Reviews > Food > Energy Bars and Drinks > Fourpoints Energy Bars > Test Report by Kathleen Waters

FOURPOINTS ENERGY BAR
TEST SERIES BY KATHLEEN WATERS
LONG-TERM REPORT

INITIAL REPORT - May 20, 2018
LONG TERM REPORT - August 12, 2018

TESTER INFORMATION

Living in Colorado and being self-employed, I have ample opportunities to backpack. There are over 700,000 acres/280,000 hectares of public land bordering my 71-acre/29-hectare "backyard" in addition to all the other gorgeous locations which abound in Colorado. Over the past 15 years, my husband John and I have also had the good fortune to hike/snowshoe glaciers, rain forests, mountains and deserts in exotic locations, including New Zealand, Iceland, Costa Rica, Slovenia and Death Valley. My hiking style is comfortable, aiming for lightweight. I use a tent (rainfly if needed). Current pack averages 25 lb (11 kg) excluding food and water.

INITIAL REPORT

PRODUCT INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: Fourpoints Bar Year of Manufacture: 2018 Manufacturer's Website: http://www.fourpointsbar.com MSRP: US $36.00 for box of 12 Sample box of Four MSRP: $12.00 Listed and Measured Weight: 2.5 oz (71 g) each Flavors Available and Consumed: Alpine Apple Pie, Backcountry Banana Bread, Colorado Trail Chocolate Peanut, Powder Day PB&J, Rocky Mountain Macaroon, Trailhead Gingerbread, Mountain Mocha Espresso Made in Colorado "Play like a Coloradan. Eat like a Coloradan!"

Image Copyright Fourpoints Bar

Alpine Apple Pie 11 g Protein, 35 g Carbohydrates, 9 g Fat 6 g Fiber, 250 Calories INGREDIENTS: Dried Plums, Apples, Figs, Non-rBGH Whey Protein Isolate, Cashews, Hemp Seeds, Almonds, Ground Flaxseed, Sunflower Lecithin, Cinnamon. Preservative Free, No added sugar, gluten free, soy free	Backcountry Banana Bread 11 g Protein, 35 g Carbohydrates, 10 g Fat 5 g Fiber, 260 Calories INGREDIENTS: Dried Plums, Bananas, Figs, Non-rBGH Whey Protein Isolate, Cashews, Hemp Seeds, Almonds, Walnuts, Ground Flaxseed, Sunflower Lecithin, Vanilla Bean, Cinnamon. . Preservative Free, No added sugar, gluten free, soy free	Colorado Trail Chocolate Peanut 13 g Protein, 29 g Carbohydrates, 15 g Fat 7 g Fiber, 280 Calories INGREDIENTS: Dried Plums, Figs, Toasted Peanuts, Cacao Nibs, Non-rBGH Whey Protein Isolate, Cashews, Hemp Seeds, Almonds, Ground Flaxseed, Sunflower Lecithin, Vanilla Bean, Sea Salt. Preservative Free, No added sugar, gluten free, soy free
Powder Day PB&J 11 g Protein, 34 g Carbohydrates, 11 g Fat 6 g Fiber, 270 Calories INGREDIENTS: Dried Plums, Cranberries (Cranberries, Apple Juice), Figs, Non-rBGH Whey Protein Isolate, Cashews, Peanuts, Hemp Seeds, Almonds, Ground Flaxseed, Sunflower Lecithin, Sea Salt. Preservative Free, No added sugar, gluten free, soy free	Rocky Mountain Macaroon 11 g Protein, 31 g Carbohydrates, 14 g Fat 9 g Fiber, 280 Calories INGREDIENTS: Dried Plums, Figs, Toasted Coconut, Cashews, Cacao Nibs, Non-rBGH Whey Protein Isolate, Hemp Seeds, Almonds, Ground Flaxseed, Sunflower Lecithin, Vanilla Bean. Preservative Free, No added sugar, gluten free, soy free	Trailhead Gingerbread 13 g Protein, 31 g Carbohydrates, 11 g Fat 5 g Fiber, 260 Calories INGREDIENTS: Dried Plums, Figs, Non-rBGH Whey Protein Isolate, Cashews, Hemp Seeds, Almonds, Walnuts, Blackstrap Molasses, Ground Flaxseed, Sunflower Lecithin, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cloves, Sea Salt. Preservative Free, No added sugar, gluten free, soy free
Mountain Mocha Espresso 12 g Protein, 30 g Carbohydrates, 11 g Fat 6 g Fiber, 250 Calories INGREDIENTS: Dried Plums, Figs, Cashews, Non-rBGH Whey Protein Isolate, Cacao Nibs, Hemp Seeds, Almonds, Espresso Beans, Flaxseed, Sunflower Lecithin, Vanilla Bean, Sea Salt. Preservative Free, No added sugar, gluten free, soy free

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

I was fortunate enough to have sampled some of the Fourpoint bars back in January at the Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show. I certainly enjoyed the various flavors and was impressed by the founders' story and dedication to producing quality bars.

The bars are a good-size serving and are densely formed. I particularly like the fact that none of the bars was ridiculously high in calories (average 270 calories).

A case of 12 bars fits nicely in the retail cardboard box which meant no broken, crumbled bars after shipping! Easy-to-open paper wrappers are attractively earth-colored and bear the Fourpoints logo along with different topo maps of Coloradan landmarks.

