What do you use to carry food?

[L Lanian]

Silly question, but living in california has left me wondering- when given the opportunity NOT to use a bear canister, what do you put your food in? I'm so used to carrying around a bear can, I have a hard time figuring out where people put their food.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Ursack.

[L Lanian]

Doesn't your food get squished?

[Justin Baker]

In an oversized stuff sack. I try not to bring food that can be squished easily. Just put it in your pack carefully.

[Jonathan Chin]

MYOG 1.43 oz/yd cuben fiber sack. About the length & width of a paper grocery bag, but 30ish inches tall. Velcro roll top closure.

[Billy Ray]

Long before bear cans existed, we used to use nylon stuff sacks… I used one for breakfasts, one for lunches, one for dinners… color coded. Squishing is something I have never worried about much. buy stuff that doesn't go 'squish'… or crumble…
And I never worried about being careful with it… had to push stuff in to get it all in the pack… but I've never squished as much as trying to put 9 days worth of food in a standard size bear canister… I punch the food to get it to squish down and fill all the corners of the can… squishable food.

billy

[Mitchell Ebbott]

I keep all of my food in a LiteTrail NyloBarrier odor-proof (well, odor-resistant) bag. I know they aren't perfect, but it really does make a significant difference just in terms of keeping my gear from reeking of food.

When I go to hang my food, I put the whole thing inside my quilt's stuff sack. I wouldn't use it as a primary defense against bears, but it keeps the critters out (including the ones small enough to climb down a bear line).

[John Vance]

I have used a stuff sack exclusively for the past 40+ years. Never had a bear get my food but have had some determined rodents climb down the cord and chew into the sack. I have used the same stuff sack for the past 20 years but it's about time to find a replacement as the urethane is long gone and it's a bit beat up. All food in the stuff sack has been placed in ziplock or plastic bags.

I did spend a few hours in Kings Canyon, while hiking the PCT, watching a small black bear attempt to retrieve our bags one night, but he wasn't successful, and since reinforcements didn't arrive we opted to just watch as it was the last day before another resupply and not much food was at risk. That was in 1983 and from what I hear, the bears in the Sierra's are now much more resourceful and bold. I have looked at the Ursack but never having had a problem backpacking, I am not to concerned. I have lost many food items to bears while car camping and canoeing over the years.

[Franco Darioli]

You can see what I use in the bottom left corner of this photo :

One for dinners, one for lunches and one for breakfast.
All doubled up (one bag inside the others, just for extra strength and to use for storing rubbish as I go.
For "drinks" (powder milk, olive oil,coffee,sugar,home made "gatorade" ) I use stronger plastic bags, the current one is a kitty litter type . (it died in this last trip. The bag that is…)
Forgot to add, yes they are thin shopping bags…
( I use them also as foot "vapour barriers" in emergency. Good when you have wet socks at camp not for walking)

[Richard May]

+1 on the NyloPro bag. Just started using these. I just hang it as is. For overnight trips there's enough room at the top to tie a knot and hang from there. Also, I just replaced my old bear line with Lawsons bear cord. Is super slick and doubt little critters will be able to hold on—I hope!

[Jerry Adams]

Zip top gallon bag

2nd bag with squishable stuff goes sort of on top so it doesn't get squished, maybe a quart bag

Put them in pack and hang from tree at night to keep critters out. Not so much bears, but rodents.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

It's all in how you pack your food – and what you carry :-) For example, when I do carry delicate food, such as fruit, it rides in say a cookpot or mug. Otherwise 95% of my food is crush resistant.

[Jake D]

silnylon roll top bag. pretty water resistant and can connect my mini biner to haul it on the bear rope.

you can pack plenty of stuff without too much crushing. i've done 4-5 days with poptarts included and they were ok. just put the food on top of everything else you don't need during the day.

[Greg Mihalik]

Silnylon Bag(s).

I nest "stackable" potato chips in ziplock snack bags. (Two ounces. 300 calories.)
Day 10 chips often emerge intact.

It's an essential UL skill.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Use those Tetris skillz ;-)

[Jerry Adams]

I take Triscuit crackers and put them in rows in a zip top bag to take less space and be more resistant to breaking. On a trip, there's usually just a few that break.

Also, I can count them so I can eat the same number of crackers per day.

[Elliott Wolin]

I use very light stuff sacks I made out of left over noseeum netting. They are a lot tougher than you'd think, some I've been using for many years. And they are so light we use them to organize stuff in our packs as well.

For food my wife typically organizes everything in ziploc's so the lack of waterproofness is no problem.

The mesh is typically between 0.7 and 1.0 oz/yd**2. A medium sized (10" x 12" finished) net bag weighs 8 grams including a thin drawstring.

[D M]

I use a zPacks Roll Top Blast food bag, 1.4 OZ and two or three OPSAK LOKSAK 9×10 or larger to divide meals and smells. Not for critters but to separate things with spices like chili spiced food (beans) from my oatmeal/granola…because breakfast with chili taste is just nasty. Bleh.:-P I also use an OPSAK for trash.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

1. Nylon hang bag

2. bear can

Depends on the territory & official requirements.

[Nick Gatel]

Cuben sack. The day's food goes in a Ziploc.

[James Marco]

A dry bag of some sort (PU coated nylon, cuben, etc) usually about 10-15L for a solo week.

[Anonymous]

The can prob isn't ultralight but pringles are awesome and not easily squished.

[Jake D]

i've carried pringles before. 150cal/oz or something crazy. like 1000cal for the tall cans. careful about losing the lid if you stash them in a bottle pocket. i "had" to finish off 1/3 of a can because of a lost lid once ;)

[Chris Mescia]

I like the Kroger bags, sometimes use a cuben rolltop from Zpacks. Get things mostly non-crushable.

However my kids like sandwiches sometimes. several pbj's can be put back in the bread bag and that fits perfectly in a kid shoebox. Keep the box at the top of the pack and they don't get crushed. The open space in the shoe box can be used for anything else fragile as well.

Then the shoebox can be torn up for tinder when I give my son the flint/steel/dryerlint bag… he goes to town.

[Frank T]

As needed, some food gets repackaged into ziplocs (nuts, dried fruit, etc.).

When not in bear country, everything goes into a turkey roasting bag. Otherwise, it goes in a bear can.

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