I would like to avoid as many pills as possible while on the trail (with my knees, glucosamine are a must), and to that end, I’m wondering about Product 19 in a gorp mix. It’s the most vitamin-enriched cereal I’ve seen, even if it doesn’t have all the fiber I would like. The question is, do cereals end up as dust after a day or three in the pack? Do I need to look for denser options? Who has played with cereal on the trail?
J.F.
A real easy solution for packing anything like cereal or bread or anything else that would get crushed in your pack - put it in a suitable-size zip lock and just attach it to the outside of your pack.
Who cares if others can see what food items you are carrying. You just have to be careful not to set your pack down on top of the items attached.
jaws
Dear J.F.:
I’m thinking you’re not getting much response here because what you’re proposing, getting your vitamins from de-natured and re-fortified foods, is such an incredibly bad idea.
On the AT, as in life in general, you need real foods, in their natural state. And even then you probably should take vitamin and mineral supplements.
Sincerely–Conan.
Conan
I ate cereal almost every single morning for breakfast for 1000 miles and I didn’t have a problem once, even though I usually carry my clothes on top of my food, and not my food on top (like a lot of guys do). Carrying food on the outside of a pack doesn’t seem like a good idea to me because if you fall flat on your back, the cereal is going to get crushed instead of having the impact spread throughout your pack. Also, if the weather is not good it might get soggy because ziplocks are not 100%. Yet another thing to think about is the more stuff you have outside your pack the more unbalanced your load will be. You want things closer to your back rather than further. Also, depending on how it is secured, it might crinkle or move or get in the way. Anyway, I say you take cereal and put it on the top of your bag (yet inside) when you first get the bag. Once you’ve eaten about half of it, you could transfer it to the food bag.
I find it odd that somebody will tell you not to eat enriched foods, but then go take vitamins. It amounts to the same thing. Anyway, it is very hard to get “real” food on the trail, like fresh fruits and vegetables. Having to deal with dried stuff and even stuff that’s not the best for you because it has a lot of calories is part of life on the trail for many people. My advice is to do the best you can on the trail, and fill up off the trail with veggies, fruits, and even more fats especially during the winter. Many people enjoy Chinese Food especially for this reason – it is both good and “bad” for you. You need “real” food but more than that, you need Enough food.
Free Spirit
Dear J.F.:
Free Spirit was at least honest enough to acknowledge his confusion. Most of his confusion comes from simply not reading my post carefully enough. But, a basic food science class might help also. Let me clear things up.
My suggestion is that you eat foods in their natural state as much as possible. This way, the food will have its original nutritive value. Once food is processed, or denatured, it loses much of its nutritive value, and is composed primarily of empty calories. The problems with eating such food are well known; such food should be avoided.
Now, during your hike, you’re going to get the calories you need one way or the other. What I’m suggesting is that you get them by eating natural, nutritionally dense foods, rather than empty calorie foods. Simply put, calories aren’t the only things you need out of food.
Now, why do I suggest vitamin and mineral supplements on top of the nutrients you would get out of natural, unprocessed, or minimally processed foods? The answer is simple and straightforward. You will likely not be able to find such foods at all times.
Now, why not eat fortified cereal? Not because there are vitamins in it. Rather, because the platform for the vitamins, the cereal itself, the grain it is made from, has already been denatured.
Hope that clears things up.
Sincerely–Conan.
Conan
I buy the small multi-boxs of cereal, throw away the box since they are each in a bag, them throw them in a zip lock
Possum