Alternatives to Ziplocks (for food).

Thanks, Doug. Took a quick look. There were some powdered beverages, but a little light on what I need to know. Will spend some more time down in the weeds with it, and judging from this, may send inquiries to almond and coconut milk producers to see if anything is available powdered.

I use “FuncSac” . I fill with Mountain House products in bulk, scoop out what I need and rehydrate. I reuse many many times. Never throw them away. Built like brick shlit houses.

FunkGuard XL Child Resistant Package bags adult use packaging. Keeps odors inside the bag. Critters can’t smell what’s inside. Foil lined mylar bags.

12″ wide x 9″ tall x 3″ bottom gusset FDA Aproved

https://www.funksac.com/product/funkguard-xl/

Side note”  FunkSac’s odorless technology and child-resistant features are unmatchable in the $2.7 billion cannabis industry, and have catapulted the brand into high demand with the increase in child-safety regulations across the country.

“Still looking for a dairy free breakfast.” and of course we want to use fewer or better baggies.

After watching a lot of through hiker videos on YouTube I realized I can learn a lot from them, but not about eating. They eat garbage (Cheezwhiz is food?) and pass it along like it’s good information.

My basic trail food is a gorp I mix up. I take a 5 pound bag of Quaker Old Fashioned whole oats I get at Costco, and then mix in a 12-16 ounce bag of that sugary granola from Trader Joes, some sliced almonds, some raisins and  mix it all together with a big spoon.  Then I eat this dry, along with drinking water or coffee. If I just took the granola I’d snack on it until it’s all gone, just the oats? bleh. But together, I get a little sugar-nuts jazz.

I’ve found over many many years that a breakfast built around oats seems to satisfy some of my carbo-craving, but also seems to be a much slower day long burn. Balanced diet? What do the packages say? ( I think this by itself is mostly balanced).

It would be ideal to just divvy out a baggie full for each day, but we’re trying to cut down on our use of baggies here. So I’d bring some kind of measuring cup. About 8 volume ounces of this stuff is 330 calories. What’s 8 ounces? A Cup? Ideally I’d take a ‘scoop’ that is 6 ounces (or I’d mark the cup or bowl); then I’d cheat a little (when we cheat a little we feel like we’re getting extra.)  Then I just have to carry one large baggie of this gorp, the cup and maybe something like a smaller daily baggie to put it in. So no dairy, no packages, small expense, great nutrition. Of course 330 calories is probably not a full trail breakfast, so add something else.

And one of my favorite hobby horses: really good olive oil. Best food density you can carry. A liter is 7820 calories (take it out of the glass bottle and take less than a full liter unless you’re going out for 2-3 weeks. I use a Smart Water Bottle) You can cook with it, or burn it in your stove (use a wick).

I would never bring bacon or any meat, but I would love it on a hike through bear country to have someone who does between me and the bears.

Funcsacks look like an interesting option as well, though the minimum order of 100 makes it a bit pricey! Could be a reasonable group buy between friends of course.

In the end, I’ve realised my workplace buys loose leaf tea and hot chocolate powder in mylar bags that are a good size for up to 5 days of trail mix and breakfasty oat mixes. I’ve rescued a few from the bin and asked others to keep some aside from me if they finish a bag. The zips are a slightly burlier ziplock bag type, so i imagine those will fail eventually – but it’s extending the life of the bag and not buying something new, so surely the most environmentally friendly option. Worked well on a trip over the weekend.

I use a small screw top container for cold soaking my oats and sometimes lunch/pre soaking dinner (I don’t like to eat breakfast in camp as i’m usually too cold in the morning, so the container is worth it even if i’m not going completely no-cook). I’ve labelled the side of the container with rough measurements for lunch, dinner and breakfast – so I can portion them out from bigger bags. It’d be nice to have a few smaller ones on longer trips, to add a bit of dinner variety, but this is a step.

Another idea:
I also plan to replace the stock bags that came with my sawyer squeeze, as I hate refilling them. I know plenty of others replace them. Though the bags are prone to splitting from people squeezing them, they should work well for storing things like oaty breakfast mixes (as long as there aren’t big nuts). Screw top weighs a bit more than a zip, but likely will never break, and is a lot easier to pour dry food out of (Over a number of days I find the zippers tend to get a bit clogged with more powder-y goods, such as dry coconut milk).

Not really sure why I didn’t mention mylar bags, as that’s what I use most of the time. I have a bunch, be happy to send you 5 or 6 if you want to pay shipping (which should be minimal as they don’t weigh much at all and will fit in an envelope). Let me know via PM.

