Mars bars/Yorkie bars are my go to. Yorkie bars hold their own a little better against your body heat whereas mars bars melt more.
I usually buy the packs of 3 or 4 and shove all of them in my oversuit, not bothering to unwrap them from the multipack, as it adds an extra layer of protection from heat/water/mud.
If your taking a bag/Daren drum you could probably take different snacks down.
Without getting too geeky, in the last year I read up on carbs etc so I could go on longer cycle rides. British cycling recommends 0.5-1g of carbs per kg of body weight per hour. I ignore this and if I?m going for a long ride aim for 30-60g of carbs per hour.
Typically a mars bar will give you at a guess 27g of carbs. So pretty good!
British cyclings reasoning for this advise is something to do with using up glycogen in muscles in the first two hours of intense exercise. Whether you deem caving to be intense or not depends on your fitness, what type of cave it is and how much you drank the night before
I?ve not necessarily needed to know any of this since I started caving, but I guess it?s helped to know it, given that I now can?t rely on a trusty fry up before every single caving trip. Now eating porridge like every other day, then not eating till the evening cannot be good for your performance.
On trips with Stuart France and John Stevens in South Wales (on separate trips) I was amazed that they pulled out sandwiches. And in some respects now I know more I can see why! Probably about 40g of carbs in a sandwich at a guess, so a good addition into the arsenal of caving gear to have a decent trip.
There is probably something to be said too for the use of well timed sugary drinks/lucozade if this is better for you to carry, it will both hydrate and give you the energy in an hour that you?ve decided you need it.