Do Opsacks or Base Camp odor barrier bags really work to cut down food scents?

[saltysack]

I've never hung my food but thinking I might line my zpacks food bag with one of these for my upcoming trips....any users feed back would be helpful.

Thx


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[colorado_rob]

My wife had some food in an OPsack, basically some red Gatorade powder (and our damn coffee!) inadvertently left in her pack overnight..... Voila, red bear slobber.

[saltysack]

Thx CR you answered my question! You sure she didn't smear some peanut butter in there? Didn't she want a new pack?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[colorado_rob]

Thx CR you answered my question! You sure she didn't smear some peanut butter in there? Didn't she want a new pack?

She got that new pack, for free. Osprey's "no fault, iron clad warranty". to be fair, the OPsack was a couple years old. Perhaps brand new ones are better.

[Water Rat]

My wife had some food in an OPsack, basically some red Gatorade powder (and our damn coffee!) inadvertently left in her pack overnight..... Voila, red bear slobber.

The bear just wanted the coffee. The Gatorade powder was in the way!

[nsherry61]

There is plenty of evidence that odor proof sacks do not even slow down dogs trained to sniff out contraban. It's probably safe to suggest that these odor resistant bags reduce the amount of odor that escapes through the plastic, but apparently they do NOT eliminate it.

Maybe for a bear, it's kinda like the difference between walking down the bread isle in the store vs. walking past a bakery with fresh bread. You can smell both, but the fresh bread is a lot more enticing.

[Ktaadn]

I'm guessing they would work if you could somehow keep the outside of the bag clean. I have no idea how you would do that in a real world situation though.

[Connie]

My experience with Opsaks is good for all my cooking gear, for food, garbage, and even tp (if required).

Keeping food odor off your backpack or clothing and gear may be more difficult.

I have used a bigger waterproof sack, sold for kayaking, to hold the Opsaks.

The best suggestion I have seen is to prepare food away from camp.

I have cold camped.

I have used Sports Wash, at home, so human scent isn't on my clothing. Meant for hunters, it isn't easy keeping odors off that clothing until actually worn. Our soap, everything, signals we are in the woods.

I have used Sports Wash on my backpack.

I have put everything washed with Sports Wash in large bags meant for the food industry, then put on everything at the trailhead.

I think next time out I will have an Opsak inside a bear cannister, but would Sports Wash or Sink-the-Stink work on the cannister?

The bear cannister is required.

[MuddyWaters]

Not to extent of bears or dogs noses.

Might reduce detection range somewhat is all.

Which in itself isnt a bad thing, but its not a panacea.

Bear has been observed detecting mates...many miles away. Also observed detecting dead elk 3 miles away...and underwater in a lake.

We cant fathom what these animals smell when wind blows right.

If we have food, they know it.

Just to see deer 100 yds from me turn and run when wind shifts boggles my mind.

[Ktaadn]

Being able to smell everything in a 3 mile radius is one thing. My question would be how does their brain process all of that information? Maybe they can't. Sounds like an interesting research project though.

[Connie]

I don't want to be a research subject.. if I detect a bear or a mountain lion, I go back.

I have camped downwind.

Fortunately, that grizzly bear was a natural bear far from a national park. I was counting on that bear not having a taste for our food.

[Odd Man Out]

I got the sample pack of nylobarrier bags when they were sold by LiteTrail. I believe these to be the same as the bags now sold as Base Camp. I have never assumed them to be odor proof. The are NOT bear proof containers and do not expect them to be! However, I do believe them to be odor resistant and this is I think very useful and important.

Two years ago (before using them), I would pack all my food in Zip Lock bags inside my ZPacks CF food Bag. I also used a trash compacter bag as a pack liner for everything that needed to stay dry (quilt and clothes). I believe the trash compactor and zip loc bags are both polyethylene. At the end of a 4 day section, my whole pack smelled of food. I worried about the food odors contaminating my clothes and quilt. If I could smell it, I knew the bears could.

