Customer Reviews

The Well-Fed Backpacker

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I like my backcountry meals to come together easily at home from easily purchased ingredients, to be very lightweight, and to cook quickly in camp so they don't waste time and fuel. At the same time, I can't stand most packaged meals and find that simply adding boiling water to a packaged meal yields only UFOs: Unidentifiable (and inedible) Floating Objects. I'm not interested in wasting time, money, and weight on being "gourmet" in the backcountry. *The Well-Fed Backpacker* by June Fleming strikes the perfect balance for me. For her recipes that I like the best, the shopping is easy, the preparation at home and in camp is easy, the weight is light (especially Cheesy Bacospuds), and the taste is good to great. This is the most practical recipe book for backpackers that I know of.

I went over the backpacking cookbooks offered on Amazon using the extremely useful viewable pages, and selected the three I thought were best. Of the three I purchased, the Well-Fed-Backpacker is notably more informative. It is in that class of books known as perennial favorites, first published in 1976 and still a very strong book today in its third edition. If you are buying one or three as I did, be sure to include this book.

Having been out with June twice on winter camping trips, and having used her book for many of my own outings, I can say without reservation that when it comes to taking food to the outdoors, June knows her stuff.

Her house is always filled with wonderful smells of newly dried foods and experimental recipes. Fellow backpackers don't walk out of the dinner tent at night -- they roll out.

The beautiful part of June's philosphy is that she's realistic -- not all of us have the space and time to dehydrate our own food (like 75 percent of the recipes in that newer "Lip Crackin' Backpackin'" book from Rodale.) She encourages you to find the semi-prepared dried foods you need at the supermarket as a base, and then build from there as much as you're willing to experiment.

My favorite part of the book is a list of "one-liners," quick recipes you can throw together in a single baggie that are no-brainers to cook. They're delicious.

One note -- the latest edition was published in '86, I think. A few details in the book are dated, but 95 percent is still completely, utterly relevant.

Many excellent trail-tested recipes and good advice. Prices and gear slightly dated now. Doesn't include information about weights of things. Otherwise very good and includes many useful tips. The recipes are varied and delicious and discuss packaging and things like that

I enjoyed this book very much, and after realizing that some of the images(suggesting one hold a piece of friut leather up to the sun to form a pretty,natural stained glass window)are meant to be more aesthetic than practical, I was able to glean some great advice and guidance. One note of caution: The item list for emergency backpacking food rations was good, provided you can employ six husky Sherpas to carry it all. All in all,a very good book for anyone interested in delving deeper into the art and science of eating well on the trail....

Getting ready to go on a seven-day backpacking trip, I decided to do some reading. This book was extremely helpful for me to choose foods for the trip that are lightweight and affordable. The author gives you options of buying your foods at the grocery store, health food store, and also a sporting goods store, listing foods that pack well as well as being fairly healthy and lightweight. I am more prepared for my trip than I was before reading this book.

The ideas in this book are pretty good, though I wouldn't necessarily consider this a book for 'backpackers' - more likely for those who are car camping, and who don't mind some extra weight.

Of all the sources of backpacking recipies that I have found, this is by far the best. Not only are most of the recipies reasonable, easy and tasty, but her many suggestions regarding saving money and easy planning are terrific.

This is a must have book for the backpacker. It is full of great recipes and cooking hints. I would recommend this to anyone packing thier own food.

I've used a few recipes out of this book for years and they always work great! I lent the book to a friend, didn't get it back. I thought I would try to do without on my last trek, but I missed having it around to help guide and get the recipes right, so I ordered it again! Cascade Stewpot, Cheesy Baco Spuds, and Apple-Peach Crisp are staple of my backpacking menu! Quite delicious!