[pct-l] alternative to bread?

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Gideon,

I don’t usually cook or heat food on a long hike so I rely heavily upon
various chips and crackers.  I eat them with spread toppings, dips, or just
eat them with other foods and drink.  Snack crackers are often criticized
because they have a high content of exactly what hikers need:  Lots of fat
and salt.  A down-side of most chips and crackers is the likelihood they
will be crushed into pieces and crumbs.  I don’t much care, but it bothers
some people who want them whole before they crunch them in their mouth.

I sometimes carry lots of tortillas because they are quite dense, and they
fit perfectly inside my bear ‘can.  The problem is they have quite a bit of
water weight compared to other “dry” crackers.

Bagels are OK, but they do have some moisture, and their shape is the
antithesis of a dense-packing item.  Often hikers are seen with a huge of
bagels tied to the outside of the pack because of their poor density.

Some people buy regular loaves of bread and firmly compress them to about
25% of their original length.  That works, but I find it’s a
pain-in-the-butt to try to peel off the really thin slices of moist and
compressed bread-goo.  Another problem is, to be really compressible the
bread must be moist which adds weight.  If the bread is reasonably dry, it
won’t compress.

One of the poorest packing densities is with puffed rice cakes.  They are
fine only if Calorie density isn’t a problem.   Considering their
inefficient shape and their low density,  just imagine how many
Calories-worth of rice cakes can be packed into a bear ‘can.

Enjoy your planning,

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/


On Tue, Mar 13, 2012 at 4:40 PM, Gideon Scher <gideonscher at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi to all
>
> In my hiking, both short and long distance, I carry bread for my lunch as
> my starch (supplemented by tuna for protein) as well as for snacking
> (peanut butter sandwiches). I carry one loaf of whole-wheat bread for 4
> days worth of lunches (i.e 4 slices per lunch, 16 slices in a loaf). I then
> carry more bread for snack stops. My problem is that it takes up lots of
> space in my pack. I have tried less bulky tortillas, but they go moldy
> pretty quickly.
>
> Can anyone please recommend an alternative starch that I can use for lunch
> and snacks? I want it be less bulky than bread, provide the same
> nutritional value and not require the use of a stove or preparation prior
> to eating (no noodles, couscous etc) .
>
> Many thanks,
> Gideon
>
> PS: feel free to reply off list too
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