energy bars

I am wondering what energy bars you bring on outdoor trips and how you rate them, in terms of energy boost and taste.

Explorer Editor said:

I am wondering what energy bars you bring on outdoor trips and how you rate them, in terms of energy boost and taste.

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Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts. The original energy bar!

Not a big fan of energy bars. Some flavors of power bar are OK. Others are inedible. They are really hit or miss. Same thing with Clif bars. I've tried some other brands and I have decided they intentionally make them taste like cardboard and have a consistency of sand, it seems to be the theme across the board. Haven't tried Shot Bloks or Clif Shots but I can only imagine they are just as boring as their food counterparts.

If I bring a bar it's going to be those Nature Valley peanut butter ones (sometimes other flavors). Some might find them really crunchy, hard and dry, but the flavor is great and they are packed with calories, sodium, fiber, and protein. No mysterious ingredients or "flavoring". Plus you can enter the UPC on a website and donate a dollar to the National Park Service which is kind of a really great thing to do with a box of granola bars. www.preservetheparks.com

If I'm eating a strict "energy" supplement it's going to be those Gatorade G series liquid things. They taste like kool-aid. The Gatorade gels are actually pretty good imo and if they weren't a dollar a package I might eat them for a snack. I'm pretty much a Gatorade lover. The only problem with the gels is they stick to your teeth a bit.

Five-hour energy drinks taste worse than cough syrup.

This post ended up being way longer than I initially intended.

I never really liked Power Bars (putty) or Cliff Bars (sawdust). Started looking at 40-30-30 foods (40% Carb, 30% protein, 30% fat) and I kind of like Zoneperfect Bars, at least the Fudge Graham flavor. No substitute for real food, but easy to throw in the pack for a quick hike.

I dislike all the energy bars except Snickers!

I do however really love Nature Valleys new high protein bars. Specifically this one. The has a similar one with peanut butter but I like this one best.
http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Valley-Almond-Dark-Chocolate/dp/B005VOOOM0
Our Big Y here at home has them.

I do like their other nut bars but find this one to be tops!

Fig bars (Fig Newtons).

Jason Berard said:

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts. The original energy bar!

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I always heard that fig bars were the original energy bars...

Doug

I've grown partial to the Probars. They're a little pricey but have great staying power and they taste good.

Who needs energy bars
GORP rules

I agree no powerbars. My vote is a salami and swiss sandwich and snicker bars. That'll get you there.

eddie said:

I agree no powerbars. My vote is a salami and swiss sandwich and snicker bars. That'll get you there.

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Snickers bars won a test years ago, in taste and subjective energy effectiveness evaluation. The chemical bar makers went berserk.

If you want bars, the Bear Valley Pemmacin Bars (not really pemmacin), have shown up at my local REI. These are actual, real food. I first read about them in The Walk Book.

Very good, but one every other day (consumed half at a time) is about as much as I want; they are sweet.

They have a somewhat short shelf life, which has made them very hard to find retail, and where they were carried they were frequently old, so I've had to remember to order them directly, in cases. Hopefully there will be enough turnover at REI to keep them moving.

Overall I have trouble eating a whole lot while hiking unless hiking all day, in which case I don't have much of a choice. Now that I am gluten free, there isn't a lot out there, but one of the gluten-free choices is, I think, quite good. I like LaraBars, but I have to be careful because I have issues with some nuts (and bananas, and cherries ... yes it IS fun to be me!! ). Peanuts are OK, so I tend to like the PB Chocolate chip and PB cookie. I'm not a big fan of chocolate, but there is a Chocolate/Coconut one that is decent. They seem a decent choice as I tend to be able to recognize the ingredients .

gaiagirl said:

Now that I am gluten free, there isn't a lot out there, but one of the gluten-free choices is, I think, quite good. I like LaraBars, but I have to be careful because I have issues with some nuts (and bananas, and cherries ... yes it IS fun to be me!! ).

