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Lucinda
08-10-2008, 21:09
I'll be backpacking for five days and four nights out in Yosemite in mid-September.

I'm concerned about how much food I can pack in one of the required bear containers. I'll need about 3,000 calories/day (I'm kinda smallish). I guess I'm looking particularly for calorie dense food that won't take up a lot of space.

What did you pack in your container and what tips did you have? The only cooking I do is to boil water on my Esbit stove to add to backpacker meals, so I don't have any fancy food requirements. I like to keep things simple.

Cheers,
Lucinda

rafe
08-10-2008, 21:30
You might want to go with the smaller Bearvault container to save a bit of weight (if you can find one.) The standard black Garcia container is heavy and huge.

Tipi Walter
08-10-2008, 21:30
There are two food considerations for backpacking: Snackables and Cookables. I divide the two into separate groups with their separate food bags, but since your using a canister and you'll be out for 5 days, you may have to look at your snackables(food to eat w/o cooking)and leave some things out.

Five days out is not long and you should have no problem with the food load even when using a canister. The snackables are the things that take up room, stuff like apples, a bag of cookies, a loaf of bread, ricecakes, corn chips, etc. What fits? Power/Clif bars, a bit of granola, gorp, cheese, etc. The cookables on the other hand can last longer but might be more boring, things like mac and cheese, dehydrated meals(sometimes repackaged into ziplocs), oatmeal, dry milk, etc. Do you wanna take eggs or a cantaloupe? Forget about it.

Sly
08-10-2008, 21:32
Hi Lucinda, depending what you carry, you can put about 6-7 days in a full size Bear Vault and maybe 5 days days in a Garcia, which they rent at the ranger offices in Yosemite.

squirrel bait
08-10-2008, 22:39
This might be of use. www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bearcans.htm. Have fun, but there looks to be a big fine for violating the food storage rules.

TwoForty
08-10-2008, 22:48
I took a BV350 (the bigger one) and I only got about 6 days of food in it. Keep in mind you also have to put all your smellables in there. Lip balm, tooth paste, soap, etc.

Sly
08-11-2008, 00:47
I took a BV350 (the bigger one) and I only got about 6 days of food in it. Keep in mind you also have to put all your smellables in there. Lip balm, tooth paste, soap, etc.

That's probably an older model not available any more. The BV 500 is the bigger one they sell now.

Here's a comparison chart.

http://www.bearvault.com/bearvault_details.php.

Summit
08-11-2008, 07:45
Yep, I have the BV500 and 7 days of food is the max you can get in it. Of course to do that you have to eliminate things like cereal, lofty bread, etc.

RedneckRye
08-11-2008, 08:29
When we left out of Kennedy Meadows I had 8 or 9 days of food, 5 or 6 of which fit into my BearVault. We did run into a ranger who took a look at our permits and bear cans. Not surprisingly she didn't ask to look into the stuff sack that was right next to the bear can which was also full of food.
I spilt the food into to piles, the absolutely essential stuff went into the can, the not as essential stuff went into the stuff sack. As I ate my way thru my food it eventually all fit into the can.

Tipi Walter
08-11-2008, 08:46
When we left out of Kennedy Meadows I had 8 or 9 days of food, 5 or 6 of which fit into my BearVault. We did run into a ranger who took a look at our permits and bear cans. Not surprisingly she didn't ask to look into the stuff sack that was right next to the bear can which was also full of food.
I spilt the food into to piles, the absolutely essential stuff went into the can, the not as essential stuff went into the stuff sack. As I ate my way thru my food it eventually all fit into the can.

That sounds like a dang good arrangement. Anyway, I always remember that on a 5 day trip, say, the first day will entail one cooked meal with a light snack and the last day will probably not include any cooked meal. So, I would not really be carrying food for a full 5 days, more like 3.5 to 4 days.

TwoForty
08-13-2008, 22:11
That's probably an older model not available any more. The BV 500 is the bigger one they sell now.

Here's a comparison chart.

http://www.bearvault.com/bearvault_details.php.


Whoops, it was a BV400.

