What do you use to carry food?

[Jake D]

I've also heard of people using those big pretzel or animal cracker jars that are probably close to the same size as a BV 500. not bearproof but good for small critters.

[George F]

Stuff sacks, one to three depending on the length of the trip. At night I just hang them from a tree limp about head high, making sure they can't be reached from the trunk or another branch, that keeps the critters out.

[Gary Dunckel]

My food hangs have only been compromised a couple times over the past 20+ years, each time by huge gray squirrels in Glacier Park. I was using simple nylon stuff sacks. It's a bummer losing your food to varmits, so I looked for something more secure.

Then 5-6 years ago I did some field testing for the Outsak, and also for Lawson when he started making cuben roll-top bags. In a heavily infested rodent place, neither the Outsak nor a 1.43 oz./yard cuben roll top could individually be breached, although the animals certainly tried. So I thought, if neither can be breached by small critters, why not use them both, for a real belt-and-suspenders approach?

Sure, I am taking a 3-4 oz. weight penalty, but I am completely confident that nothing will get to my food, except for bears, which the hang eliminates (and maybe Valerie's GC ravens…). The cuben roll top bags also completely waterproof the food/toiletries/FAK, and insects can't get in, which are nice extra benefits.

[Jeffs Eleven]

I do what Gary does.

I have a larger food bag (a non-UL series) so it has a wide opening. I hang it from a tree trunk at chest level and it hangs just right to rummage through it. Its like a big drawer and the tree kinda keeps it from swinging around so its easier to dig through.

[Ralph Wood]

Granite Gear 12L Air ZippSack. Weighs 1.4 oz, super convienient top access makes it easy to find the food you're looking for.

[Anonymous]

Folks said chest high but you raise it at night right?

I was pretty sure the old Boy scout manual recommended 13+ feet. Its not based on what the bear can reach but rather gets the smell of food up off the ground.

As an warning. Some parks have reported bears figuring out how to chew through the rope where it's tied off at the bottom. Thats why the getting the smell away thing is helpful, so they don't know where to find the rope. If you call and talk to the park rangers at yout destination, they can warn if you if the local bears have developed any other clever tricks.

Some people really like the scent lock bags. I've never had a critter bust into my nylon bag though.

For non-squishables did anyone else mention replacing bread with tortilla shells?

[Gordon Gray]

I usually bring a small crock pot with my stuff inside it. However, I can never find a power outlet so I eat my dinner cold. :(

[Jim C]

The PCT method of hanging a bear bag eliminates the rope-chew-through problem, and it takes a bit less rope.

Counter balance method also eliminates that problem, though I've never attempted doing that.

[George F]

I do chest or head height only to keep the smaller critters out of my food. I usually camp high enough that bears are not an issue. When I think they are I do the counter balance hang, no rope for them to chew through.

[Dale Wambaugh]

I use a large black GoLite LandLubber silnylon stuff sack, measuring roughly 16"x17" and weighs 1oz. Official specs rate it at 16 liters. I use 50' of Zing-It arborist's line, a mico-carbiner and a tiny stuff sack for the line that becomes my rock sack for tossing the line. the line/carbiner/stuff cask weighs 1.8oz. I use the "PCT" method for hanging.

I use a gallon ziplock for day hikes.

[John Taylor]

Used to use nylon then switched to Sil once I lightened up. Been experimenting with plated grocery bags lately. Food and trash is always in sealed inner bags so not too worried about odors. Hang height is 8 – 10 feet generally. I tend to avoid established camp sights. Never had bear issues, but I know of folks who sleep where they eat and/or were sloppy with food who had issues.

[Bob Shaver]

When I start a week long backpack, food takes up about half of my pack. So at night I just hang my whole pack. Never had any trouble with that. When the volume of food allows it, I put all the food into a syl nylon stuff sack, and hang that. Hiking in Idaho, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, bear canisters are not required.

During the day, I put little bags of lunch food on the outside pockets of the pack, for accessibility for snacking. Nuts, dates, cheese, granola bars, crystal lite, beef jerky. I put Ritz crackers in a plastic tube on the outside of the pack, to avoid crushing. The tube is from crystal light bulk packs. Sometimes I carry Triscuits, and I just keep them in the box they come in, on the outside of the pack.

For dinners, I put all the ingredients for a dinner in one big zip lock bag. Bagels for breakfast are in the bag from the store, and Canadian bacon and cheese are in baggies.

Being diabetic, I have some snacks in my tent for nighttime low blood sugar episodes. I use an odor resistant zip lock for that. The main problem with food in a tent is from mice. They can smell grains and nuts like crazy, and will chew through anything to get to it.

[Alexander S]

Ursack WITH odor proof bag. No break in or attempted break ins in 1460 miles.

[Nico .]

Typically I use a nylofume odor resistant bag inside an old lawson equipment cuben dry bag. If I encounter wet weather or a deep creek/river crossing, I instead use the dry bag to protect my camera equipment. Delicate items (fresh tomato, avocado, crackers, etc) get packed inside my cookpot and/or carefully placed at the top of the pack and don't get compressed. All food/smellies get hung by the PCT method using bearline from Lite Trail (or equivalent- Lawson, Zpacks, etc).

I sometimes use a metal mesh bag (like the grubpack or ratsack; can't remember which) on trips to areas that don't require a bear can but still require some form of protection from small critters (fox, rats, ravens, etc). Woken up once to a small spotted skunk trying to gnaw through my metal mesh food bag under my tarp, right next to my head. Persistent little buggers…

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