By: Blonde Two
In order to preserve my knees, I have been told by the doctor to get the weight of my pack down. I keep going through the contents and sadly, the heaviest thing every time is my bag of emergency rations. I know that it needs sorting out but can’t quite work out how to do it – there is a high chance that I am confusing the word “emergency” with another of my favourite words – “tasty”.
Currently the bag (waterproof of course) contains three Snickers bars (wrappers look dodgy), several sachets of hot chocolate (I don’t usually carry a stove), a half eaten bag of dried and frankly rather flaky fruit and an ancient looking packet of Brazil nuts. Not very appealing but I do try to always have Wine Gums or Jelly Babies as an easily accessible supplement in my pocket.
Kendle Mint Cake doesn’t weigh very much but I have failed in my attempts to like it (I have tried very hard as it does seem to be the thing). I went through an energy tablet phase until advised not to (good advice). I appear to be stuck in a chocolate bar loop and don’t know how to get out of it.
So if anyone knows of a delicious, nutricious, high energy, low salt (unless I get cramp), weatherproof, lightweight snack that doesn’t take up too much space in my new rucksack – please share the info with this confused Blonde.
Apparently the best and most nutritious energy drink is milk but tilt only increases your weight problem ( backpack weight! ). Bananas are the best high energy snack but they are messy if not eaten on the same day. My conclusion is chocolate and cake!
You can get special plastic banana holder’s of course … I know, more weight.
But a very organised rucksack would result. Plus it would prevent finding a soggy banana at the bottom of your bag three weeks later.
I can’t help much except to say that I don’t like Kendal Mint Cake either …
Happy New Year to you both!
I think that your emergency rations need to be seen in the light of what you eat the rest of the day. Graham Obree, the cyclist, had a highly specialised diet. After a carb- rich breakfast product called ‘porrige’, and then if exerting himself for more than an hour, he uses a high energy snack called ‘jam sandwiches’ all followed by a recovery nutrition mix called ‘lunch’ (generally green veg, protein and carbohydrate) as well as a special hydration fluid called ‘tap water’. The thinking behind the jam sandwiches is that they have sugars for immediate energy needs and the bread has salts and more complex carbohydrates that your body digests over a longer term. Alongside drinking when you feel you need to and the balanced diet at other times this combination does everything that expensive sports snacks and drinks claim. I’m pretty certain that a similar approach works for hill walking.
Any emergency rations should be extra calories to supplement your normal food if you end up out longer than planned, perhaps more tired and cold. Maybe take an extra couple of sandwiches or bananas that are kept until you get back to the car? Alternatively a bar of chocolate, mint cake, pack of boiled sweets or dried fruit would probably be sufficient on most day walks. Amounts will vary with where, when and what you’re doing. You would have a more substantial amount if out all day in remote country in cold wintry weather with a high risk of being caught out overnight compared to a summer morning ramble on easy ground.
I have been told that military ration packs now have fewer sweets and chocolate than they used to, with ceral bars as a substitute. Part of the reason for this is that confectionary gives an immediate but short lived rush instead of the the more sustained release of energy from the mix of sugar and complex carbohydrates in the cereal bars.
I do eat porridge on a working day – maybe it will pack down nicely in a compression sack!
You have more goodies and tasties in the day bag than me, and I’m diabetic!. In mine bottle of water, glucose tablets, Kagol, spare jumpers, map and walking Sat Nav. Enjoy your weekend walking on the moor, we have snow forecasted here for tomorrow, so it’s a wait and see walk for me.
I can’t see the moors because of the cloud so snow seems unlikely here. We are going up later and I am going to inspect the emergency rations again first.
My emergency rations always include 2 Mars bars. They stay in the bottom of my bag throughout the whole season of walking with kids, then at the start of the summer when my bag gets its annual sort out, they get eaten!!!! A fab tradition that I refuse to change.
Plastic banana holder (been skulling around THAT kitchen drawer for ages) will be dispatched shortly, blonde 2 for the use of. Love, Tawny Mum
Ooooh how exciting – requests by blog. Looking forward to the postman soon!
Technical note : you may have to chop bits off the banana to get it into the holder [or buy smaller bananas].
FLAPJACK
Absolutely or now I come to think of it – Date Slice would be great. I still have the recipe somewhere!
Peanut or chocolate chip Tracker bars
Pack of jerky or biltong
Packet of jelly (this can be eaten as an emergency very high sugar dose or put in hot water to make a yumbly hot drink)
Can you make soup by putting jerky into the boiling water instead? I like the jelly cubes idea!
I have never tried that but I guess it would add flavour to the water therefore becoming soup/broth??