After that hike I got the odor barrier bags. The smaller bag is the same size as the food bag. I now use this as a food bag liner. The larger bag is the perfect size for a pack liner. It doesn't have a resealable closure, but it doesn't need to (the trash compactor bags didn't either). I just twist the loose end and tuck the trunk down the back of the pack. I'm not swimming with the pack so I don't need a dry bag. These bags are very thin and light weight, yet quite durable. I haven't weighed them but I am sure together, the two bags weigh less than a trash compactor bag. I have not had one break yet.

I believe that they have done a good job of blocking odors. I did a 4 day hike last summer and a 3 day hike this summer. At the end of both hikes, I have not noticed any odor in the pack (but by the end of the pack the inside of the food bag liner was noticeably odoriferous). Since I am using a liner for both the pack and the food bag, there are now two layers of protection between the food and the clothes/quilt. Tom Smith (noted bear researcher) says the bear's desire to avoid you is greater than its desire to get your food. While you can not eliminate food odor, taking steps to minimize it will assure that your own smell is what the bear notices first.

[saltysack]

I got the sample pack of nylobarrier bags when they were sold by LiteTrail. I believe these to be the same as the bags now sold as Base Camp. I have never assumed them to be odor proof. The are NOT bear proof containers and do not expect them to be! However, I do believe them to be odor resistant and this is I think very useful and important.

Two years ago (before using them), I would pack all my food in Zip Lock bags inside my ZPacks CF food Bag. I also used a trash compacter bag as a pack liner for everything that needed to stay dry (quilt and clothes). I believe the trash compactor and zip loc bags are both polyethylene. At the end of a 4 day section, my whole pack smelled of food. I worried about the food odors contaminating my clothes and quilt. If I could smell it, I knew the bears could.

After that hike I got the odor barrier bags. The smaller bag is the same size as the food bag. I now use this as a food bag liner. The larger bag is the perfect size for a pack liner. It doesn't have a resealable closure, but it doesn't need to (the trash compactor bags didn't either). I just twist the loose end and tuck the trunk down the back of the pack. I'm not swimming with the pack so I don't need a dry bag. These bags are very thin and light weight, yet quite durable. I haven't weighed them but I am sure together, the two bags weigh less than a trash compactor bag. I have not had one break yet.

I believe that they have done a good job of blocking odors. I did a 4 day hike last summer and a 3 day hike this summer. At the end of both hikes, I have not noticed any odor in the pack (but by the end of the pack the inside of the food bag liner was noticeably odoriferous). Since I am using a liner for both the pack and the food bag, there are now two layers of protection between the food and the clothes/quilt. Tom Smith (noted bear researcher) says the bear's desire to avoid you is greater than its desire to get your food. While you can not eliminate food odor, taking steps to minimize it will assure that your own smell is what the bear notices first.

Thx...your experience is exactly what I was thinking...pack liner and food bag liner....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bigcranky]

I've been using the Zpacks food hanging bag, PCT style, for a couple of years now. Probably 50 or 60 nights on the trail. The only time it was ever breached by a mouse was the one night I couldn't fit all our food inside the O.P Sack. Coincidence? Maybe, but anecdotal data works for me in this case.

[AlpineKevin]

I used to be in the drug business. Packing shipments cleanly was/is always a science. You can even go to drug forums right now and find many threads talking about the various techniques. Odor proofing does work, but the catch is if you get a single molecule on the packaging then it defeats everything and the dogs (or in this case the bears, can hit on the package). In the case of the drug business they use multiple layers with at least one being an air-free vacuum seal layer and the other being a heat sealed Mylar layer. And this is done in one or more "clean rooms" to ensure that nothing contaminates the packaging (again if anything comes into contact with the packaging its compromised). And bears of course have noses 1,000 times better than dogs. So in theory can odor proofing work? Sure, it's proven science. But in practice? With your grubby little camp hands not so much, but it still surely helps a great deal and cuts down on their detection range vastly. I've read several posts of people saying they had all their food in Opsack bags while in their canister and their canister was the only one not touched by bears in the camp. But I'm sure there have been plenty of bears who have had a go at canisters with Opsacks in them as well. Not fool proof but I'm sure they help a lot.

[QiWiz]

to be fair, the OPsack was a couple years old. Perhaps brand new ones are better.

