As some of you may know, I have been working hard to research, recreate and use various methods of traditional Aussie bushwalking and camping from the Colonial period through to the post-WWII period. This has meant humping the Bluey and dilly bag as well as using old-timey packs and tents on overnight and multi-day bushwalks. One aspect I havent touched on all that much is old time foods. Most styles of bushcraft aside from and beyond our beloved Traditional Aussie bushcraft also prefer to concentrate on carrying and preparing simple, portable, non-perishable, and where possible - whole foods. I thought Id extract one of my old blog posts on the topic which lists a 1920s food list for a 14-dayer into the Tassie wilderness: I recently read an old journal article from 1924 which piqued my curiosity. It was a trip report of a group of naturalists who penetrated deep into the wilds of Tasmania for two weeks, carrying everything they needed for that two weeks – no resupply. Their camping gear list is a separate post in itself, but what interested me was the food they carried. There were no freeze dried meals or MRE entrees or single-serving noodle packs or cliff bars available to recreational walkers in the 1920s. It was mainly whole foods in as lightweight a format as they could manage. The list below is a list of food carried by each individual for that 14 days. Check it out - 2 x 2lb tin loaves – 1.8kg 4 x lbs self-raising flour – 1.8kg 4 x tins bully beef / camp pie / etc. – 48oz total – 1.4kg 4 x lbs ship’s biscuits – 1.8kg 2 x lbs sugar – 900g 0.5 x lb salt – 225g 3 x lbs dried fruit – 1.4kg 2 x lbs creamoata – 900g 1.5x lbs bacon – 680g 2 x tins unsweetened condensed milk – 24oz total – 680g 1.5 x lbs cheese – 680g 2 x large cakes chocolate – 0.5lb each – 1lb total – 455g 2 x lbs dripping – 900g 1 x lb split peas – 455g 1 x bottle bovril – 0.5lb – 0.255g 0.5x lb tea – 0.255g Total food weight – 29lb – 13.15kg - 2.07lb or 0.939kg per day To give a modern comparison, lightweight hikers/bushwalkers on a multi-day trip will generally aim at around 1kg (2.2lb) of food carried per day. This means that the old timers’ food weights were actually comparable to modern standards, but this is unlikely to include the weights of the tin cans, glass and calico packaging. Still… not bad.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 00:24:11 +0000
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