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Ratatosk
02-26-2004, 08:36
http://www.outdoor-gear-store.com/Platypus-Water-Tank-6.asp (http://www.outdoor-gear-store.com/Platypus-Water-Tank-6.asp)

I use one of these for my food when trekking in Europe. Meant for water obviously, but great to keep food dry (it even floats). Transparent, stays were I want it in the pack -close to my back for best weight distribution. Durable, comes with a handle (perfect to hang from trees on a rope, with a cover?). Can be converted to a camping shower on sunny hot days.. J Opening a bit narrow but not a problem. With a dozen rubber bands to hold packages together inside it, it’s all I need. It is big enough to carry several days of food, compact stuff like nuts, couscous, raisins, Bacos, cheese, digestive crackers.. Not really UL at 3oz, but since I need no zip-lock bags or other protection for the food, I think it’s evens up.

-What do you use on the AT, should I change it? Will bears and other animals go on smell only or eye-sight as well, even in the night? (If smell only, I can skip a cover)

chris
02-26-2004, 08:52
Get yourself a silnylon stuff sack for your food. You can find them in lots of places, but www.trailquest.net is one that I like. All models are about the same. Silnylon is watertight, but you'll need to seal the seams. If you have your food hung up and it rains, water will come in through the closure. You'll find these just a tad more spacious than the 6L watertank, Those large enough for holding 5+ days of food will weigh in around an ounce. Or, get yourself some bread bags and just use those, with the idea that you'll have to replace them every few states.

Blue Jay
02-26-2004, 09:43
I think this is the first time I've ever disagreed with Chris, but I like your original method. Animals go by smell.

Youngblood
02-26-2004, 09:46
Ratatosk,

I think that if you are happy with what you have then you are in fine shape. You make some good points about it being water proof and multiple use.

Chris,

Have you found that your silnylon food bag is water proof after you seam seal it? My silnylon food bag wasn't water proof after I seam sealed it. I thought the reason was that the edges of the fabric are not attached together in such a way as to allow them to be water proof. With tarps, a flat felled seam is used and when it is seam sealed you do get a water proof tarp-- but I think that the seam sealer 'seals' the needle holes and the flat felled seam helps water proof the connection of the two pieces of fabric. What I do with my silnylon food bag is to hang it upside down from the attached webbing and line the inside of the stuff sack with a small plastic trash bag. This way, any water that enters the food bag stays away from my food and drains out the main opening.

Youngblood

Doctari
02-26-2004, 10:12
I like that Idea. May adopt it myself, a double duty food bag/water bag. And I already use (actually abuse is more accurate) a 2L Platypus so I know they are tough.

Thanks! :clap

Doctari.

chris
02-26-2004, 10:26
My silnylon bags have a lot of punctures and rips in them, but from what I recall when they were new, they were waterproof unless being directly rained on hard. Water would come through the closure, but not through the seams. I sleep with my food currently, although this summer I'm going to have to hang it if I'm in grizz country, which means new sacks.

Youngblood
02-26-2004, 10:59
If water comes through the closure in hard rain and the bag is water proof, wouldn't that be a problem? I vision that as a food bag tied to a limb that is filling up with water, I think I would want a hole for the water to drain out? Anyhow, that was my thinking and why I hang it upside down using the webbing that is attached to the bottom of the silnylon bag (purchased a few years ago at Campmor). With the bag upside down the closure acts as my drain for any water that seeps in during hard/long rains. I am not sure how I would handle it if my food bag didn't have the webbing attached to the bottom. Maybe some other folks have solutions that keeps their food bag from collecting water. Anyone?

Youngblood

flyfisher
02-26-2004, 11:43
If water comes through the closure in hard rain and the bag is water proof, wouldn't that be a problem? I vision that as a food bag tied to a limb that is filling up with water, I think I would want a hole for the water to drain out? I am not sure how I would handle it if my food bag didn't have the webbing attached to the bottom. Maybe some other folks have solutions that keeps their food bag from collecting water. Anyone?