I've used OP sacks for years and I'm sure they reduce odors, at least if the seal is carefully closed. However, over time there are smellable molecules that end up on the outside the OP sack as you put food into and take food out of the sack, so I believe they become more smellable over time. And bears have very keen noses.

Just last weekend I was on trail, with car parked in an area reputed to have porcupines that would chew on car hoses and wiring. So I broke open a plastic-wrapped new box of mothballs and used the whole box under the engine area to discourage them. You could smell the mothballs when you got within 30 feet of the car. When I finished the hike, I picked up the mothballs and put them back in the box, then put the box into an old OP sack for the drive home. Once in the OP sack, I could not smell them. Maybe a bear or a porcupine could. Just sayin' . . .

[MuddyWaters]

Thx...your experience is exactly what I was thinking...pack liner and food bag liner....



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Reynolds turkey bags are nylon, like nylofume, and make good, light foodbag liners. O.5 oz. Cuts down on smell, ziplocks are very permeable. Especially one with 5 days garbage it seems

I always use turkeybag to line my foodbag, close with rubberband. Food is waterproof, so dont worry about rain into hanging foodsack, even make hole in bottom to let it out.

May not do anything for aminals, but cuts down on what I smell for sure

[saltysack]

Reynolds turkey bags are nylon, like nylofume, and make good, light foodbag liners. O.5 oz. Cuts down on smell, ziplocks are very permeable. Especially one with 5 days garbage it seems

I always use turkeybag to line my foodbag, close with rubberband. Food is waterproof, so dont worry about rain into hanging foodsack, even make hole in bottom to let it out.

May not do anything for aminals, but cuts down on what I smell for sure

The base camp bags are fairly cheap.. Just ordered a 5 count for $13.99 off amazon...3 med and 2 large..ill use for pack liner and food bag liner.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[saltysack]

I got the sample pack of nylobarrier bags when they were sold by LiteTrail. I believe these to be the same as the bags now sold as Base Camp. I have never assumed them to be odor proof. The are NOT bear proof containers and do not expect them to be! However, I do believe them to be odor resistant and this is I think very useful and important.

Two years ago (before using them), I would pack all my food in Zip Lock bags inside my ZPacks CF food Bag. I also used a trash compacter bag as a pack liner for everything that needed to stay dry (quilt and clothes). I believe the trash compactor and zip loc bags are both polyethylene. At the end of a 4 day section, my whole pack smelled of food. I worried about the food odors contaminating my clothes and quilt. If I could smell it, I knew the bears could.

After that hike I got the odor barrier bags. The smaller bag is the same size as the food bag. I now use this as a food bag liner. The larger bag is the perfect size for a pack liner. It doesn't have a resealable closure, but it doesn't need to (the trash compactor bags didn't either). I just twist the loose end and tuck the trunk down the back of the pack. I'm not swimming with the pack so I don't need a dry bag. These bags are very thin and light weight, yet quite durable. I haven't weighed them but I am sure together, the two bags weigh less than a trash compactor bag. I have not had one break yet.

I believe that they have done a good job of blocking odors. I did a 4 day hike last summer and a 3 day hike this summer. At the end of both hikes, I have not noticed any odor in the pack (but by the end of the pack the inside of the food bag liner was noticeably odoriferous). Since I am using a liner for both the pack and the food bag, there are now two layers of protection between the food and the clothes/quilt. Tom Smith (noted bear researcher) says the bear's desire to avoid you is greater than its desire to get your food. While you can not eliminate food odor, taking steps to minimize it will assure that your own smell is what the bear notices first.

What size you use for pack liner and food bag?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Odd Man Out]

What size you use for pack liner and food bag?

My food bag liner is 13.5" wide by 25" tall.
My pack liner is 20" wide by 36" tall.

both measured lying flat. both open along the short side

I got mine from LiteTrails before they disappeared. I suspect these are the same as the medium and large size sold in the sample pack as Base Camp, but I'm not sure. Maybe someone who has purchased recently can confirm the size of the new ones. I haven't seen detailed specs from Base Camp. Mine are a clear plastic and some of the pictures from Base Camp show a blue bag and some pictures show a clear bag, so I'm a bit confused. They do seem to resemble Turkey Bags so maybe they are the same material.