What's your favorite food bag?

[Cassafras]

What's your favorite food bag? Why? I am looking at the one from zpacks, but am concerned about it holding up for 6 months of continuous use. Anyone here used one?

[2015 Lady Thru-Hiker]

Right now I'm sporting the cuben fiber one jimmyjam makes. I am trying to pack just like I would for the trail and so far seems large enough without being too big and is well-made with seam-sealing. But I still pretty new to all this so haven't been able to put it to the test of time.


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[Twogears]

I've used my cuben fiber food bag for about 2 months this summer. Seems to be holding up very well. It was my experiment to see how durable the material is before I look at other gear made from it.

[MuddyWaters]

Zpacks blast. The rectangular cross section fits efficiently in a UL pack. People making round foodsacks have no idea what they are doing IMO. MLDs is a poorly designed piece o .....

[coheterojo]

I used an Ursack Minor for all 3 of my AT thruhikes. I don't see any reason why I won't use it again next year on the PCT.

[bigcranky]

I like the Zpacks blast, as it holds a lot of food but fits well inside my pack. The most important part of any food bag system is the O.P Sack, the odorproof liner bag, IMHO.

A couple of notes on the Zpacks bag, based on a couple of years of weekend use and a 4-week hike this summer:

1. Mice can chew right through the fabric, no problem. (See "OP Sack," above. The one time we couldn't fit all the food in the OP Sack, a mouse chewed through the bag. The bag was hung properly on a tree using the PCT method, not in a shelter.)

2. Duct tape does a decent repair if the cuben fabric is clean and dry. DO NOT try to remove the duct tape once applied.

3. I did notice a fair amount of wear around the edges and the top opening from repeated rolling. Not sure if this is a long term issue or not.

4. The Blast bag will hold two OP Sacks, though the second one can't be full. With some care, an OP Sack can last more than a month, though if one is not careful, the zipper closure tears.

[rocketsocks]

Have only had three that I recall, make that 4

1. old canvas sack......free
2. plastic kitchen waste bag....a few nickles
3. Walley world nylon sack, three sizes, three colors, $6-9.99 IIRC
4. Sea to Summit, sil-nylon, snap lock, roll top 8 liter, $23 bones

all will work, but I like number 4 best, but number 3 will work as well.

[Another Kevin]

Recently switched from a Sea to Summit drysack (great!) to a jimmyjam special (even better!).

The S2S has no noticeable wear except at the rolltop - and while I don't do long distance hiking, it's probably got 50 trail nights on it. I've had the jimmyjam one out only a few times so far, so can't comment. Both have kept my food dry in a thunderstorm. I've never had that much of an issue with mice, but I don't use shelters a lot.

[rocketsocks]

Recently switched from a Sea to Summit drysack (great!) to a jimmyjam special (even better!).

The S2S has no noticeable wear except at the rolltop - and while I don't do long distance hiking, it's probably got 50 trail nights on it. I've had the jimmyjam one out only a few times so far, so can't comment. Both have kept my food dry in a thunderstorm. I've never had that much of an issue with mice, but I don't use shelters a lot.

Nice! I think I need a water haul bag, and one of them thar hiker wallets too.

[daddytwosticks]

Ursak Minor. :)

[Coffee]

I have the zPacks food bag. I estimate that I've used it about 35 nights and it shows no sign of deteriorating. I have probably hung the bag about 20 of the 35 nights and kept it with me the other nights, but I'm not sure that hanging it produces much more wear. If I hike a long trail next year, I plan to start with the zPacks food bag I currently have but I'll probably buy a second one and keep it with a number of other potential replacement items with a person who can send things to me on the trail as needed...

[Astro]

I also have and recommend JimmyJam's bags.

[10-K]

ZPacks Blast here... Lasted for a PCT thru and is on death's door. Frayed and frazzled but by golly, it made it.

[Deacon]

Most of my major gear is Zpacks, but not my food bag because there are times it's not big enough. I use the Granite Gear Uberlight CFT3 18 liter bag with the eVent bottom. It's waterproof and only weighs 0.7 oz.

