View Full Version : Best thing for carrying trash while hiking?
discgolfer
09-26-2010, 17:50
Ive been reading post here for about a year and they are a wealth of useful knowledge. I'm new to hiking and I do hang my food but I have trash in the bag also. Anyone have solution to smell of trash in the bag? On my last hike in the Ozarks woke up to go and get breakfast and there was a black bear working on trying to get my food bag! I think it was the smell of trash not the smell of packaged food. Thanks for all the great post and for any advice you guys or gals could give.
Moose2001
09-26-2010, 18:08
trash inside a ziplock bag. Works well for me.
Mountain Wildman
09-26-2010, 18:09
I use the O P Sak: http://www.basegear.com/op-sak-odor-proof-bag.html
It blocks the odors and you can put it in a separate dry sack or your food bag for hanging.
I'm pretty new to backpacking myself. So far when I eat breakfast my first morning I put all my trash in the zip lock my breakfast was in. I have a new trash bag available each morning. Since I'm not reopening the bag I haven't noticed any bad smells in my food bag. Of course my nose isn't quite as sensitive as a bears, almost as big though.
Passion Hiker 73
09-26-2010, 18:15
I carry a couple 1 gallon freezer bags and double bag my trash. I also double bag food I open do not eat and save for the next meal. Then place in food bag and hang for night. Use good freezer bags not the ones with the plastic closer thing. Hope this helps. PH73
discgolfer
09-26-2010, 18:18
WOW! I love this site everyone has great advice! THANKS AGAIN!
that bear is smelling your food too, not just the garbage. I watched a video of a bear breaking into a car to get to food. I take along those plastic grocery bags from the store. I'll bag four of five into each other to prevent leakage. Every time I resupply, I get more garbage bags.
discgolfer
09-26-2010, 19:47
Should i just go with a bear canister?
And do you hang the canister or just leave it on the ground?
Lone Wolf
09-26-2010, 20:03
Should i just go with a bear canister?
And do you hang the canister or just leave it on the ground?
no bear canister needed on the AT. i've slept with my food in a tent for 16,000 miles. never had a critter problem
Bear Cables
09-26-2010, 20:14
If you use a bear canister just put it away from camp but try to wedge it between something or under something. I have also just left mine under a tree away from camp. It's personal preference. Sometimes I bring a canister and sometimes just throw a bear line.
Where are you in Arkansas? I am north of you in SW mo. Would love to see a bear (running away) down there. We usually don't seriously bear bag in Arkansas, will re think this.
My trash is in a gallon zip lock called the "nasty bag."
Graywolf
09-26-2010, 21:37
Where are you in Arkansas? I am north of you in SW mo. Would love to see a bear (running away) down there. We usually don't seriously bear bag in Arkansas, will re think this.
My trash is in a gallon zip lock called the "nasty bag."
I do alot of hiking in Oklahoma and Arkansas, never had abear prob.. I think a canaster would be over kill. Thats for the AT too..
We are very careless in Ark and Mo as far as bagging. Now our conservation dept is putting out warnings since there are bears here now. The only place we seriously put up bags was on the AT. I have never seen a canister. Our biggest concern elsewhere were pesky chipmunks. We were so pathetic last week in MN, we could never get our bags high enough on christmas trees, we parimeter peed.
bulldog49
09-26-2010, 22:04
WOW! I love this site everyone has great advice! THANKS AGAIN!
Really? You needed to ask advice on what to place your trash in?
Plodderman
09-26-2010, 22:24
I just double bag a couple of quart size zip-lock bags,
+1 on the OP Sak.
Past experience may not be the best indicator of wise future bear bagging strategy. As habitat diminishes and warm winters lead to higher survival rates for cubs, bear/hiker encounters will become more frequent in the future. It would be good, for both hikers and bears, for us to be proactive in protecting our food from becoming a regular part of bear cuisine. A fed bear is a dead bear.
As incidents increase, canisters will probably be required in more places.
In the meantime, try to minimize the volume of smelly garbage you create. Eat everything you cook. Plan your meals with an eye to having little or no waste as food or empty containers. Dehydrated and freeze dried foods have very little odor. Keep your pots clean and hang them with your food and toiletries.
I use two or three baggies for different kinds of waste. One holds clean reusable containers and recyclables. Another holds burnable garbage until I have a camp fire to dispose of it in. Another holds true garbage that must be put in a garbage can in the civilized world. There is another category of 'compostables' that can sometimes be placed in chemical toilets. Never put food in a privy or outhouse. But if the toilet flushes it might be ok for a bit of oatmeal you just can't face. Use good judgement here though.
Don't take chances by not protecting your food and the garbage it creates--the life you save will be a bear's.
Ironbelly
09-26-2010, 22:26
Bear Cables, A canister should not be wedged between or under anything. That gives a bear leverage to use to open the canister, which defeats the purpose of using one. You will notice that all of the manufacturerers of bear canister specifically say not to wedge the canister anywhere etc and just to lay it on the ground. It is a good idea however to make the canister more visible by putting reflective tape or etc on it.
Jonnycat
09-26-2010, 22:47
trash inside a ziplock bag. Works well for me.
" " " " " "
BigHodag
09-26-2010, 23:02
Like many others, I use freezer bag cooking. My two daily FB meals are in quart ziplocks inside a gallon ziplock bag. I usually use the quart bag from a breakfast as a trash bag. Trash usually consists of oatmeal packets, tuna pouches, and Slim Jim wrappers. A quart bag can hold several days worth of trash. I put the trash bag in the top of my food bag, a nylon drawstring daypack. I dispose of trash when passing a trash can, usually every 2-3 days in the mid-Atlantic.
