Hiking Snack Bar Tier List: Part 4, Appalachian Trail Hiking Food

Introduction

Testing out possible trail bars seemed fun and the other foxes agreed to make a tier list. Let me start by saying this was 1.5 type fun. Kind of fun, not quite type 2, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

If you are planning to do this, let me also tell you: This was a challenge. We had to take a break halfway through, our digestion was bad for 24 hours afterwards and it was very difficult to finish. We initially planned to make 1/6 of each bar, but that changed very quickly and we cut just enough portion to taste.

Disclosures: No conflicts of interest, no one pays me anything, no gifts were given.

What hiking snacks did we try?

The selection process was simple, I walked down the aisle and chose one of everything, with some limitations. Avoid maltitol. Long before I knew what sugar alcohols were, I learned that this particular ingredient ruins my digestion. I tried to stick to the flavor profiles so they were as close as possible*. Lastly, I included some bars as Pro Bars, which meant going to specialty stores, but I knew they were popular.

The best hiking snacks.

The Luna Bars were the clear winner for us, with both flavor options making it to the S tier. The Natural Bakery Fig Bars would be a close second, but they are actually cereal bars. Looking back, I shouldn’t have included them. That makes the former Clif Bars the second spot. Lara Bars and Pro Bars didn’t make the cut because, while they had highs, the lows were much lower.

The worst snacks for hiking.

The Go Macro and Quest bars were hands down the worst. At least one fox couldn’t finish a single bite of these bars and they clearly fell into the «I wouldn’t eat if it were free» category. It’s also worth noting that Pure Protein only ranked D instead of F because Red likes them.

Surprises at the hiking snack bar

Overall, we were surprised at how poorly the Kind Bars landed. Having enjoyed them in the past, we were expecting solid B-level material. But the two flavors we purchased were marginal at best. We really expected to hate Gatorade bars, but for a high protein bar, they did well.

Other observations

Generally speaking, the «high protein» bars performed poorly. If you want high protein, Gatorade was the best of the brands we tested. Notably, Clif Builder bars are not listed. This was a strategic choice since I haven’t really enjoyed them lately and we didn’t want to gobble down another bar labeled «high protein.»

The results

The qualifications

The level is based on flavor and texture. do

• Moon – Chocolate cupcake
  • Level: S
  • Tasting Notes: Crispy rice brownie.
• Natures Bakery – Raspberry Fig
  • Level: S
  • Tasting notes: Raspberry with a pleasant green tea finish.
• Luna – Nutz on chocolate
  • Level: S
  • Tasting Notes: Chocolate covered walnuts.
• ProBar – Oatmeal Chocolate Chip
  • Level: A
  • Tasting notes: Forward nougat, a little light on chocolate chips.
• Larabar – Coconut Cream Cake
  • Level: A
  • Tasting notes: Coconut ahead, Almond Joy minus the chocolate.
• Natures Bakery – Blueberry Fig
  • Level: B
  • Tasting notes: Light blueberry with a bran finish.
• Clif Bar – Cranberry Almond Crunch
  • Level: B
  • Tasting notes: Blueberry with a raw oat powder finish.
• Clif Bar – Crunchy Peanut Butter
  • Level: B
  • Tasting Notes: Yes, it is crunchy peanut butter.
• RxBar – Blueberry
  • Level: B
  • Tasting notes: Blueberry Tootsie roll.
• Gatorade – S’mores
  • Level: C
  • Tasting Notes: Lucky charms are combined with crispy stale rice delights.
• Gatorade – Chocolate Pretzel
  • Level: C
  • Tasting Notes: Chocolate covered pretzels, gym concession style. Funk forward.
• Larabar – Chocolate Chip Brownie
  • Level: C
  • Tasting Notes: Chocolate and dates are just not a good combination for us. Your mileage may vary.
• Friendly: dark chocolate with peanut butter
  • Level: C
  • Tasting Notes: Rancid peanut shells with some chocolate stirred over them.
• Friendly – ​​Almond Cranberry
  • Level: D
  • Tasting Notes: The whole is less than the sum of the parts.
• Pure Protein – Chocolate Peanut Butter
  • Level: D
  • Tasting Notes: At the bottom of the Halloween candy bag, you know the gross peanut candy.
• Pure Protein – Birthday Cake
  • Level: D
  • Tasting Notes: Glaze Forward, Powerbar Finish, Plastic Glaze Container Notes.
• ProBar – Superfood Hit
  • Level: D
  • Tasting Notes: Like chewing on a cheap green tea bag, the nori notes made Red cry.
• Mission – Chocolate Peanut Butter
  • Level: F
  • Tasting notes: Horrible. Whey protein front and end. Chocolate, pb, what?
• Rx Bar – Peanut Butter
  • Level: F
  • Tasting notes: rancid with a tasty and disturbing finish. He doesn’t respect peanuts.
• Go Macro: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
  • Level: F
  • Tasting Notes: Peanut powder combines with quinoa powder for a finish that smells like sugar.
• Go Macro – Chocolate Chip Oatmeal
  • Level: F
  • Tasting Notes: Faint cookie dough notes, Powerbar forward, raw flour.
• Quest – Chocolate Chip Oatmeal
  • Level: F
  • Tasting Notes: Marketing: «So that new cinnamon bagel cologne flavor…let’s call it chocolate chip oatmeal.»

Conclusion

This was a worthwhile experiment. At some point I had a bad impression of Luna bars and I’m happy to be wrong. Luna Bars are great S-Tier bars that you can buy at a non-specialty grocery store. And I know to avoid the Go Macro bars I find in hiker boxes. Overall, bordering on type 2 fun, I won’t repeat, but I’m glad I did.

Fox’s thoughts:

Snow – “Science hurts”

Red: «So I know I’m going to be an outlier…»

Gray – “I might get tired of the bars before I start the AT”

*Note: We initially bought three flavors of each brand, but halfway through we realized we would never make it to 33 bars, so we made 2 of each. psf5.

Hiking Food Series

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