Has anyone tried Mint-X trash bags on the trail, as a means to protect packaged food from rodents? Also works with raccoons, but I think it may actually attract bears?
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Has anyone tried Mint-X trash bags on the trail, as a means to protect packaged food from rodents? Also works with raccoons, but I think it may actually attract bears?
Never heard of it...Quote:
Originally Posted by mekineer
But at least one concern immediately comes to mind. These things are designed to hold trash, not food.
When I first tried to start using Trash Compactor bags as a pack liner, the 1st set I bought had a scent designed to hide the odors of your trash... and they stank to high heaven isolated in your pack... and the smell couldn't be washed out of the bags (you have to find unscented Trash Compactor bags).
So my first concern would be this bag making your back pack and food all smell and possibly taste like mint.
I wouldn't use it as a pack liner. I was thinking of keeping it in a zip lock, then using it as a bear bag. Maybe you are right and the scent will impregnate food in plastic containers or zip locks.
Maybe it will end up as a bear's birthday piñata.
Use bags designated as smell proof for cannibis.
I have nylobarrier odor barrier bags. Not sure if they are still available. They have a large that is big enough for a pack liner and a smaller size that is perfect for a food bag.
Most "scented" items that have a household purpose do not translate well into the backpacking world. A minted scent of a trash bag in the kitchen can be almost unnoticeable, when jammed into a backpack with clothing and other things carrying their own odors a potpourri can develop and be a real olfactory mess as HooKooDooKu points out.
The average wood mouse has a sense of smell that can detect food up to 10-miles away and they are no where near the level of detection bears have at some 7-times the level of a bloodhound's sense of smell (which is 2,100 times more than human). Animals have keen senses of smell, an odor proof bag may prevent us from smelling a sandwich, but the average wood mouse smells the sandwich hundreds of yards away along with the recently washed hands that made it, the bit of mustard caught in the bag seal, and the tomato residue on the kitchen counter the bag was laid on for a moment. It can identify each smell as easily if not more easily than humans can identify different colors in fall foliage.
The best rodent deterrent is to keep your food with you during the day (especially when visiting popular places that draws lots of people who have lots of garbage they believe is beneficial to cast on the ground to feed lots of rodents that come to feed on the largess), and hang food, use bear boxes, or canisters at night appropriately. I have had rodents chew through a tent AND into a backpack to reach some food as I slept soundly next to it. Rodents are nothing if not stealthy and singularly focused on doing whatever it takes to get food that arrives in their habitat.
On reddit there is a thread mentioning oven bags are made of the same material as Ursack's Opsak. I think smelling less like food is a good idea. They may go elsewhere with a lesser scent.
Here on Whiteblaze as well: https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/sho...-Bags-vs-OPSak
none of those rodent deterant bags work... at least not in nyc. ive done alot of experimenting. rats n racoons still love to tear m up. maybe its learned, ive tried everything. the best solution was a metal garbage can with a locking lid.
what are the pot bags?... gotta link?
I agree that none of these are odor proof (which is why I never use that term), but I don't agree that this means odor barrier bags have no value. I'm going to use a waterproof liner in my pack and food bag anyway. There is no reason not to use an odor barrier bag that will make my gear and clothes smell less like my food, especially since my bags have proven to be very durable and waterproof yet lighter than opsack or garbage or compactor bags.
Andes mints repel mice?
100% essential peppermint oil with strong menthol compounds that lingers is said to irritate mouse' nasal cavities. Maybe it can be a black bear odor attractant but so many scents are. There are perhaps more efficacious ways to protect food from both.
I use nylofume bags obtained from my local pest control company. They give them to their clients to bag food prior to fumigating for termites. A couple of years ago, I was camped at a popular lake in the Sierra. After going to bed, I heard some rustling, and realized a mouse was after a bag of trail mix I'd forgotten to put in the bear can. I tried scaring it away a couple times, but it always came right back. As an experiment, I put it in a nylofume bag, and set it right back in the same spot. The mouse never paid any more attention to it the rest of the night.
Interesting. I have always thought it would be interesting to do some controlled experiments on odor barrier bags to odor barrier-ness. All I ever see are anecdotal stories such as yours from social media and discussion fora like this. While useful, controlled quantitative studies would be better.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maui Rhino
However, setting up controlled experiments for animal odor detection would be a bit tricky (wild animals are by definition not controlled). It turns out that I have a friend whose hobby is to train dogs for odor detection competitions (yes that's a thing). It is the same type of training used for drug/bomb/cadaver/disease detecting dogs. As it turns out, both of us are also chemistry professors, so we could determine the chemical composition of the polymers and quantitatively determine their resistance to odor diffusion using trained dogs as a bioassay. It is still in the idea stage at this point but she did think it was in interesting idea. I would need to get a wildlife biologist on the team to help with experimental design to make sure the results would be relevant to the target audience.
it would be nice to get some definitive scientific experiments. the only testing ive done is use different bags for my garbage. nyc has enough rodents n racoons raiding my trash.