My race (www.arrowheadultra.com) is less than two weeks away and I'm working down my last minute prep list. The race rules state that we must start and finish with 3000 (or more) calories in reserve as emergency food.

So far my choice is:
(2) sticks of butter (1600 calories)
(1) large bar of Hershey's dark chocolate (1150 calories)
(1) general energy bar to top it off (250 calories)

Better ideas? The fudge recipies listed in these threads would probably work well. (In a similar race, a friend carried 1000 calories of olive oil - and hoped he didn't have to drink it.)

fat has 9 cals/gram and carbos and protein have 4 cals/gram so a block of solid fat is probably the way to go... have a good source of blubber?

I'll have to check the freezer... :)

Problem with the fudge is ya would want to eat it ;-)
Hello brick-o-lard. Hehheh!!

I've been told that some serious mountaineers eat butter rolled in brown sugar. Butter for the calories in very cold weather and brown sugar to make it more palatable. Just a thought in case you really have to end up eating the butter! :)

PS I believe olive oil is very calorically dense. Maybe 400 calories per tablespoon?

At about 250 calories per ounce lard isn't a bad choice for a "reserve". But I would go with peanut butter at about 200 -220 per ounce, and neither butter or lard were I seriously going to rely on the reserve. Olive oil runs around 247 calories per ounce, but storing it would be the issue. When I was a scuba diver with some pros who did it all the time we used to drink olive oil for our skin, to protect from salt water, and for energy and warmth when down over 50 feet. bd

Carry a "3600" Mainstay bar.

I dont have one handy to weigh it... but its fairly light, compact, tightly packaged, and has 3600 calories packed away into nine 400 calorie "meals".

They wont leak, melt, or squish all over.

They taste like lemon sawdust, so you wont WANT to eat it... meaning you'll have it if you need it, and if you HAVE to eat it, its still better than sucking on a stick of butter.

Alec; good luck on the race, but remember why those safety rules exist. Why not carry something you could actually eat if necessary; the Mainstay bar is 2.67oz. I could not choke down a mouthful of butter or oil; just the thought makes me gag. :)
Let us know what the race is like when you finish?

Thanks! I am Mr Safety, usually opting for safety rather than weight... surprisingly, I actually like butter. Never ate a whole stick, but have been known to eat a tablespoon of the stuff when it's out for baking. Mmmmmmm. I will look at the Mainstay bars though (although I thought Mainstay was a dogfood brand. :) )

Alec try cocnut macaroons...according to the ones I'm eating now they have 170 calories per 2/ half dollar sized ones. You can really abuse them packing-wise, and they will taste good! Making your own is easy too.

I'm sure this comes a little too late for your race, but...
You might try macadamia nuts - they have about 200 calories per ounce and I would consider far better tasting than just butter or olive oil.

Alec, I'm with you on the butter thing. With just a little bit of carb (like cashew nuts or something), and a bit of sea salt to make it palatable, its a really good energy boost.

I'm very into traditional foods, and am soon going to try making my own beef jerky and pemmican. They are the ultimate trip foods, kept native american hunters on the go.. its good enough for me!

Am so glad to have come across this forum..
hello everyone!

pemmican is beef fat and jerky mixed together last forever no cooking you can buy it at www.uswellnessmeat.com

i thought it had dried berries in it as well.

Not one to be into beef fat, I rely on Bear Valley Meal Pack Pemmican:

http://www.mealpack.com/products/fruit_nut.html

Edited by catt on 04/01/2007 16:32:34 MDT.

I mean that's 'pemmican' as in a brand name, right? It's not pemmican as in the food. I have been interested in pemmican after reading a history book a few years ago but short of making it myself I never thought to be able to try some. I tried that link where it was said you could buy some but it doesn't work.

Sorry- can't get it to create a hyperlink. However, if you just copy & paste the http it will take you right to Bear Valley Pemmican Meal Pack.

Sorry cat. I was talking about the earlier reference to pemmican being for sale at "www.uswellnessmeat.com". There doesn't seem to be a web site at that address.

Correction to the URL...

http://www.uswellnessmeats.com/

They do indeed sell what they call Pemmican. Cool.

Do any of you remember those compact rectangular shaped bacon bars wrapped in foil that were sold in the mountaineering shops a few years ago? Actually I haven’t seen these for years. These bars were very greasy, crammed packed bacon bits firmly shaped into a cube or rectangular bar. They were sold as emergency rations and they were actually very tasty but super-loaded with calories.