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My climbing partner is gluten-intolerant and he's a big fan of Kind bars (as well Whole Foods' gluten-free muffins, which we have to stop and pick up for him just about every trip.... )

As for me, I'm a food-whore, so any kind of bar usually works -- Clif, Lara, Mojo, Nature Valley, Quaker, whatevs -- when hiking. When trailrunning, though, I can't do solid foods, so I'm usually downing gels (I tend to like Clif Shots more than Gu's these days), and the Clif Shot Bloks (like hi-tech gummy cubes) are also pretty easy on the stomach whilst on-the-run.

Love the PopTart idea. However, in execution I've found them to be a bit lacking, as they're usually PopTart crumbs by the time I get to eat them.

I think I've tried every bar out there...........somewhat a staple on LD hikes........variety is key! I (like scarpy) recently became partial to the Probar (esp. original flavor....not so much the choco pistachio), almost taste like a homeade granola bar! Lots of good calories for the weight....but yes, pricey. Besides that, the regular stuff you find everywhere.......Mojo, Odwalla, Nature Valley, some luna, some cliff. Cliff Crunchy White Choc. Macadamia were a favorite for awhile (though sugary).
I'm also partial to the energy chews (power bar energy blasts....rasp and strawberry banana).
I have a couple Hammer bars that I picked up on my last REI visit.......but haven't tried them yet (will let you know if they are amazing!)

I've been a fan of Power Bar Protein Plus for awhile. Problem is they are $2-3.50 each. And the other problem, most commercial bars I have found are loaded with sweetener. I prefer to make my own. I've tried maybe 10 recipes and find this to be my favorite. They taste great and if you pay attention to using quality ingredients lacking corn syrup and sugar, they are not only healthier, I find they give long term energy without a crash. Sugar works late in a hike for me as a boost better than if I am using it all day. I've modified the recipe to inlude chia and flax seed now - if interested, I will repost the new recipe.

http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?39251-Pretty-good-no-cook-power-bar-recipe&highlight=protein+bars

Original PowerBars, now labelled as "Performance Energy". Good for the long haul – even from one millennium to the next, as I once discovered when digging through some gear boxes ...

My interest in any kind of packaged food seems to wain quickly. Even when I make gorp I have to swap ingredients around. It isn't so much that I don't like them, but they dont' seem to "do" anything for me. I've never figured out why they call them "energy bars."

For quick mid-morning energy it's Snickers Bars all the way. For meal times and something more substantial, I use Boost Plus. I never drink more than one bottle at a time and space them out by an hour. When I've tried two at a time I've had problems with gas pains. On a short hike I might take only one. On a longer hike two and on a really long hike like a Bonds traverse three or four.

They're quick acting, I can feel the effect very quickly and it has in recent years revolutionized my endurance on long hikes.

Also, in the winter I can't really stop more than a minute or two because Lauky starts to get cold and this is a quick way to get something down and get moving right away.

They will freeze in the winter so when it's cold I keep them inside my clothing or in a cargo pocket to add some body warmth.

I prefer gorp on the trail, but carry Clif Bars and shots as a backup / supplement. PB and fluff (messy) or PB and Nutella work well too. In winter, Pop Tarts work best because they can still be eaten even if "frozen", whereas the Clif Bars are tough to eat when frozen. Clif Bars are great on the bicycle because they do not fall apart.

Tim

J.Dub said:

Love the PopTart idea. However, in execution I've found them to be a bit lacking, as they're usually PopTart crumbs by the time I get to eat them.

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Well, you might need one of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/180948751862?hlp=false&var=

I have a couple of hiking buddies who religiously carry their Pop Tarts in these cases to keep them undefiled

Marty

I'm not a huge fan of the energy bars but I almost always bring a Clif Bar with me. Any of them with chocolate or peanut butter tatse poor to me but I absolutely love the white chocolate macadamia, blueberry crisp, black cherry almond, oatmeal rasin, and I think it's the apple cranberry. Note: the package says for "sustained energy", so if I drink a five hour energy then keep eating Cliff Bars will that keep me zapped up? Also have to mention the Fritos Honey BBQ Twists.