Food storage

[Goji]

It looks like a Bear cannister isn't needed on AT thru hike. What do we use for storing food safely from critters?

[Sarcasm the elf]

You will get many answers. The truth of the matter is that rodents are much more of an issue than bears. A good number of us often just sleep with our food, but the best practice is a proper bear bag hang using the PCat method.

Here is one of the many training videos:



Also, most new hikers have a lot of misconceptions about black bears in general. You should check out this site if you are interested, it will do a lot to explain why so few of us are concerned about bears.

http://www.bear.org/website/bear-pag...-a-humans.html

[hikerboy57]

i use opsak odor proof bags for my food and my garbage, theyre kinda like heavy duty freezer bags.i put these in a sea to summit silnylon bag . if you're gonna hang your food,learn and use the pct method. i sleep with mine.

[4eyedbuzzard]

If you're going to hang your food, hang your toothpaste, toothbrush and any other smelly stuff with your food and food trash as well (toothpaste has food odors like mint, sorbital, etc). My thoughts after having hiked for a while: You, your clothes, and pretty much everything including your pack absorbs food odors from many places - inside your pack, your hands, while you are cooking, eating, etc. You just can't keep the smell off of you and your gear. And bears supposedly have a sense of smell 7 times better than a bloodhound (or 2100 times better than humans). There is just no way a bear doesn't smell food odors all over you and your gear (from miles away). Definitely hang your food where bears are a known problem.
Small critters like mice, chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons, and even dogs are probably more of an issue in many areas, and many hikers hang their food bag inside the shelters on strings with can lids attached to keep the mice out.

[ChinMusic]

I just put my food in any stuff sack I felt like and took it with me inside my tent. My only precaution was to not set up my tent next to a dumpster.

[cliffdiver]

If there are bear cables established at a shelter, I will use them for my food bag. If not, I sleep with my food bag in the tent or place on a shelter line if in a shelter.

[daddytwosticks]

Ursak Minor.

[Traffic Jam]

If you're going to hang your food, hang your toothpaste, toothbrush and any other smelly stuff with your food and food trash as well (toothpaste has food odors like mint, sorbital, etc). My thoughts after having hiked for a while: You, your clothes, and pretty much everything including your pack absorbs food odors from many places - inside your pack, your hands, while you are cooking, eating, etc. You just can't keep the smell off of you and your gear. And bears supposedly have a sense of smell 7 times better than a bloodhound (or 2100 times better than humans). There is just no way a bear doesn't smell food odors all over you and your gear (from miles away). Definitely hang your food where bears are a known problem.
Small critters like mice, chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons, and even dogs are probably more of an issue in many areas, and many hikers hang their food bag inside the shelters on strings with can lids attached to keep the mice out.

I knew bears could be attracted to toothpaste but that really hit home when I brushed my teeth, spit into the woods, and a few minutes later saw a bear where I had rinsed and spit. Lesson learned.