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View Full Version : Smellables in hip belt pockets, etc..., What do you do?



blw2
01-26-2018, 15:32
OK, so here's something I've struggled with.

I know I've read countless times to "put ALL smellable things" into the bear bag and hang it. I get it.

But, it seems like I always have a few things rattling around in my hip belt pockets or pants pockets....
chapstick
maybe a tiny travel sized hand lotion
body glide stick
gold bond
maybe some bug bite anti-itch stuff....
dr broners soap
stuff like that....

What is your strategy on a hike, for these little items?

If those things live in the bear bag, then when needed during the day, you've gotta stop and dig through the pack.

If they live in a hip belt pocket, or other more convenient place, then it seems like you'd need to develop the habit of trying to remember to clean all those things out for stowage, then while in camp you have to keep lowering the bear bag every time you need something..... and then you have to remember to move them back to the pack or your pants pocket in the AM....

I'm not used to hiking in "bear country" and I usually am not in places too infested with rodents, so it hasn't been a huge problem for me so far.... but it is a strategy that I can't figure a way to optimize...

evyck da fleet
01-26-2018, 15:35
The bear bag comes down for breakfast and it’s easy to take whatever you need during the day such as snacks and put them in your hip belt pocket. The reverse happens at dinner.

martinb
01-26-2018, 15:56
If you gotta carry all that stuff, put it in a ziplock, or two. At the end of the day, grab the ziplock(s) and throw them in the bear bag.

DuneElliot
01-26-2018, 16:18
The only thing I carry is chapstick and while it may be a risk I leave it in my hipbelt pocket since I will sometimes need it at night.

Coffee
01-26-2018, 16:38
If you gotta carry all that stuff, put it in a ziplock, or two. At the end of the day, grab the ziplock(s) and throw them in the bear bag.
Yes, this is exactly what I do. I'm not convinced that bears are going after my bronners soap or chapstick but unless it slips my mind, they go into the bear bag or canister at the end of the day.

fastfoxengineering
01-26-2018, 16:46
I have a small cuben Fiber stuff sack that I keep all those little hygiene stuff in. In my hipbelt pocket. When I need something I just pull the bag out use what I need and return it.

At the end if the day when organizing camp before bed I just throw that bag in my bear bag that I hang.

The only thing I keep on me is my poop kit. Trowel. TP. And Hand Sanitizer.

I willing to take that chance. Having to drop a duece in the middle of the night but first having to go fetch a bear bag.. then rehang said bear bag.. is not fun.

Hey... You asked

Ps.. a ziplock bag works just fine. The quart size is about right.

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Bmelee
01-26-2018, 17:34
If your chapstick is not flavored, then you are probably ok. Last year, my peppermint chapstick fell out of my pack on a day hike in the Smokies. I was on the same trail two weeks later and stopped to sit on the same log. I found my chapstick, but a bear had definitely had his way with it in the meantime. All that was left was a bit of mangled plastic...

Bmelee
01-26-2018, 17:37
And, on overnight trips, all the small smellables go into a ziplock in my hip belt. That bag definitely goes inside the bear bag which goes into my pack when I hang it on the bear cable at night.

Coffee
01-26-2018, 17:38
Definitely get unscented toiletries when possible in case one is forgotten by mistake. I make it a point to get unscented chapstick, unscented Bronners soap, and unscented dental floss. Unfortunately there is no such thing as unscented toothpaste (although some people use bronners as toothpaste).

SoaknWet
01-26-2018, 17:45
Make it simple! Just hang the whole backpack! I'd guess mine would fit in a trash compactor bag.

Dogwood
01-26-2018, 17:48
This is a good question

As much as we try to keep odorous things separated and stored properly cross contamination can occur. Yes, I keep hygiene products in a separate baggie but that doesnt fully prevent it. I dont know that I can fully prevent it. I do make a solid attempt to not let any critter get any food, garbage, or odorous item from me though. For black bears depending on how agressive and accustomed to food associations with humans I'll hang or bear can everything including a backpack. In brown bear territory everthing gets hung.

I shake out any little food crumbs in hip belt, side, and shovel pockets, whenever I can preferably daily. On trail and off I sanitize/wash the entire pack as well as stuff sacks, cookware, etc regularly like every wk.

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El JP
01-26-2018, 19:02
Make it simple! Just hang the whole backpack! I'd guess mine would fit in a trash compactor bag.

Depending on certain conditions, that's a pretty good idea.

El JP
01-26-2018, 19:02
Make it simple! Just hang the whole backpack! I'd guess mine would fit in a trash compactor bag.

Depending on certain conditions, that's a pretty good idea.

4eyedbuzzard
01-26-2018, 19:10
First, the most dangerous animal in the woods isn't a bear, or even a moose (more dangerous), or loose dogs (even worse). The most dangerous creature in the eastern forest is the tick. Just trying to keep it in perspective.

