Food Storage

It is important to store food so animals don't get to your food.  One, you don't want to have animals steal or contaminate your food.  Two, you don't want animals, especially bears, coming in to camp for your food.  Three, it's bad for the animals to get used to you and your food.

Disclaimer

The following information includes common products and practices used by backpackers. 

These products and practices may violate food handling practices or expose the handler or consumer to pathogens or chemicals that may be unhealthy.

Basic Rules

NEVER sleep with food in your tent!  Mice will chew through your tent to get to your food.  Worse - a bear may do the same.  You don't want a hungry bear in your tent.

Rules

• Hang food 

  • 12 feet up in a tree

  • 6 feet away from the trunk 

  • 200 feet from camp

• When needed or required - use a bear canister

  • These make for a great seat in your kitchen

• If car, bike, wagon or canoe camping, buckets or barrels can protect against animals smaller than you

Hang Bags

The traditional way of storing food is hanging it from a tree branch.  Use the PCT method, since bears in the Pacific Northwest have figured out how to take down bags tied down to trunks of trees.

Bags

• Reusable Grocery Bags 

  • Work fine and you probably have some

• Drybags are a Plus

  • Keeps food and inside of bag dry

• Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Stuff Sack

  • 20L Ultra-Sil Sea-to-Summit dry sack 

• 20L Sea to Summit lightweight dry sack

  • Holds about 5-6 days of food

• Granite Gear eVent Sil Drysacks

• Rice bags

Dyneema Bags

You don't need a fancy bag, but fancy options are available:

• These are going to be a little lighter, more expensive and possibly less durable than other options

• Zpacks Bagging Kit

• Hilltop Packs

  • Fun printing is available 

  • Difffernent thicknesses and different materials are avaialable

• Hyperlite Mountain Gear

Armored Bags

• Used when rodents are likely to chew through our bags and hanging is not an option

• These will be heavier than other options

• RatSack 

  • Knitted stainless steel mesh

• Ursack

  • Meant to stop bears and deter rodents

  • Major

    • UHMWP (Spectra)

  • AllMitey

    • 2 Layers

    • Laminated UHMWP and Kevlar

Bag Size

• Note - Day 1

  • You don't need to pack food for day one in your bear bag

  • Eat it and compress your trash

• Note - Day Last

  • Pack your return ride meal and food in your car

  • This can be heavy and water dense if you like

  • If someone is picking you up, have them bring something nice

  • Pack water and other drinks in car too

• Note - Repacking

  • Repack food into freezer bags to reduce trash and bulk

  • Organize by day so you can keep track of food

  • Don't steel from future days

  • Share/trade extra food

• Note - Your Milage WILL Vary

  • The bag size you need is dependent on what you pack and how you pack it

• 20L Bag

  • A popular size

  • More than enough for most thru hikes

• 15L Bag

  • Good for around 3-7 days - depending on how you pack it

  • If this isn't big enough, use thin grocery bags for overflow

Rope:

• You'll need 50'

• Ideally Dyneema Composite Fabric (laminated Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene)

  • Doesn't get hung up as much as polyester or nylon (550 cord)

  • Hydrophobic

  • Static

  • Slick stuff - so it slides

  • Notch Acculine - 2.2mm Throw Line - Dyneema

  • Z-Line 2.0mm Slick Cord - Dyneema

  • DynaGlide

  • Ultraglide-Bear-Line - uncoated

  • Zing-It!

Other Ropes:

• Polyester Paracord 

  • Easy to find

  • Heavier than other ropes

• Nylon Paracord

  • Hangs up a lot

  • Stretches

• Nylon Accessory Cord

  • More static than paracord

  • Heavy compared to other ropes

  • Braids will get caught up

• Polypropylene

  • Braided ones hang up a lot

  • 3 strand is painful to work with

Video: PCT Method to Hang a Bear Bag

Cool Bear Bag Gear

Here are some cool items that may improve your food bag experience.