[Deacon]

The reason the Zpacks isn't big enough is I don't mind carrying 6-7 days food at my resupply point. That's just my choice.

[Odd Man Out]

I also have and recommend JimmyJam's bags.

Is JimmyJam still selling his home made CF gear?

[2015 Lady Thru-Hiker]

Yup!


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[10-K]

The reason the Zpacks isn't big enough is I don't mind carrying 6-7 days food at my resupply point. That's just my choice.

There were times that I had more food than would fit in my Blast and I bought another bag and used 2. One had my snacks - the Blast had my meals. A weeks worth of snacks is quite a lot of food in and of itself.

[Coffee]

For me the blast is completely full with five days of food. So I can really go six days using this bag with my first day of food in a gallon ziplock that converts to my trash bag on subsequent days.

But I've never carried more than 6 days of food except in the Sierra where I had to use a canister and had my Bearikade. My custom 750 cubic inch Bearikade can hold 7-8 days of food.

[hilltackler]

I've been using my zpacks cuben fiber food back for going on 3 years now and it's holding up great. It only has one tear and duct tape is working well and holding for the last year on that spot. great bag!

[BuckeyeBill]

I use a Ursack with the aluminum liner. Just tie to a tree or rock.

[Traffic Jam]

Jimmyjam special for me too. The reflective strips make it easy to find in the dark.

[Tipi Walter]

This has been discussed before, see---

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?12962-Favorite-Food-Bags

Lately I've been using silnylon sea to summit bags, either 20 liter size or 35 liter. My overflow 3rd food bag is an old tent stuff sac.

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2011/Cranbrook-School-Backpacking/i-vw6VF9D/0/L/TRIP%20120%20016-L.jpg
My usual 45-50lbs of food well-hung with the bear line but it's nearly impossible to get any elevation with such weight due to branch friction, etc.

[steve0423]

I also like the Zpacks blast. Held up well on a thru last year and still using it now. I did poke a small hole in it (maybe the size of a BB) in the very begining (GA or TN), but a repair with stamp size piece of duct tape is still holding out water today.

[Another Kevin]

My usual 45-50lbs of food well-hung with the bear line but it's nearly impossible to get any elevation with such weight due to branch friction, etc.

That looks as if it's the time of year that the bears are asleep anyway. Still a good idea to hang the stuff away from all the mini-bears.

[shanesherman]

I like the ZPacks.

[Malto]

ZPacks Blast here... Lasted for a PCT thru and is on death's door. Frayed and frazzled but by golly, it made it.

Mine also lasted the whole PCT but was in pretty good shape at the end. My favorite now are the two I made specifically to fit my MLD Burn pack. The Blast bag was too wide and was a pain to load.

[jimmyjam]

Is JimmyJam still selling his home made CF gear?

I am. Anyone interested can send me PM or email and we can work out the details.

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[overthinker]

Used a sil stuff sack, swapped out for a Ursack. I live on the East Coast, so finding a good branch for a proper hang is difficult, and the last thing I want to do after hiking all day. I'm also near SNP and its large population of ursas, so I went with the full version rather than the minor. Liking it so far. I also carry some bear line, I forget where from, in case I've decided to pig out and can't fit everything into the Ursack.

[daddytwosticks]

That looks as if it's the time of year that the bears are asleep anyway. Still a good idea to hang the stuff away from all the mini-bears.

From what I understand, bears down south here do not really hibernate like they do in colder climates. :)

[MuddyWaters]

From what I understand, bears down south here do not really hibernate like they do in colder climates. :)

I recall one february, 11500 ft, crested butte co ski area . a ski lift operation was stopped for an afternoon because a bear woke up and came out of its den and was milling about. It can happen anywhere.

I had to wonder if it had to dig its way out? I mean, the base was like 60" at mid mountain.

[Nooga]

Zpacks. Pick the shape to fit your pack.