Regarding eastern bears:

Try to keep your pockets and all your clothing as clean of food as possible. Put everything such as chapstick, toothpaste, etc., in with your food and hang it away from your campsite. The ziplocks in the pocket for smellies is a good idea. Don't camp where you cook if in an area with known bear activity - cook and eat a mile or more from your final campsite. Don't cook and/or eat in your sleeping bag or tent. Don't leave uneaten food, especially in areas that people frequent, like shelters/campsites, as it provides an easy snack for foraging bears who will return to see if they can get lucky again. Eat it all or completely burn any uneaten food. Bears are opportunists and creatures of habit, and easy food is too efficient a meal for a wild animal.

That all said, most AT hikers cook and eat at shelters or wherever they set up camp, and rarely are there any terrible outcomes. Unless a bear is acclimated to humans and associates them with an easy meal (fed park bears), the smell of a human being will tend to keep them away. They see us as trouble - we are a potential predator and we are reasonably large creatures. Bears are risk adverse and prefer to scavenge for safe and efficient meals. And while they may attack and kill smaller animals, even up to fawn size, rarely do they go after adult deer. The energy to chase one down plus the risk of injury is too great.

In the end, it's simply impossible to keep all food odors off of your clothing - it's on you, your clothes, your pack, etc. The best we can do is to minimize the smell. A bears sense of smell is estimated at about 7 times better than a bloodhounds's, and some 2000 times better than that of a human. They can literally smell food from several miles away. You really can't hide odors from them. The best you can do is to not be the smelliest thing (food wise) out there. Provided you are a typical stinky hiker, most bears will make out your human hiker smell as stronger than that of any food odors on your clothing - and, unless acclimated, want nothing better than to stay clear of you. Most sightings of bears are off their arse end running away after they figure out you're there.

skater
01-26-2018, 19:37
If you are constantly retrieving your hung bag, here's a tip. I set up the hang as soon as I get to camp, but rather than hanging the bag I attach an eyecatcher (bright bandana, for example). The food bag stays in camp. When I am ready to turn in, THEN I hang the bag, and the eyecatcher makes finding my rope easy.

Dogwood
01-26-2018, 20:33
Smellables is a good name for an odor proof food sack set or cadre of thru-hikers competing for who can go the longest without a bath or shower.

rmitchell
01-26-2018, 20:41
If you are constantly retrieving your hung bag, here's a tip. I set up the hang as soon as I get to camp, but rather than hanging the bag I attach an eyecatcher (bright bandana, for example). The food bag stays in camp. When I am ready to turn in, THEN I hang the bag, and the eyecatcher makes finding my rope easy.

The eye catcher is a good idea. North of Perrisburg is a paracord and small caribiner set up for a PCT hand at a stealth sight. I set it up before dusk and never found it again!

rmitchell
01-26-2018, 20:53
Make it simple! Just hang the whole backpack! I'd guess mine would fit in a trash compactor bag.

I usually poke a small hole in the bottom of the bag, just large enough for a loop of string. Attach the loop to the pack then run it through the hole and clip to a caribiner on the line or bear cable. Trash bag is with open side down. This makes it more difficult for rodents to get access to the pack.

blw2
01-26-2018, 21:13
I've tried keeping the stuff in small zip bags..... still a pain in the neck.

I should say that for the most part where I', going its about the rodents, coons, etc.... more than bears

Yeah, the issue for me seems to be after stowing in the "bear box" or hanging, I inevitably need or want something. Or chap stick in the middle of the night.

I like the idea of hanging the whole pack. I've often thought about doing that instead of keeping a separate bear bag
and nice idea for presetting the hang with a flag.
and the inverted trash bag idea is clever. I can imagine that might help with rodents maybe just a bit. Not absolutely by any stretch though....

Slo-go'en
01-26-2018, 21:37
During the day I stuff food wrappers in my water bottle mesh side pockets. On occasion I forget to remove them at the end of the day. The mesh has more then a few bigger holes now as a result. Keeps the shelter mice busy for a while.

El JP
01-26-2018, 22:10
I usually poke a small hole in the bottom of the bag, just large enough for a loop of string. Attach the loop to the pack then run it through the hole and clip to a caribiner on the line or bear cable. Trash bag is with open side down. This makes it more difficult for rodents to get access to the pack.

Nice trick.

Just tossing this bit in to see if it might work. Some contractor bags I've used in the past were tough enough that it might be possible to hold a sizable pack in a hang. Pros or cons anyone?

blw2
01-27-2018, 09:11
honestly I was thinking along the same lines. An empty or nearly empty pack doesn't weigh much w/clothes, tent, sleep system, etc... out of it. Could just simply wrap the pack and tie around the whole package.

