Originally Posted By Skier mike
... I have pretty much gotten my dinner menu from backpackingchef.com, and as a resut, my dinners weigh easily half of what my lunches weigh - maybe less...


I actually doubt this is true on a per calorie basis. Dehydrated meals tend to pretty low on calories. I checked out backpackingchef.com and their recipes seem pretty typical. Fairly high in carbohydrates and a bit of protein with a smidge of fat. Carbs and proteins are 4 calories per gram. Fats are 9 calories per gram. Once you remove the water, that is what your packing breaks down into. There is not much water in crackers, cheese, hard salamis, nuts.... If you replace an equal weight of salami and cheese with dehydrated meals you are going to have a calorie loss. Furthermore, you've said you want to decrease food weight. Your plan (replace high fat foods, with less mass of high carbo, dehydrated meals) will result in a serious decrease in the amount of calories carried. Over a ten day hike that could be a real problem.