EMAN
08-13-2008, 22:27
Not sure about Yosemite but I did Glacier a couple of years ago and they had poles or steel vaults at each site. Made it easier but of course I didn't expect those. So I packed 6 days of food, mostly cookable dinners, cereals for breakfast and energy bars for lunch, in my Bearikadde, and crammed the smellables such as toothpaste/toothbrush, etc., (I had double ziplocked those things anyway) in there as well. Tight fit for a couple of days anyway.
The steel vaults helped a lot.
When I had to fly my stuff, I put everything in my pack and flew the whole thing.
Only problem I ever had was leaving a T-shirt out one night after a particularly grueling day. In my zoned out fog, I kept hearing something that sounded like light crunching noises. Turned out to be a monster freakin' deer eating my shirt.
Which is also something to consider. Watch any trekkinpoles or gloves. The critters love the salts.
That is great country. Have fun!
E

Footslogger
08-14-2008, 09:07
Just remember that you can carry the all food and snacks you will eat the first day OUTSIDE the container. That boosts your carrying capacity by 1 full day.

'Slogger

Lucinda
08-14-2008, 19:22
Hey everyone,

Thanks for all the great advice. Now I'm wondering...would it be easier to pack the Garcia canister supplied by the park in a Granite Gear Vapor Trail or a ULA P-2 pack? I'm torn between which one to bring. Do the canisters have to be stored inside the pack or is there some way to lash them to the outside? Now I'm getting down to the details...

How do you carry the darn thing??

Footslogger
08-14-2008, 19:40
Hey everyone,

Thanks for all the great advice. Now I'm wondering...would it be easier to pack the Garcia canister supplied by the park in a Granite Gear Vapor Trail or a ULA P-2 pack? I'm torn between which one to bring. Do the canisters have to be stored inside the pack or is there some way to lash them to the outside? Now I'm getting down to the details...

How do you carry the darn thing??
=================================

I own the Vapor Trail and can tell you from experience that the Bearvault is tough to cram inside. I bought the Nimbus Ozone for that reason and the fact that I'd be carrying more clothing on the PCT. The P-2 is a little bigger around and would probably handle the cannister a lot better.

'Slogger

Obiwan
08-16-2008, 13:44
I can fit 5 days worth of food in my BV450 with no problem

But I don't carry nearly that many calories/day on my trips

And I am 6'2" and 205 lbs

I do repackage my mountain house meals into smaller bags

Dicentra
09-07-2008, 20:08
I've personally done 6 days worth of food (and sunscreen etc) in my Garcia can, and I've seen up to 10 days done.

1. plan plan plan
2. repackage everything!
3. remember day 1 doesn't have to fit in the can (you'll be eating it!)

atraildreamer
09-09-2008, 11:52
Pack as much food as you can stuff into the container. Those bears get mighty hungry, especially now that winter approaches!:):banana

rafe
09-09-2008, 12:51
A Garcia canister fits nicely into a Granite Gear Nimbus Ozone. Crosswise, on top of everything else -- ie., the last item set inside the pack. I'm guessing it might be a tight fit inside a Vapor Trail pack.

Big Daddy D
12-23-2008, 14:45
Lucinda,
Not 100% sure how much can go into a bear can but I better learn quick as I'll need it 4 days after I continue my thru hike from Walker Pass this summer!
Big Daddy D

handlebar
12-23-2008, 21:35
Lucinda,
Not 100% sure how much can go into a bear can but I better learn quick as I'll need it 4 days after I continue my thru hike from Walker Pass this summer!
Big Daddy D
Plenty of room in a BV500, which you can have shipped to Kennedy Meadows General Store. First days' food and what didn't fit in the can stayed in a stuff sack. If you start in early/mid June, you're not likely to have bear problems on the PCT -- unlike the front-country campgrounds which bears think of as AYCE buffets. Cook and eat in late afternoon, then hike on into evening (it'll likely be June and days will be long) setting up camp away from "developed" campgrounds. You're unlikely to have any bear problems. At least that was my experience starting from KM June 4 this year.