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What food do I need?
It all depends on how many days you are hiking for:
One Day Hike
Take a packed lunch, water and some snacks with you. Plus your emergency ration pack.
Two Day Hike
You should take the the following food, plus your emergency ration pack,
| Day 1 | Day 2 | |
| Breakfast | Need to cook a hot breakfast | |
| Lunch | Take packed lunch with you | Prepare a packed lunch at breakfast time |
| Dinner | Need to cook a hot dinner | |
| Supper | Need a hot drink and biscuit |
Three Day Hike
You should take the the following food, plus your emergency ration pack,
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | |
| Breakfast | Need to cook a hot breakfast | Need to cook a hot breakfast | |
| Lunch | Take packed lunch with you | Prepare a packed lunch at breakfast time | Prepare a packed lunch at breakfast time |
| Dinner | Need to cook a hot dinner | Need to cook a hot dinner | |
| Supper | Need a hot drink and biscuit | Need a hot drink and biscuit |
What can I eat for Breakfast?
You must start the day with a hot breakfast.
Examples include:
Fried Bacon
Hot dog sausages - not tinned, pay extra and buy the ones in plastic vacuum packs.
Instant porridge - made with water
What can I eat for Lunch?
You need foods for lunch that are easy to prepare and will not be damaged if they are squashed in your rucksack.
Examples include:
Bread rolls - but they are pretty awful when they are squashed
Tortillas - used to make wraps - doesn't matter if they get squashed
Pitta bread - just need slicing open and then filling.
What goes inside?
Cheese slices - but they make very dry sandwiches on there own
Ham or cold meat slices
The best combination is a slice of cheese and a slice of meat
If you use the cheese/ham combination you do not need margarine or butter.
You could take a handful of "chip shop" tomato ketchup or salad cream packets - but do not use them in advance as the make a horrible mess.
What else?
Cakes and fruit give you carbohydrates (for energy)
Crisps - are ok for carbohydrates but they often get squashed.
Peanuts don't get crushed like crisps do, and they have high energy values. If you don't like nuts, what about raisins?
What can I eat for Dinner?
If you are hiking, you really want to keep the weight of your food, and the size of the packets to a minimum. With that in mind, it probably means that you are looking at dehydrated food.
You could go to a camping shop and spend £3 or even £5 on a packet of food. Once you have tasted them, you probably will not to try them again.
So....
Most supermarkets sell packets of dried Pasta or Dried Rice. You can buy natural food, or buy packets of food that come with a flavour.
If you prefer mashed potato, just get a packet of Smash!
Once you have worked out if you prefer Pasta, Rice or Potato - all these foods are Carbohydrates. They will give you lots of energy which will take your body several hours to absorb all the goodness from. This means that you will have lots of energy for walking.
So what else do you have?
You can buy packet dried mince. If you can cope with the weight of a tin, you could buy tinned meat, but then you have a problem with disposing of the rubbish if you are camping in the wild.
Packets of Hot Dogs are lightweight and can be cut up, warmed through and added to the pasta etc.
Or if you like sauces, buy a packet mix for a sauce that goes with the rest of the food.
What else will I need?
Water
Water
Water!
Sorry about repeating it, but you would be surprised how many hiking teams underestimate the amount of water they need.
You need it for hot drinks, to cook your packet food, to wash up and to sip whilst you are walking.
04 March 2006