CHAPTER XI
THE RATION LIST
SUPPOSEDLY the greatest privation which will confront the amateur woodsman who breaks away from home ties for a few weeks’ jaunt into the wilderness is a gastronomic one. Yet with a properly balanced ration list composed of goods procurable of any grocer with perhaps the addition of some of the newer evaporated foods available on special order or made at home, the hiker may hit the trail confident that he will be well fed.
The hackneyed slogan of outfitting, viz.:—to secure the maximum in efficiency from supplies which represent a minimum in carrying weight and bulk—must be reiterated in choosing the tramper’s food supply. For those demanding the extreme in portable equipage the evaporated foods—vegetables (as dried potatoes, Julienne, etc.,) soups (Erbswurst), eggs, milk, etc., are invaluable. In their preparation by dessication the fresh vegetables are deprived of their water content so that all one needs to do in preparing them for table use is to add water and cook in the usual way. They are thus restored to their former value as palatable foods although of course their form and shape may be altered.
Their chief value for our purpose is that they represent a tremendous reduction (of approximately 15 per cent) in their natural weight and a corresponding lessening of bulk. For example a pound of evaporated potatoes will represent seven pounds of the fresh product. Or again one pound of granulated dried egg represents four dozen of the fresh eggs. Dehydrated goods are equal to fresh goods and are far superior to the canned kind. They are palatable and nutritious as foods, they never spoil and permit a welcome variety in the bill of fare. Concentration of bulk alone is not the criterion in choosing camp foods—digestibility is really paramount. Thus cheese, nuts, beans, rice and the various evaporated foods are highly concentrated but differ greatly in their ease of digestion.
Food for the hiker, as we have said, must with the least weight and bulk furnish appetizing and digestible nourishment to an active man. It should be composed of the proper proportions of fat, protein (which comprises the elements of lean meat) and cereal. It should pack easily under all conditions of heat, moisture and rough handling and must cook simply.
The following items are looked upon as the essentials in diet lists for campers:—flour, bacon, beans, tea, sugar. They represent the three classes of foods necessary to health. For increasing the palatability and variety of the bill of fare other items creep in and they are admissible if they represent in food value and concentration of bulk the same as a given amount of the essential food for which they were substituted.
Bush life develops a great appetite, therefore figure well on the necessary amounts to be packed. Too much means discomfort and fatigue in packing and too little means hunger and perhaps privation. Little dependence should be placed upon securing game or fish en route unless one is certain that he is in a country where such are present in reasonable abundance and that there is nothing to interfere with procuring them.
In general it may be said that for each week about twenty pounds of food stuff are needed per man. The following proportions of the various items will be found about right:—
| Food for One Man One Week | |||
| Wheat flour | 5 | pounds | |
| Corn meal | 4 | pounds | |
| Bacon | 5 | pounds | |
| Beans | 1¾ | pounds | |
| Sugar | 1¾ | pounds | |
| Dried fruit | 1 | pound | |
| Rice | 1 | pound | |
| Baking powder | ¼ | pound | |
| Tea | ¼ | pound | |
| Salt | ¼ | pound | |
| Pepper | small | amount. | |
| Dried Egg substituting a portion of the meat ration. | |||
| Dried soup and vegetables substituting a portion of the bean or flour ration. | |||
On the trail count on cooking but two meals a day, morning and night with a noon-day stop with lunch and hot drink. This allows time for a day’s work.