View Full Version : Bear safe container
I plan on doing a section hike and would like to have a couple cache spots along the way. I was wondering what would be the best and cheapest way to store my food so that I don't have to worry about it getting wet or ate by bears and other hungry creatures.
Hide your food in drop boxes, or better yet just get supplies along the way. I’ve found nothing but bad stories about people stashing, or burying, food.
schnikel
01-15-2012, 10:59
What trail are you thinking about sectioning? If its the PCT there are some bear boxes in some locations. If you're talking about the AT, i don't think there is any need for food cashes... or food drops for that matter. You are always close enough to a town to resupply.
Schnikel
WingedMonkey
01-15-2012, 12:24
I wouldn't call them bear proof, but some have used 5 gal buckets with lids. You would need to hang them the same way you hang a food bag.
You also need to be responsible for carring the empty bucket off of the trail.
The safest cache would be in a U.S. Post Office. Winged Monkey is correct, you would have to hang the buckets, but that's also known as 'bear fishing'. Even if you used Bearicade, Bearvault, or Garcia products, it's unlikely you could dig a hole deep enough to keep it from getting dug up by a bear - you leave enough scent on the outside of the cannister for a bear to smell, and he/she will dig it up.
Smooth & Wasabi
01-15-2012, 22:35
I met a guy in the hundred mile wilderness in the pre white house landing days who had a successfully retrieved cache hung in a five gallon bucket. I think if you do it right before your trip and use lots of plastic layers or an odor proof sack youd be ok. That said if easy resupply/mail drop is handy as it is on the entire AT I wouldn't do it. I am sure there are plenty of real wilderness trips it would be handy for. Just make sure that if you do it you pack out your bucket that is a big deal.
Metal military ammo boxes. I used them on one of my LTsections. We sprayed them with wasp spray (had read that it helped) and buried it under some brush near a road crossing. When we got there it was undisturbed.