**Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the Trail Packs for free from The New Primal as coordinated by Deep Creek Public Relations in consideration for review publication**
Before we get going, let me clarify one, critical thing: food makes me happy.
When I’m running or biking, I use energy gels or chomps because they’re easier and lighter to carry. Plus, I’m only out there for a couple hours—that isn’t too long to eat that mushy stuff. When I’m hiking or backpacking though, I very rarely use gels, etc. because I’d rather carry real food. Plus, if you’re out in the backcountry for five or six days (like in Alaska this summer!), gels and chomps can get really old, really fast! However, I still need to make sure I get all the nutritional goodness (i.e. protein, sodium and some carbs) to keep my energy up. Otherwise, I may get eaten by a bear which would make me very sad. No one wants to get eaten by a bear!
I ripped open the box when I found my Trail Packs sitting at my front door: inside, I found one pack in each flavor: Cranberry, Mango, Pineapple, and plain Jerky.
Each 2.5-ounce package contains the associated fruit (minus the plain jerky), in addition to the grass-fed beef jerky, almonds, and cashews. I was kinda psyched as I dug into the pineapple flavor: this Trail Pack included a lot of pineapple!
Pineapple Nutrition Facts
So, here is the deal with the Trail Packs: near as I can tell, each pack contains anywhere from 70 calories (the plain jerky) all the way up to 250 calories (the mango). I probably wouldn’t carry the plain version with me while backpacking just because that isn’t a ton of calories to have on the trail. However, 250 calories per package means that I’d get a lot of energy from a single package. Score. I also liked that each package is resealable with a ziploc closure at the top. Basically, I could munch a little while hiking, seal it up, and save some jerky goodness for later. This is also clutch when hiking in bear country: although it doesn’t forgo the necessity of a bear canister, the seal helps contain the scent inside of the package! (Not sure if The New Primal thought of that, but I like that feature!)
In short, I really liked the Trail Packs! They don’t carry turkey jerky, but if you’re a beef jerky fan, I’m pretty positive you’ll like them. I enjoyed them enough to hop online to place an order for some more….but then I ran into the one negative aspect: the price!
Unfortunately, the Trail Packs are on the pricey side of things—each package costs $6.99. You can also order the Trail Packs in bulk which makes the price slightly drop (for example, 10 Trail Packs cost $64). While that definitely isn’t astronomical, especially for clean food and grass-fed beef, it is slightly expensive. Because of this, I decided I would only order the Trail Packs for special trips and adventures…..like, you know, Alaska 😉
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Are you a beef jerky fan?
What do you carry while on trail?