Downsides that come to mind.... assuming using the bag in the standard way, closed opening at top and hung from the tie off.
rodents if they get to it will chew through a bag. It's only going to slow them down a bit...maybe.... if they don't have a great grasp
and then if it rain, a closed bag will hold water....
and if they do get in a closed bag, they're more likely to stay in. The open bottom gives at least a chance to fall out....

Christoph
01-27-2018, 09:45
I ziplock everything and it stays in its respective bag. I use the cheap nylon walmart bags in the camping section. Red for meds, emergency, hygene, Green for all my cooking gear and spork, Yellow for my clothes, etc. Evertyhing else goes in the nylon ropestring backpack (mainly food). I sometimes hang my food bag but normally everything else stays in my pack, in my tent with me. On my thru, no mice or any other critters tried to attack.

DuneElliot
01-27-2018, 11:06
If your chapstick is not flavored, then you are probably ok. Last year, my peppermint chapstick fell out of my pack on a day hike in the Smokies. I was on the same trail two weeks later and stopped to sit on the same log. I found my chapstick, but a bear had definitely had his way with it in the meantime. All that was left was a bit of mangled plastic...
Just the boring blue one that has SPF...no fancy flavors like strawberry or peppermint.

SoaknWet
01-27-2018, 11:25
I've used the upside-down method and have never had a problem, but I also use reflective cord preferably yellow so I can find the bag day or night! Sometimes it can take awhile to locate a suitable limb to hang on.

Puddlefish
01-27-2018, 11:42
I used a lot of small zip-lock bags to portion out cashews, almonds, dried fruit, etc. from large cans into snack portions, which was far cheaper than buying individually wrapped servings from the store. I'd make sure my first snack of the day emptied a zip-lock bag, and then that bag became the trash bag for the day for bar wrappers and such. Then it was a matter of clean unopened snacks in the pack hip belt, and the trash in my shorts pocket, because the shorts were far easier to wash often.

Time Zone
01-27-2018, 13:13
"Smellables" sounds like a discarded first idea for the name of the product now known as Lunchables.

:D

Dogwood
01-27-2018, 20:10
"Smellables" sounds like a discarded first idea for the name of the product now known as Lunchables.

:D

Here's the dismount. Nailed it. Wow, what a great day for a smile. 10 10 10 9 9 from the judges with the 9's from the Chinese and Russian judges. :D

El JP
01-28-2018, 04:33
honestly I was thinking along the same lines. An empty or nearly empty pack doesn't weigh much w/clothes, tent, sleep system, etc... out of it. Could just simply wrap the pack and tie around the whole package.

Downsides that come to mind.... assuming using the bag in the standard way, closed opening at top and hung from the tie off.
rodents if they get to it will chew through a bag. It's only going to slow them down a bit...maybe.... if they don't have a great grasp
and then if it rain, a closed bag will hold water....
and if they do get in a closed bag, they're more likely to stay in. The open bottom gives at least a chance to fall out....

I was thinking about this earlier i think i'm going to try this out...A 12 to 18 inch stretch of 50lb test braided fishing line with loops for carabiners on each end.

1-Attach line to pack with carabiner.
2-Put pack in contractor bag and secure it, line out at top.
3-Place second bag over just like rmitchell describes.
4-Clip on second carabiner and hook to paracord.

Around my jobsite the trees are chock full of squirrels, i think i'll rig this up and give it a whirl.

SoaknWet
01-28-2018, 07:39
Go for it! Please post your results. I have tons of fishing line around here, never gave it a thought! Excited to see your results.

blw2
01-28-2018, 08:10
yes, very interesting! I too am interested in reading about your experiment.

What is your thinking about the double bags?

I sorta get the idea of the inverted bag being like a rat shield on a ship or boat mooring line..... so the inner bag, just another deterrent layer?

I guess I'm just not convinced that they couldn't get their little claws right into the bag and just climb all over it.


As long as we are brainstorming here......
Here's a little something as food for thought
https://youtu.be/dEW9TG6Dcgg
Yankee Flipper Bird Feeder
need to dial it down a bitto work against mice and rats.....but it could be fun!

El JP
01-28-2018, 16:25
The second bag is intended not only as further critter protection, but for weather as well. The idea of using fishing line is that not only is it very lightweight and strong, but to make their getting to the pack as difficult as possible.

Ill rig up an old bag this week and check it out.

blw2
01-28-2018, 16:36
Do you have a game camera or something to record the action?

El JP
01-28-2018, 17:39
Do you have a game camera or something to record the action?
I wish. I'll probably take a few shots of the setup with my phone. Also, will bait the bag with peanuts and check on it every few hours or so during the day.

