Trail Rations

Legolas: Lembas bread. One small bite will fill the stomach of a grown man.
Merry: How many did you eat?
Pippin: Four.

Over the weekend my six year old son and I did a nice long trail around Rotherfield Greys. Probably the last big chunk of geocaching I'll be able to get in before the sponsored walk next weekend. I figured this would be a good chance to test some energy bars that I plan to take on the walk to keep my energy levels up. Lembas bread would have been nice but being in the real world we had to make do with what we could find in a quick trip to our local supermarket. We tried a few different things and captured the opinions of both of us on the walk.

9 bar Original
Dad - Although it looked a bit like the scratchings at the bottom of a parrots cage I actually really like this one in terms of taste. Not sure about the energy levels and it went a bit guey / floppy on the long walk think the hemp is just a sales gimmick but I do remember a song by Cypress Hill that went into it's many medicinal uses so it can't be all bad - 6 / 10
Boy - I'm really proud of myself for not spitting this out I try not to do it these days as mummy told me off once - 1 / 10

Nature Valley Granola Bars
Dad - I really liked these, they come in a choice of three flavors the one with ginger one was the nicest and most refreshing. I did feel a bit more energetic after having a quick munch on these but it's a hard test to gauge in the wild. I didn't like so much that they were very crumbly and I ended up tipping a packet of crumbs in my mouth. 5 / 10
Boy - I liked the honey one but not the others so much, it's nice that there are two in each packet 5 / 10

Lucozade Gel
Dad - Yuck, this is disgusting it's got the consistancy of thick cream looks like wallpaper paste and tastes like glucose syrup with a hint of orange. My mouth felt like a desert, I felt a strong urge to wash this down with water and I couldn't bare to have much of it. However it is compact and probably packs a punch seeing the effect on the boy (He is actually glowing), I'll probably take some with me as backup - 2 / 10
Boy - AfterwefinishthiswalkcanwegotozoomaniacanwecanwecanwelookathowfastIcanrunweeee! - 11 / 10

Jordans frusli bar
Dad - This felt like a good middle ground, very tasty and kept it's shape well. Not sure about the energy but then as I say it's hard to gauge. I think we have a winner - 7 / 10
Boy - I really liked this one and had two just to make sure - 7 / 10

I'm still not 100 percent happy I have found the right energy bar / gel for me so I'm going to keep looking.

Some further reading:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1179890/Five-best--natural-energy-bars.html
http://www.freediettips.com/diet_energy_bar_review.htm
http://walking.about.com/od/snacks/tp/energybars.htm