Packing a 30 L Barrel

[Alan Gage]

I think my 30 liter barrel runs 30-35 pounds when full. I can get a little over 30 days for me and my dog in a 60 liter (about 75 pounds when full, including barrel pack) so I figured I could do 3 weeks out of a 30 liter if it was just me. I think I could do 45 days out of a 60 liter.

I'm 6'1" and 170 pounds and certainly don't feel like I'm starving when out on trips, and I work hard. But my food is chosen mainly for being fat/calorie dense and healthy with no bulk. Everything is dehydrated. Quinoa instead of rice or pasta, dried beans, mixed veggies, peanut butter, oil, bannock mix (with whole milk), oatmeal, almonds, peanut M&Ms, raisins, hot chocolate mix (with whole milk), sugar, salt That's about it. Oh, and a pound or two of lemon drops. After lunch one goes in my mouth to suck on while paddling and the other goes in my pocket to suck on when the first one is gone.

Alan

 

[Odyssey]

My paddling/life partner and I have been using a 30L barrel for food on trips for many years, and our trips used to be planned for about 10 days. For a 10 day trip as an emergency plan we'd take an additional 4 days of suppers for 2 people. On those occasions we've filled the 30L barrel completely to the rim, although we do take some fresh (space inefficient) food also, and the barrel was heavy. Fresh food has often been an onion or two, a dozen eggs, a few apples, cheese, fresh or frozen meat. Lately though we've been planning for only 7 days max so our barrel only has to carry that and 3 more suppers for the both of us. In addition to fewer days/fewer meals to plan for we've also changed our trip diets in favour of replacing some fresh and all frozen for dehydrated and pre prepared meals. Dehydrated greatly reduces weight and volume, while pre preparing meals at home cuts down on camp kitchen prep. With this change our barrel is not only less full but also proportionally lighter because of the dehydrated meals. What all this means is based on our experiences a 30L barrel easily accommodates 7 days of food for a tandem trip = 14 days solo. If we eliminated all the fresh food and only tripped on dehydrated I guesstimate another week of food could easily fit into our barrel. We don't plan for lunches every day, and if so they are always small and spare. Apple & cheese, granola bar, or a cup of soup. We plan carefully to have no leftovers. But all this is rather subjective because it all comes down to what and how much you eat, and how much you require calorie wise given your trip plan. ie Travel day caloric demand > rest day caloric demand. Testing and planning all this might be as simple as making a meal plan and then seeing if it fits in the barrel.