• Dogbone

  • Makes quick and easy work of hanging a bag

• Micro Carabiners

  • Why - because they are cool and don't weigh much 

Bear Canisters

These can often be rented where you register for the trail or by an outdoor outfitters

Many places require the use of a bear canister - if it is required, use it.  This list includes:

• Yosemite National Park (entire backcountry except a few sites where food lockers are in place)

• Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks (selected areas; food boxes in place in numerous locations)

• Grand Teton National Park (entire backcountry except where food lockers are in place)

• Rocky Mountain National Park (all backcountry campsites below treeline)

• North Cascades National Park (selected areas)

• Olympic National Park (selected areas)

• Denali National Park (selected units)

• Glacier Bay National Park (all treeless areas)

• Gates of the Arctic National Park (most areas)

• Inyo National Forest, eastern and central Sierra Nevada, California (selected areas)

• Eastern High Peaks Wilderness Area, Adirondack Mountains, New York (between April 1 and Nov. 30, all areas)

Examples:

• Bear Vault

  • BearVault BV425 28oz | 305 Cubic In | 3 Days Food

  • BearVault BV450 33oz | 440 Cubic In | 4 Days Food

  • BearVault BV475 36oz | 565 Cubic In | 6 Days Food

  • BearVault BV500 41 z | 700 Cubic In | 7 Days Food

• Bare Boxer 26.3oz | 275 Cubic In | 3

• Garcia Backpackers Cache  43.5oz | 614 Cubic In | 6

• Frontiersman Insider Bear Safe  48 oz | 735 Cubic In | 7

• Wild Ideas

  • Wild Ideas Scout  28oz | 500 Cubic In | 5 Days Food

  • Wild Ideas Weekender  31oz | 650 Cubic In | 6-7 Days Food

  • Wild Ideas Blazer  33oz | 750 Cubic In | 7-8 Days Food

  • Wild Ideas Expedition  36oz | 900 Cubic In | 9 Days Food

• Lighter1

  • Lighter1 Big Daddy  43oz | 650 Cubic In | 3 Days Food

  • Lighter1 Lil Sami  28oz | 300 Cubic In | 3 Days Food

• UDAP No-Fed Bear  38.4oz | 455 Cubic In | 4-5 Days Food

• Counter Assault Bear Keg  58oz | 716 Cubic In | 7 Days Food

"Bearproof" Bag

"Bearproof" bags do a reasonable job of stopping bears from getting into your food bag.  This is a lightweight option to a bear canister and may allow you to forgo using a canister in some areas. 

NOTE

• These are neither "Bearproof" or "Rodentproof"

• Rodents have been know to chew through these (see backpackinglight.com)

• Bears can and will still chew bag and crush everything in it

• Bears have been known to destroy these (see reddit.com)

• Smells still permeate through fabric

• Consider using a smellproof bag inside bear bag to reduce animal interest

Examples:

• Ursack Major

  • Ursack Major Bear Bag (10L)  7.6oz | 650 Cubic In | 6-7 Days Food

  • Ursack AllMitey Bear and Critter (10L)  13oz | 650 Cubic In | 6-7 Days Food

  • Ursack Major XL (15L) 8.8oz | 925 Cubic In | 9 Days Food

  • Ursack Major 2XL (30L)  15.7oz | 1830 Cubic In | 18 Days Food

  • Ursack AllMitey Grizzly Bear and Critter (20L)  13.8oz | 1221 Cubic In | 12 Days Food

  • Ursack AllMitey Kodiak Bear and Critter (20L)  15.3oz | 1850 Cubic In | 18-19 Days Food

  • Ursack AllMitey Bear and Critter (30L)  15.3oz | 1850 Cubic In | 18-19 Days Food

Barrels and Buckets

These are great waterproof options for storing food and for protecting against rodents.  Use for canoe, bike and car camping.  If you have a robust screw on lid or purpose made padded lid, your bucket will also double as a camp chair. 

Bucket Examples

•  BearVault BV500

  • $93

  • Around 3 gallon / 11.5 liters capacity

• 5-Gallon Bucket

  • $5

  • $12 for special screw on lid

• Square Buckets 

  • Can be used an panniers on bikes

• Yeti Buckets

  • 3 times as thick as $5 bucket

  • 8 times as expensive (not counting special lids)

• Darrell's Barrels 30L

  • $100

Smell Proofing

Smellproofing will reduce interest in your bag.  Some hikers use these as stand alone system without hanging or bear proofing - this technique is NOT recommended.

Example:

• OPSAK

  • OPSAK Odor-Proof Barrier Bags - 12" x 20"