SoaknWet
01-28-2018, 18:44
Above and Beyond the Call!

hipbone
01-28-2018, 23:57
I usually poke a small hole in the bottom of the bag, just large enough for a loop of string. Attach the loop to the pack then run it through the hole and clip to a caribiner on the line or bear cable. Trash bag is with open side down. This makes it more difficult for rodents to get access to the pack.We do the same. I like to do this because the trash bag also adds a little bit of water protection. We use a white bag because you can easily see it in the trees. We have nicknamed it ghosty [emoji16]

blw2
01-29-2018, 12:21
thanks everyone so far.... some good brainstorming here.
I'm left though with either keeping the stuff in separate little baggies or stuff sacks and hanging it all with the food
or just hanging the howl pack.

I just have this gut feeling that this whole area is one of those areas where there's just a lot of situational experience and gut feel that needs to come into play. Seems like 99% of the time the steps that folks take are probably just plain overkill....I mean look at all the folks that report they just keep their stuff in their tent with them, with relatively few reports of problems.

Situational depending on the type of threat
if threat is rodents, maybe the easiest thing is to just hang the whole pack..
but hanging the whole pack in big bear country might just get your whole kit dragged away rather than just your food.
where if the threat is more like raccoons and such, maybe they aren't as likely as rodents to chew into your tent to get at the stuff. This has been my primary experience type of area so far....not camping near mice or rat invested shelters and barns, and not in bear country.

My most recent tent camping trip was to cumberland island, they have little mini-bear type cages to put food in. I think the biggest threat there is also coons or such. I went ahead and put all my smellables in there and it was a pin in the neck. Wanted chap stick after i turned in for the night...I just did without.

Wyoming
01-30-2018, 18:34
Perhaps we are overemphasizing this issue?

I have been backpacking now for over 50 years and I just do not see this as a big concern.

I have only hung my food bag when in serious bear country like the southern AT and places in CA. I always have my hip belt pockets full of food and frequently forget to empty them at night. Probably 90% of all the nights I have camped out I have had the food bag in my tent (does no one else eat during the night?) or in my pack next to my bag when cowboy camping. Not once have I ever been bothered by any animal bigger than a mouse. I have camped in bear country where there were no trees to hang a bag from (Alaska) and there have been times when I camped 1/4 mile from the food bag though (Browns and Grizzly's are scary). If you are in marmot country you do need to protect your pack and food from them or they will chew the pack to pieces for the salt.

When on the AT I always tried to avoid camping near a shelter as they are magnets for bears, rats, mice (not to mention being filthy places) and I expect that if you do that you reduce your chance of trouble by about 95%.

I always have the tiny tubes of Carmex lip balm (for my lips) and Vaseline lip balm (for chaffing) in my shorts pockets and just lay them in the tent or put them in the hip belt pocket during the night. I have never put them in the food bag ever.

shelb
01-31-2018, 00:19
Yes, you are correct. While hiking in Michigan, I didn't worry about "hip pocket items" during the day. I would stuff anything into the pockets, but I always emptied them before going to bed and placed "smellables" in a hanging bear bag. One morning, I discovered my hip pouches all chewed up... . crap.

Now, I keep a ziplock or cuban fiber bag in the pouch and place things, including empty wrappers in it while hiking and hang it at night.

El JP
01-31-2018, 06:33
Though what i'm testing might seem like an overreaction, i also got the rodent infested shelters in mind. Judging from everything i've seen and heard, bears are not anywhere near the hassle those little squeaky bastards are.

Cheyou
01-31-2018, 07:33
I think some have jumped the shark.

Francis Sawyer
01-31-2018, 11:02
I'm not sure that I understand the problem; take the items that smell out of your pockets / off of your person. Is that difficult ? It's like going through security at the airport. You're making a problem out of something that is not a problem.

SoaknWet
01-31-2018, 12:43
I leave what I might want during the night either tied to a tree or hanging on my ridgeline with this. Couldn't get the picture to load but it's an Outsak wire mesh bag with their odor block bag inside. The mice can work their tails off all night and never get to my stuff, plus keeps them distracted from me!

blw2
01-31-2018, 17:18
I'm not sure that I understand the problem; take the items that smell out of your pockets / off of your person. Is that difficult ? It's like going through security at the airport. You're making a problem out of something that is not a problem.

OP here....yes, it's a problem when you hang your stuff for the night (or lock in the bear or raccoon box), only to realize you need your ____. (chapstick, first aid item, or whatever...)
a pain in the neck more than a problem really
or even more so.....a problem when you wake to find a little pest has chewed through your hipbelt to get at some forgotten item....

So I was simply asking to see if those with more experience than me had any great strategies.... a few were presented, with thanks from me!
I like the small wire mesh bag as soaknwet suggests, just big enough for essentials to be left handy....

SoaknWet
01-31-2018, 18:17
They come in different sizes. Mines 18"x18" and if I remember correctly it's the medium size.