Your expertise, please. How big is your food bag & what size should I get?

[Slo-go'en]

Having a designated snack bag can be helpful to add extra storage volume. Keep this bag handy so you can get to it quickly during the day. If you use Mountain House meals, those take up a lot of space. Six of the "2 person" meals would fill a third of my pack. Might need a bag just for those.

The large dry sack from the Walmart 3 bag assortment holds 5 days of food for me, with a little spill over. 6 would be really tight. So much depends on exactly what you want to eat and how much are you willing to skimp.

Most section hikers hit the trail well feed, if not overfeed, so you tend to have decreased appetites for at least the first few days. Many short-ish section hikers find they packed way too much food.

[Alligator]

I'm organizing a six day section hike & am planning to hang my food & pack at night, (our packs probably won't fit inside our 2 man tent). I'm splurging on food & eating mostly freeze dried. I could wait until all my food is arranged on the floor at home & then figure out what to stuff it in, or ... you see where I'm going? I'm a complete newbie at bear bag hanging. Never done it before. I'll learn & practice before I leave, but I wonder about the actual bag I'll be hoisting.

How large a bag do I need for six days? How many cubic inches? Do you leave extra room for your stove, toothpaste & other smellables in your bear bag? Is a Ursack necessary if I'm hanging from a tree? Will any waterproof stuff sack do? I like the idea of a lightweight or ultra light bag that is rodent proof but not necessarily bear proof. What bag do YOU use?

Are you headed to the AT?

[saltysack]

Instead of the bulky MH packaging try buying a 10# can and repackage into gallon freezer bags and rehydrate in a koozie or buy a much better trail meal like hawk vittles, elements etc... the mh bags are terribly bulky....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[saltysack]

Instead of the bulky MH packaging try buying a 10# can and repackage into gallon freezer bags and rehydrate in a koozie or buy a much better trail meal like hawk vittles, elements etc... the mh bags are terribly bulky....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quart not gallon my brain is fried


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Berserker]

I use a 25 liter OR Ultralight sil-nylon "dry sack". It's a little on the big side, but weighs 3.25 oz on my scale and I've never filled it up yet (including cookware and other crap).

[cmoulder]

Instead of the bulky MH packaging try buying a 10# can and repackage into gallon freezer bags and rehydrate in a koozie or buy a much better trail meal like hawk vittles, elements etc... the mh bags are terribly bulky....

This is what I do, using a FoodSaver vacuum unit. In the long run, cheaper and takes much less space than the individually packaged product.

vacpac 01.jpg

Also, a lot of people don't bag (or bearcan) the first day's food because it's going to be consumed the same day.

[rock steady]

PM me for a better way to sling your food bag line.

[Elaikases]

It really depends on the type of food you're bringing. If you have any bathroom trash bags handy, they're usually around 4 gallons (15L) and could be used as an estimate.

I put used cookware and all smellables in my food bag.

If you're hanging from a tree, then you don't need an ursack.

Any stuff sack will do. The only rodent proof food bags I am aware of are the ones made by ursack.

I personally use an ursack all white. It's heavier than a regular stuff sack, but I like the protection from bears and mini bears.

Ratsacks are rodent proof too. They weigh less per cubic inch contained, but are a little oversized in my experience. I'm going back to just using nylofume bags.

[kestral]

If you are a little close on space with your designated food storage bag, you can use a plastic bag or whatever in backpack, then when hanging food at night put extra stuff in stuff sack for tent, sleeping bag or whatever . this will get you through first day or two if food and toiletries are a little too bulky.

[JFKinYK]

Mine is usually 20L, and tend to do trips 7 days or more. I've never wished it was smaller as I cram in toiletries, spoons, pot.