[pct-l] Best lightweight snacks?

[Diane Soini]

Ha ha the dirty little secret about long distance hiking is there is  
no such thing as ultralight. Just when you get your pack light enough  
to do the big miles, the big miles make you so hungry and the desert  
so thirsty you're back to a 30lb pack again.

The lightest snacks are anything shelf-stable and in a package. This  
is copied from gnolls.org.
http://tinyurl.com/4xmsfth
Here are some "calories per 100 grams" readings for common "healthy"  
packaged foods—

—all of which are more calorically dense than prime rib!

Cheerios: 367 kcal/100g
Fruit roll-ups: 371 kcal/100g
Fat-free potato chips: 379 kcal/100g
Rice Chex: 382 kcal/100g
Air-popped popcorn (yes, the nasty dry stuff): 387 kcal/100g
Kellogg’s low-fat granola bar: 390 kcal/100g
Kashi Organic Promise Cranberry Sunshine cereal: 401 kcal/100g
"Low-fat" tortilla chips: 416 kcal/100g
Soy "nuts": 451 kcal/100g
Tortilla chips: 492 kcal/100g
Potato chips: 547 kcal/100g
Oil-popped microwave popcorn: 583 kcal/100g
Dry-roasted peanuts: 585 kcal/100g
In contrast, here are some statistics for whole paleo foods commonly  
derided as "rich", "heavy", and "fattening":

Sauteed yellow onions: 132 kcal/100g
Hard-boiled egg: 155 kcal/100g
Hash browns in butter sauce: 178 kcal/100g
Fried egg: 196 kcal/100g
Beef chuck blade roast: 248 kcal/100g
Bacon: 459 kcal/100g. OK, I admit it: we’ve finally found something  
14% more calorie-dense than Kashi Organic Promise Cranberry Sunshine.

You might be too hungry eating low-fat tortilla chips and rice cakes  
so you might want to pack a little bacon or peanut butter if you can,  
even if it is a tad on the heavy side.


On May 24, 2013, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> From: Kristy Margulieux <kmmarg at gmail.com>
> Subject: [pct-l] Best lightweight snacks?
>
> Opinions? Having trouble cutting down my pack weight...food seems  
> to be the issue