On the best trips we have tons of food.

#2. On the best trips there is food discipline and everyone is feeling the pinch half the time.

Which of the above statements reflects your point of view?

Neither. We have lots of food, but I wouldn't call it "tons". I travel with an insulin-dependent diabetic, so there is always survival food tucked away, and there is always enough. We come back with snacks left over, but they are necessary in case of extra-hard work, an extra day, cold conditions, etc.

Feeling the pinch isn't possible for us because it would be dangerous for him.

As we have gotten older, we travel fewer miles, work less hard, and should eat less. I think we eat too much now, but we are sort of in the habit of our canoe tripping diet.

I should try to "feel the pinch" and lose weight on a trip, but I don't. I don't gain either. Just keep up my unfortunate girth as always. ;-)

I think we are fairly consistent with the amount of food we bring. Wouldn't say we bring tons of food. But, we usually come out with an extra days (or so)worth of food. Our emergency reserve. :)


So to answer the question: While certainly food is important. I can't think of a trip where the amount of food we brought directly factored in to the overall success or failure of a trip.

I find food to be probably the most important element of a trip. Its hard work traveling in the BWCA and managing your bodies energy/fuel levels is key.

I don't think its wise to plan on having just enough food to get by. You never know when a travel day is going to end up taking more out of you then planned, or when you'll be wind bound for an extra day, or when someone at camp is going to accidentally kick over the big pot of soup you planned for dinner (it has happened to me before). If you have just barely enough food then you won't be prepared for either event and that could lead to a pretty miserable and hungry trip. And the paddle/portage home will be harder while you deal with the reduced energy of not having added any fuel to your bodys fuel tank.

I plan my food with a mix of fresh food and some dehydrated food. I plan my meals so that I have options for an extra day if need be. That doesn't mean I carry an extra breakfast/lunch/dinner for an extra day but I do make sure there will be enough to eat. Whether its extra pancake mix, extra snacks or extra pouch or 2 of tuna. If I am wind bound an extra day or two I probably won't eat like a king but I'll be able to eat and more importantly maintain my energy levels for the paddle home.

Now with all that said I'm still not bringing a ton of food so that I can just run to the food pack anytime I'm feeling a little hungry. The food is planned and the I feel like the plan should be stuck to as much as possible.

trips for me...eat to live, not live to eat.

We plan a menu and have very little left over after the trip. We eat well and do not scrimp.

For group trips I find it is better for three meals a day to be under strict guard. Everyone brings their own snacks/treats individually and is free to eat them as they wish. That way the menu stays on track but if someone is starving, they can thank themselves instead of hating you.

As base campers who focus on fishing, we travel heavier than most since we know we will not be moving a lot. We also like to eat well.

However, I have learned in the last 30 years than excess food is by far the greatest "dead weight" and unnecessary item to eliminate. So I plan a very detailed menu for the entire group, then measure every single item for every meal to the ounce and repackage in Ziplocs. Literally, there is nothing left over from any meal and no extra meals. We include snacks as part of the portions in the meals - cookies, crackers, Cliff Bars, gorp, etc.

I do not allow others to bring extra food. It is always a waste and is carried out. If they want to have a specific item, we make it part of the main menu.

If we need more food - we go catch fish. High protien, low fat, 100% organic, free range and zero portage weight.

Old Hoosier

This year we asked our group members not to bring extra food with them. Another thing is we are not planing lunches this year, more shore lunches of fish is on the menu.

No body ever complaigns about food on my trips. There is enough for everyone to eat as much as they want but there are never any leftovers! I have switched from the tradition of planning each meal out and packaging them as such. I now have a general idea of what we are having but will adjust the stratch (pototoes, rice, noodles, etc.) to matcht he hunger level of the group. If it was a long day, I make more, if it was a light day I make a little less. It seems to work very well, but it has also taken my 25 years of canoe tripping to fine tune my system.

For those of you that plan to run out of food on your last day what is your backup plan in case you get windbound or are for some reason out an extra day or two?

For those of you that plan to fish for a large portion of your food what is your backup plan if you don't catch enough fish? I know I've been on trips when the fishing was incredibly bad and I wouldn't have been able to rely on fish to sustain me. Last June my trip happened to hit at the same time as a major bug hatch and we couldn't catch a fish to save our lives and we hit it 8 hours a day and are pretty decent fisherman. When I got back to camp I was very happy I had a plan B in place, it wasn't as good as a fish dinner but it refueled my tank.

I guess I'm of the mindset that I like to have a backup plan in place just in case one of those rare events takes place.

quote nofish: "For those of you that plan to run out of food on your last day what is your backup plan in case you get windbound or are for some reason out an extra day or two?


For those of you that plan to fish for a large portion of your food what is your backup plan if you don't catch enough fish? I know I've been on trips when the fishing was incredibly bad and I wouldn't have been able to rely on fish to sustain me. Last June my trip happened to hit at the same time as a major bug hatch and we couldn't catch a fish to save our lives and we hit it 8 hours a day and are pretty decent fisherman. When I got back to camp I was very happy I had a plan B in place, it wasn't as good as a fish dinner but it refueled my tank.


I guess I'm of the mindset that I like to have a backup plan in place just in case one of those rare events takes place. "

We usually plan to have at least 3-4 meals of just fish. We've never had a problem with catching enough fish in the BWCA but if we did it wouldn't be the end of the world. You can always ration food and if you do have to go a day without food it won't kill you. Most of us aren't within a dangerous body fat percentage range where if we miss a few meals we will suffer serious harm. We may be a bit uncomfortable for a day but that's about it.

quote keth0601:

We usually plan to have at least 3-4 meals of just fish. We've never had a problem with catching enough fish in the BWCA but if we did it wouldn't be the end of the world. You can always ration food and if you do have to go a day without food it won't kill you. Most of us aren't within a dangerous body fat percentage range where if we miss a few meals we will suffer serious harm. We may be a bit uncomfortable for a day but that's about it."

We can all for sure go a day without food if need be. But how much harder will your trip out be on an empty stomach? Of course it depends on the type of trip you're on but I'm imagining being a good 8 hour travel day away from your exit point and you haven't eaten since maybe lunch the day before. How much harder will that 8 hour travel day be without the necessary fuel your body needs? I think we'd probably all make it sooner or later but it could be a miserable day. I guess thats why I plan on just a little more food, of course I'm not planning a full extra day but just enough to give us a few calories during the what if scenarios.

Missing a meal isn't the end of the world but it does seem like it when faced with a loong walk in colder temps. I've never understood why folks are willing to put there life in danger over carrying a extra meal. I spend a lot of time outdoors and some of my top worst trips were with folks who sweated over adding 6ozs to their gear. a case in point was a 6 day 5 night hike in the mountains trout fishing. It was a mixed group but most of the group had left and pared down their packs to under 25 pounds under the "guidance" of one of the self proclaimed weekend hikers. Every evening the "expert" would go off and pout while the group gathered around the camp site and enjoyed a tatse of something I had carried in. Each to his own....

I agree, no reason to push the envelope over a few ounces. Carrying a little extra weight won't ruin a trip but having to get by with half the food your body needs would sure make for a miserable trip at least in my book.