m taking for a section of the PCT next week. Great timing! I never realized you divided food by each day with separate bags- I’m gonna do that! Much easier for my ADHD brain to bring what I need each day and keep it organized. To prevent myself from losing my spoon, I always keep it in the food cozy as opposed to loose in the food bag- so far I still have it! 😂 Once again, thank you! 🙂

At the risk of being too repetitive, I truly enjoy your posts. Appreciate it. Merci.

I also open all my food containers before packing. In addition to letting the air out. I like to toss the absorbing packet out, and have less trash to deal with on the trail.

I’ve cooked in the Knorr pouches only to find out that a couple of days on trail caused the bottom corners to wear pinholes and cause a leak. Also, I divide up my chips into daily portions in baggies so that I don’t eat them all at once. Same with trail mix, etc.

I made covers for my water bottles and a liner for my tent floor out of the Reflectix 48” wide hot water heater insulation. We lived in Alaska and winter camped. A piece for under your sleeping mat can really cut the heat transfer from your body to the ground. It’s very light weight!