What are your go-to convention snacks and/or drinks?

[SalLyrisse]

Hey y'all! What are your favorite drinks or snacks to keep on hand during a convention? Con food always gets pricy, so I usually plan to bring some Clif bars and Liquid IV whenever I'm planning on trekking around. What are your go-tos?

 

[N8TEBB]

This what I do, not that it's good advice

pre-con breakfast: bagel w/ peanut butter and maybe a fruit. This is consumed on the way to the convention center.

lunch: water from a water fountain if I'm lucky

dinner (8:00pm) fast food with the group

Even though I don't usually plan for the day to go like this it usually ends up like that. The upside is I don't ever have to go to the bathroom while in costume!

Note: I have never passed out due to heat stroke as my suit has ok ventilation and long canadian cons usually allow me a moment to step out in the cool canadian air. I'm sure in most climates this could turn out a lot worse

 

[Fallen]

I'm still trying to get a good system for myself in place, but here's some things I'll bring w/ me and at least have in my hotel room.

- Filter water bottle
- Peanut butter
- Jelly or jam
- A few slices of bread
- Snack size chip bags
- Bananas
- Protein bars (pack in pouches on my armor)
- Popcorn
- Some sweet treat (right now it's Sour Patch Kids)

 

[Cadet]

Apple Sauce pouches.

 

[N8TEBB]

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Apple. Sauce. Pouches.

 

[Cadet]

Anyone who was at Outpost Discovery: Chicago can appreciate the functionality of the Apple Sauce Pouch.

 

[SalLyrisse]

Fillin a camelbak with apple sauce for HCS Arlington, thank y'all for the great suggestions.

Been going through some peanut & nut free protein bar options as well on my end, had okay experience with 88 Acres but "No Nuts!" brand bars are really tasty.

 

[HydrationPatrol]

I like to eat cans of spam and wash it down with the good ol water.

 

[SalLyrisse]

Can't forget the ol' reliable snack of choice

 

[BlazedStarbon]

As a Canadian who spends a lot of time at cons in the US, I always aim for one fun item like popcorn (or a local treat), and water for the duration of stay. If there's a mini fridge in the hotel rooms, then things get fancy with the convenient store goods like salads.

I try to pack snacks in luggage to keep costs down now -a fave nut mix, granola bars, beef jerky, things like that. Some friends and I have gotten good at doing one main meal a day at conventions and the rest of the time it's truly just snacks.
Protein bars are good for small travel items you can toss in a day bag while out and about in costume too.

(Those US space brownies are good, btw...)
One tip that's saved a lot of people - keep electrolyte packets on you. Or plain old Gatorade/water.
Gum, mints, or candies are also good to have something to chew on when stuck in elevator-con, or stairwell-con. (This has happened to me so many times at DragonCon over the years, lol) Seriously, I always have something on me because you never know when or where you'll end up in a traffic jam of people, especially during summer months.

 

[FANGS]

I have a lot of food allergies so in general, con food is out for me anyway so I've had to come up with very inventive ways to never get myself in a position of being past hungry. If I have the ability to have a place to stash a bag, I have an insulted backpack. This either gets left in a change room with my bin or in the car. Inside I have rolled up lunch meat. Slice of turkey, slice of ham, slice of bacon with a little mayo all rolled up. They are easy to grab, lots of protein and help out with bar fatigue that I get if that's the only thing I bring. I also usually have some sort of fruit, and then some snacks like trail mix etc. If I'm able to be carrying something around, I'll have a Kind bar along with gum and/or mints. And of course, lots of water. I usually have drink mixes in my knapsack for a little change up.

 

[Lukavago]

All I know is that you should never trust PerniciousDuke to be in charge of candy.... That man brought candy hotdogs and candy mac-n-cheese..... I brought Kit Kats and Reeses. I want more info about that insulated backpack though Fangs, that sounds like a very useful con tool.

 

[Kahn 319]

snacks at a con? nah im eating one huge unhealthy meal per-day, eating in costume is too hard.

 

[InterfectorF]

Last two cons I went to both had these grilled ham sandwiches that were made on the spot with garlic sauce. Yeah thats been my main food. Though I did bring a chocolate/musli bar so I had something for in the train back. Oh and 3 bottles of water.

 

[Invidiax4fan]

Water and biscuits mainly. no heavy eating the evening before a con for me either. The rush of wearing the suit keeps me from getting hungry even if I didnt eat that morning

 

[MarrowofStar]

Depends on the weather personally. Ive done cons in Mandalorian and Tie-pilot armour and my go-tos are:

breakfast: Bagel, a yogurt cup, or an apple (depends on the day) and minimal 1 monster
lunch: snacks and/or con-food (sandwiches preferred)
snacks: Nature valley sweet-n-salty peanut or cashew granola bars, candy of some sort.
dinner: Usually at a restaurant afterword's with friends, or door dashed meals to the hotel.

And of course, drinking lots of water! Though don't drown yourself and drink so much you need to use the toilet every half hour, but also dont dehydrate. Its a delicate balance and I'm still working on figuring it out for myself.
I've gotten into the habit of carrying at least one water bottle(camel back bottle to avoid small caps and gloves) and a few of the granola bars with me, either in my spotters/friends bag or in a small side bag I carry with me.

 

[N8TEBB]

...I've gotten into the habit of carrying at least one water bottle(camel back bottle to avoid small caps and gloves)...

the Camel back is actually a really great idea! Don't have to worry about those pesky bottle caps

 

[MarrowofStar]

the Camel back is actually a really great idea! Don't have to worry about those pesky bottle caps

I love it! I know some people use the camel back backpacks, i have the bottle with the flip up drinking straw. Its easy to use with thick gloves, and i can fill it up at most water fountains, even if it doesn't have the dedicated water bottle filler

 

[SalLyrisse]

Can confirm that Apple Sauce pouches were fantastic for HCS Arlington.

Now to figure out how to get sponsored by Gogo Squeeze…

 

[Karne]

I'm a huge fan of muesli bars and cake. Cake when I have time to bake some the day before and muesli bars as backup when I'm really hungry.
I also try to stick to dry food, otherwise I WILL have some stains on my costumes as soon as I look at it. So, for me there are only drinks allowed like water and sprite in costume xD
But I am also in the glad condition that my husband does not cosplay and always has a backpack with him where we can put all the snacks and drinks.