I have some extra foil bags to share:

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/funksacs-funkguard-xl-mylar-foil-bags/

Thanks Dan

The FunkSacs are built tough. Washe them and reuse umpteen times….no problem!

I’m with Doug on using Mylar bags.

You can take a butter knife and poke holes in zip locks without much effort, you can’t do that with Mylar bags.  I find mylar bags are easier to clean, dry and reuse with a little soapy water, then hang to dry outside. I also used a mylar one lb. potato chip bag for my hygiene, first aid and other personal items for a CDT thru-hike last year, the bag is still being used today.  If you can find ziplock mylar bags, such as Coaches Oats from Cosco, keep them to use for food, camera gear, phone and anything else you carry that shouldn’t get wet.

Mylar makes for a good wag bag for TP when on snow too.

Seems like a lot of food products now come in bags with a ziploc top. We reuse some of them at home. No reason you couldn’t do that on the trail, too.

These. Can’t smell nothin’ through them. Prefer these over the popular odor proof bag for backpacking.

I don’t cook on the trail, but my husband uses these successfully for sous vide cooking.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/vacpak-it-8-x-12-quart-size-full-mesh-external-vacuum-packaging-pouches-bags-3-mil-pack/186EVB812.html

I was ask about my vacuum system to use the bags. I’m not home, so can’t give you brand names, but I believe we have a Foodsaver.

Also, I’ve has these bags since ‘16, so unsure if the bag brand is the same, but I think so.

These bags are super tough. I’ve use one for stakes since ‘16. They are far and away sturdier  to the usual odor free sac, and more substantial than freezer bags.

I sometimes use a vac-seal system for some backpacking things as well. I buy bags that have a ziploc closure at one end, and is still sealed at that end, you fill and seal the other end. When you want to open the bag, rip off the seal above the ziploc closure and open the bag. What I like about these bags is that you can reseal them with the ziploc closure in the field. And they’re heavy duty, you can rehydrate food in them, etc.

What I don’t like about them, or any vac-seal bag, is they take up more room than a regular/freezer ziploc bag. So I don’t normally use them for longer trips (though I do use them a lot for long car/backpacking trips, they keep better in my car fridge).

Re: vacuum bags, I thought that packaging food in those with no air would be more efficient. Was a nightmare in a bear cannister-lots of hard little blocks that didn’t smoosh to the shape of the cannister, lots of wasted space.

I picked up a Stasher medium silicone bag at my local Fred Meyer.  Weighed, it is 2 5/8 ounces. A Ziploc weighed an 1/8 ounce. I’d have to replace 21 ziplocs before it would make sense weight wise. I think this is probably one of the heavier silicone options, but I liked that it didn’t rely on a separate plastic slider to seal it. Might work at home for replacement, but not on the trail.

I’m planning to hike the Tahoe Rim Trail next September.  I’m contemplating bulk packaging and cooking/eating in my pot to save packaging and garbage weight. Not sure how that squares with my habit of making a cup of tea at the same time, and drinking that while my meal rehydrates in the bag/pot/cozy.

For awhile, we were using mesh bags for veggies to spare the produce plastic bags. Got out of the habit. Need to get back to it.

I use vacuum sealer to seal regular zip loc (freezer) bags

The bags are a bit lightweight for the task.  Let the bag cool for 2 seconds before removing it

For those who cook/warm their food in bags with hot water:

The problem with mylar/PET plastic is that after a few uses, they leach significant amounts of hormone disrupting chemicals.  Particularly so when you expose them to higher temps. Even PE which is more inert/stable than mylar/PET, can and will leach some, especially when exposed to higher heat. This is why I recommended the food grade silicone “bags”, because silicone is not a plastic and leaches much, much less than any plastics, being much more stable/inert, even when exposed to boiling water temps.

Here is a list of most/worst to least when it comes to the issue of leaching of known and suspected hormone disrupting chemicals.  Polycarbonates (7’s), PET/mylar (polyester variants 1’s), polypropylene (5’s), PE (2’s and 4’s), food grade silicone, and medical grade silicone.

It’s one thing to use say a PET bottle once or even a few times when you’re just putting approx. room temp water into it (not so bad even longer term). But as you increase amount of uses and especially increased temps, you significantly increase leaching.

Man boob growing materials, no thanks!

The mylar bags that are stiff, how well do they pack in a food bag or bear can? They don’t seem like they would compress very well, or take on the shape of their container.

The mylar bags aren’t that stiff and can compress decently, and you can ’round’ them a bit for bear cans. They aren’t nearly as flexible as ziplocs, of course, but they are much more odor resistant than ziplocs.