Youngblood

:-? I have successfully used an Ursack against squirrels, mice and raccoons. It works especially well when others have easier to defeat bags. As Youngblood suggests, if the bag is hung rightside up, it collects water. Rainwater runs down the cords into the bag. I have not been successful with waterproof bags inside the Ursack, as the smallest pinhole in a ziplock, leaks when there is an inch of water inside the ursack. And there is Always a hole.

I have successfully tied and then propped the ursack upside down in the crook of a tree. I have not yet sewn a loop on the bottom, so it can be hung upside down, though this is my plan for the coming spring/summer.

Blue Jay
02-26-2004, 11:45
I'll try not to be a wise ass for once, but again the original idea that started this thread works great. I use a similar system. Silnylon for this use is simply not durable.

sloetoe
02-26-2004, 12:16
I'll try not to be a wise ass for once, but again the original idea that started this thread works great. I use a similar system. Silnylon for this use is simply not durable.

### Doesn't *have* to be durable, just has to function till easy replacement. So: since all my food is in ziplocs, it is waterproofed. I use the mesh bags that come from grocers selling oranges, grapefruits, sometimes apples, and onions, and (at Sam's Club) garlic. They are non-water retaining, see through, come in different colors (I use three, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner), some have pull-cord openings, some I just roll up (my spice bag). And they weigh diddly-squat. I used to collect them so that I'd have a supply ready as those in use failed, but I recently gave them away, cuz I have some that go back a few years and hundreds and hundreds of miles. I spend *no* time "searching" my food bags. Lastly, on bigger/longer trips, I may put all the food bags into a bigger mesh laundry bag ($2.99 from Big Lots, or $0.99 for a "quart" size.)

chris
02-26-2004, 14:46
I'll try not to be a wise ass for once, but again the original idea that started this thread works great. I use a similar system. Silnylon for this use is simply not durable.

I've got a good one that I had forgotten. I use the 6L tank to haul water when I am in camp. When it is warm, or at least not cold, in everything works well. However, when the temperature drops close to freezing, I can not get the zip top to close and stay closed. The plastic just gets too hard to get its groove on. Or something like that. If I can't seal it well, then it won't be waterproof.

A second reason to use a silnylon stuff sack is that, erm, you can empty the contents and use it as a glove while hiking. A third is that silnylon is the mark of the ultralighter, and if you have silnylon, you'll be able to hike 30 mile days with ease. Or, rather, people might think you can, which is really what counts. Plus, the watertank is sort of a clearish-white, whereas I can get stuff sacks in blue and green, colors that make me look most fetching. Plus, if you have your food in the tank, then everyone can see what you eat. I don't want people knowing that I am a big TREET fan, or have a passion for jack mackarel. Um, I'm struggling for another reason.

If you have something that works, stay with it. 3 oz vs. 1 oz. isn't a big difference in the end, unless you are cutting ounces for intellectual stimulation.

hungryhowie
02-26-2004, 15:23
My favorite food bag (certainly not the lightest by any means) is an Ursack. Unless I'm in bear country, I sleep with my food without worry of smaller critters. It weighs ~8oz and I can easily fit my cookstuff and 6-7 days of food inside. A great invention. Some have had failures, so use at your own risk (and do NOT use in cannister required areas...), but it's worked well for me over the past 2 years.

-Howie

Colter
02-26-2004, 17:05
I never had one on the AT. On those rare occasions when I hung my food for bears, I just put my food in my pack which had a plastic bag liner, and hung it up. Multiple uses.

Oh, and at the risk of causing bearanoia, bears will often take a bite of something just to see if it is good to eat. I've seen cabins that bears have trashed in Alaska, and they'll take a bite of just about anything to see what happens. Sometimes it's a tin of syrup, sometimes outboard oil. Not much of a concern on most of the AT, though.

Kerosene
02-27-2004, 10:14
Like hungryhowie and flyfisher, I too use the yellow, older version of the Ursack for my food back that weighs in at 5 ounces. I'm more concerned about rodents than bears usually, and the fabric will keep a rodent away (while any bear getting access to the bag may just drag the bag off to work on it later!). I like the idea of sewing a loop on the bottom to hang it upside down. The bag fits about 4 days of food plus my pot, stove and cup.