We all know that jelly beans are one good way to fix a hypo, but they are also prone to becoming a sticky gooey mess, or worse furry.  I’ve seen some pretty nifty containers (most notably a film canister and a BG test stick container – remember the old metal ones?) but they require a hand bag!  Convenient hypo supplies are a particular issue when several kms out in the bay windsurfing or on a big night out in Sydney in the spandex pants.  Fruit bars – the kind mum used to put in your lunch box – have saved the day for me. They are available in a variety of flavors and all have 68% sugar or higher. Here is a road test of some of the brands on the shelves.

Bellis Bars   
Available in a huge range of flavors including mango and passionfruit and three box sizes 5 for $1.29, 12 for $2.48 and for the regular hypoer a large 17 pack for $3.16. 

IXL  
Also have a huge range of flavors including Blackcurrant and Lemon & Lime.  Although the huge range of flavors was a selling point, they all tasted very plastic even after removing the wrapper. They also come unwrapped under the wetsuit while out sailing.

Uncle Tobys "Real Fruit"   
These come in a great range of flavours: apricot, wild berry and strawberry. The wrappers are very durable and have been known to withstand a week windsurfing under my wetsuit. They are sometimes hard to unwrap and consumption of the plastic, though tested, is not recommended. One bar will result in a BSL rise of 2 mmol/l in under 5 minutes. They come in packs of 10 and 15 bars: $2.49 and $3.49 respectively. My Favorite !

Happy Hypoing