All the pertinent nutritional information is clearly printed on the packaging and I was even able to read it without having to squint or search for a magnifying glass!

READING THE INSTRUCTIONS

Hmmm, "reading the instructions". Do I need instructions? Let's see...tear open package and eat? No?

Since I'm pretty sure I can handle the actual consumption of a food bar, I suppose, instructions in this case would be things like "store in a cool dry place" and "keep out of direct sunlight". That advice is printed on the bottom of the Fourpoint 12-bar box. Fourpoints also states that the bars are manufactured in a facility that also processes ingredients like various nuts, milk products, soy and coconut. And that the bars may contain hard pieces.

Each bar is labeled with the BBD (best by date). When I received mine in early April 2018, the date stamped was September 2018. So about six months - though I don't know exactly when the bars were actually processed.

I have no doubt; the Fourpoint bars won't make it that long anyway!

SUMMARY

I'm a person who always prefers a hot meal on the trail. I love cooking and eating in the outdoors! I do use trail bars though when breaking out the stove and chairs is not practical. I also find trail bars handy for on-the-go-can't-stop-now nutritional supplements.

I've tried many different brands, some I've liked, others not-so-much. Some satisfied my taste cravings, some satisfied my stomach rumblings and others satisfied both. From my initial sampling at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market + Snow Shoe, I know the Fourpoints bars certainly whet my appetite!

I can't wait to see how they stand up to my demands on the trails this summer.

LONG-TERM REPORT

LONG-TERM TEST LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS

It's been an exceptionally hot summer here in Fremont County with little rain. Daytime temperatures rarely went below 90 F (32 C), averaged 94 F (34 C) and at, least a half-dozen times was over 100 F (38 C).

However, all of my partaking of the Fourpoints food bars were on day hikes and backpacks either out of state or out of county, including:

Red Canyon near Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, where it was - again - very hot in the mid-90s F (35 C). The trails there were well-worn, wide, up and down paths through spectacular red rock formations.

Rampart Trail in Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah. It was slightly cooler - 86 F (30 C), windy but very sunny. The trail traversed narrowly along the top of ridge overlooking the very-far-down canyon bottoms.

Other trails I trekked and ate Fourpoints bars in Utah included the Valentine Peak Trail in Parowan, the Twisted Forest and the Cascade Falls trails in Dixie National Forest.
Weather and trail conditions were pretty much the same as the above two.

Closer to home, was a base camp for a long-weekend of fishing in late July at St. Vrain State Park near Firestone, Colorado.
It was warm during the daytime, but cooled off nicely to a low of 55 F (13 C) at night.

Lastly, in early August, a three-day/two night segment backpack in the Colorado Trail, where it was very warm and sunny during the mornings and early afternoons (86 F/30 C) with thundershowers and cool-downs to the low 60s F (16 C) at night.

Segment 1 of the Colorado Trail starts out as a 6-mile (9.7 km) wide dirt road and then narrows down to a mostly, nicely-packed dirt single track trail for the next 11 miles (17.8 km) with some rocky sections thrown in for good measure.

PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD

I have had the opportunity to try out each of the flavors provided and was able to allow my trail mate (John or Julia) to also sample a bite or two. We all agreed - GREAT tasting stuff! There wasn't a bar variety that I didn't care for and some like the Rocky Mountain Macaroon that I absolutely love. All the flavors are slightly different but underneath, they all were slighty sweet with a fruity base.

I found that the bars held up remarkably well in all of the situations I put them into. Whether it was very, very hot or mildly cool; or if it was desert-dry or pouring rain (one evening on the CT), the bars stayed intact. They did not get mushy, dried out or crumbled. The lack of crumbling part was exceptionally noticeable when I forgot I had one in my backpack waistbelt pocket over a couple of trips. I would have thought the flexing of the belt would have reduced the bar to mere bits but it didn't.

All of the bars were very moist but not sticky. Even when Ole Sol was at its warmest, the bars did not leave any residue on my fingers, though I licked them anyway, just in case.

The texture of the bars is very dense, kind of like a brownie more than the usual granola-like bar which consists of various ingredients held together with a sticky component. This chewy texture gave me the sensation of actually eating something filling rather than a fleeting snack. And I didn't lose a single crumb - leave no trace and all that!

Rocky Mountain Macaroon

What's Inside!

My trail mates and I are hikers who love our food and we rarely (if ever) miss having a hot meal three times a day on the trail. We will always sacrifice clothing pack space for our home-made dehydrated meals and a stove if need be. That said, we are big fans of quick snacks mid-afternoon with a cup of hot tea and the Fourpoints bars complement that notion nicely! The 4 x 2 inch (10 cm x 5 cm) size of the bars is just perfect for this purpose, I think.

I have found that the bars give me the energy to push forward those last couple of miles/kilometers in the afternoon when I really would rather not (but I actually HAVE to). I have yet to experience hunger pangs after eating one of the bars and thanks to the lack of sticky-fingers, I can continue hiking without stopping for a clean-up.

SUMMARY

I really like these Fourpoints food bars! They are tasty, hold up well when crammed in my pack or pocket and they truly satisfy. What more could I what in a food bar. I noshed through my initial supply of the bars provided for this field evaluation and have re-stocked for future forays into the wilderness!

Thank you to Fourpoints Bars and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to try these snacks!

Kathleen (Kathy) Waters

Reviews > Food > Energy Bars and Drinks > Fourpoints Energy Bars > Test Report by Kathleen Waters