How big of a food bag?

[Powder River]

I am about to get a waterproof stuff sack for hanging food from trees. This will also be my organizer bag for food in the pack. So in other words it needs to carry 5 days of food. What are the sizes people use for this kind of thing? I'm ordering online so its tough to visualize. Here are the sizes listed:

[1L] 6 x 9in; 0.7oz
[2L] 8 x 12in; 0.8oz
[4L] 9 x 15in; 0.9oz
[8L] 6.5 x 18in; 1.1oz
[13L] 8.5 x 21in; 1.4oz
[20L] 10 x 24in; 1.8oz
[35L] 12 x 27in; 2.3oz

http://www.backcountry.com/store/STS0001/Sea-To-Summit-Ultra-Sil-Dry-Sack.html

[ScottP]

The 20L one is a safe bet.

those dry-sacks don't stay waterproof for very long, but they do make great food bags

[Jack Tarlin]

It really depends on how much you eat!

Best thing to do is to assemble five days worth of food and actually bring it with you to an outfitters and fill up some bags to see for yourself what works.

I know some folks whose 5-day supply would fill a littlee bitty stuff sack and I know some guys whose 5-day supply would fill a pillow case.

Best thing to do is take your chow down to the gear store and actually fill up some food bags with actual stuff.

[Tipi Walter]

I use standard Outdoor Research 4 liter hydroseal bags and one for me would probably take care of 5 days, considering my first and last days might not require too much food or cooking.

On longer trips(12 days to 15 days), I'll divide my food into two main bags, one of cookables and one of snackables. See fotog: (The red bag was a "snack overflow" bag for an extra long winter trip of 15 days. Contained bulky stuff like rice cakes and chips, etc).

[JAK]

I pack about a litre of food per day, volume wise.

Some of the dimensions and volume off the web-site don't make sense:

These don't make much sense at all, unless its Length x Circumference maybe:
[1L] 6 x 9in; 0.7oz = 0.6 litres
[2L] 8 x 12in; 0.8oz = 1.5 litres
[4L] 9 x 15in; 0.9oz = 2.6 litres

These make sense if its Diameter x Length:
[8L] 6.5 x 18in; 1.1oz = 9.8 litres
[13L] 8.5 x 21in; 1.4oz = 19.5 litres
[20L] 10 x 24in; 1.8oz = 30.9 litres
[35L] 12 x 27in; 2.3oz = 50.0 litres

[highway]

Silnylon=cheaper, way lighter, last almost forever:

http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=8741523&memberId=12500226

Buy a few and organize all your gear in them.
Food,, pot, small alcohol stove, small container alcohol, probably the 8"X18" bag. IOf you do choose to hang it, it has a strap on the bottom to run your cord through so as to hang it upside down. Now, if you seal the seams you can carry water in it even

[Lilred]

Find stuff sacks that have a band of material along the bottom of it so you have something to hang it from. This will hang your bag upside down so rain won't go inside. I also line my food bag with a turkey roasting bag, it will keep your food from getting wet.

[DuctTape]

4 liters is adequate for most folks, but some (Including myself) prefer more leeway in the range of 5-6 liters. Personally I would look for something that size in a different brand, but if you're set on those dry-sacks go with the 4L.

A completely waterproof food bag isn't a great issue anyway, since most of your food gets repackaged in ziplocs, plastic grocery bags, etc. anyway.

[burger]

I used a 20 L silnylon sack. I never completely filled it, but it was nice to not have to worry about having too much food for my bag. And the weight difference between a 20L bag and a smaller bag is so small that's it's not even worth worrying about.

[SlowLightTrek]

8.5 x 21 .. you may want to do a longer hike in the future.

[floyd242]

I use the 13L one.

[JAK]

So what do those dimensions mean on that web site?

The 1L, 2L, 4L dimensions didn't seem to add up.

[the_iceman]

Granite Gear Air Line Air Bag #6

http://www.granitegear.com/products/packing_systems/air_line/air_bags/index.html

Sil-nylon. Light, waterproof.

One for dinners and one for breakfast and lunch (snacks)

Containers they come in are good for spices.