I also carry some spare quart ziplocks in my toilet kit for carrying soiled non-biodegradable wet wipes. I toss that bag out with the trash as well.
Odd Man Out
09-27-2010, 15:42
Our biggest concern elsewhere were pesky chipmunks. We were so pathetic last week in MN, we could never get our bags high enough on christmas trees, we parimeter peed.
On North Manitou Island, they chipmunks are called microbears. Eventhough there are no macrobears on the island you still have to hang you food. Just not as high.
gallon ziplock. freezer with the double zip.
The first rule for trash is not to pack or carry things that generate a significant amount of trash. My trash "bag" tends to be Zip Lock sandwich bag, though sometimes I'll put the sandwich bag into a grocery store bag for extra protection.
Bear Cables
09-27-2010, 20:09
Bear Cables, A canister should not be wedged between or under anything. That gives a bear leverage to use to open the canister, which defeats the purpose of using one. You will notice that all of the manufacturerers of bear canister specifically say not to wedge the canister anywhere etc and just to lay it on the ground. It is a good idea however to make the canister more visible by putting reflective tape or etc on it.
Thanks for the correction. I will be sure to change that practice.
Blissful
09-27-2010, 21:17
The first rule for trash is not to pack or carry things that generate a significant amount of trash.
Or take food that will get odiferous the amount of time you will be out. :)
Bear Cables, A canister should not be wedged between or under anything. That gives a bear leverage to use to open the canister, which defeats the purpose of using one. You will notice that all of the manufacturerers of bear canister specifically say not to wedge the canister anywhere etc and just to lay it on the ground. It is a good idea however to make the canister more visible by putting reflective tape or etc on it.
A bear cannister does not keep the bear from smelling your food. He may not be able to get into the cannister, but nothing will stop him from dragging far from where you'll ever find it. Just hang your food and all smellies.
mweinstone
09-27-2010, 21:31
trash is silly.leave it.let it go.
trash is silly.leave it.let it go.
I agree, just leave it in the fire ring. Problem solved.....:eek:
Here is one in our first night cooler (disposable into trash can)and here is one that got wacked by a pole. She did not mean to kill it. They were everywhere and on everything. If I can post these pics.
Bears are so cute.:)
Hang you smellies in the wind to bring them in.;)
Its another way of hunting bear, and the human factor makes it that much more fun!:banana
OR, just do what makes you feel most comfortable.:o
...... :eek:
Most folks I hike with think Dads are the best thing for carrying trash, as well as discarded clothing layers, new additions to rock collections, bikes when they decide to hike, and hikers when they decide to neither hike nor bike. Yes I have carried my share of all of the above, and on at least one occassion all of the above together at once. :)
and for trash - a zip lock and/or empty liptons :)
earlyriser26
09-29-2010, 04:59
Like most others, I just use a large ziplock bag. If I am starting to accumulate a larger amount I will burn all the combustables. Just make sure to remove all the non-combustables from the fire in the mornining. This also cuts down on the food smell. However, it has been some time since I built a fire.
peakbagger
09-29-2010, 07:43
I am not opposed to burning trash if at all possible. With a good hot fire ziplock bags burn well with mininimal toxics generation. More importantly if I have any foil pouches or cans, the fire burns up the food residue and odors. I am careful to let the fire go out at nigh tand pick out the inevitable tinfoil that remains in the morning prior to heading out. I usually end up picking up other folks tinfoil that were not so thoughtfull ;). The foil rolls up into a small ball and really doesnt need to be treated as trash as it has no food odor.
Obviosly not a solution in areas that dont allow fires, but handy when you can burn.
I use the O P Sak: http://www.basegear.com/op-sak-odor-proof-bag.html
It blocks the odors and you can put it in a separate dry sack or your food bag for hanging.
A bear can smell food and trash equally well. Hang your trash with your food. I use a ziplock which previously held some food item.
The odorproof sacks should work if you make very sure you don't get food smells (wash hands before closing bag) on the outside.
I use a ziplock as well to hold trash. Double ziplock if the trash gets nasty.
Most trash can be avoided by not bringing it or even buying it to begin with. I reduce it alot by buying simple food in large quantities, like oatmeal, currants, sunflower seeds, skim milk powder, etc. Sometimes I rebag at home into a reuseable containers. Sometimes I take the bag I bought it in and use that. Very little garbage. One of the food containers eventually becomes a trash bag. Until then it just gets pouched. if I bring a can of sardines or something weird like that then trash can get nasty, but I would just burn the nastiness. I burn alot of trash too, depending on what it is. I leave with very little and come back with little or none to simply pass on to landfills.
The most important thing is to reduce garbage at its source. The first R.
Refuse. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
The trash I burn I burn as tinder or kindling, with no residue, so it falls under Re-use. I like Tim Horton coffee mugs on the way to the trail, for example, and then use the wax paper cup as an extra mug for awhile, and then eventually as tinder and kindling. Still, I really gotta stop buying Tim Horton's coffee in their cups, and always bring and use my own mug like David Suzuki does. Tim's doesn't use recycleable coffee cups, and I kinda support that in a way because they do encourage people to bring their own re-useable mugs or buy one of theirs.
I sometimes bring a canned good and recycle it into fun and enjoyment in making a hobo stove or oil lamp or something like that for awhile. I've stopped buying stuff just for the container though. Jolt was the worst. lol. I don't buy gatoraide anymore unless I happen to be somewhere and need both the beverage, and the container. Better to be prepares and always have your own beverage and container, and use non-bottled water. They do still make the stuff. I've checked around. ;)