No fuel, no fight! If you skip a proper breakfast, you’ll tire faster during strenuous hikes or canoe trips. Snacks and at least one substantial meal per day should always be planned.
Outdoor Nutrition for Adventurers and Campers
You don’t need expensive trekking or outdoor meals. With the right balance of calories, weight, and volume, ordinary foods can sustain you on long trips.
Taste vs. Weight
Ideally, food should taste as good on the trail as at home. Often, compromises are needed because weight and volume are critical. Dried foods are excellent, as they expand when water is added.
Rice, for example, can be prepared in many ways. A 500 g pack can sustain one person for three to four days. After adding water, its weight triples, giving 1.5 kg of edible rice. Dried beans, lentils, and peas also work well as base ingredients. Adding bouillon cubes or instant soups can enhance flavor.
Variety is Important
Variety keeps morale high. Eating the same thing every day quickly becomes unpleasant. Make sure your diet includes all necessary nutrients. Fresh vegetables are ideal; over the years, we’ve found sweet potatoes to be a favorite — nutritious, tasty, and versatile.
Energy Bars
Energy and protein bars are convenient, as they provide long-lasting calories from complex carbs instead of just sugar. Focus on bars with long-chain carbohydrates (e.g., starch) for sustained energy. You can buy bars like Clif Bar, Oats Bar, or Energy Cake 500, or make your own, especially nut bars. Clif bars on amazon: https://amzn.to/4416pBX
Water
Regular hydration is even more important than food. The body uses water to process food, so don’t eat without water. Remember the rough guideline:
- 3 minutes without air
- 3 days without water
- 3 weeks without food
Water is heavy and impractical to carry in large quantities. For a five-day hike, carrying 10 kg of water is unrealistic. Filtering water from natural sources is recommended — a water filter is essential.
The best filters have a ceramic element with activated carbon. The ceramic pore size should be around 0.2 microns to remove protozoa, bacteria, and viruses. Activated carbon improves taste and binds certain chemicals. Depending on the filter, carbon may need replacement after 10,000–20,000 liters.
We recommend the Sawyer Mini Water Filter: 0.1 micron, 60 g, up to 378,540 liters, under 40 euros — perfect for any outdoor trip. Get it on amazon: https://amzn.to/3MA0hun
⚠️ Note: These filters cannot remove strong chemical contaminants or heavy metals. Avoid water from rivers passing through cities or industrial areas.
Here is where you should take a look at the portable RO filter from ITEHIL: https://itehil.com/products/itehil-self-pumping-outdoor-water-filter?ref=ncpsabqv and with the CODE zwielichtpfad20 you save 20%!
Cooking Gear
There are countless cooking sets on the market. For beginners and pros alike, we recommend the Highlander Festival Chef aluminum set: two main containers, two cutlery sets, and an Esbit burner — unbeatable value.
Metal cup-style cooking sets are popular, allowing easy eating and drinking. A 500 ml capacity is ideal, and a lid keeps ash and dirt out.
Stoves
Cooking over an open fire is enjoyable, but sometimes it’s prohibited or firewood is scarce. In these cases, a camping or gas stove is the most practical solution. Gas stoves with butane/propane cartridges work down to -8 °C; at lower temperatures, higher propane content is needed. Below -10 °C, a liquid-fuel stove is recommended.
Less common are Hobo stoves, metal frames inspired by U.S. hobos. Originally, modified tin cans with air holes were used as mini ovens. Hobo stoves burn wood efficiently; a good model can boil half a liter of water in about five minutes.